The hows, wheres, & whys of eating locally
The benefits of eating local, seasonal, organic food; where to find local food sources; and what to do if you don’t have a local food resource in your area.
Food & Water
What’s organic farmland worth? Or is it a pearl without price?
I and many thousands of small farmers are the village idiots of agriculture. We farm because we like to make little paradises out of our land while growing good food on it. What we make as a return on investment in money doesn’t matter as crucially as it does for the dime-takers. We often choose the nickel because we have learned that taking the dime means servitude to commodity markets and agribusiness giants over which we have no control.
Why we can’t pump faster
Can we actually pump faster? Upping the extraction rate under a limited supply makes the downslope that much more pronounced (the Gompertz curve). First, the good news: oil production does not follow the Gompertz curve as of yet and we may not ever reach that potential given the relative difficulty of extracting oil at high rates. The fact that we have such a high dispersion in oil discoveries also means that the decline becomes mitigated by new discoveries. As for the bad news: easily extractable phosphate may have hit The Overshoot Point (TOP). And we have no new conventional sources. And phosphate essentially feeds the world.
Food & agriculture – Oct 22
The Garden of Eatin’: A Short History of America’s Garden (YouTube)
Sulfur critical for phosphorus fertilizer
Organic farming ‘could feed Africa’
Deep Thought – Oct 22
Monbiot: We must start thinking in centuries
Crunch may put price tag on environment
Reuters summit-Economic woes may give planet a breather
Food & agriculture – Oct 21
Oregon farmers are loving biosolids
(Re)discovering (s)oil
Agriculture: Unsustainable Resource Depletion Began 10,000 Years Ago
Agriculture & biofuels – Oct 18
China land reform disappears from radar
Plant-based fuel makers face tough test
Protesters disrupt European biofuels summit
Food & agriculture – Oct 17
Organic Agriculture Is Better Than Industrial Agriculture
Food: does diversity matter? (audio)
Iceland can avoid shortages, needs funds-importers
Food crisis billions failing to arrive, warn reports
A food crisis is heading our way
ODAC Newsletter – Oct 17
A digest of news and commentary from a UK peak oil perspective
Protecting our families and future in a time of crisis
Carolyn Baker reviews Sharon Astyk’s Depletion And Abundance
“When I realized that everything was going to change, I was at first afraid. Because I thought, if my government or public policy or other choices weren’t going to fix everything, what could I possibly do? What hope was there, if I had to take care of myself, if my community had to take care of itself?”
Food & agriculture – Oct 15
Farmer in Chief
Record numbers of people are looking for food
Marijuana cartels polluting California
Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming
Is global warming really the ‘best thing that has happened to the culinary world in a long time’ as chef Laura Stec suggests? The discovery that our food choices can reduce global warming as effectively as buying a new fuel-efficient vehicle inspires new strategies towards creating a more sustainable world. What we eat does have an impact on our planet and you can eat better tasting, higher-vibe food and find solutions for the global warming diet through Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming. (Excerpts)
