A new study sets out the huge benefits of organic farming to people and the environment, writes Peter Melchett, including more wildlife, healthier consumers and farm workers, lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduced soil erosion and increased water retention. We need more of it, fast!
… We need more organic farming! Peter Melchett Soil Association | 23rd March 2017 Comment Farming Food Organic Pesticides Health Water … study sets out the huge benefits of organic farming to people and the environment, writes …
Bhaskar Save, the 'Gandhi of natural farming', died last year after a lifetime of organic growing and determined campaigning against the destruction of India's traditional, sustainable agriculture, writes Colin Todhunter. His 2006 open letter, published here, sets out a devastating critique of industrial agriculture and its impacts, and an eloquent and timely agroecological manifesto.
… Colin Todhunter | 12th January 2016 Comment Farming Ecology India Organic Water … Bhaskar Save, the 'Gandhi of natural farming', died last year after a lifetime of … Save was regarded as the 'Gandhi of natural farming'. In 2006 he published an open letter …
Researchers claim the benefits of combining conservation and food production through organic farming are not enough to make up for the drop in yields
… The Ecologist | 6th May 2010 News Food And Farming Organic Biodiversity Wildlife … and food production through organic farming are not enough to make up for the drop in yields Organic farming increases biodiversity but not enough …
With most of our food exports going to the EU, and most of our food imports coming from the EU, Molly Scott Cato wondered what plans the government had for the sector after Brexit. The answer? None! Two reports published today map out a positive future of sustainable farming, local food, thriving rural economies and abundant biodiversity. But is the government on the same page?
… Brexit and the future of farming: threat or opportunity? Molly Scott Cato MEP | 21st February 2017 Comment Farming Biodiversity Economics Politics Brexit … map out a positive future of sustainable farming, local food, thriving rural economies …
‘“Visionary” is a terrible word to use,’ Jimmie Hepburn grimaces. ‘I’m not doing this for my own ego. I’m happy for contributions and new ideas; I’m starting from scratch here, but I want people to build upon this.’
… The Ecologist | 1st April 2009 News Food And Farming Water Agriculture Fish Farms Farm Farming Visionaries … out in life working on an industrial salmon-farming operation in northwest Scotland. …
EU Commission proposes compulsory environmental measures for farmers in reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) but campaigners fear member states will weaken final agreement
… Tom Levitt | 19th November 2010 News Food And Farming CAP Biodiversity Farm Subsidy … altogether would led to more intensive farming practices, a concentration of … it acknowledged that current European farming methods were leading to soil …
David Attenborough's latest documentary shows the natural world in peril. But the solutions are already in place - a nature friendly future is possible.
… Organic Rob Percival Pesticides Regenerative Farming Wild Isles Biodiversity Soil … on BBC iPlayer highlighted. There is a way of farming that doesn’t rely on destructive … that eat crop pests. There is a way of farming that uses plants to fertilise soils …
The EU's farming policy is being touted as 'greener than ever' - but it's no such thing, write Lynn Dicks & Tim Benton. The 'green reforms' pay farmers for actions (and often inactions) that do not benefit wildlife, and contain no real or effective measures to help.
… Dicks Tim Benton | 17th June 2014 Comment Farming Natural World Biodiversity EU farm-ludlow-cut.jpg The EU's farming policy is being touted as 'greener … As part of a team of environmental and farming experts from across the EU, we …
A new report has revealed that a change in the way we manage agricultural land could help sequester a quarter of the world's carbon dioxide emissions every year
… Change farming to cut CO2 emissions by 25 per cent … | 3rd July 2009 News Investigations Food And Farming Science And Technology CCS Agriculture … to increase its carbon-storage capacity; farming with perennials; adopting a more …
Farming should not only sustain people with healthy food, writes Jigmi Y. Thinley. If humans are to survive on Earth, it must also revitalise nature and sustain vital planetary systems, instead of poisoning and over-exploiting them. And to do that farming must be organic.
… Y. Thinley | 19th June 2014 Activism Food Farming Oceans Climate Change Water broad-beans-cut.jpg Farming should not only sustain people with … and over-exploiting them. And to do that farming must be organic. Organic agriculture …
Trees, woodlands and hedgerows do much more than enhance the appearance of Britain's rural landscapes, writes Mike Townsend. They diminish flooding, reduce erosion, assist water infiltration, enhance biodiversity - and we need more of them!
… Townsend | 6th March 2014 Comment Forests UK Farming Water Floods cc-runoff-arable.png … Reports from the Woodland Trust on water and farming and water in towns provide a review of … essential that the cultural value of upland farming is not lost in the response to recent …
The corporate war on traditional farming is nowhere fiercer than in India, writes Colin Todhunter. After decades of the 'Green Revolution' that have impoverished the nation's soils, water, biodiversity and cultivators alike, agribusiness is poised for its final strike. But now the small scale farmers who produce most of the country's food are rediscovering ancient agroecological alternatives.
