Health

A nation in decline part 3: an unhealthy nation

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There used to be a lot of men and women like our friend. Thin, wiry, fit, able to do hard physical labor outdoors, to hike, ski, swim. Every now and then, we see an older man or woman, walking proud and erect, slim and trim. In the west, the man might have on boots, a cowboy hat, denim shirt, and stiff blue jeans. Like our late friend Val from Tucson. Today, such people look strange and out of place. Modern America is the land of the unfit.

Independence: DIY and the differently abled

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Many of us are discovering the joy of being able to make something ourselves, instead of just buying it. We know how a fruit grown from seed in our own yards tastes different than one purchased at a supermarket. We ascribe meaning to a gift beyond its material value and focus on the nature of the exchange itself.

Deconstructing Dinner: Local food fraud, an investigation

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An exclusive behind-the-scenes investigative report taking an in-depth look into alleged local food fraud. In May 2010, Deconstructing Dinner received a tip from a farmer in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia who alleged that a local business who sells eggs to 18 retailers and restaurants and who was marketing their product as being predominantly from their own farm, was not true. According to the tip, the “farm” was not a farm at all, and housed no chickens on the property!

Oil, health, and health care

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The April 2010 oil leak in the Mexican Gulf illustrates the risks being taken to extract oil from inaccessible fields, and in June a Lloyd’s 360° risk insight report said, “we have entered a period of deep uncertainty in how we will source energy for power, heat and mobility and how much we will pay for it.” The reason why such damaging extraction methods are pursued, and why Lloyd’s are telling us we face a “new energy paradigm” rather than normal market volatility, is that oil discoveries peaked 40 years ago, and oil supply is probably at its maximum, with decline soon to follow. This has substantial implications for transport, food, jobs, health, and health care.

 

Food & agriculture – Sept 3

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– The Peanut Solution (patents and famine)
– Can science feed the world? (Nature magazine special)
– How to feed a hungry world
– Food: An underground revolution (Research on roots)
– Seeing a Time (Soon) When We’ll All Be Dieting
– World Carryover Grain Stocks Fall to 72 Days of Consumption
– Growing fuel by the roadside

McMansions and chicken coups

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Interview with urban homesteader and somatic psychotherapist Rachel Kaplan in Petaluma, California. “For a typical urban permaculture project, a can do attitude is essential. A willingness to experiment, make mistakes, and keep trying. … you also need to have a willingness to challenge yourself on some things which are just not accepted in our culture–composting your own poop, for example–and living in a way that others might find odd, challenging, disrespectful, messy or intimidating. You have to care more about the world you want to live in than the world we live in now.”

Two transport reports

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Below are excerpts from two recently released reports on transport. The first, Towards a Zero Carbon Vision for UK Transport, from a UK based team offers a pathway to a reduced carbon scenario for the UK transport sector based on a variety of strategies already in place in Europe. The second report has been produced for the American Public Transportation Association and addresses the links between public health and public transport.