Climate – April 30
– Science: Watching Climate Change Through a Farmer’s Eyes
– The Banksters and the Climate Fund
– The culture and discourse of climate skepticism
– Why I’ve avoided commenting on Nisbet’s ‘Climate Shift’ report
Food
Innovation of the Week: Creating farms that produce food and energy
Around 3 billion people, or half of the world’s population, rely on unsustainable biomass based energy sources, including wood, and around 1.6 billion people still lack access to electricity. With an Integrated Food Energy System (IFES), FAO believes that people will have access to sustainable and reliable energy.
Michael Shuman at the City Club of Cleveland
Recorded 11/16/10 at the City Club of Cleveland, this video features a special City Club program with Michael Shuman entitled “Revitalizing the Northeast Ohio Economy through Local Food”.
Our economy must change – 2 May
-Cleveland artisans craft their own economic force
-Vauxhall boss warns over UK carmaking future
-Sweatshops are still supplying high street brands
-THE 25% SHIFT The Benefits of Food Localization for Northeast Ohio & How to Realize Them (report)
Food & agriculture April 28
-How can we grow more food locally? Pam Warhurst of Incredible Edible Todmorden speaks in Bath (video)
-Australia’s “Grain and Graze” Farming Method Provides Peak Oil and Climate Change Resiliency
-Organic agriculture: deeply rooted in science and ecology
-Effects of input management and crop diversity on non-renewable energy use efficiency of cropping systems in the Canadian Prairie (report)
Cornerstones of a Rooted Economy
We want to know: Is an alternative future possible—one rooted in small fishers, small farmers, and the teeming biodiversity of the islands? For starters we want to know: Can small fishers become a pillar of a new economy as this country begins to run out of oil and gas?
Archeology not agriculture teaches good farming
The two sciences have markedly different philosophies. Agriculture is interested in making farming a money-profitable business. Archeology is interested in finding out why profitable farming invariably leads to wrecked civilizations.
Food production, food preservation, food storage – A three legged stool
If we are to make by necessity or desire, a shift to a lower input society, it is necessary to take the lessons learned in other lower-input societies and ask the question: what are the major food security issues likely to be?
San Francisco passes progressive urban agriculture policy
This week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed one of the most progressive pieces of legislation for urban agriculture in the nation. The new legislation has amended the zoning code to allow agricultural activities in all parts of the city, as well as defining the parameters by which urban agriculturists can sell their products.
Land of rising food anxieties
Most Japanese cannot remember the last time they had to think deeply about where their next meal would come from. Only the eldest of Japanese with memories of food rations and scarcity from World War II and its aftermath would possess experience from which to draw. But that has changed since the triple disaster of March 11 as citizens inside and outside the catastrophe zone became increasingly concerned about both food security (e.g., food shortages at local stores) and food safety (i.e., radiation contaminated agricultural products).
Edible seeds making a comeback
The Willamette Valley is famous for its grass seed production, and can even boast supplying the World Cup soccer fields in South Africa. The dominance of grass seed began to wane with the collapse of the housing bubble a few years ago. And while the major shift has been towards wheat, much more is going on.
It’s time to outlaw land grabbing, not to make it “responsible”!
Today’s farmland grabs are moving fast. Contracts are getting signed, bulldozers are hitting the ground, land is being aggressively fenced off and local people are getting kicked off their territories with devastating consequences. While precise details are hard to come by, it is clear that at least 50 million hectares of good agricultural land – enough to feed 50 million families in India – have been transferred from farmers to corporations in the last few years alone, and each day more investors join the rush.
