Musings on sustainable food systems, agriculture vs. agroecology, and more!
When I was visiting my grandparents a couple of weeks ago, I told them that I was going to go on a field trip with my program and we would visit a tractor company. To which my grandma – who grew up on a farm – responded: “make sure to ask them about soil compaction!” … Continue reading All You Need To Know About Soil Compaction
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6UGYcHSB6q4] Whenever I used to hear about ‘urban farming’, I was a little skeptical, and didn’t know whether to place it in the camp of ‘awesome ideas of tomorrow’ or ‘trend fad of today that won’t last through the next summer’. Why not, I thought, concentrate on fixing the big issues (such as land degradation … Continue reading Rethinking Urbanization
Tart cherries – or, as we say in Germany, Sauerkirschen – have been a steadfast presence during my childhood, featured in cakes, desserts and on my grandparents’ trees. In Canada, Sauerkirschen preserves were one of the things my family would splurge on in La Vieille Europe, the Old Continent specialty store that also imported delicacies … Continue reading The Tart Cherry Revival – Or a Case for Biodiversity
Yesterday, I went to a talk by a rep of Germanwatch, a German NGO, on European Agricultural Policy and its relationship to climate change. As part of the presentation, the presenter gave a great overview of how European agricultural policy evolved and I thought I’d reproduce it here for all the non-Europeans (and Europeans!) who … Continue reading A Brief History of European Agricultural Policy
This Sunday, if you have an hour, I have a thoroughly interesting report for you to read. The NGO Food and Water Watch just published a document called “Biotech Ambassadors“, in which they analysed the 250,000 U.S. State Department cables that were publicized through Wikileaks (which represented around one tenth of all State Department cables … Continue reading Sunday Read: Biotech Diplomacy
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VObLitSe3K0&feature=player_embedded] Listen to Fred Kirschenmann explain how soil is actually a community of life that is vital for all our food. As he quotes Wes Jackson, since we are so dependent on soil for our life and eventually return to soil, we are simply stop-overs between soil and soil. I can only recommend this really … Continue reading Soil Is Not Dirt!
Staying on the topic of the US Farm Bill being currently discussed, here is some uplifting news: The Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act which Congresswoman Chellie Pingress introduced (originally in 2011!) has found widespread bipartisan support in both House and Senate Agricultural Committees, and many ideas from the act have been adopted into the … Continue reading Boosting Local Food in Congress
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2K4pfiYK2IQ] Remember the so-called Monsanto Protection Act? Here is a little more light-hearted analysis of the legislative process that got it passed. This popping up in my newsfeed is quite timely, though, since the US Congress is set to finally debate the Farm Bill that had failed to pass last year. The Agricultural Committees of … Continue reading You Put What in Where?! Congress and the Farm Bill
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odI7pQFyjso] I think we have all heard of the problem of palm oil production and its impact on rain forests in South East Asia. Campaigns such as this one by Greenpeace have brought the effect of the increasing use of palm oil in industrial (food) products, namely the widespread deforestation of Indonesian rain forests, to … Continue reading Palm Oil, Orangutans and the Complications of Conservation in Indonesia
The decision that has been eagerly awaited by a great number of people might disappoint just as many. I covered the Bowman vs. Monsanto case earlier when the oral hearings were made, and commented that it didn’t seem to look too good for Mr. Bowman’s case. This impression has turned out to be true: in … Continue reading Bowman vs. Monsanto: Upheld.