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.
… Tea - a 'hero crop' for our times? Ann-Marie … Comment Food Farming Forests Corporations tea-plantation-watering.png Britain's … the 'cup that cheers' on the nation's tables. Tea is big business: three billion cups of it …
Mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest are at risk from tea plantations that would obliterate the adjacent Kafuga Forest, a vital buffer zone for local people, writes Richard Sadler. Deprived of foods, herbs, medicines and clean water from the forest, human pressure on the gorillas would inevitably increase, and expose them to potentially lethal diseases.
… Uganda: Save Kafuga Forest and gorillas from tea plantations Richard Sadler | 27th January … Bwindi Impenetrable Forest are at risk from tea plantations that would obliterate the … forest for farming. A group of more than 250 tea growers, backed by district government …
The Tea Party of Miami put up a convincing demo last week to oppose a 'land grab' that would see 46,000 acres of sugar farm land restored for Everglades conservation. Just one problem - the 'protestors' were actors each being paid $75 for the two-hour shift.
… Tea Party's fake protestors for Big Sugar … Waste Water big-suar-protest.jpg The Tea Party of Miami put up a convincing demo … Palm Beach Post the protest was sponsored by Tea Party of Miami and Florida Citizens …
India's tea capital, Assam, has been hit by devastating floods for the second time in three years, writes Sneha Krishnan. But the government has failed to address key environmental issues like deforestation and soil conservation, or involve local communities in developing solutions. So ever more fertile land is lost to erosion, and millions of the country's poorest people suffer.
… Forests morigaon-dist-300612-cut.jpg India's tea capital, Assam, has been hit by … and poor working conditions on local tea plantations, while armed conflicts between … even more unstable. Perfect conditions for tea - and flooding Assam is best known for its …
A new photographic exhibition - Made in Coorg - looks at what life is like for the coffee growers of the Coorg district of southern India, where the highly fertile land is increasingly sought after for larger plantations and tourism projects
… And Drink Coffee India Plantation Farmer Bean Tea Indigenous Kodava Coorg Cotton Farmer … India’s rural economy is dominated by tea and cotton, so the coffee farmers are …
The mighty Grocery Manufacturers Association is to sue Vermont for making food companies label GMOs in their products. Ronnie Cummins calls on all concerned consumers to boycott GMA companies and products - starting with their 'traitor brands' ...
… the GMA when they buy brands like Honest Tea, Kashi, Odwalla and others whose parent … Frappucino Coca-Cola ($3.2M) - Honest Tea, Odwalla Nestle ($3M) - Gerber Organic, Sweet Leaf tea Kraft/Mondelez ($2.4M) - Boca Burgers, …
We get an entertaining selection of press releases each week at the Ecologist. Recently, however, amid claims for the greenest 4x4s ever, vegan-friendly breastmilk ice cream and strip-mining with a heart, one stood out.
… and start sucking, chewing and snorting instead. Anti-smoking campaigns and smoking bans … loose leaf or in pouches that look like small tea bags. May be placed between the cheek and …
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
… consumer come in? Despite our dedication to tea and our low global ranking (47th) in the … is no guaranteed price for the growers; instead, the organisation aims to ‘conserve …
Federal Agencies have capitulated to an armed militia protecting a Nevada rancher running his cattle on 100s of 1,000s of acres of public land reserved for 'threatened' Desert tortoises - despite multiple court orders and over $1 million in unpaid fines.
… at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Instead it is allowing a freeloading rancher … has also been enthusiastically espoused by 'Tea Party' supporters and Fox News. Federal …
Coffee may be grown all around the tropics, writes Fiona Hesselden, but it originates in just one place: the 'coffee rainforests' of the Ethiopian highlands. We depend on the wild plants for new genes and varieties, yet the forests are falling fast to the advance of farmers. To preserve the forests and all their biodiversity, the original people of the forest must receive their just rewards.
… investor interest in commercial coffee and tea plantations, has seen agricultural land …
Newly assertive citizens and consumers are putting the world's most feared and powerful corporations on the defensive, writes Ronnie Cummins. Now is the time to press home our advantage!
