UK – Jan 28
-UK Government Classifies Eco Activists as ‘Extremists’ Alongside Al Qaeda
-UK call for European CAP farming subsidies reform
-Moorlands and hills targeted to grow crops for biomass and biofuels
Act: Inspiration
Growing Good People Through Work, Study, and Community
Just outside Asheville, North Carolina, bordered by the Craggy Mountains and located in the Swannanoa Valley on the banks of the Swannanoa River, Warren Wilson College students are busy moving the cows to their next pasture and cutting locally harvested lumber at the on-campus sawmill…
A short history of peak oil preparation
Frankly, when I first learned about peak oil, I was a bit freaked out. But after time, a little too much wine, a lot of research, and some productive action, I recovered, and went on to slowly change my attitude, expectations, and lifestyle to accommodate a radically different reality from the one I previously knew.
Community Food Enterprise: Local Success in a Global Marketplace (article and report excerpts)
It’s time to connect the headlines between persistent unemployment in the United States and growing food insecurity. The next Obama stimulus package should focus on how local food can address both simultaneously.
For men
Overwhelmingly history suggests that the psychological trauma of watching your world transformed often strikes men, particularly men of middle age and above, harder than it does women. How do we soften the blow?
United States – Jan 27
-Must-read report: The decline of Central Appalachian coal
-How Anti-Immigration Groups Are Hijacking the Environmental Movement
-If Corporations Were Human
Agroinnovations #74: The Edible Acre Project
In this episode we continue with the theme of school gardens and farms. I am joined by Debbie Hillman of the Edible Acre Project, a project in a suburb just outside of Chicago Illinois. Debbie discusses the origins and implementation of the project, the role of a the farm/garden in education, and practical strategies for those looking to develop similar projects in their communities.
Growth Isn’t Possible (report excerpt)
As economist Herman Daly once commented, he would accept the possibility of infinite growth in the economy on the day that one of his economist colleagues could demonstrate that Earth itself could grow at a commensurate rate.
Food & agriculture – Jan 26
-Care Farming
-Campaign to save tropical forests failed by food giants
-Golf and the great Lao land grab
-Food carts take the curse off Portland’s parking lots
-One quarter of US grain crops fed to cars – not people, new figures show
-Reclaiming Value: An Interview with Raj Patel
-How Cows (Grass-Fed Only) Could Save the Planet
Lasagna Garden
I have run out of room for my tomatoes. Over the last three years, I have placed tomato and pepper plants all throughout my current garden beds, and now I need a new spot to rotate them into to avoid building up diseases in the soil. Thus, last weekend’s activities.
Web & media – Jan 26
-Past Peak Oil Travelling towards Transition
-Why Transition? Creating a Brighter Future
-The Future of our Food Supply
-‘Peak water’ could flush civilisation
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The Food System and Resilience
For something as critical as food, it is common sense that society should design for resilience. Reliability in food production in the face of change requires a system capable of rapid evolution. Resilience is therefore a core principle of sustainability.
