Media & Communications

Food & agriculture – Mar 19

by

-Bees in the City? New York May Let the Hives Come Out of Hiding
-Produce to the People: Collaborating for Food Access
-Is Goat the New Cow? Why American Foodies and Environmentalists Are Reviving the Old-World Staple
-Ankeny forum to examine agricultural concentration
-New York rolls veggie carts into food deserts; can other cities follow?
-How guerrilla gardening took root
-New report reveals the environmental and social impact of the ‘livestock revolution’
-‘I’m not a slave, I just can’t speak English’ – life in the meat industry

It’s time to deal with Peak Oil

by

The “Peak Oil” concept — that the world’s petroleum-production rate will soon reach its maximum and commence an inevitable decline, with negative economic consequences — has been around in scientifically articulated form at least since 1998; long enough to see it confirmed in significant ways.

The Growing Movement for Publicly Owned Banks

by

“Hundreds of job-creating projects are still on hold because Michigan businesses and entrepreneurs cannot get bank financing. We can break the credit crunch and beat Wall Street at their own game by keeping our money right here in Michigan and investing it to retool our economy and create jobs.”

Conscientious Cooks VII (Sooke Harbour House)/ Carlo Petrini & Slow Food Canada

by

The Sooke Harbour House is a 28-room inn in Sooke, British Columbia which has been owned and operated by Frederique and Sinclair Philip since 1979. The inn is home to a restaurant that has led the way in Canada (if not North America) in the practice of sourcing local and wild-crafted foods…Deconstructing Dinner’s Jon Steinman visited the restaurant to learn more about the restaurant’s unique approach…(Also) in this segment we hear a talk from Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini and discuss the Slow Food Canada organization with Canada’s international representative Sinclair Philip.

Where Dark Green Meets Cleantech (Or, Beyond Shades of Green)

by

A little while ago, Alex Steffen of World Changing offered a critique of the permaculture-inspired Transition Towns initiative–a grass-roots, peak oil/climate change adaptation movement that has gone viral around the world in the past three years . . . Steffen would describe these people as “dark greens,” a brand of environmentalist who emphasizes local community action but can tend toward collapse-thinking or doomerism.

The Emergence of an Unlikely Eco-Hero: Frank Luntz’ “Manifesto for a Sturdy, Stable and Robust New America” (humor)

by

In January of this year, American political consultant Dr. Frank Luntz released a 17-page talking points memo titled “The Language of Financial Reform,” in which he urges opponents of bank reform to reframe the effort as a mishmash of bailouts, loopholes and bureaucracy. In short order, Luntz-listening legislators lined up to shout “BLACK” at the kettle, before returning to their work crafting endless loopholes to bail out campaign contributors in their home states. I read the memo upon its release and promptly tossed it in my compost bin (I’m always short on browns).