Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Unless you suffer from an overactive bladder as many of us do, you may find this essay a bit on the crude side. But nevermind, you will get there too eventually unless you are lucky. In terms of overactive bladders, there is an advantage to living on a farm that rarely gets mentioned, even though the “fall out” from it is quite significant for society at large. Farms provide owners with a private place far from any bathroom where they can relieve themselves.
-Urban Farming Takes Hold in NYC
-The Potential for Urban Agriculture in New York City [report]
-Sydney is buying back the farms at last
-Breaking through the myths: New book seeks to redefine urban farming [interview with authors]
-Urban ag before it was hip
-New urban farming structure breaks ground
The local food movement is one of the great trends to hit the country over the past decade as more people head for farmers markets, join community-supported agriculture groups (CSA) and cooperatives, shop at farm stands and U-picks, sponsor farm-to-school programs and demand local food in their neighborhood grocery stores, school and restaurants. What isn’t widely known is that the federal government, some big corporations and a variety of non-profit and small business organizations are stepping up to encourage the growth and viability of a local food system in order to give people of all income levels access to local food that is healthier, safer and fresher.
As declining energy sources become more evident and food emergencies become more commonplace, governments will be looking to universities to find BIG solutions. Along with the hope of BIG solutions comes BIG money.
Permaculture may soon be looked upon as a potential big solution. So as we stand today on the threshold of increasing interest in permaculture, let us take a moment to discuss the potential pitfalls that come with the big money.
-Is Agriculture Sucking Fresh Water Dry?
-The water footprint of humanity [report]
-UAE bans export of groundwater
-Permission granted for Britain’s first amphibious house on banks of Thames
Call me nerdy, but I think planning and zoning is fascinating. Give me a project proposal or zoning code, and I gladly immerse myself in land use regulations, zoning jargon and mapping. So when the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Mayor’s office held a kickoff and visioning meeting to rezone Boston for urban agriculture on Monday night, I was sitting front row, pencil in hand!
Outrageous, snarky, “madly engaging,” bileful—these are a few of the terms that have been used to describe author and social critic James Howard Kunstler. But he’s actually a great deal more than these things, as anyone who’s really come to know him, even if only through his books and Internet postings, can tell you. His most personal writings reveal a human, vulnerable, wonderfully versatile, cheerful side that few people know exists.
Even if we buy certified organic or fair trade marked products it is still very hard to avoid long and large retail chains which contribute to the pressure to industrialise and exploit human and non-human alike somewhere along the line.
How can we combine local, fair or ethical, and organic together in a way that at least has half a chance of caring more for human and non-human alike?
Connecting food to the local economy can provide more people with greater access to local foods.
Making it happen is another story since the necessary infrastructure was gradually dismantled over the past 70 years in favor of a national/global food system that promises low prices, year-round accessibility of products and convenience.
Korean artist Jihyun Ryou, a graduate of the Dutch Design Academy Eindhoven, translates traditional knowledge on food storage into contemporary design. She found the inspiration for her wall-mounted storage units while listening to the advice of her grandmother, a former apple grower, and other elderly. Her mission: storing food outside the refrigerator.
For nearly four decades, industrial hemp advocates have extolled the virtues of hemp (cannabis sativa, variety sativa), a plant whose cultivation is still banned in the US, thanks to its scandalous distant cousin, cannabis sativa, variety indica. The latter is the source of the illicit drug marijuana. The former produces good quality fiber and has a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC – the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) concentration of 1% or less. The latter produces negligible usable fiber and has a THC concentration of 4-20%.
So why can’t we legalise hemp in America?
‘The Impact of Community Supported Agriculture’– has found that CSA schemes are providing multiple benefits to thousands of members, their communities, local economies and the environment. CSA offers an innovative approach to reconnecting people with their food, and helps to build strong partnerships between communities and farmers.
