[wcchandler]

One of the problems I want to solve during my lifetime is sustainable organic agriculture that anybody can grow in their backyards and basements. We’re so disconnected from the costs of poor health and nutrition that nobody seems interested in throwing gobs of money at the problem. Yet. Glad these studies reveal what is already assumed.

[antisthenes]

It's a already solved. It's called the farming industry.

All these small permaculture farms neglect to mention that it's way more labor intensive to maintain than regular farming (the one with big tractors and pesticides). Farming is hard physical work - so if you are in poor health, then what? Just starve, I guess.

Try this next year as an experiment - grow 25% of your yearly calories worth of potatoes. Doesn't even have to include your family (if you have one). Just for 1 adult person. See how "sustainable" that is for you in terms of labor.

Also not sure what this has to do with tire microplastic pollution. The 2 are kind of orthogonal.

[wcchandler]

Traditional farming should be for non-human ingestion. There’s too much “bad” in it through normal conventions. And this isn’t even talking about our dependence on fertilizers and the growing threat of a next dust bowl.

It is labor intensive but not that much. When I tried before the pandemic the routine was very dialed in and mostly starting the seed then harvest. Using targeted water and feeding schedules, it was mostly set it and forget it with ample excess.

Finally, the more control we have of the process and the inputs, the ability we will have to eliminate microplastics from the end product. Specifically, my butter and romaine lettuce growing hydroponically in my basement would not have shown traces of microplastics. If it did, I would’ve quickly altered the necessary piece of the puzzle.

[spinach]

But if part of the problem is simply tire particles in the air and rain, a backyard garden will have the same problem.

[wcchandler]

We already use shade clothes for certain times of the year and plants. It’s foreseeable to use mesh screens to filter the air if that’s necessary. Although more likely to have a closed greenhouse using filtered air to control for other pests and pathogens. Rain would be similar. Cistern capture and filter before applying. You’d also use that to add fertilizer for targeted feeding.