Musings on sustainable food systems, agriculture vs. agroecology, and more!
By Helena Robling It’s always sensitive to touch upon people’s meat consumption. As a topic for discussion it’s comparable to religion or party politics, everybody has an opinion, standpoints are usually quite firm and not seldom extreme. Saying YES or NO to meat can be as decisive for social identity as religious or ideological convictions, … Continue reading Going controversial about the burger bind: how about a meat tax?
by Helena Robling As we speak, the Swedish national food agency is in the process of developing a set of environmentally sustainable dietary guidelines. The purpose is to give the population information on what to eat and maybe more importantly, what not to eat, to keep healthy and at the same time minimize the individual … Continue reading On Sweden's Diet Debates and Governmental Food Recommendations
Heya! Anybody else excited it’s the weekend? What are your plans? I think I might go to an organic farmer’s market and possibly do a day trip outside of town – and just relax with a book and a giant heap of pineapple (I just bought 3 for $2, a crazy deal!) If you feel … Continue reading Weekend Trifecta of Studies, from Seed Laws to TTIP to Climate Change
You guys, my brain is fried – I’ve spent all day reading, reading, reading (actually, the best kind of work, but still…) On world coffee production projections, on financing schemes, on low-emission development strategies, and a ton of policy and action plans… I’m starting to figure it out, I think! But let’s start small, shall … Continue reading Costa Rica – Leading on Climate Action?
As I am sitting in a bare-walled apartment, my bags packed and my train ticket for the trip home tomorrow printed out, I have started to reflect back on my time here in Brussels, and I hope to share some of the thoughts and experiences I had soon. But until that time, I have found … Continue reading Global Pre-Christmas Roundup!
Español Sometimes, it´s easy to get caught up in the news of the day – Ukraine, Gaza, ISIS – that other news items go unnoticed. So, for example, that Central American agricultural producers are being hit extremely hard this year after a disease called coffee leaf rust destroyed many export crops. Now, on top of … Continue reading Drought in Central America – Sequía en Centroamérica
First of all, news! I really want to brush up my Spanish and in particular my vocabulary related to food policy issues, so in the future I will try to include little summaries of the issue at hand in Spanish at the bottom of the post. You’ll be able to access them through a link on … Continue reading Ewwwww Lake Erie – Toledo Drinking Water Ban
Man, sometimes you just have to catch yourself in moments of pure luck. Like today, after a morning spent in glorious summer weather hammering out the last formatting issues of my thesis, when I was able to attend a lunch seminar (who said there was no free lunch in economics?) with the inspiring Kate Raworth … Continue reading Review: Kate Raworth's 'Doughnut Economics'
On Friday, I was a participant in a seminar hosted by the Royal Swedish Academy of Forestry and Agriculture. The topic was the interlinkages between the newest scientific insights related to climate change and the future of agricultural and ‘green’ growth in general. My take-away thinking back with a bit of distance? We are great … Continue reading Review: "A changing climate – How does it affect Swedish possibilities of green growth?"
I apologize for the scarcity of posts lately, life/work/business in general has picked up considerably – which is great because there is nothing that makes me more satisfied than spending fulfilling days 🙂 I promise I have a couple of posts in the works, particularly some regarding my agricultural history class, but they require pretty … Continue reading Soda Sequestration – What If?
