Food?

Observer Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 2 : Items

What are the plans to become self sufficient in food supply?
Most islands in the size that are being looked at are not going to have much farmable land and relying on imports is just foolish.

Chickens would seem like the most space conserving meat food stock, but you still need acreage for veggies, don't want to get scurvy.

Also, a supply of petroleum products will be needed to farm, but I guess we could get oil from Venezuela.

There are a thousand basic survival issues that need to be worked out before any significant number of people could relocate to an island with no infrastructure.

eb

Administrator Joined: 01 Mar 2008 Posts: 191 : Items

Razmear wrote:

What are the plans to become self sufficient in food supply?
Most islands in the size that are being looked at are not going to have much farmable land and relying on imports is just foolish.

Chickens would seem like the most space conserving meat food stock, but you still need acreage for veggies, don't want to get scurvy.

Also, a supply of petroleum products will be needed to farm, but I guess we could get oil from Venezuela.

There are a thousand basic survival issues that need to be worked out before any significant number of people could relocate to an island with no infrastructure.

eb

I (and many others) are planning on making Liberty Island oil gas-free.
As for food, we need a location where we can grow our own, although we will probably have to export meat.

Observer Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 5 : Items

Look up aquaponics, there's your solution for food production with limited space, as well as a possible environmentally friendly export business.

New Resident Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 119 : Items

jabrownie wrote:

Look up aquaponics, there's your solution for food production with limited space, as well as a possible environmentally friendly export business.

Any links?

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(Note: see also the thread on Agriculture. Let's try to keep things in one place.)

Observer Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Posts: 30 : Items

Razmear wrote:

What are the plans to become self sufficient in food supply?
Most islands in the size that are being looked at are not going to have much farmable land and relying on imports is just foolish.

Chickens would seem like the most space conserving meat food stock, but you still need acreage for veggies, don't want to get scurvy.

Also, a supply of petroleum products will be needed to farm, but I guess we could get oil from Venezuela.

There are a thousand basic survival issues that need to be worked out before any significant number of people could relocate to an island with no infrastructure.

eb

Smaller scale animal husbandry is almost unlimited, once you really think about it.

Chickens,

Game fowl (too many species to list)

Turkeys

Rabbits (love those 50lb Bavarian breeds)+

Rodents, (yeah so what its related to a rat, it tastes good)

Goats (I know they've got freaky eyes. But they taste good, can clear a weed patch in a week, produce healthy milk, and are ROBUST)

Pigs (the staple meat source the world over)

Dogs. (yes they taste good too)

Tilapia, ( on my island we raise this fish in galvanized cattle feeders. They mature fast, eat anything, resistant to disease)

Bangus (philippine milk fish, similar to a cat, but tastes better)

Perch / Sunfish, (small but they breed like nobody's business and will actually clean a pond for other fish)

Crabs / shrimps / mudbugs. (essential in fish pond farming. How do you keep your pens clean)

The possibilities are endless. As long as you are able to drop some of the preprogrammed notions of what is good to eat and what is not.

No Petroleum products please. That is a shortsighted dead end trap thank you very much.

Bio digesters producing methane for fuel.

Just and example

http://www.habmigern2003.info/biogas/Baron-digester/Baron-digester.htm

1.) Burns cleaner. (no california smog banks please)

2.) Internal combustion engines converted to use gaseous fuel last longer. (in some cases it triples the normal lifespan of an engine)

3.) Uses up all manner of organic waste, (dead animals, shit, clippings, peelings, anything organic, etc) In temperate climes, organic waste is not usually a problem. But here in the tropics is a HUGE problem. My yard alone generates 3 to 4 truck loads of vegetable organic waste a month.

Remember your on an island. You can't just let that stuff sit around. Breeds sickness. You have no where to throw it away. It's green and frequently wet, so it wont burn. And it must be dealt with.

4.) The byproduct of the bio digesters is a broken down watery slurry that is by FAR the best growing medium available. You can mix a cup of this stuff with 10 cups of plain beach sand and grow killer tomatoes. I know I'm doing it as we speak.

Hydro/wind for basic power. Solar is nice. My system runs well. But at this time it just does not put out enough power to be practical. Maybe in the near future. I've been following a few breakthroughs in the solar industry that are very promising. But the current products on the market are not as viable as small scale hydroelectric or wind power, (if you've got the wind resource).

