The development of human civilization to its current state has required an efficient method of acquiring food. The development of modern agriculture has led to an amazing set of methods and technologies for managing ecosystems in order to produce a stable supply of food for humans. The domestication of animals and plant species has enabled humans to concentrate their energies on activities apart from the quest for food necessary for survival. The sophistication of the food production system has evolved to a point where the natural processes of the ecosystem have become irrelevant because of the ability to override these processes. Examples include the application of chemistry to reduce weeds and pests, the application of genetics to shorten plant and animal generation times and the use of supplemental water to substitute for precipitation in arid regions. Artificial housing for plants and animals has enabled systems of concentration of domestic organisms, providing efficiencies in production and delivery to human population centers. These developments have come at a cost to the Biosphere and these costs have yet to be fully anticipated. One of the benefits to humans is that high-technology agriculture has enabled human populations to rise above the carrying capacity of many of the ecosystems within which they dwell.
The vision for this project on the role of domestic birds in small farm systems was to rethink the way in which we have separated animal and plant systems over the years on behalf of increased economic efficiency rather than concern ourselves with attempting to sustain a degree of biological efficiency. This mismanagement of an important contribution to the biosphere has led to significant pollution problems associated with beef feedlots, hog and chicken hotels and other units of intense animal and monocultural systems. In addition, the need to increase use of animal medicines and plant management chemicals to reduce disease potential is leading the new thinking about human health associated with our food systems. This project is seen as a small step toward considering how the reintegration of plants and animals could, indeed be beneficial to the environment and to the humans who enjoy observing biology on their landscapes.