Faiza Elmasry

Most “preppers” are men? Ha – Check the kitchen!

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Preparedness, at its root, is more than anything about making sure people get dinner. Yes, we can prepare to fight off zombie attacks, build earth shelters in case we lose ours (although odds are most of us will move in with a friend or relative), learn how to handle background radiation – but the first tier problems most of us face – and the ones most people prepare for first, are the ones we’re familiar with – what will we eat? How will we cook it?

Terra Madre notes: Vandana Shiva rocks the house

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I’ve just come out of the most hopeful and interesting discussions of climate change I’ve ever witnessed. Anchored by Indian food-sovereignty activist Vandana Shiva, the panel discussion at Terra Madre unveiled a new “Manifesto on Climate Change and the Future of Food Security,” drawn up by the International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture.

The document under discussion — which can be found here — is brisk, lucid, and to the point.

The oil crunch: Securing the UK’s energy future

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Declining availability of oil will hit the UK earlier than generally expected, with potentially devastating implications for the UK economy, according to a report from a UK industry taskforce. “We sought two opinions on oil-supply risk, one from an oil-industry expert known as a leading advocate of the early-peak scenario [Chris Skrebowski], and the second from Royal Dutch Shell, who we expected might advocate a more sanguine prognosis.” (Excerpts)