A Letter from David Holmgren

Positive solutions to energy crisis need support not suppression

Re: Permaculture Garden Thomas St, Clayton (south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne) 1st May, 2006.

Rental tenants turning lawns into productive food gardens are doing a service to society by radically reducing their consumption of fossil fuels, fertilizers, pesticides and water while maintaining their own health and reducing their costs of living. Positive examples like this are urgently needed across our suburbs to show how home owners and tenants can adapt to the looming crisis that will flow from continuously rising fuel and resource costs over the next few years.

The “Breach of Duty Notice” to tenants at Thomas St, Clayton to remove a permaculture food garden and restore a lawn is an example of the current impediments to the development and spread of these urgently needed solutions.

Practical action by householders is well recognised as an important part of any serious attempt to reduce society’s use of precious resources and reduce global warming but most environmental polices fail to recognise that growing fresh food at home is one of the best ways to achieve this. The conventional food supply chain from distant industrial agriculture to supermarket consumes far more fuel, water and other resources than we do in our homes and gardens.

Permaculture is an internationally influential concept and movement which provides both the conceptual framework for understanding these issues as well as effective householder and community strategies and techniques to implement the necessary changes.

Permaculture activism in Melbourne is growing from a history dating back to late 1970’s. While the impact of these strategies in mainstream society has been marginal in the era of cheap energy and food, they are likely to become the mainstream, once high energy and food prices become entrenched as a result of global oil peak. See Global Energy Peak:Threat or Opportunity at Writings page of Holmgren Design Services www.holmgren.com.au

Within this decade, productive food gardens may become a rental market asset while water and resource consuming lawns may be seen as socially irresponsible and undesirable. I strongly encourage the landlord of this rental property to negotiate with the tenants and recognize the market opportunities which could flow from this improvement to the property. Local and state governments should reduce the impediments and facilitate the spread of these positive examples of householders taking responsibility for their own needs in a socially and environmentally desirable way.

Most of all I would like to commend and encourage Dan, Adrian and Cat in their personal action and activism to treat this apparent obstacle as an opportunity for further positive action.

David Holmgren Co-originator of the permaculture concept

Download PDF version of this letter here.