… | 9th May 2016 News India Corporations Farming Water The Land Seeds Agroecology … The corporate war on traditional farming is nowhere fiercer than in India, … to the chemical-intensive, GMO model of farming. Despite talk by company bosses of GMO …
Eifion Rees talks to the Compassion in World Farming veteran and co-editor of The Meat Crisis - a shocking new book that exposes the range of environmental and health threats facing us if we don't kick our addiction to meat
… Interviews Joyce D'Silva Compassion In World Farming CIWF Farming Animals Cows Meat Water Drought Consumption Factory Farming Jo joyce1-1.jpg Eifion Rees talks to …
To feed the world we must abandon not just GMOs but all diversity-destroying selective crop breeding, organic farmer John Letts told Oliver Tickell. Only by using biodiverse local seed mixtures that evolve in the field can food production adapt to climate change without ever-increasing chemical inputs, and meet human needs for wholesome nourishment.
… Farming with the grain - John Letts and his … Oliver Tickell | 10th November 2016 Other Farming Food Organic Biodiversity Seeds GMOs … and drawing conclusions about food, diet, farming systems and climate. One day a friend …
Corncrakes were once widespread across the country until populations fell dramatically with the intensification of farming.
… Birds can recover from intensive farming Conor Riordan | 9th July 2020 News Intensive Farming Biodiversity RSPB Corncrakes … fell dramatically with the intensification of farming. A project to protect one of …
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
… Real Farming Report - Whose seeds are they anyway? … 2016 News Seed Biodiversity Agribusiness Food Farming seedlings.jpg The new People Need … coincide with this week's annual Oxford Real Farming Conference - warns that modern farming …
For decades Israel has been driving Palestinian farmers off their land by imposing restrictions on agriculture, writes JONATHAN COOK. But one company, Canaan Fair Trade, has found an innovative way to resist peacefully, increasing resilience and prosperity in rural West Bank communities, and forging international alliances in the global movement for good food and farming.
… Jonathan Cook | 19th August 2016 News Food Farming Middle East Green Economy Seeds … in the global movement for good food and farming. Across the West Bank, olive trees can … native soil Some threats to the Palestinian farming community are more insidious, though …
After beavers' reintroduction to Scotland, landowners have accused the native rodents of damaging the environment, causing floods, and worse, writes Louise Ramsay. But the public have rallied to the cause of these charming, beneficial creatures, leaving conservative landowners isolated. Could the shift in sentiment trigger long overdue change in the Scottish countryside?
… | 8th March 2016 Comment Beavers Scotland Farming Natural World Flooding Water beaver in … a deep sense that much of what goes on in farming, perhaps especially in the arable … and floodplains, is not as it should be. Farming methods were historically better for …
Research from the University of Leeds, in England, and the University of Veracruz, in Mexico, concludes shoppers have to get past 'ick factor'.
… News Climate Breakdown Biodiversity Food And Farming Insects 21388755-1.jpg Research from … attitudes towards eating insects and current farming techniques and technologies need to … the University of Veracruz, in Mexico, said. Farming The report found that edible insect …
Building resilience to flood and drought is all about working with farmers, writes Colin Tudge. Simple things like ploughing across slopes, not up and down them, planting trees, and caring for soils, can make a huge difference in helping rainwater to sink into the ground, not run off. And to make it happen, the government must take a lead.
… Colin Tudge | 2nd January 2015 Comment Farming Water Floods UK The Land … arithmetic tells us that a few tweaks in farming could make a huge difference to … they should then be integrated into the farming system as a whole to become a true …
Less meat, fewer pesticides can mean more food, more future.
… Reporter | 21st February 2019 News Organic Farming Soil Association Biodiversity Thought Leaders family-farming-cut.jpg Less meat, fewer pesticides … reduced in Europe through agroecological farming, which would still produce enough …
Managing grasslands in a way that mimics natural grazing by wild animals improves water infiltration, reduces erosion, conserves nutrients, reduces costs, raises production and increases profits, writes Natasha Giddings. Why isn't everyone doing it?
… Giddings | 21st March 2014 Comment Food Farming Natural World UK Flooding Water … most of the UK is best suited to pastoral farming of one type or another. For instance, … land lacks sufficient soil depth for arable farming, or is at too high an altitude, and …
US beef carries a heavy environmental cost in water, land, emissions. But few of us know quite how damaging beef is, writes Gidon Eshel, nor that it is more than five times worse than pork, poultry, eggs or cheese. Isn't it time we did something about it?
… Gidon Eshel | 22nd July 2014 Comment Food Farming USA Climate Change Water … more land and 11 times more water to farm. Farming cattle releases five times more … Conversation . Read the original article . Farming cattle releases five times more …
Claims such as 'responsibly farmed' are being used to boost supermarket sales but do not always mean an environmentally-friendly fish product
Supermarkets misleading consumers over 'sustainably sourced' seafood Tom Levitt | 10th January 2011 News Fish Biodiversity Natural World Food Tesco Seafood tunatinned.jpg Tuna labelled as 'dolphin …