Twenty miles away from LA, a Hollywood director/screenwriter/actor and his wife have created an entirely organic refuge where they appreciate the more simple things in life.
Unable to resist large corporate mining, timber, and agriculture profiteering on public lands, government environmentalists turn on small, sustainable farmers with inholdings. It's a perfect strategy to make enemies of your best ally (small farmers) .Unable to resist large corporate mining, timber, and agriculture profiteering on... more
The most-basic human needs are being threatened by incompetent and/or corrupt agricultural practices.The most-basic human needs are being threatened by incompetent and/or corrupt... more
In aquaponics, the plants are fertilized with nutrients and bacteria from fish water, and the plant roots filter the water so that it can be circulated back into the fish tanks, creating a symbiotic loop between fish and plants.
"As I write this in the first week of January 2010, the area had expanded to 2 million acres of 21 districts. More than 0.6 million acres increase in a farming system that does not use chemical pesticides, and is also phasing out chemical fertiliser, that too in matter of few months, is a record of sorts. And all this has happened without any push from the government agencies and the private sector. I see no reason why this environmentally safe, and a farmer-friendly system of sustainable agriculture, cannot cover 200 million acres across the country in another ten years or so if the government gets serious."
"There is more money now in the hands of the farmers. The cost of cultivation per acre has also come down by 33 per cent. Take the case of cotton, a CMSA farmer saves more than Rs 12,500 per hectare in a year on account of no application of pesticides alone. With his crop productivity remaining stable, cotton farmers have got a new lease of life. The environment too has become healthier and safe." http://permaculture.org.au/2010/01/31/a-farming-model-to-sustain-the-world/
" Across our great country, farmers and ranchers work each day to produce the food you and your family enjoy. To us, farming is much more than our chosen profession. It is a commitment to providing you with safe, nutritious and affordable food, caring for our animals and our land, and giving back to our communities.
We invite you to explore this site and learn more about what we do each and every day. You can tour our farms, meet our families, and see for yourself how we grow the food that ends up on your family's table."" Across our great country, farmers and ranchers work each day to produce the... more
With not only H&M and organic certifier EcoCert caught in an unprecedented organic cotton scandal, courtesy of "organic cotton" suppliers from India, retailers worldwide can't help but brace for their own industry-altering aftermath.
According to Ecotextile News, Lothar Kruse, a director of the independent testing laboratory Impetus in Bremerhaven, Germany examined the cotton fabrics that came from Indian farms and claimed roughly "30% of the tested samples" contained genetically modified (GM) cotton.
The head of the Indian agricultural authority Apeda, Sanjay Dave, told the newspaper they were dealing with fraud on "a gigantic scale."
Organic Exchange, an organization committed to expanding organic agriculture, is releasing figures any day regarding how much so-called organic cotton India has produced on an international level for retail.
Current figures provided by them include 61% of the total amount of organic cotton produced worldwide in 2008-2009 were from them, with some 107,000 tons of fiber out of the total 175,113 tons grown worldwide.
More at link.With not only H&M and organic certifier EcoCert caught in an unprecedented organic... more
At the Fourth World Congress on Conservation Agriculture in New Delhi, India the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization stressed the importance of moving away from the conventional intensive farming methods in use today. Shivaji Pandey, Director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization stressed the need for changeAt the Fourth World Congress on Conservation Agriculture in New Delhi, India the U.N.... more
A NY dairy farmer shot and killed his 51 cows then turned the rifle on himself and committed suicide. The report on why was not divulged, only to say he had "personal" problems. Another farmer was quoted as saying it's a hard time to be a farmer.A NY dairy farmer shot and killed his 51 cows then turned the rifle on himself and... more
At Natural Home, we love hemp. We eat hemp food and recommend hemp textiles for many areas of the home, and we’re excited about the role hemp’s taking on in insulation and other major building materials. Hemp’s a cool plant. But sadly, our enthusiasm for hemp can’t support anyone’s local economy in the United States. It’s legal to sell hemp products, but it’s illegal to grow the hemp here.
hemp leaves
The United States spends an estimated $360 million on imported hemp.
A group of northern Michigan farmers is among a growing chorus that wants to change that. Recently, Everett Swift, a Michigan farmer, urged the Board of Commissioners in Montmorency County to pass a resolution in support of hemp farming. He pointed out that the money the United States spends on imported hemp, an estimated $360 million according to the Hemp Industries Association could be going to American farmers.
