objects/agriculture-energy-society.html

Agriculture, Energy and Society

Progression around agriculture helped structure society

link

Types of agriculture (by effort and capital)

trade-offs between: machine capital, human labor, energy, chemical costs, and land

• low-technology farming
  • smaller
  • less productive
  • subsistence or local market only
  • high human labor, low on others
• intensive agriculture
  • high human labor
  • maybe fertilizer costs
  • low to no traction
  • small land use
• industrial agriculture
  • low human labor
  • high traction and fertilizer costs
  • and machinery
  • can use lower grade soil but needs lots of it

another taxonomy (Pollan)

• industrial
• industrial organic
• artisan - smaller scale