#mrjonmoore audio adventures episode011

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The Further Adventures of Captain Sputo Hall

The Captain had developed this understanding of the world when I re-met him. We danced around each other for several months. I felt a growing sense of recognition around him and he felt a growing need to test me. I could be his rememberer or equally I could have been an agent of Elvis sent to kill him. The Captain played his cards close to his chest. This was easy enough for him as they sat upon his able belly and behind his extensive beard.

After about six months, the Captain asked me to find some bandanas for him. He needed to start wearing them to protect his balding head. This was his story. He actually needed them to complete his space pirate image. It was also a test for me. If I was an agent of Elvis I would know he needed to be in space pirate mode to finish his mission and find excuses for not finding them. I procured the bandanas and passed a test I didn't even know I was sitting.

All this came to pass because I was working as a mental health support worker and the Captain was one of my clients. The irony is not lost upon me. I who am here to serve and record the Captain's life was in a position to control and direct his. Or so it appeared. This was but one more of the illusions generated by the Brunswick Street box. Still, despite this illusion causing box, I came to be the Captain's rememberer again and to be his executive officer on the space pirate's ship. Sometimes the illusions fool themselves. I'd never thought of an illusion having hubris but the Captain is such a sage, he allowed me to see for myself.

The thing with Elvis and the Captain went deep. Almost too deep to be explained in words. I once saw him take an axe to a piece of plywood someone had written the word "Elvis" on. The fury was palpable. As soon as the plywood had been splintered, the Captain returned. Sitting down he lit a smoke and was his quietly happy self again. It was as if nothing had ever happened. I had only been working with The Captain a couple of months at this stage. Still learning how different he was from all my other clients.

The Captain, two other clients and I were having coffee at a local establishment as part of their re-introduction to the ways of society when one of the other said, "I'm mad!", the second repeated the statement and then we all looked at the Captain. "I'm not!!!". At the time I thought this meant he was the only one of us with a real psychiatric condition, turns out I was wrong.

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Part 1

Everything old is new again....

So we find ourselves being fed but corporations, by large industrial conglomerates. We can in a surprisingly small area, produce off the fresh vegetables we need for ourselves. But what about the meat?

It always comes down to the meat. We have food safety regulations, some of them quite sensible, others not so much. When I was a young fella we lived across the road from a Yugoslav chap, He kept rabbits, chooks and grew vegetables. The rabbits never seemed to overrun the place yet they continued to breed like, well, breed like rabbits. He seemed healthy enough, his wife was certainly not suffering from famine or even restricted calorie intake. They lived quite well on eggs, rabbit meat, old chooks and vegetables.

Could I? Could you?

If push came to shove, sure. I’ve butchered sheep, goats, wild rabbits and poultry from quail to geese. So yes I could. But could everyone? Probably but would they choose to? Until the level of hunger was greater than the level of the “yuck” factor vegetarianism might be a choice for most urban dwellers.

Some rough, very rough calculations on the back of an envelope suggests we could feed, at least a couple and maybe more, depending upon climate zone from 200 square meters of land. With espaliered fruit trees and soft fruits scattered around boundaries and chicken and rabbit runs moved over garden beds, the fertility of the soil would increase over time. Meat, fruit, vegetables and all done with a no dig method. Toss in a beehive or two and everything except grains and coffee would be possible. We can live without grains and coffee but would we want to?

The thing is the old Yugoslav rotated his vegetable crops and constrained his animals. He carried his accumulated manures to the garden beds. I’d be inclined to move the chooks and rabbits around the land as well as the vegetables.

Now to the question raised originally, “What about the meat?” Given that cities like London, Lagos, New York, Singapore and Sydney are not likely to provide a 200 square metre plot, that’s 1800 square feet for those who use the old money, how do we feed the teeming masses of the metroploitans?

At present we have huge and I mean mind bogglingly huge cages for animals and their accumulated poo for the production of meat. This is inhumane to animals, the people tending to them and the people eating their meat.

So, what's to be done?

There exists in most countries land unsuitable for arable production. They are suitable for grazing. These are robust landscapes capable of tree production as well as livestock grazing. Indeed many arable areas as better suited to grazing.

The steppes of Europe, the prairies of North America, the pampas of Argentina and the rangelands of Australia fit this description. Not good for trees so much as herbal pastures.

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