A plant's-eye view - Michael Pollan

What if human consciousness isn't the end-all be-all of Darwinism? What if we are all just pawns in corn's clever strategy game to rule the Earth? Author Michael Pollan asks us to see the world from a plant's-eye view.

Talk by Michael Pollan.

[richellerice]

Michael Pollan you are the reason I decided to pursue a degree in English and then study urban farming. You rock.

[the_awe]

Sticking with the Ted community makes me realize that there is hope in the brilliance of humanity.

[billbrazil]

I own 12.5 acres that are currently being used for nothing more than a shooting range and privacy. After watching this video, my priorities have changed. Gotta love technology.

[jjtitus]

Great presentation, we need more discussion like this, and more farms like Polyface... that is the SUSTAINABLE FUTURE of farming!

[Bartholomule]

That is brilliant! This type of farm he's describing is amazing!

[bwghall]

My own observations, I mowed a patch of grass which included poppies, some weeks later up came the poppies, but they were now only 6" high instead of 2 foot. also in flower. how did those poppies know that summer was nearly over, that they had to grow and produce seed in a few weeks? if they had grown to full size they would have missed out.

[spliceosome]

I think this is one of the best talks I've heard! I actually thought all of this before (the part of viewing nature from the perspective of other species), and I like that other people thought that too! Also that farms are cool! but what does he refer to when he is talking of "cartesian systems"?

[breathgrowth]

Best ted i have seen in my life wtf i never though about nature like that

[imafarmboy]

There may be small amounts of contaminants however they are so diluted they are not a concern on top of that any hormones or antibiotics that are in the manure will be broken down before the manure is spread. You are correct if it did escape the structure it would be an environmental catastrophic event, but we design the structures to prevent such happenings. In the design standards the structure have to account for a "25 year" storm and an extra foot between that max level and the top of the

[DaRealFiberOptix]

my very first thought and hope was that they were going to be talking about the primal intelligence that is in all plants and animals

[imafarmboy]

As for my math I took the total US ag acres (445, 324, 765) from the 2011 Ag Census and the total US production for each product.

Example 26, 290, 000, 000 pounds of beef / 445, 324, 765 acres = 59.0356 pounds beef/acre

[imafarmboy]

Sorry I should have clarified. The sample farm is the farm that Mr. Pollan used during his speech. While the US production numbers I took the total acreage of the US an the total US production from 2011.
There is no such thing as a 'Factory Farm' there are large scale farms but there is no definition of what constitutes a 'factory farm'. I agree that that transportation of food is a area we can improve on, however there is simply not enough land to produce enough food to feed a city in a city.

[dyarray]

Wow, now we just need to replace every "food factory" with these kinds of farms.

[Marialla-ub]

I respect that you follow strict management plans, and do not have overflows. That is good, because obviously uncontained manure would be dangerous to neighbors, or to streams. But even sitting peacefully in it's lagoon, manure is smelly and revolting. When it's soaked into a carbonaceous bedding and made into compost, or when it's spread naturally in single-day increments directly onto fields, manure is neither a sight or smell hazard, nor is there even a remote possibility of discharge.

[imafarmboy]

I would also like to address the purpose of manure lagoons. On my farm we have 2 lagoons with a total capacity of 12 million gallons. We follow a very detailed and very strict nutrient management plan that prevents us from applying excess manure to our fields. In the over 14 years that we have had our manure lagoons we have never had any discharge into the environment for any reason. As I said earlier we live off the land. Why would we do anything to endanger our neighbors or ourselves?

[rrfirefly]

Pollan deconstructs the primacy of human ego in several momentous books. His latest "How to Change Your Mind" takes us to another aspect of a transcendent state beyond socially programmed self-importance.

[kevandre]

For those cats who are sent here by classes to watch this video... He doesn't cut to the chase until around 10:55. you can skip until then and miss nothing of importance

[imafarmboy]

I understand it is not a perfect comparison, but it does give a general idea of the productivity comparison. By using the total US acreage it greatly reduces the #/acre production of each product. Importing feed doesn't necessarily a production system is worse. It allows us to better formulate an animals diet to promote animal health and increase production; it also allows us to use by-products, better utilizing our national resources and reducing processing waste.

[cattmandan]

I think it can absolutely feed the world. When you're stacking functions and layers, as is done with Permaculture, you can fit far more on an acre while maintaining an environment that is more conducive to natural processes. Also, permaculture frequently makes use of perennials crops which tend to be able to produce far more in less area. Lastly, consider how many lawns we have in the US, imagine if people, instead of taking food out of the global market, grew even a fraction of their own food.

[XxwoodyleexX]

nice approach, very interesting and inspiring point of view, like the way you did it.
one question here, what about those animal's farts? methane is a serious greenhouse gas released by those cattle?