On Jun 15, 1:05 pm, Bret Cahill aol.com> wrote:

Interesting point Bret.

Still, don't forget to factor in the energy that is expended in
processing, transporting, and cooking the food, along with the cost of
disposal of agricultural wastes and the remediation of insecticides
and fertilizer residues. (some which is paid for at government
expense).

Face it, transportation by any physical means is very enegy costly.
Clearly, and reduction of significance in energy consumption mandates
there be decreases in travel and transportation.

Perhaps it's time for a return to the days when I was a boy, where
people walked to the store, most food products were unprocessed and
fresh, and roughly even only 1/4 of the population even owned a car
and even fewer had ever traveled by air, gone on a cruise, and only
fired up the hot water heater when they were about to take a bath.
Then too, in those days there was no such thing a suburbia, no malls,
and most of us lived in small communities that were to a large extent
self-sufficient.

Oddly enough, I don't recall this presenting any particular hardships
to anyone. (I'm simply reflecting on the days near the end of WWII,
perhaps the period between 1944 and 1950s, which I recall as some of
the best years that our country has ever experienced. People today
under the age of 50 cannot relate to this time, and this a sadly a
loss for them.)

If you had some special occasion or an emergency, some neighbor would
load you his car. Similarly, allow you to use his telephone, since
then there were only two phones on your street.

Local merchants would roam the streets with horse drawn carts selling
produce and fresh fish. The fish was gutted in cleaned for you while
you would watch, as was demanded by the houswifes and mothers in those
times. The ice to cool your "ice boxes" was also supplied on a horse
drawn cart, afer being harvested in mid-winter from a nearby lake, and
kept cool and frozen thoughout the summer by the use of insulation
composed of sawdust and wood chips. Then too, in those days there was
a junkman, who also made his collections of household scrap using a
horse drawn cart.

One thing that everyhad in those days was a radio, which was primarily
needed to keep track of what was going on in the area beyone our local
community. Of course, there were no TV sets.

Gas sold then for about 25 or 26 cents a gallon, and even when I was
working while in highschool, kerosene (the fuel of choice for space
heaters) sold for 20-cents a gallon. Diesel fuel, around 18-cents/gal.

Local movie theatres shut down over most of the summer, because their
was no air-conditioning plus due to the fact that that was the Polio
time of year. (During those days we worried more about the risk of
Polio than sexually transmitted diseases. Every kid that grew up
during those years had generally lost some friend who died from
Polio.)

Primitive as it may sound to todays youngsters, that was the life of
the middle-class in most of America. Today, we have many more gagets,
that all eat energy, but there are few that serve a legitimate need.
The most essential member of the community in those days was not some
politician or rock star, but the local doctor, who then still made
house calls. (The doctor owned a car, the basis of early Packard Car
commercials...usually but not always a Packard.)

Bret, a return to those days would not impose any hardship at all to
us older guys, but the concept alone may horrify the younger readers.
Also, a return to those days would certainly elminate the fuel
crisis.

Harry C.