Climate Change or Ecology?: Chapter 2

Welcome to the newest miniseries from the Poor Proles Almanac, The Gastropocene, a collaboration between Andy from the Poor Proles Almanac & Dr. Ayesha Khan, known on social media as @WokeScientist. In this multipart series, we're exploring the relationships between food systems, place, history, and colonization all within the framework of climate change and acceleration. How do these overlap, how do we engage with it comprehensively, and how do we move beyond this current intersection?

This audio series is part of a multi-sensory delivery process in an attempt to bring folks into the dialogue with us, not simply listening or reading our content. The series begins as a zine chapter, available at wokescientist.substack.com which is then extrapolated into meme form on Instagram both @WokeScientist & @PoorprolesAlmanac, and from there we take the feedback received to develop the audio, which is livestreamed on Twitch.tv/poorprolesalmanac where you can join in on the conversation. Building content in this format is complex, nuanced, and allows for a more meaningful discussion around solutions to our current system that any of these formats alone falls short.

In the second chapter of this miniseries, we explore further the limitations of capitalist veganism and apply these same constructs to bigger systems-- climate change and ecology. Is it actually possible to decouple climate change from ecology, and how does carbon emissions effectively commodify climate change to create new markets for capitalist growth? We chat about why carbon has been isolated from ecological destruction in order to keep our economic model moving forward, and why addressing carbon emissions without a larger framework will inevitably be unsuccessful in addressing ecological collapse, which will continue to perpetuate climate change in the same ways veganism falls short of addressing the systemic issues of our food systems.

You can support Dr. Khan on substack and the Poor Proles Almanac on Patreon.com/PoorProlesAlmanac

Sources:

https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/greenhouse-gases

https://atmos.earth/vandana-shiva-wisdom-of-biodiversity/

https://rodaleinstitute.org/education/resources/regenerative-agriculture-and-the-soil-carbon-solution/?fbclid=IwAR1Bvb_2zvdWHIhqw_NjWZuAeEzFaZXsg8IdGHnmsneX3jzpb9RjnhpoNwQ

Peter Gelderloos, "The Solutions are Already Here"

https://www.permaculturenews.org/2017/11/15/the-mindset-of-monoculture/

https://www.unep.org/zh-hans/node/477

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0lCR6De8Mo

https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe40s/crops_03.html#:~:text=U.S.%20farmers%20responded%20and%20increased,year%20jump%20of%2077%20percent.

https://gro-intelligence.com/insights/soy-oil-s-share-of-us-crush-profits-rises-amid-increased-demand

https://www.channel.com/en-us/agronomy/nodulation-and-nitrogen-fixation-in-soybean.html#:~:text=What%20is%20Nitrogen%20Fixation%3F,produce%20a%20bushel%20of%20soybeans.&text=Anywhere%20from%2050%2D75%25%20of,usable%20by%20the%20soybean%20plant.

https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2022/06/03/usda-has-provided-700-million-restore-sustainable-fuel-markets-hit

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/farmers-are-facing-a-phosphorus-crisis-the-solution-starts-with-soil

https://artsandsciencereview.ocadu.ca/issue/2020-2021/unsettling-western-veganism