Of grain and gulags: a note on work, labour and self-ownership
Self-possession implies property in some sense – being able to claim a personal right to generate wellbeing from the world we share with other people and organisms.
Food & Water
COP26 – Caught in a Net: Agriculture, Climate Change, and the Decarbonisation Agenda
As COP26 draws to a close, this blog offers some reflections on the fraught relationship between the mainstream process and the social movements, and what this means for the fight for a just and agroecological transition.
Regenerative agriculture in the Amazon
EcoAraguaia Farm of the Future is a former cattle ranch in the Amazon rainforest with a big mission: to show the world how producing food, restoring nature, and creating livelihoods can go hand in hand. The key to all of this? Regenerative agriculture: a holistic system for managing the land that integrates people, planet, and profit.
How to Grow Mushrooms on Woodchip
Growing mushrooms on woodchip can be done under trees in the field or garden, or you can put the chip into containers and grow either inside or outdoors. Scale of production, available facilities, and time at one’s disposal are things that might affect your choice of system.
It’s not too late, but it’s over: how COP26 changes everything
So my plan for meeting the climate apocalypse is to keep thinking, keep writing, keep farming and keep being hopeful (but not ‘optimistic’) as best I can. What’s yours?
COP26: Two worlds talked past each other – or never even met
I of course had very limited exposure to the thousands of simultaneous events. But my sense was that there was little meaningful interchange between different positions. Two worlds talked past each other or – because of restricted access, problems with visas and the high costs of attending –- never even met.
Food Sovereignty, Climate Action and Local Resilience
Beyond our local context, the Food Sovereignty movement provides a global political framework for change based on social justice, solidarity, empowering women and re- organising international trade and economic relations.
Climate Adaptation: Excerpt
Those who choose to pursue this line of work will understand localised decision-making for the Earth’s survival and bringing back species that are on the brink of extinction. Furthermore, everyone outside of these cooperatives will be additionally grateful for their existence, for the goodness that is extended to everyone will be shared by all of life.
Bet the Farm: Excerpt
How do we move away from a historically based, commodity-focused system that barely covers the cost of growing food to one that is more supportive of diverse small- and medium-scale farms? How do we ensure tasty and nourishing food, vibrant rural communities, and a range of farmer backgrounds?
Fighting for food justice in a Texas food desert
The Dallas Food Justice Coalition provides a simple but powerful model. By bringing together community advocates from different areas of food justice, they’ve begun cultivating a grassroots solution to our broken food system that focuses on empowering and educating the community rather than simply providing aid.
Property ownership in a small farm future
And so we come to the thorny issue of landownership and property rights in a small farm future, which I discuss in Chapter 13 of my book.
What role for livestock in climate-friendly farming?
When choosing what to eat, it is important to consider where and how it has been grown. Buying locally, seasonally or direct from producers is often a good way to ensure you know the true story of the food you are eating.