… some of the biggest: Coca-Cola (Honest Tea and Odwalla), Pepsi (Frito-Lay and Naked … soybeans and RNAi corn), opting instead for high-tech, and less controversial … vegetables under development, reverting "instead to good old-fashioned crossbreeding, the …
Modern agriculture - even among organic farmers - is often seen as a matter of soil chemistry, writes Lynda Brown. But an alternative view is gaining ground: that it's really about soil life. Nurture your soil-dwelling micro-organisms, and your crops look after themselves.
… is how to make aerobic compost and compost teas . It is these that contain the necessary …
'Where do I start?' Paul Kingsnorth answers the oft-asked question of those who want to grow their own food - but are lacking in knowledge, time, space, or all three. No problem. Read on...
… in the West Country, Robert is part of a team that runs Rocket Gardens , an online mail … you want to go home and watch the telly instead. So why not share it? This is a great … to other peoples’ skills, minds and flasks of tea. It means that you can panic together, …
In the red corner, the increasingly successful citizens' campaign to label foods containing GMO ingredients. In the blue, a supine government and powerful GMO and grocery industry that will fight it all the way. Welcome to 2014 ...
… brands. These include Coca-Cola (Honest Tea and Odwalla); Pepsico (Naked Juice); …
Organic certification used to be carried out by real farmers in wellies, who knew all the tricks and could spot dodgy practice on the land at 100 paces, writes Julian Rose. Today's certifiers arrive in patent leather shoes and get no further than the office - and this is meant to be an improvement?
… , I replied. "I haven't seen any udder or teat inflammation at all since they went over … an hour or so later, we sat down to a cup of tea and discussed the state of the art. …
Solar energy is not just about electricity, writes Anne Wheldon. It's also about heat - and three innovative projects highlighted by the Ashden Awards are showing how solar heat can dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of food processing and farming, while helping agricultural businesses increase profits
… of produce like lentils, spices, herbs and tea. Usually the solar air-heater is designed …
The uniting of 800 million rural workers against the loss of their traditional way of life gives lie to globalisation’s claims to beneficence. Resistance is far from futile, says Ed Hamer
… feed the richest third.Today’s peasant has instead seen his livelihood increasingly … in the 19th century by offering free tea bushes to India’s small farmers, US …
Ladakh is framed by the Karakoram mountains to the north and the Himalayas to the south. Yet even in this remote environment the forces of global consumerism are intruding. Nicola Graydon reports on the locals' inspiring defence of their culture
… a remote valley to the south, are enjoying steady 24-hour electricity for the first time … that progress is not all good; that sugary tea does not nourish as our own salty butter tea; that rice does not make us as strong as …
As hundreds of British dairy farmers are forced out of business by milk prices well below production cost, writes Patrick Holden, it's time for a 'fair trade' British milk label that guarantees a fair price to smaller scale farmers operating to good environmental and animal welfare standards.
… two pints of organic milk for £1.14 instead. Doing the same maths, that makes the … can roughly summarise as: "Fairtrade is about tea, coffee and bananas produced by peasant …
Antipodean winemakers are still breathing fresh air into the stuffy Old World of wine. Monty Waldin reports
… and it means the wine tastes crisp instead of flfl abby (Merlot can taste flabby if … Tinta Roriz (red cherry fruit), Tinto Cao (tea leaf aromas) and Touriga Nacional …
A pilot study of American mothers' milk has found levels of the herbicide glyphosate around 1,000 times higher than allowed in European drinking water. Campaigners are demanding a ban on the use of glyphosate on food crops.
… not meant to be a full scientific study. Instead it was set up to inspire and initiate … soy, sugar, rice, dry peas and beans and tea. The EPA lists over 160 foods with …
Professional surfers have established a regenerative, cooperative agriculture project in Ireland.
… of the soil. Like this, he would inspire and teach others what he had learned and provide … opinions weigh just as heavily. So instead of breaking up, we simply chose to pass … a yoga class for those who want. Porridge and tea is served outside the kitchen at nine. …
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.
… been city dwellers, workers or unions. Instead, they have usually been those with close … anti-GMO movement are very different, but instead of competing or quarreling, there are … The climate movement has Tom Steyer , the Tea Party has the Koch brothers. Adolf …