Editing Permaculture (section)

===Definition===

The broad range of topics discussed in permaculture has led to criticism that permaculture is not clearly defined. Peter Harper from the [[Centre for Alternative Technology]] has lamented that, "for some people 'Permaculture' is a generic term for sustainable living, giving another whole set of shifting, fuzzy meanings".<ref name= "Harper Big Rock">{{cite journal |last1=Harper |first1=Peter |title=Permaculture: The Big Rock Candy Mountain |journal=The Land |date=Summer 2013 |issue=14 |url=https://www.thelandmagazine.org.uk/articles/permaculture-big-rock-candy-mountain |access-date=2 December 2024 |publisher=[[The Land is Ours]]}}</ref> Even permaculture texts have expressed that "there are as many permaculture definitions as there are permaculturists", although this is also seen as a strength of the flexibility of permaculture principles.<ref name="Macnamara">{{cite book |last1=Macnamara |first1=Looby |title=People & Permaculture |date=2012 |publisher=Permanent Publications |isbn=978 1 85623 087 2 |page=1}}</ref>

Studies of permaculture farms have shown a diversity as well as a number of consistent features. A 2017 study of 36 self-described American permaculture farms found a variety of business strategies, including small [[mixed farm]]s, integrated producers of perennial and animal crops, mixes of production and services, livestock, and service-based businesses.<ref name="Ferguson Lovell 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Ferguson |first1=Rafter Sass |last2=Lovell |first2=Sarah Taylor |title=Livelihoods and production diversity on U.S. permaculture farms |journal=Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems |publisher=Informa UK |volume=41 |issue=6 |date=2 May 2017 |issn=2168-3565 |doi=10.1080/21683565.2017.1320349 |pages=588–613 |bibcode=2017AgSFS..41..588F |s2cid=157437298 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rafter-Ferguson/publication/316639793_Livelihoods_and_Production_Diversity_on_US_Permaculture_Farms/links/5b48c56eaca272c6093f5a31/Livelihoods-and-Production-Diversity-on-US-Permaculture-Farms.pdf<!--NOT redundant to DOI-->}}</ref> A 2019 study by Hirschfeld and Van Acker found that adopting permaculture consistently encouraged cultivation of perennials, crop diversity, [[Spatial heterogeneity|landscape heterogeneity]], and nature conservation. They found that grass-roots adopters were "remarkably consistent" in their implementation of permaculture, leading them to conclude that the movement could exert influence over positive agroecological transitions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hirschfeld |first1=Sarah |last2=Acker |first2=Rene Van |date=June 2020 |title=Permaculture farmers consistently cultivate perennials, crop diversity, landscape heterogeneity and nature conservation |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/renewable-agriculture-and-food-systems/article/abs/permaculture-farmers-consistently-cultivate-perennials-crop-diversity-landscape-heterogeneity-and-nature-conservation/ED6AA225064583F39E26E6A754BD138F |journal=Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=342–351 |doi=10.1017/S1742170519000012 |issn=1742-1705|url-access=subscription }}</ref>