Government orders to use dangerous organophosphate chemicals left hundreds of sheep farmers with debilitating ill health, Tom Levitt reports on the UK's forgotten pesticide tragedy
Ghosts of farming: Britain's forgotten sheep farmers poisoned by pesticides Tom Levitt | 28th March 2012 News Pesticide OP Chemical Farming Sheep Food And Farming Health Sheep Dip News Focus …
As thousands rely on food banks to make it through the winter and a milk price crash threatens the survival of Britain's independent dairy farmers, Colin Tudge - co-founder of this week's Oxford Real Farming Conference - examines the growing need for an agrarian renaissance to tackle the increasingly obvious failings of neoliberal agriculture.
Oxford Real Farming Conference: power, lies, and agrarian resistance Colin Tudge | 4th January 2014 News Food Farming Politics Corporations GMOs early-light-cut.jpg As thousands rely on food banks to …
The European Food Safety Authority is about to decide on a re-authorisation of glyphosate, a 'probable carcinogen', based on unpublished industry studies. In this Open Letter to the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, campaigners call on him to ensure an open, scientifically robust process - and to immediately restrict the herbicide.
… Council, Denmark Danish Society for Nature Conservation, Denmark Ecologistas en Accion, …
The image of the rancher in the rugged West is one of self-sufficiency and a tough defiance of government, writes George Wuerthner. But the truth is that ranchers, especially those using federal land, depend on a host of generous subsidies, both economic and ecological.
We must rid the American West of 'welfare ranching' George Wuerthner | 22nd June 2014 Activism USA Farming Commons Natural World Water grand-view-ranch-cut.jpg The image of the rancher in the rugged …
Conventional agriculture has made an enemy of evolution as pests and diseases develop resistance to biocides and over-bred hybrids succumb to them, writes Salvatore Ceccarelli. But there is another way - for farmers to participate in breeding seed lines that are continuously adapting to their environment, with ever improving yields, flavour, pest-resistance, and other sought-after qualities.
Harnessing the power of evolution in participatory seed breeding Salvatore Ceccarelli Independent Science News | 29th February 2016 Comment Farming Seeds Agroecology Toxics Health wheat …
Two decades ago the world's first GM foods went on sale, writes Pat Thomas. The consumer flirtation with GMOs soon died away, yet the biotech industry has grown into a global behemoth, driving agricultural intensification and sending agro-chemical sales through the roof. It's time for us to take a stand once again and insist: there are better, healthier ways of growing food.
20 years ago today ... What have we learned since the GMO Flavr Savr tomato? Pat Thomas | 5th February 2015 Activism GMOs Consumerism Food Farming Corporations Two decades ago the world's first GM …
Modern technology has a lot to offer small farmers in poor countries, writes Tony Juniper - just not the GMOs and pesticides that are widely touted. But how about film, digital communications and smart phones? These new media can empower farmers and allow them to share knowledge and experience of how to produce more, from less.
New technologies can help poor farmers - just not the ones you're thinking of Tony Juniper | 18th November 2014 Comment Farming India Africa Development Technology digital-green-filming.jpg Digital …
The soils on which African farmers depend are getting poorer, writes Fernando Naves Sousa, depleted of nutrients and organic matter. This creates a huge challenge: to reverse the trend in an environmentally responsible way, while feeding a growing population. But it can be done - using organic composting techniques.
… that feeds us". Fernando Naves Sousa is a conservation biologist and researcher at FiBL …
An ecological project has taken root on an abandoned olive grove outside Ramallah. As well as restoring the land itself, its deeper aim is to nurture the ancient links between the Palestinian people and nature, and rebuild a culture of steadfastness in the soil of their native country.
… to history. In learning the importance of conservation and sustainable living, we will …
From deforestation to fertiliser; our taste for coffee has left some of the world’s most precious eco-systems in a precarious state. George Blacksell looks at how the coffee industry is cleaning up its act
Coffee: is the black stuff as green as it should be? George Blacksell | 4th October 2011 Ethical Living Coffee Deforestation Eco-systems Food Amazon Farming Fairtrade Organic Food And Drink …
Seeds are essential to our food and our entire lives, writes Rowan Phillimore. So join in celebrating and sharing them at a series of events this month in London, Bristol, Devon, Oxford, Lancaster, Herts - and begin the fightback against corporate domination of seeds and oppressive government regulation.