Oregon, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota and Vermont have passed pro-hemp legislation. Even though these states have made hemp cultivation legal, federal law still states that it is illegal to grow hemp, and farmers must obtain a permit from the Drug Enforcement Agency before they can grow hemp without fear of prosecution.
Unfortunately, the DEA doesn’t seem likely to hand out licenses anytime soon. Just before Christmas, the federal courts dismissed a case where two North Dakota farmers were suing the DEA over a permit. The farmers, Wayne Hauge and David Monson, were issued North Dakota’s first license to grow hemp in 2007. The farmers then applied for the DEA permit, which they never got. The farmers sued the DEA, saying they should be allowed to grow industrial hemp without fear of prosecution, but the courts dismissed the case. Not all farmers wait for the DEA permit, however. Last October Montana officials issued the state’s first license to grow hemp to Laura Bozeman, who said she had no intention of attaining a permit from the DEA.
Swift and other hemp supporters at the meeting say they want their county to be the catalyst for change in the state. The county commission took no action, but the farmers said they would continue to show up and campaign for hemp.1/20/2010 1:18:07 PM
by Robyn Griggs Lawrence, Editor-in-Chief
At Natural... more
The 'grow your own food' movement is live and well, and more and more young people are getting in the game. Meet Becky Rushford who, at 29, is managing a farm in upstate New York.
"Rushford turned this dream into a sustainable business, researching and planning a farming system for a client. At the time of the interview, she was putting together a plan to raise chickens profitably.
She is also out in the field, working the land, in a solo operation. Currently, she is managing one-half acre of farmland in upstate New York for some clients who run a café, restaurant and grocery store in Brooklyn. They invested in the farm so they could have sustainable, regional crops to supply their businesses. The half acre may seem small, but it can produce more than 10 tons of produce, Rushford said."
Read more: http://bit.ly/6lMARAThe 'grow your own food' movement is live and well, and more and more young... more
If you have a garden or balcony, now is the time to create safe havens for our precious insect life - permaculture practices along with a clean environment safe from pesticides and herbicides can give our insects a break from agricultural toxins.
Published on Monday, January 11, 2010 by BBC News
Biodiversity Loss Is 'Wake-Up Call', Warns UN
by Richard Black
The UN launches the International Year of Biodiversity on Monday, warning that the ongoing loss of species affects human well-being around the world.
The rate of species loss leads some biologists to say that we are in the middle of the Earth's sixth great extinction, the previous five stemming from natural events such as asteroid impacts. (photo by flickr user _PaulS_)Eight years ago, governments pledged to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, but the pledge will not be met.
The expansion of human cities, farming and infrastructure is the main reason.
Dignitaries including German premier Angela Merkel will speak at the launch in Berlin, with a video message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Mr Ban is due to say that human expansion is wiping out species at about 1,000 times the "natural" or "background" rate, and that "business as usual is not an option".
The Secretary-General is expected to argue that the failure to protect biodiversity "should be a wake-up call", leading to effective ways of protecting forests, watersheds, coral reefs and other ecosystems.
The UN says that as natural systems such as forests and wetlands disappear, humanity loses the services they currently provide for free, such as the purification of air and water, protection from extreme weather events and the provision of materials for shelter and fire.
The rate of species loss leads some biologists to say that we are in the middle of the Earth's sixth great extinction, the previous five stemming from natural events such as asteroid impacts.
Cash log
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was agreed at the Rio Earth Summit of 1992, alongside the climate change convention.
But it acquired its key global pledge during the Johannesburg summit of 2002, when governments agreed to achieve a "significant reduction" in the rate of biological diversity loss by 2010.
Conservation organisations acknowledge that despite some regional successes, the target is not going to be met; some analyses suggest that nature loss is accelerating rather than decelerating.
"We are facing an extinction crisis," said Jane Smart, director of the biodiversity conservation group with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
"The loss of this beautiful and complex natural diversity that underpins all life on the planet is a serious threat to humankind now and in the future."
A large on-going UN-sponsored study into the economics of biodiversity suggests that deforestation alone costs the global economy $2-5 trillion each year.
In his speech at Monday's event, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) executive director Achim Steiner is due to highlight problems caused by invasive species, and the potential for ecosystems such as forests and wetlands to absorb and store carbon from the air.
The UN hopes some kind of legally-binding treaty to curb biodiversity loss can be agreed at the CBD summit, held in Japan in October.
