Hector Christie, owner of the Tapeley Park estate and farm in Devon and renowned environmental campaigner, is urging the public to join a day of action against the Roundup weedkiller. CATHERINE EARLY reports
Aristocrat activist leads day of action to 'round up the Roundup' Catherine Early | 31st August 2017 News Monsanto Farming Pestacide Permaculture 405198.jpg Hector Christie, owner of the Tapeley Park …
Chyanhall Allotments in Cornwall has provided a successful model for farmers and landowners to generate income while providing a grow-your-own space for the community
CASE STUDY: turning farmland into allotments Dorienne Robinson | 6th October 2009 Activism Allotments Farming Local Food David Hicks Chyanhall Allotments Food And Gardening Case Study farmer2.jpg …
Next week, EU governments will vote on whether to re-authorise the weedkiller glyphosate, judged by IARC to be a probable human carcinogen, writes Molly Scott Cato. The disgraceful shenanigans of the Commission and the European Food Safety Agency to date provide a clear example of the EU and member states conspiring with corporations, against citizens.
European Union - stop glyphosate reauthorisation! Molly Scott Cato MEP | 3rd March 2016 Comment EU Law Tocics Pesticides Farming GMOs Regulation farm machinery spraying glyphosate to oilseed rape.jpg …
The world is already experiencing water scarcity driven by over-use, poor land management and climate change, writes Nafeez Ahmed. It's one of the causes of wars and terrorism in the Middle East and beyond, and if we fail to respond to the warnings before us, major food and power shortages will soon afflict large parts of the globe fuelling hunger, insecurity and conflict.
… a region as water stressed if the amount of renewable fresh water available per person per …
The real reason why 'golden rice' remains uncultivated after a 20 year effort is its poor agronomic performance, write Angelika Hilbeck & Hans Herren. But beyond that, the very idea of golden rice as a 'solution' to Vitamin A deficiency fails to recognise the real causes of malnutrition - poverty, hunger and poor diet. How will golden rice reach poor children in the first place? And will they ever get the rich, oily diet they need to assimilate its fat-soluble nutrients?
Millions spent, no one served: who is to blame for the failure of GMO Golden Rice? Angelika Hilbeck Hans Herren | 15th August 2016 Comment GMOs Food Science Farming Seed Corporations Health …
The biggest and most indiscriminate killers of wildlife on the planet, commercial fishing fleets have brought us to the edge of a maritime ecological disaster, with fish stocks facing extinction all around the world.
… commercial fish stock being reduced to a non-renewable resource. ‘It is harder to kill off …
Britain's favourite tipple faces big challenges over coming decades, writes Ann-Marie Brouder. A new report sets out the challenges and proposes sustainable solutions to keep the 'cup that cheers' on the nation's tables.
… companies have begun to explore how renewables can play a greater role here, but …
Plant fuels can never meet our current and growing energy needs and, as Robin Maynard reports, adopting a ‘carbohydrate economy’ may prove disastrous for our farmers, our food supply and our future
… ‘on the promotion of biofuels or other renewable fuels for transport’ sets a target …
Members of the food movement share an infectious vision, writes Jonathan Latham - one which is constructive, convivial, classless, raceless, international, and embraces the whole world. Unled yet inspirational, it rests on a novel, harmonious philosophy that combines science, recognition of planetary boundaries, and the universal need for wholesome sustenance.
Why the sustainable food movement is unstoppable: it's the philosophy! Jonathan Latham | 3rd October 2016 Comment Food Farming Philosophy Society Health garlic-cut.jpg Members of the food movement …
A new GM bacterium can produce bioethanol from coarse switchgrass, rather than using food crops like maize, writes Tim Radford. It does this by 'digesting' the tough cellulose that yeasts are unable to break down.
GMO bug makes bioethanol direct from grass Tim Radford | 15th June 2014 News Biofuel Farming USA Science Food Climate Change switchgrass-65t-cut.jpg A new GM bacterium can produce bioethanol from …
If the world is to feed a growing population against a backdrop of climate change and biodiversity loss, argues Charles Windsor, we must put a cost on the damage we are causing to soils, water, climate and ecosystems.
… given the costs of the damage done by non-renewable chemical fertilizers and pest …
Australian educator, author and co-inventor of Permaculture, Bruce Charles 'Bill' Mollison, died on the 24 September 2016 in Sisters Creek, Tasmania. He has been praised across the world for his visionary work, and left behind a global network of 'peaceful warriors' in over 100 countries working tirelessly to fulfill his ambition to build harmony between humanity and Mother Earth.
