I was on the phone this morning with an old friend from the music biz.

I was trying to find out what rumours he had heard about a particular company that I am doing some research on, and also trying to find out whether my friend would be interested in getting involved in the company if the opportunity presented itself...

He told me that he wasn't particularly excited by the music business anymore. He is investigating getting involved in organic farming instead... which is actually pretty reasonable. After all most of the people who were successful entrepreneurs in the music business didn't just have good ears. They were prescient about how culture works.

And my friend is no exception. He signed some pretty big acts over the years - both in the UK and in Australia. His real talent was understanding what the public was going to do next, but about 18 - 24 months before they decided to do it.

And when you think about it, in a $200 a barrel-of-oil-world there are going to have to be some big changes to the way we live.

It may be imperceptible to many, but the signal are all there for us to read: This morning in the Sydney Morning Herald hidden in plane view in the story about "rail cheats" was the following quote: "However, with soaring patronage on the rail and bus networks, the Government is under pressure to solve the ticketing problems that have plagued the network for decades."

Why do you think there is soaring patronage? Easy, because of the increased fuel prices. You don't have to be Einstein to figure that out. And this is just the beginning. As oil prices continue to rise, people will be moving out of the car and into the train/bus. And when they get there, they are going to find that the systems are broken. And meanwhile the NSW government is still going to be deliberating over how to spend another billion on improving a road system....

But back to organics. The other thing that is going to happen is declining availability of food and increasing price.

The only solution is going to be "to eat local".

That will mean not just eating foods that are grown nearby, but eating produce that is in season. We are going to have to relearn what dishes to eat in the various seasons. Restaurants and grocery stores that get this will be able to clean up. The opportunity is in making a necessity of life into something that is cool, something that is good for the planet, and something that tastes good. And real food that is from the right season really does taste better too!