One element is due to be a long-awaited protocol under which the genetic resources of financially-poor but biodiversity-rich nations can be exploited in a way that brings benefits to all.
However, given the lack of appetite for legally-binding environmental agreements that key countries displayed at last month's climate summit in Copenhagen, it is unclear just what kind of deal might materialise on biodiversity.If you have a garden or balcony, now is the time to create safe havens for our... more
There is fast food, and then there is, well, slow food. You know about the one with drive-through windows and burgers with calories only a CPA could calculate. But slow food? It sounds like something you take your time eating.
The Slow Food movement, formed in Italy in 1986, promotes healthy eating without compromising on taste or enjoyment. A key ingredient is education, and nowhere is it growing faster than in the Temecula Valley Unified School District. Twenty-one of its 32 schools (and three private schools) have vegetable and flower gardens partially funded by Slow Food Temecula Valley, the local chapter of the international organization.
With 21 gardens, the district is the flagship for Slow Food. No other district in the United States has more than two schools participating in the program. The organization helps start school gardens, works to create curriculum and raises money to keep the gardens going.There is fast food, and then there is, well, slow food. You know about the one with... more
The epic blow-up at Copenhagen was ultimately about something very simple. It was about economic growth — about who gets to grow, how fast, under what terms, using which energy supplies.
Within this purportedly zero-sum framework, if China grows quickly, burning cheap coal for fuel, with a slowly increasing amount of renewables added to the mix, the West will have to cut growth too sharply. Meanwhile most of the global South worries that the Copenhagen proposals could have permanently put a stop to their plans for growth.
But what if there’s an escape from this cul-de-sac? What if development — entailing, but not the same as, economic growth — could co-exist harmoniously with sharp emissions reductions? What would that imply for development planning?
On a continent plagued by droughts and floods, an unremarked revolution is under way in the arid Southern Province of Zambia where 58-year-old Munalula Mate has harnessed the internet to help forecast and prevent natural disasters. Once the bread-basket province of the nation, the region around the city of Livingstone has in recent years experienced a slump in its agricultural fortunes because of the floods and droughts that ravage the area at regular intervals. But thanks to Mr Mate's work, that trend is being swiftly reversed.
Mr Mate is a weather forecaster with a classical training from the UK's Met Office. For years he has compiled short- and long-term forecasts in the Livingstone area. But their usefulness has been constrained by two factors. First, the local data he has been able to gather has been severely limited. Second, even when he compiled the best predictions he could, they were out of date by the time they could be effectively distributed throughout the remote rural province.
But those obstacles were all put behind him once he had landed his first computer and internet connection. Disasters are now being avoided and farming output has risen in his area by an average of 10 per cent every year for the past five years.On a continent plagued by droughts and floods, an unremarked revolution is under way... more
Benn unveils plan to boost UK food and 'grow your own'
'We need to get emissions down from agriculture'
Plans to boost food production in Britain and reduce its impact on the environment have been unveiled.
The government's 20-year food strategy includes making land available for people to grow their own food and more healthy cooking courses.
Minister Hilary Benn said shoppers had led the push for free-range eggs and could do the same for sustainable food.
The Tories said ministers "belatedly" recognised the need for food security after a decade of declining production.
Environment Secretary Mr Benn unveiled the government's Food 2030 plan at the Oxford Farming Conference and said a rising population and climate change meant food could not be taken for granted.
Smaller portions
The document includes proposals for a "healthy food code of conduct" to help people choose what food to buy - ideas include clearer labelling, smaller portions for "energy dense" or high salt foods, reducing fat and sugar in foods and nutrition information on restaurant menus.
The government also wants less food waste, more food bought in season to reduce environmental impact and to encourage people to buy sustainably-farmed food.
A decade ago, only 16% of eggs produced in the UK were free range. In the last 10 years that's more than doubled to just under 40%
Hilary Benn
Tory plan to 'curb' supermarkets
It says it will pilot healthy cooking classes for "at risk" families as part of efforts to tackle obesity and will help local landowners and community groups work together to make land available temporarily, to grow food.
It would also look into a community "land bank" to act as a broker between land-holders and community groups who want somewhere to grow food.
Mr Benn said the expansion of fair trade and free-range food illustrated how shoppers could drive trends in food production - and he hoped they could do the same for sustainable, locally-grown products.
"A decade ago, only 16% of eggs produced in the UK were free range. In the last 10 years that's more than doubled to just under 40%. Waitrose, M&S and the Co-op now sell only free range or organic eggs," he said.
