Peak oil

Part of the reason I've missed a few days of blogging recently is that I've been reading about some other issues, namely looming economic crises (take your pick), and peak oil (which is enough to give a person high blood pressure). I had some thoughts about homeschooling while I was reading about this kind of stuff.

For one thing, I thought about the giant new high school "campus" in our district. The school buildings are set back so far from the road that even if you lived across the street, you'd have a half mile walk to school. But no one does live across the street, because the school campus is on the edge of town in an industrial / commercial area. Every student who attends the new school will get there by car or bus.

Given that we have now, it appears, hit peak oil, my question is: has the school district factored in costs due to the inexorable rise in gas prices? (I am certain the answer is no.) Are school districts nationwide, who have invested in these far-flung "campus" schools, prepared for gas prices of $5/gallon? $10/gallon? Because that's not 20 years away... it's more like 5. I imagine they will abandon bussing and demand that parents deliver their children to school themselves, which will be no small cost. We'll have quite a few more homeschooling families when that happens.

Secondly, I've noticed that many homeschoolers have vegetable gardens. I'm probably aware of this because I, myself, detest gardening. (About a year ago I was at the dentist, and I realized that it is literally true that I would rather have my teeth filled than weed.) I'm going to have to change my attitude somehow, because food prices are about to go way up. In the United States, the average distance a piece of food travels before reaching our homes is 1,500 miles. I ask you, what is going to happen to food prices when the cost of gasoline quadruples? Not to mention that pesticides come from oil, and fertilizer comes from natural gas (which is also at its peak production), or that agribusiness irrigation systems and harvesting machinery are entirely dependent on fossil fuels. Are we ready for $7/pound tomatoes and $10 for a dozen eggs?

Yes folks, it's time to plow up the lawn and buy some chickens....

Seriously, though, I think many homeschooling families have an advantage here. We have the time to teach our children to plant, weed, water, harvest, and cook. This will be useful when we all have Victory gardens (only this time it will be victory over fossil fuel dependency). Homeschoolers can acquire and/or pass along more practical knowledge with our kids learning at home.

Reading about the post-oil world is enough to give a person heart palpitations, but at least we will have the flexibility to prepare for a very different future way of life, as need arises. And the kids can help us milk those cows.