Large wide open tractorized fields with no trees or natural growth is like an open wound that is constantly being scratched and the bulk harvested crops are what clots in between scratchings. Land with trees and other natural plant formations are like skin that is allowed to grow in a healthy manner.
When land is allowed to grow in a natural fashion with crops grown in smaller, disjointed sectors, the sum total of the area's life is dependent on the diversity of the life living there. The more complete it is, the more diversity in life there is at all levels, from dirt formation to wild plants and animals that show up. The best properties have everything from predators on down to the smallest insects. This also increases the biological activity of the soil in a very positive manner. Without a balanced predator scenario the wild life creates dysfunctional populations which in turn create dysfunctional plant populations, which can in turn, affect tree populations.
The point about bird populations being permanently and rapidly affected by natural land being converted into an artificial environment composed of monocultural products is a good reason to take a second look at just exactly how harmful wild cats can be to local bird populations. Having a cat population in a functioning environment versus having a cat population on an island, natural or man made where the birds have no other places to go is two different situations. People can distort the land to such degrees that birds are marooned to unnatural islands surrounded by land. By destroying the original diversity, then repopulating with whatever people see fit, all the while completely upsetting the wild bird populations, then turning on the cats and saying it's their fault the birds are gone for driving bulldozers, clear cutting the land down to the subsoil, and filling everything to the gills with any kind of pesticide or insecticide, is hardly logical.
Financial concerns are what usually changes things. The problem of lose plastic debris blowing around everywhere has become impossible to hide so it has made the beginning transition away from plastic able to get a foot hold. Paper straws cost ten times what a plastic straw costs. Paper bags are also expensive but it is getting easier for people to bring their own bags. Its based on the well known idea of bringing your own bottle, so it is hardly a new concept.
The change from animal meat to plant based proteins is not an easy street to travel. The synthetic meat business is growing by leaps and bounds. It has two paths, one of growing or fermenting an artificial protein mixture in a vat, the other is by processing natural plant products into meat substitute products. Using natural plants could alleviate the land grazing by enormous animal populations, but could also make even more land subject to the harshness of monoculture farming.
The debacle of the pursuit of green oil has not been addressed except by trying to forget about it and at the same time quietly trying to find another source of clean oil. Soylent Green had an interesting transition from algae to people, but more likely it will be garbage that gets transformed into edible food. Its probably not that far a step from using petroleum products to create meat or food substitutes, but using garbage would be so much easier and would solve the problem of what to do with all the garbage we create. If you go back far enough in time, everything was recycled back into the food circles as soon as it hit the ground. Many people have no choice where there food comes from. Where the food comes from can all too easily become what the food comes from.
