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Canada 5 years behind Europe when it comes to banning neonic insecticides
Canada 5 years behind Europe when it comes to banning neonic insecticides ‘Clear connection’ between DDT-like problems and neonics today, French researcher says Canada’s wait and see policy on neonicotinoids, the controversial insecticide often blamed for the widespread death of bees, is “where France was five years ago,” says a researcher with the French National […]
Back in time: Retracing the path to diversity
Back in time: Retracing the path to diversity Industrial bread production is based on speed, scale and uniformity. To supply this system, industrially grown grain is limited to a few, highly controlled varieties. But greater diversity would make grain crops more adaptable and therefore more sustainable in the long run. How are some plant breeders, […]
Monsanto Bites Back
Monsanto Bites Back Monsanto, the U.S. agribusiness giant that controls a quarter of the entire global seed market, could soon be even bigger and more powerful than it already is, following renewed speculation over its interest in Swiss agrichemicals firm Syngenta. The logic behind the deal is clear: Monsanto ranks as the world’s largest purveyor […]
Human manure: Closing the nutrient loop
Human manure: Closing the nutrient loop Using human urine and faeces as fertiliser may seem an unappetising concept but it’s been common practice for centuries. In the sewage systems of today, which deal with millions of tonnes of domestic waste and industrial effluent, this human fertiliser comes in the form of treatedsewage sludge. Promoting a […]
Soil Science Spelled It Out A Whole Century Ago
Soil Science Spelled It Out A Whole Century Ago An organic farm marketer brought me a strange book to read and I can’t get it out of my mind. It was written by Cyril Hopkins, an agronomist at the University of Illinois in 1911. Already a century ago, science had committed the wisdom of the ages […]
The Real Need for GMO and Industrial-Scale Food
The Real Need for GMO and Industrial-Scale Food I’d like to start off with a story about a woman I know who works full time, takes home a below-median income, and raises two kids in Silicon Valley. This woman also has an organic garden in her tiny back yard, partially for her own enjoyment, and […]
Food scarcity is fanning flames of ‘war on terror’
Food scarcity is fanning flames of ‘war on terror’ Every country experiencing civil unrest due to rising militant Islamist violence is facing resource shortages directly linked to food insecurity, according to new research by British scientists. Of the 17 countries identified as being most at risk of food riots, 14 are Muslim-majority countries, and at […]
The Cash Value of Home Gardens
The Cash Value of Home Gardens The ROI (return on investment) of a home garden can be $1,000 a year and $30/hour. The benefits of a vegetable garden extend beyond the food being grown and the superiority of that food in nutritional value and quality over agribusiness-grown vegetables. I listed some of these intangible benefits in The […]
Joel Salatin: How food can restore America’s integrity
Joel Salatin: How food can restore America’s integrity While I was in Australia in February, imported Chinese raspberries carrying Hepatitis A (from human sewage) hospitalized a dozen people and heightened interest in my seminars to a fever pitch. The news media and individuals fell over themselves trying to learn about local food systems and integrity […]
Global Soil Week: A catalyst for change
Global Soil Week: A catalyst for change As many of you already know, 2015 has been named the International Year of Soils by the UN, so never has there been a better time to get soil into the conversation. The question of ‘how do we make soil sexy?’ is something that has been troubling soil […]
The Law of the Land
The Law of the Land Land is—or should be—invaluable, perhaps even sacred. It is not only a place to live, but also a source for food, for water, for fuel, and for sustenance of almost every kind. Land management choices have profound impacts on our ecosystems and environment, and thus on our health, well-being and […]
Tossing and Turning: Our Disturbed Soils and Troubled Sleep
Tossing and Turning: Our Disturbed Soils and Troubled Sleep I’m sitting under a halogen light right now and staying up late to write about soil. That probably doesn’t sound ironic to you. I think it should. How I came to reflect on soil and sleep as functionally related and analogous in their processes is something […]
With Too Much of a Good Thing, Europe Tackles Excess Nitrogen
With Too Much of a Good Thing, Europe Tackles Excess Nitrogen In Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and other countries, European governments are beginning to push farmers, industry, and municipalities to cut back on fertilizers and other sources of nitrogen that are causing serious environmental harm. by christian schwagerl Only seconds after Claudia Wiedner drops the metallic […]
Permaculture: The Design Arm of a Paradigm Shift
Permaculture: The Design Arm of a Paradigm Shift Here’s how it happened to me: Back in 1990 I was playing hooky from my unsatisfying biotech job in Seattle by browsing the homesteading shelves in the public library. I pulled down a thick black book I hadn’t seen before calledPermaculture: A Designers’ Manual. As I perused […]
Making Every Drop Count
Making Every Drop Count Last week, Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order requiring urban centers to reduce their water consumption by 25%. With the driest winter on record and only a one-year supply of water stored in the state’s reservoirs, many are questioning whether the burden of conservation should fall so heavily on cities, when no […]
