You Better Learn How to Grow Food

Surviving the energy crisis

Marjan Krebelj
8 min readDec 7, 2021

No amount of genetic wizardry, vertical farming or any other modern technology can replace brute oil-driven force when it comes to growing food. The only somewhat realistic chance to grow enough of it is to get our hands dirty again. At the end of the day, food is primary. You can’t eat Bitcoin, no matter how high it gets. Why do you think Bill Gates is buying all that farming land for? Just for the view?

Photo by Tom Fisk from Pexels

Sine Qua Non

Since the dawn of history we had to engage in two basic activities to provide for our energy needs; foraging/farming for food and logging/mining for heating (and machine operations). This is the sine qua non of our existence as a civilisation.

Before the industrial revolution, most people had to do both to survive. They spent most of their time on the field and when crops were out of season they went into the forest to chop the wood. Each family was a self-sustainable unit taking care of all of its needs. Sure, some people might have been more talented as blacksmiths, others at fixing roofs or repairing tools, and a certain level of exchange did go on in every village, but by and large they all had to do everything on their own.

In the absence of farming machinery, pesticides, fertilisers and other marvels of…

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Marjan Krebelj

Once an architect, now a freelance photographer/filmmaker with passion for words.