Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
A sure way to tell the direction you should take in garden farming is to watch the trend in commercial farming and then do the opposite. Commercial farming has de-emphasized — and all but ignored in the corn belt — pasture and tree crop farming because these types of agriculture lack the ability to return quick and high-gross profits.
We need to be prepared for the worst when it comes to peak oil, insists Zachary Nowak.
In a world where fertile soil is an endangered resource, millions of acres of our nation’s best agricultural soil are covered with ornamental shrubs and lawns. Soil can be brought into production for agriculture only at great economic and environmental cost. Why do we allow so much of what we have to remain unproductive?
Scientists warn of lack of phosphorus as biofuels raise demand
Fertiliser shortage hits India’s farms
Food for thought
Energy farm experiment in Kentucky
Six Degrees, but no PhD (science writing by non-scientists)
Environmental stories you can localize: climate change, food crisis, water pollution
The Internet and its discontents
Energy Kid’s Page from the EIA
Homeowners who seriously seek to provide some of their own food, and perhaps some of their clothing, tools, and shelter too, must first learn to view their enterprises within the proper economic framework, or perhaps I should say the proper noneconomic framework.
You probably heard of peak oil – the idea that global petroleum supplies are about to, or have, passed their peak. But have you ever heard of peak phosphorus? Probably not, but it’s something you’ll hear alot more about in years to come because when the earth’s phosphorus supplies run out, so too will food. It sounds like a doomsday scenario, but my guest today believes deposits of phosphorus could be depleted this century.
Many people, deep in their hearts, think that ecological disasters apply mostly to other people. But, of course, as Midwesterners are finding out right now, that’s not true.
Raj Patel: Is meat off the menu?
Yes, we will have no bananas
Midocean trawlers mine world’s seamounts
How to feed a growing planet
Australia: Farmers swap trucks for horses
Walking: still better than driving
CERA: Americans finally react to sting of gas prices
Airline lobby starts its own “Energy Bulletin”
Can religion help prevent eco-catastrophe? Orthodox Church leader thinks so
Why I love diggers and earthmovers
The geography of green consumerism
Where we ought to be: revisiting Total Loss Farm
Bellingham energy task force seeks volunteers
Our diet of destruction
The peaceful revolution in farmers’ markets
Food revolution that starts with rice
Ethiopia pleads for £167m aid after crops fail
Farming with far fewer fossil fuels – learn at Tillers International
