Food & Water

Ingredients of Transition: Strategic local infrastructure

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The infrastructure required for a more localised and resilient future, the energy systems, the mills, the food systems and the abbatoirs, has been largely ripped out over the past 50 years as oil made it cheaper to work on an ever-increasingly large scale, and their reinstallation will not arise by accident. They will need to be economically viable, supported by their local communities, owned and operated by people with the appropriate skills, and linked together.

Better than a food bank

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While The Stop is rooted in providing food to those who can’t afford it, it works on the premise that without food infrastructure, viable farms, civic engagement and personal empowerment, food banks are simply a stop-gap measure in the fight to eradicate hunger. The organization’s ability to harness a growing interest in local food has allowed them to not only boost their own programming, but also build local food infrastructure. The model is the envy of foodies and social activists alike, and a case study for municipalities in Ontario and beyond.

Food and agriculture – Dec 15

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-Kicking the habit: why gardeners need to ditch their addiction to oil
-Leaked document shows EPA allowed bee-toxic pesticide despite own scientists’ red flags
-Saving our Soils and How the Old Peach Tree was Brought Back to Life
-Want to See My ASPO Conference Talk About Food?
-Urban Farming, Community Resilience and the Death of the Motor Industry in Detroit (Video)
-Planning Charitable Gifts to Your Favorite Food Organizations? Double Your Impact by Donating Dirty Stocks

Two lessons in practical ecology

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Maybe it’s the approach of winter, or maybe it’s the spectacular fiscal irresponsibility at play in Washington DC, but the concept of storing food seems particularly relevant just now. Beyond the undeniable practical value of a full pantry, though, storing food offers two useful lessons in practical ecology — one about ecological limits, and the other about a strategy individuals, families and communities can use to prepare for our species’ impending collision with ecological limits.

Food: Tackling the oldest environmental problem: Agriculture and its impact on soil

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I want to talk about the 10,000-year-old problem of agriculture and how it is both necessary and possible to solve it. Were it necessary but not possible this idea would be grandiose, and were it possible but not necessary it would be grandiose. But it has passed the test of grandiosity.

An agriculture that stands a chance: perennial polyculture & the hard limits of post-carbon farming

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An alternative agricultural model based on polycultures of perennial crops will likely be more than just a ‘good idea’ in the coming post-carbon era – it’ll be a damn NECESSITY. So grab your shovels, America — it’s time to begin the transition to an agriculture that stands a chance.

Transition and solutions – Dec 10

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– Glenn Beck embraces simplicity (for real!)
– 21 Holiday Gift Ideas for the Permaculture and Guerrilla Gardening Activists in Your Life
– NYT: The Beekeeper Next Door
– The UK Crash Course… now online and available free to all UK Transition initiatives…
– Why not eat insects? (video) – new!