I just finished listening an audiobook entitled "Restoration Agriculture: Real-World Permaculture for Farmers" by Mark Shepard and narrated by Jonathan Todd Ross. This book has changed my mindset and paradigm about how to make a sustainable food system and production for all mankind and the mother earth. We have a wrong paradigm about annual monoculture production that is unsustainable and destroying the ecosystem. We should change it by creating an integrated perennial polyculture production system based on the local biome of the region.
I want to make a headline about one of Shepard's views about the "myth of profitable agriculture," and noting that most farmers rely on off-farm income. He argues that the economic system is rigged against producers, and farmers should not beat themselves up for not being rich. The key to viability is lowering the cost of production. Restoration agriculture achieves this by eliminating inputs (fertilizers, sprays) and planting perennials only once. Once established, the input costs approach zero.
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