Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
When Trump and the Brexiteers fail to deliver on their promises, as they surely will, a political moment might arise when (perhaps helped with a wave of the wand) there’s a chance to install a left-wing, agrarian-oriented, internationalist form of populism.
For true cost accounting to work, we must share knowledge and data, and adopt a more systemic way of thinking.
My worst imaginings are for uncertainties for which you can’t model an outcome.
Old McDonald of E-I-E-I-O fame would feel right at home on Essex Farm, a 600-acre spread in the Adirondacks where the future of American agriculture is being radically reconceived.
I believe that is one of the things we’ve all learned since 1986. Neo-liberal governments have shut down action much more than they have shut down research and policy, and that’s one of the reasons why peaceful guerilla methods need to be explored.
There can only be one topic for a blog post today, as a great country stands poised to make a momentous decision with potentially global repercussions… I refer, of course, to the Peasants’ Republic of Wessex…
Such is the recipe for our farming decisions: pragmatic optimism, seasoned with conservative management of resources; ample hard work; choices made based on what is possible. Ah, that our political leaders adhered to the same.
How far back in your family history do you have to go to find someone who made a living working the land?
Hillary Clinton’s likely pick for Secretary of Agriculture will be a disaster in many ways for any and all efforts to revamp our approach to agriculture at any level except the industrial, high input model with all of its attendant problems.
The Sustainable Food Trust has recently backed a new campaign to halve food waste in Europe. Martin Bowman, campaigner for This Is Rubbish talks more about how you can get involved.
More and more of us are re-discovering what our grandparents knew: that there is a certain value in being able to provide and preserve some things for yourself, with simple ingredients, while spending a lot less money and having a lot more fun.
Corporate interest-driven trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are undermining the very principles of government by the people, and if approved, would continue to reverse hard-won progress for environmental integrity, social justice and economic development. It doesn’t have to be that way.