"And with the UK 80% self-sufficient in free-range eggs this is a great example of how our farmers have responded to what consumers want, to the benefit of both."
More expensive
Mr Benn told the BBC that 20 years ago British families spent about 20% of their income on food, now it had dropped to "just under 11%" - although families on low incomes still spent about 15-16% on food.
Asked whether it would mean food becoming more expensive, he said everyone was responsible for what they ate and the government was just giving people information to make their own choices.
The government wants to increase British food production
The National Farmers' Union said the government's plans were a "useful blueprint", but said the government needed to achieve "the right balance" between productivity and sustainability.
NFU president Peter Kendall said: "Farmers and growers are already demonstrating that they can produce more food while impacting less. What we now need are policies that underpin and enhance a productive agriculture sector."
The Conservatives unveiled their own plans for a supermarket ombudsman at the same conference - to settle disputes between retailers and suppliers.
'Rock bottom prices'
Shadow environment spokesman Nick Herbert told the BBC: "We welcome the fact that the government has belatedly recognised the importance of food security, but they presided over a decade of declining British production, and we're importing more and more food from overseas.
He accused them of "turning their back on proposals like honest food labelling, a supermarket ombudsman, animal health measures".
continues....Benn unveils plan to boost UK food and 'grow your own'
'We need to... more
IT didn’t take long for Chip, a Tennessee fainting goat sporting a luxuriant Vandyke beard and an impressive pair of curlicue horns, to live up to his breed’s name. When Peter Borden, accompanied by a stranger, entered the immaculate stable that Chip calls home, the goat pressed his velvety nose through the bars of his stall, begging for a scratch. But at the visitor’s approach, Chip apparently had second thoughts. His left foreleg stiffened, his brown eyes went glassy and he began to list to one side.
“There he goes,” said Mr. Borden, the executive director of the SVF Foundation, a heritage livestock preservation facility here. The guest turned away, and Chip quickly recovered, his dignity intact.
Located on a 45-acre estate in Newport, SVF is the only organization in the country dedicated to conserving rare heritage livestock breeds by freezing their semen and embryos, a technique called cryopreservation. Chip, now SVF’s unofficial mascot, was the proof that the foundation had mastered the process. In early 2004, as a six-day-old embryo, he was flushed from his mother’s womb and spent the next several months frozen. Thawed and transplanted into a surrogate Nubian doe, a common breed, he was born on May 7, 2004, a perfectly normal fainting goat.
The building adjacent to the one that houses Chip contains three stainless-steel tanks about the size of commercial washing machines. About 45,000 semen and embryo samples from 20 breeds of rare cattle, sheep and goats are preserved there in liquid nitrogen chilled to minus 312 degrees — essentially a frozen ark. Each time the foundation freezes a batch of embryos from a new breed, it thaws a few and transplants them into surrogate animals, repeating the test that Chip once passed.IT didn’t take long for Chip, a Tennessee fainting goat sporting a luxuriant... more
Focused farming, targeting each seedling instead of a whole field, is helping limit weeding time and allowing kids that child head of households get back into school, thereby keeping their hopes and dreams alive.Focused farming, targeting each seedling instead of a whole field, is helping limit... more
This is a superb documentary! Highly recommend taking the time (an hour) to watch this, there is a button on the bottom right hand corner of the small screen that will pull it up to full screen....
From the web site:
"Wildlife film maker Rebecca Hosking investigates how to transform her family’s farm in Devon into a low energy farm for the future, and discovers that nature holds the key.
With her father close to retirement, Rebecca returns to her family’s wildlife-friendly farm in Devon, to become the next generation to farm the land. But last year’s high fuel prices were a wake-up call for Rebecca. Realising that all food production in the UK is completely dependent on abundant cheap fossil fuel, particularly oil, she sets out to discover just how secure this oil supply is.
Alarmed by the answers, she explores ways of farming without using fossil fuel. With the help of pioneering farmers and growers, Rebecca learns that it is actually nature that holds the key to farming in a low-energy future..."This is a superb documentary! Highly recommend taking the time (an hour) to watch... more
This Nationwide website allows shoppers to see where the produce they buy in their local store or eat in their local restaurant was grown. Farmers, Restaurants, and Retail Stores create their own profiles.
Customers create and rate produce items and other farm fresh foods so that the farm of origin that is selling the highest quality can be recognized and ensure repeat customers.
