Food & Water

Tracking U.S. farmers’ supply of nitrogen fertilizer

by

We burn through more of it per capita than any other country; and our appetite for it can only be sated with massive imports. No, not oil–I’m talking about nitrogen fertilizer. With only 5 percent of the world population, the U.S. consumes nearly 12 percent of the globe’s annual synthetic nitrogen fertilizer production. And we’re producing less and less of it at home–meaning that, as with petroleum, we’re increasingly dependent on other nations for this key crop nutrient.

Food & agriculture – Feb 12

by

-Children ‘believe sheep lay eggs’
-Red wigglers could be the new black gold
-The GM tomato that stays fresh for SIX WEEKS – but would you want to eat it?
-India bans planting of first GM food crop
-Another Assault on the SOLE Food Movement
-Legislation intended to help orchard companies
-Demand for food “staggering”

Deconstructing Dinner – Speerville Flour MIll

by

The Speerville Flour Mill is a locally-owned and operated business in New Brunswick that has for over 25 years been supplying the Atlantic Provinces of Canada with local, organically grown grains and foods. The mill supports dozens of organic grain farmers in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. One of those farmers is Andrew Kernohan of Parrsboro, Nova Scotia. In September 2009, Deconstructing Dinner visited Speerville and Andrew’s farm while touring throughout the provinces.

The dark side of nitrogen

by

Modern agriculture — and, consequently, present-day human society — depends on the widespread availability of cheap nitrogen fertilizer, the ingredient that makes our high-yielding food system possible. But the industrialization of this synthetic nitrogen fertilizer has come with costs.

Hen Song

by

For many years I could not understand why the sound of singing hens soothed me so much. Hen song is hardly melodic, being composed of two or three notes at most. It is plaintive in fact, a far cry from the bubbling warble of a bluebird or the soaring lilt of a meadowlark. Hen song is plainsong, equivalent to the way any of us might hum our way through the humble chores of daily life.

In Defense of Food (audio)

by

According to In Defense of Food author Michael Pollan, “…the advent of “nutritionism” has vastly complicated how Americans see food, without doing very much for our health. Nutritionism arose to deal with genuine issues – addressing chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and many cancers – but now seems to be obscuring and perpetuating the real problems of the American diet”, says Pollan. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California on January 27, 2010.