Musings on sustainable food systems, agriculture vs. agroecology, and more!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U5e2NB6U9dw] This is a really enjoyable clip describing how successful development work can work: these women in The Gambia traditionally only had access to unproductive, degraded land, since the men were working in the more fertile areas. Yet, the women are the ones that bear the responsibility to feed their families and provide extra income … Continue reading Reclaiming the Land in The Gambia
Have you heard of golden rice? It’s possibly the genetically modified product with the most controversy around it – a hard title to snag – because of its goal: to eradicate malnutrition in some of the world’s poorest societies.
Remember when I posted about the upcoming European Parliament’s vote on its position on the Common Agricultural Policy reform 2014 – 2020? Well, the voting happened yesterday and the results are in – it seems like the Parliament walked a middle way between the proposals of its Agricultural Committee and environmentalists’ demands.
In preparation for my Ethics in Food Production exam today, I went over the ‘Shared Value Approach‘, a new concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) pioneered in 2011. It has been hugely successful with multinational companies, since it highlights the business perspective while acknowledging the linkages between corporate practices, social conditions and environmental concerns. According … Continue reading 'Shared Value' in Cocoa – The Way Forward?
Last time I was talking about Labeling Fables I floated the idea of unveiling some of the most prominent labels so you know what you are buying in the grocery store. Well, here is installment #1: Starting with one of the most famous labels around: Fairtrade. Chances are, you know it stands for fair trade … Continue reading Labels Unveiled: Fairtrade
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjtIl5B1zXI] This is an interesting take on the interplay between food production and climate change. The video defines a ‘safe space’ defined by the boundaries on how much food we need, how much food we can produce at given levels of climate change, and how that increased food production will further affect climate change.
This really is a time of change for the EU. As of next year, the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – a behemoth that costs Europeans 58 billion Euros per year and represents almost 40% of the EU’s budget – is due to be reformed. And on March 13th, the European Parliament is expected to vote on … Continue reading The Gap in the CAP (Take Action!)
“The Pleasures of Eating” is a powerful, poetic essay by Wendell Berry. Published in 1990, – 23 years ago! – it is more relevant than ever in today’s society, and so well written that I would just encourage everybody to head on over and read it. Since it’s a little long, I’ll sketch out some … Continue reading The Pleasures of Eating
This Al Jazeera opinion piece by UN University research associate Kei Otsuki draws a compelling picture about how Brazil has established itself as a role model in becoming one of the first (so-called) developing countries to create a sustainable and local food procurement system for its schools. In doing so, it has met four internationally-set … Continue reading The Path to Local Food in Brazil's Schools
In a country where 60% of the population is involved in agriculture, and 70 – 80% of agricultural work is done by women, within the legal system women farmers are still almost invisible. Though 18% of family farms in India are headed by women, only 2% of land is owned by them. According to a study carried out by Oxfam India … Continue reading India's Women Farmers Claim Equal Rights