Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Over the last decade, there has been a heated discussion about the possibility to sequester carbon in agriculture soils. I believe that nobody claims that it is impossible but there is huge disagreement about how much and for how long this can take place.
The network’s central focus is to build and strengthen connections among a diverse web of social actors, including government agencies, Tribal Nations, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, botanic gardens, farmers, private companies, citizen groups and academic institutions.
As dams come down on the Skutik River, the once-demonized alewife—a fish beloved by the Passamaquoddy—gets a second chance at life.
There are many reasons why we might expect that agri-industrial AI will lead to more biodiversity loss, more food insecurity, more socio-economic inequality, more climate vulnerability. To the extent that AI in agriculture bears fruit, many of these fruits are likely to be bitter.
The last thing society needs to address systemic failures of the food system is rollback in commitments to socio-ecological transition, or a turn towards politics built on exclusion and oppression, which seems to be what is offered following farmers’ protests.
The biggest value of the native farm breeds is about relationship between humans, the agroecosystem, the culture and the local natural world that we are part of. They also root us in history; our ancestors speak to us through them. We should listen.
A small farm future out of practical necessity, then, but also one evincing positive cultural possibilities. But practical necessity is the critical driver.
Will we finally pick up a shovel and create conditions on our properties, neighborhoods, towns, and villages so that not a drop of rainwater is lost without use? It is a vibrant and enthusiastic call; we can only seriously consider the question of rainwater retention or recovery.
So next time you pour maple syrup onto your pancakes, into your coffee or tea, or perhaps make this delicious pudding, take a moment to think about the lifecycle of the maple.
I think the only way out of this predicament is to place farming and food production at the center and heart of the debate about the future of society – few people can dispute that food is the most essential production there is.
Using an app developed by Inuit in Nunavut, Indigenous communities from Alaska to Greenland are harnessing data to make their own decisions.
So I am being traditional. I am learning what our ancestors knew. I am trying to fit my life within the natural flows of material and energy in my homeland. I am fasting in the spring…
