Here is an excerpt from my book summary on Biomimicry by Janine Benyus regarding polycultures:

An equally valuable lesson from nature is how we can learn to produce food. In Chapter 2 Benyus says, “this ‘farming in nature’s image’ movement is the most radical in this book, and perhaps the most important” (13). She begins by telling the horror story of pesticide use:

Since 1945, pesticide use has risen 3,300 percent, but overall crop loss to pests has not gone down. In fact, despite our pounding the United States with 2.2 billion pounds of pesticides annually, crop losses have increased 20 percent. In the meantime, more than five hundred pests have developed resistance to our most powerful chemicals. On top of that bad news, the last thing we want to hear is that our soils are also becoming less productive. Our answer has been to rocket boost fertility with 20 million tons of anhydrous ammonium fertilizer a year–as many as 160 pounds per person in this country alone. (18)

It is not then surprising that “leaching pesticide residue made agriculture the number-one polluting industry in the country” or that “Nitrate levels (from fertilizers) in the drinking water in many farm communities also exceed federal standards, which may be why miscarriage rates in farm families are unusually high” (19). Partially in reaction to this, and partially from his awareness of how a cattle ranch maintained it’s grassland all by itself, Wes Jackson founded The Land Institute in Kansas. The Land Institute recognizes that it occupies prairie land, and that prairie land maintains itself, therefore they are designing an agriculture that mimic the prairie so that it maintains itself without the need for pesticides or fertilizers (24).

The first few items of note researchers at The Land Institute find are that the plants are “ninety-nine point nine percent” perennials says John Piper, and these perennials completely knit the ground absorbing liquid and wind shock to protect the soil (25). Diversity is also key as Piper notes, “We have two hundred and thirty-odd species right here on this knob–not just one species of warm-season grass, but fort species” (25). So the land institute went to work trying to find grain perennials that might even out perform our contemporary monocrop grains such as wheat or corn. They settled on “eastern gammagrass… a relative of corn; Illinois bundleflower… a legume that grows tall and produces a rattle of seed pods; mammoth wildrye… a stout cool-season relative of wheat” and “Maximillian sunflower” (28).After sorting out high yielding grains, The Land Institute went further to create a polyculture: a symphony of multiple crops that work beneficially in great density with each other;

Turns out that plants grown next to different but complimentary neighbors don’t have to compete the way they do when grown next to an identical plant. They’re not jostling root elbows for the water in a particular level, for instance. Nor are they competing for the same plane of sunshine. As a result, the members of a diverse community are actually capturing more resources (and yielding more) than they would under constant same-species competition. (33)

Similarly, The Land Institute has found that having a variety of plants in proximity with each other messes with a pest’s ability to locate it’s victim, protecting the plant from consumption before the harvest. “In 1983,” for example, “Cornell biologist Steve Risch, Dave Andrew, and Miguel Altieri reviewed 150 such studies [on polycultures versus monocultures] and found that 53 percent of the insect pests species were less abundant in annual polycultures than in annual monocultures” (34).’

Benyus lastly intimates that in spite of mounting evidence for polyculture regional farming, the persuading factor is likely to be economic such as when fossil fuels start revealing shortages and true pricing (47).

In responce to Benyus’ opinion that only an economic crisis can push us towards polyculture farming, I beg to differ. I see a very different world. Everywhere I go (and I’ve been in nearly 20 different U.S. States since January) I see new community gardens sprouting up. People know that this is the right thing to do regardless of it’s profitability. Perhaps economic crisis is merely instrumentation because it gives them the time to follow their hearts? Or maybe I am just a sentimentalist in my old age. In any case, Jackson’s work has huge implications for city growers. For example here is an amazing short of a longer video on Cuba’s immediate response to oil deprivation. In it, agriculture becomes their highest priority, and you will see examples of their integrated “forest gardens”:

The Power of Community: Cuba and Peak Oil (part 3 of 6)

Benyus, Janine M. Biomimicry. Quill Publishing. New York. 1997.

I was looking at cities with similar populations to prove New England’s old school density was something that should be replicated as opposed to Sprawl. Not that Boston is perfect, the photos here show a good example of how density preserves natural space, looks prettier, and is ultimately more ideal. The population of El Paso is 613, 190 and it has a density of 2, 446 people per square mi. Boston’s population is 609, 023 and has a density of 12, 561 - over 5 times as many people per square mile than El Paso! Take a look at the contrast:

El Paso’s skyline

Boston’s skyline

El Paso-Juarez from a satellite

Greater Boston from a satellite

Kind of glaring, don’t you think?

In a widely referenced study Peter Jacobsen found an inverse correlation for the number of car accidents versus the number of people walking or bicycling. This correlation has been recently rebutted in a study in New York City as shown below.

On a related note of pedestrian and cyclist safety, it is worth mentioning the Paul Pilkington article on car accidents at 20 and 30 mph, which finds:

“The chance of a pedestrian being seriously injured or killed if struck by a car is 45% if the car is travelling at 30 mph but only 5% at 20 mph. Government research showed that 20 mph zones reduced the incidence of traffic accidents by 60% and cut child pedestrian and child cyclist accidents by 67%, while overall vehicle speeds fell by an average 9.3 mph (14.9 kph). There was no evidence that accidents increased on surrounding roads. Research by local councils produces similar results. For example, Havant Borough Council has imposed a 20 mph limit on 20 miles of road and has seen traffic accident casualties drop by a significant 40%.”

According to Fatality Analysis Reporting System 41,059 people died due to car accidents in 2007, of which 698 were “pedalcyclists” and 4654 were pedestrians. The total sum of this research strongly supports policy and development which encourages people to walk or bike to work, the store, school, and home - such as reducing speed limits and increasing mixed use development - is in the best interest of health and safety.

New Urbanism: Very Misunderstood

by Frank Gruber

A mostly positive reflection based on his attending of the CNU17.  I can’t wait to hear everyone’s experience there!

Something that has come up a lot in my research is that while there is an overwhelming public willing to preform in green collar jobs - that is - blue collar green jobs like urban farming, photo voltaic installation, and wind power parts production; there is a smaller but expanding field to satiate the desire.  Competition can create niche markets for education not necessarily required to the position as a means for distinguishing candidates.  A community gardens organizer and myself recently mused about how to get academically oriented people in nonprofit work to look at the jobs they are creating and for what population?

One glaringly contrary example to this is Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training program out of Sustainable South Bronx.  Sustainable South Bronx was started by Majora Carter in 2001 with the intention of serving and employing an impoverished community to build a greener community.  Carter has since left SSBx to pursue her own developmental consulting firm in green economics.

I think it’s important to see this movement as a ship building enterprise, that we need as many individuals at many different levels if we’re all going to stay afloat, and that floating is more than just economic affair. I’d like to see a future where everyone has creative meaningful work.  I see no better way to do this that to have everyone interested in green jobs be able to participate in that work.  After all, our community, our quality of life, and our future is at stake.

This short film is the winner of the CNU 17 Video Contest.

As critical piece of creating a sustainable urbanism is pleasing and vibrant Public Space. As we move towards a more resilient way of planning for our villages, towns and cities, as Fred Kent says, we can no longer afford to only create “open space”. Our land is too valuable to not be used, be programmed and be enjoyed. Providence has been working to do such a thing with the downtown’s Kennedy Plaza. You can read more about what makes a great Public Space here.

Sustainable Urbanism Summit speaker Steve Mouzon was asked by the Wall Street Journal to design an answer to “what will the energy-efficient house of the future look like?” You can read more about Steve’s “Smart Dwelling” here.