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Tag Archives: agriculture
Food Not Lawns!
Food Not Lawns! The mission of Food Not Lawns is just what you’d think from its title—grow gardens instead of a useless beds of monocropped grass. The organization is actually about much more than that though. Perhaps most importantly, it’s about having communities come together with a common purpose to transform wasted lawn space into a productive food […]
California drought to squeeze produce prices, but so will other factors
California drought to squeeze produce prices, but so will other factors Price of lettuce has gone up 40 cents, but some of that is due to low Canadian dollar Drought may have gripped California’s agricultural heartland for a fourth consecutive year, but it’s not the only factor putting pressure on imported produce prices at the […]
The Silver Lining in the California Drought
The Silver Lining in the California Drought Denial, it’s been said, is not just a river in Egypt. It runs, of course, through each of us. But Californians have displayed quite a dose of it as a record-breaking drought rolls through its fourth year. It was just last week, propelled by the lowest snowpack in the Sierra […]
How Many People Will Have To Migrate Out Of California When All The Water Disappears?
How Many People Will Have To Migrate Out Of California When All The Water Disappears? The drought in California is getting a lot worse. As you read this, snowpack levels in the Sierra Nevada mountains are the lowest that have ever been recorded. That means that there won’t be much water for California farmers and California […]
WHAT DO YOU FEED YOUR FOOD?
WHAT DO YOU FEED YOUR FOOD? Often we focus on what animals such as cows or chickens were fed prior to becoming our dinner meat or producing milk and eggs. But how often do we question what plants were fed before we consumed them? For those of us growing our own produce or acquiring locally […]
With ten billion coming, sustainable is not enough
With ten billion coming, sustainable is not enough Stephen Emmott is a chief techno-wizard at Microsoft Research in Cambridge, England. His brilliant young scientists are doing research in complex natural systems. Their objective is to invent miracles. They want to program ordinary cells to perform photosynthesis, so we can produce food from sunlight, without plows and seeds. […]
As Himalayan Glaciers Melt, Two Towns Face the Fallout
As Himalayan Glaciers Melt, Two Towns Face the Fallout Recently, Buddhists at a nunnery in Zanskar Valley, a 30-mile-long alley of gray stone high in the Himalayas of northwest India, took the unprecedented step of planting an apricot tree. The valley is known as a “cold desert,” because just half an inch of rain falls a […]
SOLVING CRIME AND INEQUALITY, WITH A SEED
SOLVING CRIME AND INEQUALITY, WITH A SEED A sense of community itself goes a long way towards building the kind of trust and equality necessary for safer and more just communities. [1] Indeed, many of today’s social improvement programs, from arts to sports, to jobs, housing and political forums, are choosing to base their efforts […]
Food democracy South and North: from food sovereignty to transition initiatives
Food democracy South and North: from food sovereignty to transition initiatives When the idea of food sovereignty emerged twenty years ago, from the mobilisation of campesinos in Costa Rica and from the protest marches of small farmers in the Indian state of Karnataka, it had one important lesson to teach us: policies in the areas of food […]
How agriculture grew on us
How agriculture grew on us The Neolithic revolution was neither Neolithic, nor a revolution. — Colin Tudge Human beings of the race that calls itself Homo sapiens lived in relative equality, in small foraging bands all its existence from the time they emerged about 200,000 years ago. Then, around 30,000 years ago, during a bit more clement […]
Perennial Rice: In Search of a Greener, Hardier Staple Crop
Perennial Rice: In Search of a Greener, Hardier Staple Crop Ten thousand years ago, China’s ancient inhabitants harvested the grains of wild rice, a perennial grass growing up to 15 feet tall in bogs and streams. The grains were small and red, maturing in waves and often shattering into the water. Their descendants transformed that grain […]
Do Warmer Winters Mean Less Fruit?
Do Warmer Winters Mean Less Fruit? Californians have been enjoying summer weather in the dead of winter, but the downside is that unseasonably warm temperatures could threaten many of our favorite foods. The state experienced its warmest winter on record last year, and according to current reports, this year could shape up to be another record breaker, compounded […]
Polish Farmers Blockade Motorways Across Country
Polish Farmers Blockade Motorways Across Country This week thousands of Polish family farmers from the Solidarity trade union turned out to protest in over 50 locations across the country. Over 150 tractors have been blockading the A2 motorway into Warsaw since the 3rd February and hundreds more have closed roads and are picketing governmental offices […]
Lessons from a California drought
Lessons from a California drought Rain finally arrived in California this past December with a series of storms dumping deluges across the state. So much rain fell that localised flooding and landslides were a concern. Whether this means that the three-year drought, which stands to be the driest “in over a millennium” is breaking, however, is […]
The state of our soil
The state of our soil Jointly published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and theInstitute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, the Soil Atlashighlights the current state of our soils and the ways in which we are draining this precious resource: “We are using the world’s soils as if they were inexhaustible, continually withdrawing from an account, but never paying in.” […]