Celebrate the seeds that feed us! Rowan Phillimore | 3rd October 2014 Ethical Living Food Farming UK Corporations Regulation poppy-seed-cut.jpg Trillions of ripe poppy seeds awaiting harvest near …
The new People Need Nature report - published to coincide with this week's annual Oxford Real Farming Conference - warns that modern farming practices are not good for wildlife. But they're not good for humans either. And with predictions that we will need to produce 70 per cent more food to feed a third more mouths by 2050 the question of seed ownership and diversity cannot be ignored. KATHRYN HINDESS reports
… teff (in Ethiopia). At Navdanya Biodiversity Conservation Farm, securing biodiversity for …
Malawi, one of the Earth's poorest nations, faces a desperate struggle to feed its people without destroying the ecosystems it relies on, writes Marc Crouch. Poor agricultural practice has left the country with low crop yields and rampant food shortages, however the government and charities are fighting back.
… it is slow. The same goes for supporting conservation. Eventually plans will be made to …
At a time when the Labour Party is discovering its egalitarian roots, inequality is as much of an issue in the countryside as in the city, states this 'Rural Manifesto' from the Land Workers Alliance and The Land. The neglect and exclusion of Britain's rural poor and landless farmers must end.
Equality in the countryside Land Workers Alliance The Land | 7th January 2016 Comment The Land Farming UK Politics rural.png At a time when the Labour Party is discovering its egalitarian roots, …
A farming revolution is under way in Africa, pushed by giant corporations and the UK's aid budget. It will surely be good for the global economy, writes Sophie Morlin-Yron, but will Africa's small farmers see the benefit?
Africa's farm revolution - who will benefit? Sophie Morlin-Yron Oliver Tickell | 18th February 2014 News Food Farming Africa Corporations moz-farmers-1.png A farming revolution is under way in …
Our bees and wider farmland ecosystems have been seriously harmed by neonicotinoids, writes Dave Goulson. But that's just the start of the damage that modern farming is doing to wildlife in a countryside stripped of wild flowers and drenched by cocktails of pesticides. The problem is not just neonics, but the entire model of industrial agriculture.
… on their biology. He founded the Bumblebee Conservation Trust in 2006. A Sting in the …
Ukraine's Priazovskii National Park epitomises the problems faced by the world's natural areas, writes Dimiter Kenarov, as it contends with inadequate funding, rising sea levels, dried-out rivers, industrial pollution and illegal hunting. And that's not to mention the war. But the staff battle on: 'If we don't do this, then who will?'
… Convention, the international treaty for the conservation of wetlands - was for a time one …
German dairy farmer Gottfried Glöckner told F William Engdahl how the Anglo-Swiss GMO and agrochemicals giant Syngenta tried to crush him after he denounced the company's products as toxic - recruiting the resources of the German state and legal system to destroy his life.
Gottfried Glöckner - 'how Syngenta destroyed my life for telling the truth about GMOs' F William Engdahl | 2nd June 2014 Comment GMOs Corporations Germany Farming de-gottfried-cut.jpg German dairy …
In his new book environmental journalist Michael McCarthy bears witness to the astonishing decline in the once common wildlife of our countryside of the last few decades. But as Chris Rose writes, he does far more than bemoan the losses as he shares with us the joy that he still discovers in nature.
… Ecologist article . But McCarthy has done conservation and the environment movement a …
Brian May is best known as lead guitarist for the rock band Queen. But as Lesley Docksey discovers, he is also an astrophysicist, and a committed - and highly effective - advocate for Britain's wild animals, including badgers put at risk by England's cull programme.
Brian May - from rock star to badger champion Lesley Docksey | 10th March 2014 Comment Natural World Health Farming brian-may.png Brian May is best known as lead guitarist for the rock band Queen. …
Almost all our food is grown in soil, writes Peter Melchett. Yet we are treating it like dirt: spraying it with toxic chemicals, depleting vital nutrients, and releasing its carbon to add to climate change. With World Soils Day coming up tomorrow, let's change our ways - and renew our commitment to organic food and farming.
… He has been President or Chair of several conservation ngos, including the Ramblers and …
Thanks to pro-GMO politicans and lobbying by powerful agribusiness interests the UK and other EU countries may soon find supermarket shelves flooded with GM foods, both imported and home grown, writes Linda Kaucher. We must press parliamentary candidates now to defend us from this serious and long-term debasement of our food and farming.
TTIP could soon bring GM foods to UK supermarket shelves Linda Kaucher | 2nd April 2015 News Food Farming GMOs Trade Regulation UK EU us-supermarket-cut.jpg Thanks to pro-GMO politicans and lobbying …
With vast areas decimated by industrial farming, the salad days are over for mass-produced olive oil. Laura Sevier looks at the effect its rise in popularity has had on the European landscape, and at some more sustainable brands.
… They are also of ‘little or no nature conservation value, and create environmental …