Biofuels – Sept 16
Toxic jatropha not magic biofuel crop
The biofuel backlash
Farmers tout alfalfa as fuel
Food & Water
Exploring options, spotlight on “Earthwise”
Interview with Lisa McCrory and Carl Russell in rural Vermont who teach a variety of skills for sustainable living, including the use of draft animals in raising organic crops.
Food & agriculture – Sept 15
Taking a class, joining a tribe (Master Gardeners)
Sharon Astyk:
Vegeculture: Further rethinking how we eat
Taste, nutrients decline as size of crops grows
Can China clean up its food by going organic?
Farm runoff feeds dead zone
Is eating local the best choice?
Water – Sept 14
Water crisis squeezes California’s economy
Hydro hogs in Portland
Running out of water in Australia
Climate science – Sept 12
Mediterranean’s rich marine life under threat
FAO warns climate change could be major threat to food security
Britain’s mosquito explosion
Climate – Sept 12
Can we fight terrorism by reducing CO2 emissions?
Lawmakers favor carbon caps, trading; economists prefer a tax
Federal officials get no guidance on climate change
Economist: developing nations to suffer most
Powerful storms and global warming
Solutions & sustainability – Sept 11
MIT discovers appropriate technology
Knitting for the Apocalypse
Free-lunch foragers
Green Acres (TIME discovers eco-villages)
Think longevity
Biofuels – Sept 11
OECD warns against biofuels subsidies
Mali’s farmers discover a weed’s potential power
Cultivating a crop of hope (switchgrass)
Brazil: ethanol divides agribusiness
Food & agriculture – Sept 10
Astyk: Reconsider what you eat
Short on labor, US farmers shift to Mexico
Are air miles and organic food compatible?
The compost post
The English apple: a story of patriotism, dysfunction and cheap jam
Low grain harvest, rising food prices and China’s ethanol plan
China is a case study in which rising food prices and natural disasters influence biofuel production, especially ethanol, leading to new regulations for gasoline exports.
Finding hope in permaculture
There is hope to be found, but it’s not hope that lets us “Pass Go and Collect $200” (i.e., a hope for a comfortable, stress-free life). Rather, it’s a hope for a new life in which we are the architects of our own survival.
End of cheap food – Sept 5
Global growing problem of wheat production
Days of cheap food are over, say superstores as ingredient costs soar
Moscow considers wheat export ban
Mountains of wheat grow as price rises
