Musings on sustainable food systems, agriculture vs. agroecology, and more!
On Wednesday, as anticipated, the House of Representatives passed the Farm Bill after a 2 year impasse with 251 to 166 votes. The Democratic leadership of the Senate has already endorsed it, making it likely that it will pass the Senate floor as well in the coming week and be on President Obama’s desk soon. … Continue reading The USA Have A Farm Bill! Halle … Well … Yeah.
Ah! I just found this new lecture series and suddenly new and exciting information is all around me! (Those of you in Uppsala, check out CEMUS and the Centre for Sustainable Development in general, there are great events happening all the time!) Remember when we talked about phosphorus and nitrogen? One of the things that … Continue reading Wait, What's the Deal with Wetlands?
Just now I was working on an application for a teaching job on Sustainable Development and reflecting on how often we conflate “sustainability” with “environmentalism”. Yes, of course protecting the environment is important, especially in an activity so dependent on ecosystems as agriculture, but just as important is the second pillar of sustainability – the … Continue reading Beyond Environmental Sustainability – Pursuing Social Justice in the Food System
The Christmas vacations feels so long ago – despite it having only been three weeks since I came back to Sweden, I have had a hard time getting back into the rhythm of school and am under the impression I could use a break again – anybody else? Let’s pretend to be back in the … Continue reading Review: "Cooked" by Michael Pollan
(via cornucopia.org; click through for a larger image/to zoom in) This is really scary to me. Within my economics background (and despite the fact that I don’t always agree with all the axioms we learn there), such a concentration of any particular industry is generally seen as bad news. “Oligopolies” (a situation where a small … Continue reading The Seed Empires of Today
Man, I love lentils. And chickpeas. Black beans. Give me any legume, basically, and I am a happy camper. What a typical vegetarian, you say? Well, keep reading, have a look at this Ensia article, from which most of this information comes from, and think again. Turns out, there are at least five reasons why … Continue reading 5 Reasons to Love Lentils – Boost Your Legume Literacy!
One of my friends studying chemistry recently reposted 3 images that blogger James Kennedy Monash created to counter “chemophobia”, or the unreasonable fear of chemical compounds in our food sources. First I scoffed, but then I looked at it and it was definitely thought-provoking so… goal achieved? Let me show them to you: These images … Continue reading The All-Natural Ingredient List
Since my post about nitrogen fertilizer is still one of the most successful ones yet (who’d thought?), and I’ve been working non-stop this week on a paper to analyze phosphorus and its resource, phosphate rock, for a paper in my class Economic Growth and Sustainable Development, I thought I’d give you some insights into what … Continue reading 10 Things I Didn't Know About Phosphorus Fertilizer
I know we talked about GMOs before, but it seems they have come to a whole different prevalence lately, thanks mainly to this Grist series on Panic-free GMOs. Author Nathanael Johnson goes into minute detail in figuring out everything from what GMOs really are to the literature surrounding it to the regulations attached to them. … Continue reading Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About GMOs
Ohhh sugar. We love it, right? But often, it is also the demise of self-control, of overeating, and of our long-term health. Here are three articles that – topically, now in January – look at sugar and its addictive power.