Biophilia

This week I have chosen to focus on the work of Richard Manning. Manning has produced several works grounded on many environmental and social issues of our era. Since we explored   permaculture last week, this week I would like to focus on Richard Manning’s work on the topic of agriculture.   In his book, titled Against the Grain , subtitled How Agriculture has Hijacked Civilization , Manning offers an in-depth and pragmatic view of the so called “progress in food production”. Manning poses the idea that wheat has domesticated man - in contrast to the opposite - and exposes the truth about the very unsustainable practices of agriculture.   Manning delves on the idea of how agriculture stripped man’s of his “genetic heritage and freedom to wander and hunt and gather”. Humanity became dependent and highly addicted to grains, thus prisoners of the agricultural systems that severely changed societies. Because of agriculture, humans no longer had to live like nomads...

I’m enrolled in the Global Sustainability Master Program at the University of South Florida. Since I currently live and work in North Florida I attend all my classes online. While facing some challenges in completing an assignment last week I decided to take a quick impromptu trip to Tampa, FL to gain some clarification from my professor and take advantage of the long trip to also enjoy a live lecture. And WOW what a great experience that was! It was so refreshing being back on a university campus and interacting with like-minded individuals and seeing how other students are so passionate about sustainability issues.   The topic of the week and the live lecture was PERMACULTURE; aka: permanent agriculture.   Permaculture is a system of agricultural designs and principles that works with the environment - any environment - to generate positive yields for people and for the ecosystem. Permaculture   refutes traditional mono cropping farming methodologies a...