First corporations gained legal personhood, writes Don Fitz. Next they seized the right to force 'free trade' on unwilling populations. Now they are making sure that 'corporate rights' trump citizen rights - like the right to wholesome food and a healthy environment. That's where the 'Right to Farm' constitutional amendments come in ...
… August 2014 Activism Corporations Law USA Farming mo-hog-farm-cut.jpg First corporations … right of farmers and ranchers to engage in farming and ranching practices shall be …
From the day that Danish pig farmer Ib Borup Pederson switched away from GM soy, his animals became healthier and more productive. Birth deformities reduced, sows became more fertile, medicine costs fell, and profits went up. The changes were linked to the reduction in the levels of the herbicide glyphosate in their feed.
… | 18th September 2014 News Health Toxics Food Farming Denmark China deformed-pig.jpg Figure …
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 …
The way to a sustainable, people-centred agriculture lies in agroecology - farming based on ecological principles, taking account of the interdependence of all living things.
… Graham Harvey | 6th January 2014 Comment Food Farming clover-and-fescue.png The way to a … agriculture lies in agroecology - farming based on ecological principles, taking … for a new agriculture' at the Oxford Real Farming Conference 2014. A key theme is …
Organic farming has changed, but for the better, writes Soil Association head of policy and Norfolk organic farmer Peter Melchett. As never before, organic inspections are central to the delivery of environmental and animal care, and food you really can trust.
… Peter Melchett | 24th May 2014 Comment Food Farming Regulation Organic UK farm-cut.jpg Organic farming has changed, but for the better, … has changed since he first started organic farming in 1975. Organic food is rightly under …
The UK Government's self-declared war on onshore wind farms will make it very difficult for the UK to meet its EU renewable energy targets, writes David Elliott - especially as it cuts support for solar PV. Is the UK's energy policy being written by UKIP?
Eric Pickles' war on wind farms could blow UK renewable energy targets David Elliott | 27th June 2014 Comment UK Renewables Wind Solar Energy Politics lambrigg-wind-farm-cut.jpg The UK Government's …
Faced with the rise of antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs' we desperately need to curtail the use of antibiotics on farms - and develop new and effective treatments. The answer, says Aidan Hollis, is to make the farmer pay.
… Hollis | 14th January 2014 Comment Drugs Food Farming pig-farm.png Faced with the rise of … disease caused by high-density factory farming lots. Antibiotics are also used in … See also: " True-cost accounting in food and farming " by Patrick Holden and " We must put …
Published in Nature today, a new cattle herd model shows how bTB infects cattle and how to halt its spread, writes Matt Keeling. Most effective is the slaughter of entire herds with even a single TB infection detected. Culling badgers has very little impact.
… Keeling | 3rd July 2014 News Badgers Health Farming UK Science btb-graph-cut.jpg Published …
A new report shows that the UK's farms can easily generate as much power as the proposed Hinkley C nuclear plant, writes Jonathan Porritt. Not only would it all be renewable, but if could all be in place by 2020. Here he offers some friendly - but strictly confidential - advice for Energy Secretary Ed Davey.
… Option 3 - and this really is the no-brainer! Farming energy - 20GW can be mobilised by 2020 …
As millions join in climate marches and other actions around the world, writes Ronnie Cummins, the 'mainstream' focus on energy is missing the 55% of emissions that come from mismanaged land and destroyed forests. The key is to replace industrial agriculture worldwide with productive, regenerative organic farming that puts carbon back in the soil.
… | 21st September 2014 Activism Climate Change Farming Forests feedlot-cut.jpg As millions … with productive, regenerative organic farming that puts carbon back in the soil. … already have at hand: regenerative, organic farming, ranching and land use. And we can …
The Soil Association doesn't need to 'get back to its roots', writes Helen Browning - because it never left them! It remains firmly committed to its founders' original organic mission for health, environment and animal welfare. And that means reaching out to a broader public, ensuring that organic principles are ever more widely understood and applied.
… Association | 2nd December 2014 Activism Food Farming Organic UK … Soil Association has campaigned for food and farming systems that support the health of our … as strongly as ever on organic food and farming, and also reaches out to broader …
US scientists say that very large wind farms could not only withstand a hurricane: they would also weaken it and so protect coastal communities. As Tim Radford reports, wind farms could just have saved New Orleans ...
