Closed System Agriculture: Resource Constraints, Management Options, and Design Alternatives

The notion of resource constraints, both global and national, is certainly not new or unique. In most industrial societies, constraints are viewed as obsta­ cles to be overcome, and the belief that "necessity is the mother of inven­ tion" and that dire necessity will call forth the best efforts to find a "techni­ cal fix" for most societal problems is strongly held. But technological fixes are only one possible response to perceived obstacles. Sometimes it is wiser to adapt to new constraints rather than to try to override them. We contend that resource constraints cannot be overridden in the purely technical sense.