Taxpayer-financed development banks have lent €500 million to Ukraine's biggest agribusiness company so it can undercut EU chicken producers, writes Fidanka Bacheva McGrath - while polluting the environment and grabbing land from local farmers.
EU taxpayers finance Ukraine's 'chicken oligarch' Fidanka Bacheva McGrath CEE Bankwatch | 17th September 2015 News Ukraine EU Farming Land Grabs Finance yuriy-kosyuk-cut.jpg Taxpayer-financed …
The Faroe Islands' annual 'grindadráp', in which hundreds of pilot whales are slaughtered with knives and hooks, is a horrifying spectacle, writes David Lusseau. But unlike industrial whaling it poses no threat to the species. And is it really any worse than the industrial factory farming that we routinely ignore?
Whatever our emotions tell us, not all whaling is the same David Lusseau | 30th July 2015 Comment Cetaceans Oceans Hunting Conservation Denmark whaling-hulk-s-georgia-cut.jpg The Faroe Islands' …
This is the first day of the pheasant shooting season, writes Toni Shephard. But put bucolic ideas of happy birds running around in the wild woods out of your mind. Most of the birds coming under shotgun fire today have only just been released from overcrowded factory farms. Even in death they have no dignity: most are not even eaten, but end up dumped in makeshift pits.
… in much the same way as intensively reared chickens. Yet they are not protected by humane … still semi-wild birds, unlike domesticated chickens, who find confinement highly …
A welt of anti-wildlife 'riders' have been attached to essential legislation in the US Congress, writes Caeleigh MacNeil - aimed at stripping protection from endangered species and so grease the skids for industrial exploitation of wildlands against the wishes of the great majority of Americans.
Protecting endangered species - Congress says NO, America says YES Caeleigh MacNeil EarthJustice | 18th July 2015 News USA Natural World Politics sage-grouse-cut.jpg A welt of anti-wildlife 'riders' …
The discovery of a secret 'fox farm' apparently linked to the Middleton Hunt exposes the lie that is used to justify fox hunting, writes, Dr Toni Shephard: that it's a legitimate means of wildlife control. On the contrary, foxes are deliberately fattened up for the kill, also indicating possible violations of the 2004 Hunting Act, which prohibits the hunting of wild animals, including foxes, with dogs.
… North Cotswold Hunt dumping dozens of dead chickens, rabbits and eggs at an artificial … In May 2015 we received footage of dead chickens being dumped outside an artificial …
Dissent over the massive USA-EU TTIP trade deal is focused on the 'corporate courts' allowing investors to sue national governments, But largely neglected has been the equally serious issue of 'Regulatory Cooperation' - which would impose a huge burden of 'red tape' on EU and US legislatures, while forcing down health, safety, social and environmental standards.
TTIP's 'Regulatory Cooperation' would force down standards in US and EU Friends of the Earth Europe | 13th July 2015 News Trade Regulation EU USA Corporations us-chicken-farm-cut.jpg Dissent over the …
As industrial agriculture continues to erode our wildlife, Dave Goulson challenges the methods and objectives of ever-increasing food production. We need to move towards sustainable, evidence-based farming systems that produce healthy food, rather than allowing the agrochemical industry to reshape our farming, countryside and nutrition to its quest for profit.
… lives on a farm with a sheepdog, half a dozen chickens and a smiling cow, all presided over …
Forget tariffs, forget Obama's promises. The whole point of modern 'trade agreements' is to whack pesky labor, environment and health laws, writes David Morris, and so empower capital and corporate power against regulators, governments and democracy itself. Unconvinced? Just imagine what these deals would look like if they were there to empower people.
Yes, trade deals really do overturn democracy David Morris On the Commons | 28th July 2015 News Trade Finance Health Society Politics USA Canada Mexico winston-cut.jpg Forget tariffs, forget Obama's …
Forest foods are a vital source of nutrition for millions of people, writes Bhaskar Vira, and we need to make them an even bigger part of our diets for the sake of health, biodiversity, local economies, and to increase food global security in a warming world.
Forest foods - the tasty, resilient, sustainable answer to world hunger Bhaskar Vira | 1st June 2015 Comment Food Forests Africa Un allanblackia-woman-cut.jpg Forest foods are a vital source of …
The Green party today overtook both UKIP and the LibDems the on number of paid-up members. After a surge of 4,000 new members in two days, the Greens UK-wide now have 44,713 members, 4,000 more than UKIP, and 1,500 more than the LibDems.
Greens overtake UKIP and Libdems - over 4,000 new members in 2 days! The Ecologist | 15th January 2015 News Politics UK vote-green-bicycle-cut.jpg The Green party today overtook both UKIP and the …
An initiative to re-home abused, over-worked domestic elephants is supporting the conservation of one of Cambodia's last and most species-rich rainforests, writes William Laurance. Growing ecotourism in the area, attracted by the elephants, is engaging indigenous communities in forest protection and helping to stave off the pressure from loggers and plantations.
… one motorcycle had at least two hundred live chickens hanging upside down from a series of …
The 'regulatory cooperation' clauses in TTIP threaten to strip away vital EU protections on food, health and environment, writes Alex Scrivener. Indeed it has already begun: the mere prospect of TTIP has persuaded the EU to back off on plans to ban lactic acid-treated beef and 31 toxic pesticides. We must reject the entire package!
