Food & Water

Agroinnovations #110: Mixed, low-input smallholder systems

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On this episode of the podcast we are joined by Dr. Blair Orr. Dr. Orr is the director of the Master’s International Program at Michigan Technological University, and has worked for several decades in the areas of agroforestry, forest economics, and small holder tropical systems. We discuss the MI Program at MTU, changes and patterns in Third World agriculture, land tenure, low input mixed systems, increasing connectivity and migration in developing countries, the future of Haiti, and strategies for promoting development in tropical agriculture.

Food & agriculture – Nov 7

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– 6 casualties of the world food crisis (cabbage in Korea, garlic in China, corn in the US…)
– Shutdown of two small cheesemakers raises doubts about food-safety legislation
– Global food crisis forecast as prices reach record highs
– Podcast on food security
– Interview with Vandana Shiva
– Food Security for Europe (online publication)

A world made by hand needn’t wait

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People who have caught on to the magnitude of the changes humanity faces in coming years typically describe their process of reaction as “preparation.” That is an adequate word, but incomplete, because it implies only a future focus. Preparation always looks forward, even when it takes appropriate action in the present. The danger in that is it can lead to a life that is forever deferred, waiting for a signal from some external source that it’s time to actually have what you have prepared yourself for.

Ingredients of Transition: Ensuring land access

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Promoting the idea of local food production and the rollout of urban agriculture, whether in the form of market gardens, allotments or back gardening, will clearly struggle if no land is made available to make it possible. Many settlements, even if they are built to a high density, will have both land within them that could be used, and also land around them. Ensuring secure access to this land will be vital.

In war-scarred landscape, Vietnam replants its forests

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With large swaths of forest destroyed by wartime defoliants, and even larger areas lost to post-war logging, Vietnam has set an ambitious goal for regenerating its woodlands. But proponents of reintroducing native tree species face resistance from a timber industry that favors fast-growing exotics like acacia.

My kids eat snails

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It is not so important to me that my kids can explain the significance of a locavore diet at their age. But I do want them to know what food is supposed to taste like when it is a product of a healthy ecosystem. I want them to experience what their bodies feel like when they are nourished in a way that is in harmony with the Earth.

The Best and Worst Smells On A Farm

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Pat Leuchtman brought up an interesting subject when she reviewed my book, “Holy Shit,” on www.commonweeder.com. She reminisced about her early experiences on the farm and how much she liked the smell of cow manure in the barn when she was a child. Lots of us agree with Pat but it has been awhile since I’ve heard anyone praise the smell of manure right out loud.

Observations on local governments’ preparedness for fuel supply disruptions

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In the wake of the oil supply shocks of the 1970s, the U.S. DOT encouraged the development of regional transportation energy contingency plans. But by the early 1980s, regional and local governments stopped developing transportation energy contingency plans as the threat of fuel supply disruptions diminished, as funding and support for the development of these plans discontinued, and as other more pressing issues emerged. Nearly 30 years later, there are warnings that we are again at risk for potential fuel shortages.