ABSTRACT
In this chapter I survey the creative inspiration and progress thus far in developing a natural-systems form of agriculture. I begin that account by explaining the work of Wes Jackson and others in exploring a different path – one not taken by the earliest farmers in urging ever-increasing seed-grain production from grasses. Second, I emphasize why this new path was, as a practical matter, unavailable to those earliest farmers and therefore what a novel opportunity humans have today to create a fundamentally different form of agriculture, one that takes the native ecosystems (especially native grasslands) as their model. I next explain what is meant by taking the “native ecosystems” as a model for creating a new kind of agriculture, and then I provide (i) a “status report” on the results of the intense research already conducted toward developing a radically different form of agriculture and (ii) a synopsis of what ecological benefits will accrue from such a transformation. Then, in closing this chapter, I explain how some key insights found in the Iliad, and especially in the key concepts of mênis, kleos, and aristeia, can guide our efforts to engage in such agricultural reform.
