Food

Common environments, Diggers, and Climate Campers

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Thoughts on the relationship between food issues, rural movements, and Climate Camps. To be more specific: this post mainly compares the distinct focuses and limitations of the Diggers’ movement toward agricultural autonomy, and the Climate Campers’ rallies and interventions against coal plants, airport expansion projects, and other commercially-driven operations.

Kill People But Not Dogs and Cats

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I see [in recent Ohio news] that people are getting arrested for murdering dogs and cats. We deliberately murder thousands upon thousands of cows and pigs every day so that we can eat meat but oh my, not cats and dogs. We kill people in war every day too, but oh my again, not cats and dogs. Has it been determined by theologians that dogs and cats are suddenly included in the Thou Shall Not Kill commandment? Did the writers of the American Constitution have in mind covering pets too?

Soil, Seeds, Salt: Education Brought Down to Earth

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Dandelion leaves flown thousands of miles north from Mexico now grace the organic section of our best local grocery stores…I find myself smiling at the latest proof of the power of our greening greenbacks. I am as well amused and saddened by the irony that the leaf generously and effortlessly yielded every hour for most months of the year by soil and worms in our own backyards must be carried north in airplanes guzzling barrels of oil and spewing millions of pounds of greenhouse gases.

Food & agriculture – Sept 17

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-Japan’s recession brings growing interest in fruit and vegetables
-Thoughts on the legacy of Norman Borlaug
-The Ultimate in Eating Local: My Adventures in Urban Foraging
-The Big Question: Should landowners be forced to give up space for allotments?
-Gardens launch own organic meat
-Feeding the future: Saving agricultural biodiversity
-Davenport man: Good time to plant food in public spaces
-USDA to unveil “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative
-Feeding the world: which countries are most at risk?

The Thermodynamics of Local Foods

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I am going to make an argument I don’t see much. Reading the pros and cons on this subject is a bit like watching a pea roll around on a plate. My goal is to stick a fork in that pea and focus on something very fundamental. The point I will make is that one can say with high confidence bordering on certainty that only a predominantly local food system will ever be sustainable.