Peaceful warrior: Permaculture visionary Bill Mollison Permaculture Association Magazine | 26th September 2016 Ethical Living Farming Agroecology Australia mollison-1-cut.jpg Australian educator, …
The 'Cowboy Indian Alliance' heads to Washington this month to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline, Brian Ward reports on the rich history of collaborative resistance to destructive corporate power between ranchers and Native Americans.
Cowboy-Indian solidarity challenges the Keystone XL Brian Ward for SCNCC | 12th April 2014 News Indigenous Peoples Fossil Fuels Nuclear Power Farming USA cowboys-indians.png The 'Cowboy Indian …
Steven Gorelick lays out just a few of the policy changes, priority shifts and new approaches that could help save rural life, and lead to more sustainable farming
… from national or local government. Action on renewable energy could involve thinking about …
President Obama will shortly be on his way to India. In this Open Letter, Vandana Shiva invites him to join in securing the essential human freedoms to seeds and food - and to set aside any plans to pressure India into changing its laws to allow the corporate domination of life.
… all seeds. By outlawing the availability of renewable, open-pollinated seeds, corporations selling non-renewable patented seeds would be able to …
The rainforest habitat of chimpanzees and other great apes is being destroyed by the expansion of palm oil projects in central Africa, according to new evidence from Greenpeace.
… require 10% of transport fuels to come from 'renewable' sources such as ethanol from sugar …
We know the outcome of Defra's latest 'public consultation' on killing badgers long before the results have even been analysed, writes Lesley Docksey. Environment secretary Andrea Leadsom has already promised farmers to extend the cull 'even further' - although it brings no proven benefits. Welcome to the new world of 'alternative facts' that's driving UK government policy.
Putting the 'con' into consultation and the 'fiction' into science: England's badger cull Lesley Docksey | 27th February 2017 News Badgers UK England Politics Health Science Natural World Farming …
Biogas digesters are a key technology for global sustainable development, writes John M. Hawdon. They simultaneously combat parasites that infect a billion people, reduce deforestation and methane emissions, and deliver vital energy to rural communities.
… notably Germany where it is seen as key renewable energy source for the future. (see …
What with rising rainfall in the west, and hotter, drier summers in the east, British farmers place plenty of challenges from global warming, writes Anna Bowen. But there are also positive opportunities for agricultural innovators to adapt their farming systems to changing conditions, make their operations more resilient and sustainable, and make themselves part of the solution.
… its effects. Resource saving practices and renewable energy sources such as rainwater …
Liberia's Jogbahn Clan is at the forefront of efforts to resist the grab of Indigenous Peoples' land and forests for palm oil plantations. But according to the country's President, they are only 'harrassing and extorting' international investors.
Liberia - communities join to fight the palm oil land grab Jacinta Fay Silas Kpanan'Ayoung Siakor | 18th July 2014 News Food Farming Land Grabs Indigenous Peoples Liberia Africa deyeatee and comfort …
Most mass-produced pudding wouldn't know real, healthy, organic ingredients if it saw them. Laura Sevier meets the Finlays, who are putting the 'nice' back into ice cream
… concerns, and are increasingly looking into renewable energy systems. The farm is already …
Lord Krebs, self-appointed spokesman for industrial agriculture, used the Oxford Farming Conference to attack organic systems for causing more climate change - a claim as demonstrably false as it is ludicrous, writes Peter Melchett. But across the city, the upstart 'real farming' conference was showing the way to a cleaner, greener and healthier future.
… power generation (coal and natural gas versus renewables) and transport (petrol and diesel …
As Cameron appoints his cabinet, we had better get prepared for the 'green crap' that's about to be unleashed on us, writes Oliver Tickell - the return of fox-hunting, badger-culling, road building and nuclear power, the arrival of GM food and crops, more cuts to wind and solar power and the underfunding of home insulation.
… hostility to Britain's two cheapest renewable energy sources - onshore wind and …
To reduce the pressure on the world's productive land and to help assure long-term food security, writes Herbert Girardet, city people are well advised to revive urban or peri-urban agriculture. While large cities will always have to import some food, local food growing is a key component of sustainable urban living.
… and Climate Change (2004 and 2008); A RENEWABLE WORLD - Energy, Ecology, Equality …