Quick Reality Check Articles

November 19, 2009

Quick Reality Check – Min Wage

Filed under: Energy — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Administrator @ 01:38

In 1960, the minimum wage was $1.00 and the average wage was about $2.32 per hour.
A 24 ounce loaf of bread costs $0.21 and requires 13 minutes of work to earn.
A pound of ground beef costs $0.33 and requires 20 minutes of work to earn.
10 pounds of potatoes cost $0.49 which requires 29 minutes of work to earn.

In 2009 the minimum wage is now $7.25.
A 24 ounce loaf of bread costs $1.49 and requires 12 minutes of work to earn.
A pound of ground beef costs $3.49 and requires 29 minutes of work to earn.
10 pounds of potatoes cost $4.99, which requires 41 minutes of work to purchase.

In 2009 more people earn minimum wage as the better paying factory jobs have disappeared and minimum wage now buys less than it ever has!

We must create more jobs which can pay higher wages. One way of doing this is outlined as follows:

Individual consumers must demand quality products which are durable and reliable and which can be repaired in locals depots and not thrown away and replaced.

This would enable communities to look at converting local natural resources into the finished products to create the products we need and to reduce the environmental and economic burdens of shipping natural resource materials around the world and then bringing back finished goods.

This would also create employment in repairing and maintaining the products made and sold in the community.

Individuals must demand locally grown food produced by sustainable means without the use of pesticides, herbicides, and oil intensive means. This will enable sustainable distributed agricultural production which may require more labor and create more jobs while reducing our dependence on oil.

Individuals must demand energy independence and embrace emerging new technologies such as solar and wind power which can offer paybacks of four years or less for products with an operating life of 20 years or more.

Future blogs will provide additional details on how individuals can enhance the sustainability of our society and our planet.

October 25, 2009

Quick Reality Check – One step on the road to starvation

Filed under: Energy — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Administrator @ 22:24

* Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, just converted from one form to another, such as from sunlight to plant matter, and during this process energy is lost which is impractical to recover.

* Each day, the sun provides a finite amount of energy to the earth which creates our weather, causes the winds to blow, rains to fall, the plants to grow and shapes the face of our planet.

* All animals eat plants or eat animals that eat plants.

* Plants use photosynthesis to turn sunlight into stored energy in the form of carbohydrates, the basic fuel of all animals. There is no alternative to plant energy, just as there is no alternative to oxygen for animals including humans to live.

* Humans consume about 40 percent of Earth’s “primary productivity” which is the energy collected by plants each year, which may explain why the current extinction rate for other species is 1,000 times that it was before humans dominated the planet.

* The United States uses about half of the world’s primary productivity yet accounts for only about 6.3 percent of its population.

* This disparity is unsustainable. Therefore, in order to ensure a high quality of life for ourselves, our children, grandchildren, and future generations, we must learn to operate our society more energy efficiently.

* The “enhanced crop yields” which we are seeing are not a “scientific breakthrough” but are more like a “simple parlor trick of an amateur magician” wherein we now have crop yields 5 times higher per acre than the 1950s BUT we use 30-50 times more energy to produce these crops. We are actually “less efficient” than we were 60 years ago and our crops are more contaminated with herbicides and pesticides than before.

* We are using hundreds of “calories” of oil (plant energy stored over millions of years), to produce a few calories of food therefore when this oil runs out, we will all starve if current food production and distribution methods are not drastically changed and improved.

* This is only one of many issues facing our food supply which we will discuss in future articles.

* We MUST develop new technologies to use ONLY the energy available from the sun each year, the planet’s “primary productivity” to feed and power our civilization if we are to enjoy a sustainable future for ourselves and future generations.

October 1, 2009

Quick Reality Check – Struggling farmers and our future

Filed under: Food, Quick Reality Check — Tags: , , , , — Administrator @ 01:07

* Each day, the sun provides a finite amount of energy to the earth which creates our weather, causes the winds to blow, rains to fall, the plants to grow and shapes the face of our planet.

veggies

* Humans engage in many different industries each day yet more than two thirds of humanity’s primary productivity results from agriculture, yet our farmers have been marginalized and their important position in society usurped by companies providing farmers with energy, fertilizers, and seeds which enable “modern farming methods” which really turn oil into food in a very inefficient manner and by companies which “distribute food” to the masses.

* The 500% improved crop yields of 2009 versus 1950 using “modern farming methods” are created by using 30-50 times more energy to produce these crops. We are actually “less efficient” than we were 60 years ago and we use many “calories” of oil to create one “calories” in our crops which are now more contaminated with herbicides and pesticides than before.

* Our farmers are critical to our health and survival yet we create a commercial environment where farmers cannot make a living which is obviously a road to disaster.

* The situation between farmer and their suppliers and customers reminds me of a great quote from Balzac who said, “The secret of great wealth with no obvious source is some forgotten crime, forgotten because it was done neatly”.

* We must develop improved methods of growing and distributing food if our prosperity as a society and as a species is to continue for future generations once the oil runs out.

September 17, 2008

Quick Reality Check – We are indirectly eating Oil – What will we eat when the oil runs out?

Filed under: Quick Reality Check — Tags: , , , , , , — Administrator @ 00:06

1. “Modern”, mechanized farming relies heavily on equipment to replace people and chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides to make crops grow.

2. Oil is used to drive the production of most fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.

3. When we look at the “corn ethanol” debate on stunning fact becomes clear. We are using a lot of oil to produce the food we eat each day!

4. We then use a lot more energy to truck that food all over the nation rather than growing and distributing products more locally.

5. We use oil to provide energy and raw materials to:
(a) produce fertilizers , herbicides and pesticides
(b) distribute fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides
(c) power farm equipment
(d) truck the hundreds or thousands of miles food from where it is grown to where it is consumed

WHEN YOU ADD IT ALL UP THE ENERGY INPUT FROM OIL THAT IS USED TO GROW FOOD, THE FOOD ENERGY (CALORIC) VALUE IS AT BEST EQUAL TO AND ACTUALLY LESS THAN THE INPUT ENERGY. WE ARE INDIRECTLY FEEDING OURSELVES WITH OIL AND WE ARE NOT VERY EFFICIENT ABOUT IT!!

6. What you can do to create a better future:
(a) Buy pesticide free products
(b) Buy produce grown within 50 miles (80 km) of your home
(c) Plant a small vegetable garden at home – fertilized with compost your own kitchen wastes – without the use of herbicides and pesticides – and enjoy great tasting, fresh, safer, healthier food.

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For tips and books on organic gardening and composting, see our other blog articles and visit Omachron OnLine

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