Be very scared: TTIP and 'regulatory cooperation' Alex Scrivener Global Justice Now | 20th October 2015 Comment Regulation Trade Finance EU USA Health Farming meat-supermarket-cut.jpg The 'regulatory …
Forget pear trees. Today's partridges are unlikely to have seen much beyond the barren confines of their cages until they are released to be shot, writes Toni Shephard. A new investigation by the League Against Cruel Sports reveals that thousands of partridges will spend Christmas, like every other day, imprisoned on the farms that supply shooting estates.
The plight of the partridge: confined, distressed, maimed - then shot for fun Dr Toni Shephard | 15th December 2015 Activism Farming Birds Hunting UK Animal Welfare heart of england debeaked …
Thousands of small farmers in Poland are blockading motorways and holding demonstrations to demand land rights, a ban on GMOs and an end to oppressive health and safety regulations - and they are refusing to call off the protests until their demands are met.
… typically mixed, with small number of pigs, chickens, cattle and horses and arable fields …
Poland is the front line for Europe's small scale family farming, writes Julian Rose, under assault from the EU regulations, corporate agribusiness, and a hostile government. A popular campaign is fighting back from its base deep in the Polish countryside, a small organic farm that's developing new green technologies to enhance the sustainability of small farms everywhere.
… established seed-saving project. In addition, chickens, sheep and a small Alpaka herd …
Lead poisoning from industrial pollution has imposed a terrible toll on Kenyans, writes Sophie Morlin-Yron, and single mother Phyllis Omido is no exception - lead from a nearby metal refinery badly damaged her own son's health. But it was when she decided to fight back against the polluters that a whole new realm of threats and dangers opened up.
… also revealed that animals such as chickens kept in people's back yards died …
The real lesson of Volkswagen's 'dieselgate' scandal is that we must ditch petroleum fuels, writes Harry Hoster. There's new, clean technologies just waiting to take off - and the most promising is fuel cells. They will also fit right into the new world of renewables, with surplus power from wind and solar making the hydrogen they burn.
Dieselgate - our wake-up call for new car technologies Harry Hoster Lancaster University | 8th October 2015 Comment Transport Renewables Energy Technology toyota-fuel-cell-cut.jpg The real lesson of …
For over two years the small community of San José del Golfo has maintained a 24-hour barricade against the US-owned mine El Tambor that threatens to destroy their land and water. The non-violent resistance, led by women, is transforming the traditional 'macho' culture, and attracting support across Guatemala, and beyond.
Guatemala: women lead the struggle for life, land, clean water Jeff Abbott Waging Nonviolence | 1st April 2015 News Mining Water Pollution Guatemala Corporations Trade jeff abbott-cut.jpg For over …
So just how serious is the impact of industrial farming? Worse than you could ever imagine, writes organic farmer Julian Rose in this review of 'Farmageddon - the Real Price of Cheap Food', which lifts the lid on the industry's human and ecological devastation, and the systematic cruelty inflicted on the animals that feed us.
… their short seventy two week life span (chickens can live eight to ten years) they …
For anyone who believes in the ineffable wisdom of 'free' markets, the current sinkaway oil price takes some explaining, writes James Meadway. Saudi Arabia's big gamble that it could put US shale oil out of business by over-pumping has now collided with China's falling demand for energy. Result: oil producers everywhere are swimming in red ink. Where will it all end?
China syndrome: fracked oil and Saudi Arabia's big gamble hit sinking global economy James Meadway DeSmog.uk | 10th September 2015 News Energy Oil Fracking USA Saudi Arabia China Economics …
The discovery of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in pork products in UK supermarkets is a call to action, writes Peter Melchett. We must end the unhygienic farming practices that only work with constant antibiotic use, and reserve the most valuable antibiotics for human use only - or face a world in which routine surgery and infections bring serious risk of death.
MRSA superbug found in pork meat and sausages - it's time for action Peter Melchett | 19th June 2015 News Health Food Farming Politics Regulation unhappy-pigs-cut.jpg The discovery of …
There are two rules about the end costs of nuclear power, writes Ian Fairlie. It's far more than you ever knew. And whatever sum of money was ever set aside, it's nowhere near enough. Germany understands this. That's why it refused to let E.ON spin off its nuclear liabilities into a hands-off company. But the UK, it seems, has lost the ability to learn from its nuclear mistakes.
… ... At the end of nuclear, onerous financial chickens come home to roost for nuclear …
Bee 'colony collapse disorder' cannot be ended by easy technofixes, writes Allan Stromfeldt Christensen. The real problem is the systematic abuse of bees in vast industrial monocultures, as they are trucked or flown thousands of miles from one farm to the next, treated with insecticides and antibiotics, and fed on 'junk food'.
Bee collapse is the result of their enslavement in industrial monocultures Allan Stromfeldt Christensen | 2nd May 2015 Comment Farming Food Ecology Natural World USA almond-blossom-ca-cut.jpg Bee …
This week Finland cancelled its option for a second European Pressurised Reactor as the existing EPR project sinks into a abyss of cost over-runs, delays and litigation, writes Jim Green. It now looks like the EPR is a failed technology and its owner, French nuclear giant Areva, is fast running out of both money and orders as its 'hot prospects' evaporate.
… Areva: "Everyone in the know could tell the chickens were going to come home to roost. I …