The real question is where are we going to try this? That will in my mind define most of our issues. And once you have defined the problem, then it is only a matter of time until it will be solved.

Observer Joined: 04 Apr 2008 Posts: 5 : Items

Quote:

No Petroleum products please. That is a shortsighted dead end trap thank you very much.

I second this.

Humans can survive with plentiful amounts of food in nearly every environment. Ignorance of husbandry will most likely be our biggest obstacle as regards food. I really like the suggestions so far.

I also think we should think in terms of what can provide the greatest amount of nutriment for the least amount of effort. And variety. Once we've reached a decent level of sustainability, we can start looking at trade.

Having a good supply of food is often the turning point for a settlement's success.

Personally, I like fish.

Administrator Joined: 01 Mar 2008 Posts: 191 : Items

arbeitmachtfrei wrote:

Quote:

No Petroleum products please. That is a shortsighted dead end trap thank you very much.

I second this.

Humans can survive with plentiful amounts of food in nearly every environment. Ignorance of husbandry will most likely be our biggest obstacle as regards food. I really like the suggestions so far.

I also think we should think in terms of what can provide the greatest amount of nutriment for the least amount of effort. And variety. Once we've reached a decent level of sustainability, we can start looking at trade.

Having a good supply of food is often the turning point for a settlement's success.

Personally, I like fish.

Really any meat, besides fish, wouldl be difficult to raise since there won't be much room.

Observer Joined: 17 Apr 2008 Posts: 23 : Items

We will let the free market work. What will we eat? Probably a lot of seafood. We could import chicken. We might even have a few cows running around. Usually, if there's a demand, then there will be people trying to capitalize on it.

Administrator Joined: 01 Mar 2008 Posts: 191 : Items

Libertarian Joseph wrote:

We will let the free market work. What will we eat? Probably a lot of seafood. We could import chicken. We might even have a few cows running around. Usually, if there's a demand, then there will be people trying to capitalize on it.

Non seafood meat depends on the amount of land we have.

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:39 am

LibertiORDeth wrote:

Non seafood meat depends on the amount of land we have.

Just FYI: Very large quantities of Poultry can be raised in a very small space if needed. While free-range farms are more pleasant in many ways, if you have little choice, then you can build chickenhouses like we have so many of here in the Ozarks, and raise a LOT of meat in a SMALL space. (If you want to see how a mega-corporation refined the poultry process to maximize production & profit, check out nasty ol' Tyson Foods' website.)

Myself, I prefer red meat... But I still eat a lot of chicken, and for people that know what they are doing, it can be relatively easy and profitable. (A lot of friends and neighbors around here used to do it, before the mega-corporations squeezed most of them out of the commercial market.)

Administrator Joined: 01 Mar 2008 Posts: 191 : Items

bruce wrote:

LibertiORDeth wrote:

Non seafood meat depends on the amount of land we have.

Just FYI: Very large quantities of Poultry can be raised in a very small space if needed. While free-range farms are more pleasant in many ways, if you have little choice, then you can build chickenhouses like we have so many of here in the Ozarks, and raise a LOT of meat in a SMALL space. (If you want to see how a mega-corporation refined the poultry process to maximize production & profit, check out nasty ol' Tyson Foods' website.)

Myself, I prefer red meat... But I still eat a lot of chicken, and for people that know what they are doing, it can be relatively easy and profitable. (A lot of friends and neighbors around here used to do it, before the mega-corporations squeezed most of them out of the commercial market.)

I undersdtand, but I think importaing free-range meat will be preferrable (at least for me). If it becomes necessary for us to become completely self sufficient, we can, as you say, raise them in small spaces.

Observer Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 2 : Items

LibertiORDeth wrote:

I undersdtand, but I think importaing free-range meat will be preferrable (at least for me). If it becomes necessary for us to become completely self sufficient, we can, as you say, raise them in small spaces.

Citizens have the right to import any special diets they wish.
Citizens also have the right to raise livestock as they see fit.
Thats what freedom is.

eb

Administrator Joined: 01 Mar 2008 Posts: 191 : Items

Agreed, and I wasn't arguing that. Nice to see you on after a few months Very Happy