459: Jason Bradford on Rural Living as our Future.

Expecting that ruralization is the next evolution.


Jason has been affiliated with Post Carbon Institute since 2004, first as a Fellow and then as a Board Member. He graduated from U.C. Davis with a B.S. in biology before earning his doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis, where he also taught ecology. He’s worked for the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development at the Missouri Botanical Garden, was a Visiting Scholar at U.C. Davis, and co-founded the Andes Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Group.

After all that, Jason shifted from academia to learn more about and practice sustainable agriculture. completed training with Ecology Action (aka GrowBiointensive) in Willits, California, and founded Brookside School Farm.


In This Podcast:

Studying the changes in shifting populations, Jason Bradford is predicting the trend for urban growth is going to reverse. He breaks down why our energy dependency is indicating a reversal, why technology is creating discounted problems, and more importantly why personal action toward energy literacy and resilience is critical. He talks about what to do as the approaching change draws near.

Listen in and learn about:

    • What shifted him to agriculture
    • How looking into climate change and biodiversity impacts prompted him to start growing his own food
    • His report on the evolution of the industrial food system
    • Ten units of energy is used to getting one unit of food energy to your mouth
    • City budgets have huge line items for water movement
    • Why he had the interest and background necessary to write this report
    • Why the trend is going to change in the future in the next couple decades
    • What will happen when fossil fuels become less available
    • Why he thinks the renewable energy industry will not make up for the loss of fossil fuels
    • Energy Return on Investment and why this is important
    • Being between a rock and a hard place for energy consumption
    • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and halving the global consumption of fossil fuels
    • Re-ruralization – is this happening now?
    • So many reasons for ruralization in many parts of the worlds
    • What to do as this is happening
    • Resilience science and what it takes to be ready for the challenge to energy availability
    • Waiting for someone to figure out solutions is not going to work
    • Why 5g wireless technology is not energy efficient
    • Starting the Brookside School Farm to help his kid’s school

As well as:

His failure – Being part of an organization and assuming everyone was on the same page

His success – The Biodiversity Research Group

His drive – Hunger, Thirst, Fatigue.  And natural beauty in the world – wanting to appreciate and protect it.

His advice – Learn and practice how to relate to other people well, and get like-minded people to work together for a shared purpose

The report written by Jason

The Future is Rural: Food System Adaptations to the Great Simplification

Jason Book recommendations:     

Any Way You Slice It: The Past, Present, and Future of Rationing by Stan Cox

Any Way You Slice It: The Past, Present, and Future of Rationingreach Jason:    

Website: www.postcarbon.org

UrbanFarm.org/thereport


Special thanks to our sponsors:Gemplers Logogemplers.com/urbanfarm (use code URBANFARM01)

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