In every aspect of human endeavour, there is a pressing need to find new ways of thinking about how we can evolve and grow and flourish. Our civilisation is on the edge of extinction, and if we keep repeating the things that got us here, there is only one logical outcome, our society will collapse and I for one would not want to be around if that were to happen. Luckily I don’t actually believe that we will end up in our own version of “Mad Max”, or any of the countless end of the world movies that have been made over the years.
Mad Max II.
Agriculture is a part of our society that could do with some changing, and Joel Salatin has some inspiring ideas on what the new generation of farmers might look like. Firstly there is the fact that advances in technology have made it possible to create portable systems for growing food and keeping livestock. It means that you no longer need to own the land in order to be a farmer, this in itself is an incredibly radical notion, and makes it a lot easier for young people to get into an industry that requires a lot of capital for land and infrastructure.
Another suggestion that Joel makes is that young entrepreneurs create collaborative relationships with farmers, they can build a business that is complementary to the existing farm. It also means that the farmer has support as they are getting older, so there is a real win win situation going on here. It seems there are many different ways in which different enterprises can be stacked on top of each other, it reminds me of a story I heard Bill Mollison tell many years ago about a Japanese farmer. With ducks swimming in the rice paddies there is no need for weeding or chemicals, and the rice actually grows taller and is more dense than it would otherwise be. http://www.permaculturenews.org/author/Bill%20Mollison
There is no shortage of bright ideas on how to re-design the way that we live on this planet, the real question is will we manage to make the changes in time. As an eternal optimist my vote is definitely a big YES!
In this video he passionately explains that this is the best time ever to get into farming and guess what: you do NOT need to buy a big parcel of land to get started.
Hear about his idea for “portable farms” to get young entrepreneurs started right here!
http://www.nextworldtv.com/page/24422.html
Through the Vortex 
Cheryl …..versatility and lateral thinking will (hopefully) get us there, this is a great subject Kerry that could be explored further
Yes, I am sure it is a subject I will return to at some stage, much food for thought!