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Re: HELP NEEDED SUSTAINABLE LIVING IN IRELAND



=o= Well, for starters you might want to try alt.homepower
as well.

=o= There's a European organization that might have some of
the information you can use:  W.W.O.O.F. -- Willing Workers
On Organic Farms -- Kieran O'Brien, Harpoonstown, Drinagh,
County Wexford; Tel. (053) 35395.  I've talked with a few
of the "willing workers" in this program, and they are quite
knowledgeable.  I've seen their work in various parts of
the west of Ireland.

=o= Half an acre is pretty small, though.

> Ireland has demonstrated how sustainable agriculture works
> under Irish conditions with pre-industrial agricultural
> technology:  it doesn't.  It produces horrible famine.

=o= I didn't see any mention of reverting to pre-industrial
technology, so I'm not sure why you're invoking that.  You
are, however, incorrect about what produced the famine.

=o= One of the major culprits in the famine was the potato
itself:  While not quite a monoculture, the varieties grown
were few in number, and all were of course introduced species.
(Note that prevailing industrial agricultural technology is
built upon these very vulnerabilities!)  They had not adapted
to the ecosystems in Ireland, and suffered from a number of
blights in the 19th Century, the worst one being in 1847.

=o= The other major culprit was political.  At the time of
the potato famine, Ireland still produced enough food for
the Irish people to eat; yet the marketplace was controlled
by the British, who exported the food.  Their reason?  They
didn't want to interfere with the free market!  (And no, I
am not making that up -- that is exactly the reason given!)

=o= There were other factors involved, as well.  British
landlords disrupted sustainable agricultural practices quite
a bit.  Some disrupted things simply by drawing property lines
that had nothing to do with bioregions, and enforcing them
with their guns.  Others were using Irish lands (and the lives
of Irish people) as testing grounds for their half-assed
horticultural theories.  The upshot of these factors is that
they put a lot of people close to famine conditions even
before the famine arrived.

=o= The Irish did have quite a few ingenious techniques for
growing food in very difficult conditions.  From all accounts it
was a very hard living, but we could learn a lot from it.  In
combination with modern appropriate technology and ecological
science, these techniques could make a substantial contribution
to sustainable agriculture.
    <_Jym_>



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