Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Rediscoveries of forgotten or discarded ideas about plant growth—such as that truly healthy plants can thwart soilborne and airborne pathogens, as well as insect pests, and provide significantly higher levels of nutritional value—are the inspiration for a new model for tending gardens and farm fields.
The use of cover crops allows farmers to protect their soil before and after they harvest annual crops so that the ground is always covered. Cover crops are a sustainable technique, as they build healthy soil and conserve water, but could they help fight food insecurity?
In the UK, farming is the least diverse profession, with 98.6% of farm managers and holders being white British. The events of the last few months have brought these conversations to the forefront and we have realised we need to act now if this is going to change.
Who produces our food and what they are paid should be much higher on the agenda of discussions about resilience in food systems, for the sake of society and the environment.
My book A Small Farm Future: Making the Case for a Society Built Around Local Economies, Self-Provisioning, Agricultural Diversity, and a Shared Earth is now hurtling on its final trajectory to land on Planet Earth mid-October.
The reason that Wells and his troupe have gathered here is to organize a full day of events called ‘Milpa Mexico: Tradicion, Ciencia y Futuro’ (Mexican Cornfield: Tradition, Science and Future). The purpose of it all is to promote the defence of traditional corn farming threatened by agriculture industrialization, a topic of great importance and urgency to the farmers in Oaxaca.
I don’t think I would have been as passionate about organic farming and ethical supply chains if I had grown up in Bombay or Delhi, somewhere far away. It’s because I saw all the damage happening first-hand that I’ve been so keen to bring about solutions and change.
Shetland is a remote, beautiful and windswept place with a strong community spirit. However, despite its thriving local food scene, it is still inextricably tied up in the same fragile economic system, with similar challenges to the rest of the world.
There are passionate and engaged people across America who are desperately working to keep us within the two-degree Celsius limit. In light of that division, we wanted to talk to farmers across the US to understand how they view climate change and what steps (if any) they were taking to address it.
Like fresh air and clean water, nourishing bread is a basic right. Central to this is understanding is the impact that sourdough can have on our planet, health, and communities. This starts with the soil the grain is grown in and extends right through to the baking and sharing of our bread.
It’s been said that “with great power comes great responsibility”. It’s now time for the food sector to demonstrate how the new normal is going to go beyond statements of solidarity.
I first started eating seasonally so I could save money by growing my own food, support my local economy and have the freshest and most flavorful stuff. But that’s not why I keep doing it. The truth is I just personally find it more interesting than eating off the shelf.
