Musings on sustainable food systems, agriculture vs. agroecology, and more!
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has been on a roll lately with important and inspired yearly foci. After last year’s Year of the Soils, 2016 highlights a much-neglected food group: Pulses. I would venture to guess that it is so neglected that many people don’t even know what it refers to – which … Continue reading Taking The Pulse on The Year of Pulses
… or how to attain UN millennium goals without reducing hunger by Helena Robling If you follow the news on international development, you know that we are in the midst of some exciting times right now. The era of the UNs Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has come to an end and it is time for evaluation … Continue reading The Magical Hunger Numbers
The finalized text for the Sustainable Development Goals was published on August 1st. I was curious to see what it had to say on sustainable food and agricultural systems. I summarize my thoughts below for a quick impression; thereafter you can find a blow-by-blow list of all instances where the SDGs mention food or agriculture … Continue reading Food In the Sustainable Development Goals: Great Ideas, But What About Demand?
So… I have a really exciting announcement for you – Food (Policy) For Thought is growing! We [now I can say “we”! Woot!] have a new guest contributor, Helena! I’ll let her introduce herself in person, so without further ado – welcome on board, Helena! Hey everyone. I’m Helena from Stockholm and I will from now on … Continue reading Does it matter if we say food loss or food waste?
I hope you had a jolly Christmas season surrounded by your loved ones! As we segue into normal life again, I am lucky enough to have a continued break until the beginning of January, which makes for a lot of time to read, reflect, and practice Spanish 😉 I have a trifecta of interesting news tidbits … Continue reading From Soils to Plates
In my agricultural history class, we talked about the vast differences in farming between regions, which is also reflected in the average farm size in different areas. This motivated me to go into more detail about where farm holdings are the smallest or largest, and to do some research on reasons behind it. This is … Continue reading Fun Facts About Farm Size
Do you sometimes feel you are getting overwhelmed by news and don’t know where to start? But going back to old-fashioned print newspapers is not an option because you spend most of your waking hours in front of the computer (hi! join the club!) and, anyhow, you like topic-specific content, but not allllll of the … Continue reading On The Radar: The FAO's Food & Agriculture Spotlight
Think of “food” and “North Korea” and chances are you will be reminded of the near-yearly news items speaking of hunger, starvation, and malnutrition in the country. However, times might be changing, at least if you believe Andrei Lankov, professor of Korean Studies at Seoul University. In this Al Jazeera piece, he argues that the … Continue reading 10 Facts About Food (Shortages) in North Korea
The celebrations surrounding today’s International Women’s Day have given rise to a number of great resources recognizing the importance of women in agriculture. Instead of writing my own contribution, I thought I’d give you a handy link roundup for your surfing and perusal pleasure – have fun! From Food Tank: 23 Women Changing Food. Is … Continue reading Happy International Women's Day! Let's Celebrate with a Women In Agriculture Link Roundup!
Have you heard of agroecology? This is a holistic agricultural production system that is similar to organic methods, but yet not exactly the same. The Christensen Fund has made a great infographic that compares and contrasts the agroecological with the conventional system from sky to soil: As this handy policy brief explains, “based on a … Continue reading Agroecology: The Alternative of the Future?
