TEDTalks - Michael Pollan

The TEDTalk by Michael Pollan, recently published online brings forth a provocative message of hope about commercial organic agriculture. In the video, Pollan discusses a "plant's-eye view" of agriculture. He calls it a literary conceit, by which he means an extended metaphor that is used to elaborate on a given idea. Viewing agriculture from the view of a plant is not so much a way to achieve empathy with vegetable material, but a way to increase our human understanding of the symbiotic relationship we have with plant life.

There is one idea in the video that is particularly interesting. He speaks about Polyphase Farm, located in Virgina. The farm uses a system called permaculture, in which all the species in the farm perform ecological duties for one another. He outlines the system and the yield: 40,000 lbs of beef, 30,000 lbs of pork, 25,000 dozen eggs, 20,000 broiler chickens, 1,000 turkeys and 1,000 rabbits all from 100 acres of land. "You hear, can organic feed the world?" Pollan says. "Well, look how much food you can produce on 100 acres if you..give each species what it wants."

Pollan continues with his speech to look at how this system benefits the grass on the farm, how the process benefits the growth cycle of the grass and the revitalization of soil. His idea is that on this farm, both humans and nature win. This is outside of the realm of traditional agriculture--even organic, in which there is a balance between humans and nature, in which one always has the upper hand. He says "This is a way to reanimate the world," and if he is correct, than the traditional systems of agriculture may begin to break down. In their place will be this new system, in which agriculture sustains itself and humans serve, not as master or bystanders, but partners with nature.