I learned a great deal from Permaculture, I first saw Bill Mollison on TV when I was about 15, I think. 32 years ago. I was fortunate to finally complete a Designers Certificate 5 or 6 years ago. This changed the way I view ecology, and economies.
What is permaculture?
Clever Organic "Gardening", distribution and building methods can increase and diversify yields in a way that builds soils, cleans water. Harmonising with both native and domesticated species to produce efficient regenerative systems. It sure looks like the most utopian model I have seen for human settlements.
Permaculture is a practice of layering systems learned from pre existing cultures and ecologies. It welcomes new and old technologies, anything that can prove itself by increasing both resilience and abundance. All is measured by inputs vs outputs from the system over time.
What are we producing and how beneficial is it?
I personally dont see grass seed,(grains and corn) or fruit as a human food beyond emergency rations. Simply from the perspective of energy density and oxidative loading. Animal fat seams to be a for more logical and less addictive choice than carbs for fuel.
Animal fat also appears to come with protein, anti oxidants and minerals, everything we need in ideal ratios. ( I have only been testing that idea of 2 years, others have done decades with only great health to show for it, so its not "just" opinion or idealism, the body of experience is growing daily.
Vast herds on the pre-agricultrual landscape were free food that created soil and sequestered carbon. Anything since then looks like diabetes and taxation with sweetness for compensation. Thats just how I see it, I could be wrong, nature...less so.
Measuring Inputs and Outputs, costs and benefits
Permaculture is the best we have, simply because it measures energy over time.
What would be even better is include measurements from the level of our cells and tissues.
Measure oxidative stress, inflammation, liver function, nerve and artery health, even brain activity on different ways of eating, producing food and materials.
The CAC test is probably the most important as it shows calcium build up in the arteries and heart valves, this correlates more strongly with insulin resistance than it does to the "old boogeyman of cholesterol".
That will reveal which kinds of "crops" to focus our efforts on.
It would be ironic indeed if pasture raised wild animals that require no more than the freedom and ecology to roam in, turned out to be our lowest input, highest quality output, food source.
This is not about my opinion, nature just is what it is regardless of what I think I may understand.
Eventually cheap personal measuring devices that can share data on a blockchain will abound.
Blockchain protocols will also allow us to share sophisticated blood panels, scans and genetic information without revealing our identities. This may allow non corporate, or agenda based groups to compile the data so that we can make more informed decisions about what to try next.
Hopefully it will be more clear then, what is and is not performing over time.
Technology and Ecology
Ironic indeed if the last 12,000 years of agriculture was in fact a massive step backwards in both health, freedom, and happiness. It will also free us to re-invest in something that is not at war with nature. Rather than channelling resources to the few while sickening even their children.
Technology allows us greater comfort by delaying or altering what nature would otherwise be doing.
However, forces and energy do not succumb, they merely build up or deplete until the governing restriction fails.
I hope that does not happen in my daughters, children's, lifetime.
When enough people care more about their grandchildren, than their own short term comforts and fears.. then we will start to learn on scale previously unseen.
Good luck with that, truly.
todays image taken from http://paoniafarmandhome.com/tag/permaculture/