… vulnerable coastal cities. The costs of wind-farming on such a scale would be huge, but …
A radical experiment in community supported agriculture is attempting to break farming's reliance on fossil fuels and unsustainable practices. Andrew Wasley met green farmer Ed Hamer for this exclusive extract from The Ecologist Guide To Food.
… Horsepower - the future of farming? Andrew Wasley | 28th January 2014 Comment Food Farming Fossil Fuels Community ed-hamer.png A … supported agriculture is attempting to break farming's reliance on fossil fuels and …
The organic movement faces a dilemma. Should it hold to its roots and stick with traditional production methods and local distribution? Or embrace technology and supermarkets, and feed as many mouths as possible? Andrew Wasley meets two very different organic apple producers ...
… Andrew Wasley | 11th November 2014 Comment UK Farming Organic organic-apples-cut.jpg The … his modern, high-tech approach to apple farming. The talk is of maximizing outputs, … manages HE Hall & Son, an established fruit farming business that has been around since …
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 …
Four large solar firms are suing the British Government over its decision to end support for 'farm scale' solar generators of 5MW or more. The move reflects ministerial concern about the success of the UK's fast growing solar power sector.
Solar firms to sue Government for ending support Rosie Murray-West Ruth Lumley | 9th August 2014 News UK Solar Renewables Law Politics solar-farm-cut.jpg Four large solar firms are suing the British …
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 …
Since 1967, Israeli soldiers and 'settlers' in occupied Palestine have destroyed 800,000 olive trees in an attempt to force Palestinian farmers from their land, writes Megan Perry. 'Our response to this injustice will never be with violence, and we will never give up and leave.'
… Trust | 18th July 2014 Ethical Living Food Farming Land Grabs Middle East Indigenous … many Palestinian farmers are using farming as a form of resistance to fight for … 75% unemployment in Marda due to the loss of farming land and restricted access. In 2004, …
New regulations on animal slaughter are in force across Russia, writes Georgy Borodyansky, with devastating effects on small farmers and consumers, who face a three-fold hike in the price of meat. Will the 'health and safety' madness destroy Russia's main producers of wholesome food?
… | 5th August 2014 News Russia Food Farming Regulation EU Law … Putin spoke of the importance of small-scale farming, at the congress of the Association of …
Europe is likely to become ''the museum of world farming'' because of the failure to embrace GMOs, UK environment secretary Owen Paterson said today. Fiona Harvey reports ...
… The Guardian | 7th January 2014 News Food Farming Badger Cull Gm Food GMOs UK … is likely to become ''the museum of world farming'' because of the failure to embrace … the environment secretary told the Oxford Farming Conference today. Owen Paterson, a …
How we feed ourselves sits at the crux of all human affairs, writes Joanna Wright - the health of our bodies and communities. Far too important to leave to industrial farms and processors, it's something we can all begin to do for ourselves.
… Wright | 10th May 2014 Ethical Living Food Farming Ecology forest-garden-leeks-cut.jpg … can support that process. Joe has been farming on the same piece of land for nearly … beyond your control? A love affair - with farming When I graduated from college in 2010, …
Evidence presented to a Parliamentary select committee shows that excessive use of antibiotics on farms has led to the evolution of three antibiotic-resistant superbugs since 1998.
… The Ecologist | 15th January 2014 News Farming Food Health Evidence presented to a …
The factory farming of pigs is organised animal abuse, writes Alastair Kenneil, and it imperils the environment and human health. But in the UK we have the choice to buy meat from pigs raised humanely under the open sky. Will you take the Pig Pledge today?
… the 'Pig Pledge' for happy, healthy, outdoor farming Alastair Kenneil | 4th August 2014 Activism Farming UK helen-browning-pigs-cut.jpg The factory farming of pigs is organised animal abuse, …
The High Court has overturned a 'fatally flawed' decision by Eric Pickles MP to refuse planning permission for a locally popular 24MW solar farm on former WW2 airfield in Suffolk, England, close to an industrial estate and go-kart circuit.
Solar farm go ahead after High Court quashes Pickles's unlawful refusal The Ecologist | 26th June 2014 News UK Development Solar Renewables Politics UK Law ellough-raceway-cut.jpg The High Court has …