RAGDOLL parade
There is hope in honest error; none in the icy perfections of the mere stylist.
- J. D. Sedding
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More Than Honey: How Dwindling Bee Populations Impact Global Food Supply
For over a decade, the bee population has dwindled, baffling scientists worldwide. And for an insect that is responsible for two-thirds of the world’s food source, their disappearance could be devastating.
“Einstein supposedly suggested that if the bees died off, humans would only last four more years; so you can imagine the urgency.”
(via dakotapuma)
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Reconnecting with Food. Essential for our health.
To put it plainly, have we lost our connection with food?
Understanding where food comes from, how it’s produced and where it has been between farm and plate is becoming a rare quality. Almost a novelty. Despite a near-obsession with food-related TV shows – seasonality and slow-food are becoming foreign or niche concepts as supply becomes constant and expected, and fast-food becomes ubiquitous.
Now it’s sad that we don’t know a peanut grows underground, or that a tomato is a summer fruit – but it’s actually much more concerning than a lack of trivia knowledge
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Somehow I doubt that’ll stop them…
(Source: thingyoungbright, via theolduvaigorge)
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However, Mark Bittman’s continued portrayel of meat as “bad” and produce as “good” is starting to annoy me. My background in science, especially agroecology, instructs me that everything needs to be looked at in context to it’s connections to other organisms and natural processes. Well managed livestock, for example, can be a nice complementary activity with other forms of agriculture and can reduce input dependency. In terms of human health and sustenance, we all know that animal products contain more calories, protein, and fat (i.e. nutritional density) than most plant-based foods. In a world of dwindling food supplies, those things are important. Instead of labeling one food as good or bad, let’s look at some of the nuances and grey areas of meat production (part of the whole reason behind this blog!). Although I do agree with Mark’s labeling of some food as “nonfoods” and other food as just “food”. Soda and Hot Cheetos are undoubtedly “nonfoods”. Let’s say bye, bye to them…
So while Mark was railing against the supposed ills associated with animal agriculture (as if it’s all done the same exact way around the world), I began to think about the old farm we used to have. We rented 20 acres of land in a floodplain that was not appropriate for crop production because much of it was under water for 3-5 months a year (flooded fields are considered a food safety hazard for crops). However, because it flooded, it kept the pastures greener much longer into the dry California summer. The hard clay held onto moisture and nutrients, but would scare most fruits or vegetables away by constricting their roots. Hardy perennial grasses, clovers, and mustards did just fine there and supported a diverse menagerie of animals that we raised. So I think you get my point that pasture and animals were a good fit with the land.
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In the next 40 years, we have to produce as much food as we have in the past 8,000.
— …and six other startling human-footprint facts from the World Wildlife Fund. Yikes. (via poptech)(via dakotapuma)
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(Source: politics-war, via quasiflexuralthrusting)
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Sabelmouse: this Goat The gift of a dairy goat represents a lasting, meaningful...
this
Goat
The gift of a dairy goat represents a lasting, meaningful way for you to help a hungry little boy or girl somewhere in the world.
Goats can thrive in extreme climates and on poor, dry land by eating grass and leaves. The gift of a dairy goat can supply a family with up to…
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Deeper Than Deepwater: Shell Plans World's Riskiest Offshore Well
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell announced Wednesday that it will soon begin development of the world’s deepest off-shore oil well, in the body of water that is home to the world’s largest oil spill—BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil disaster of 2010—the Gulf of Mexico.
The well will be drilled almost two miles underwater in the Gulf, which is still reeling from the aftermath of the BP Deepwater disaster that spewed 4.9 million barrels (210 million gallons) of oil from the busted Macondo well over the span of three months.
In comparison to BP’s Macondo well that began at about 5,100 feet below the water—a precarious operation that ended in catastrophe—Shell’s new well will begin at almost twice that depth: 9,500 feet under water. The site of the well, the “Stones field”, is 200 miles south-west of New Orleans. Shell’s other deep water project, Perdido, at 8,000 feet below the surface, is the well’s only rival.
In addition, as the Guardian reports, although Shell’s new well is unparallelled, it is not without company:
It comes a day after ExxonMobil said it would start work on a $4bn (£2.6bn) project to develop the Julia oilfield, also in the North American ocean basin, and weeks after BP delayed development of its biggest Gulf of Mexico project – Mad Dog Phase 2 – citing rising costs. […]
[Shell] has several other projects nearby, including its 900 meter-deep Mars field, where it is adding new infrastructure, plus its Appomattox and Vito discoveries.
Shell is expected to begin production at Stones by 2016.
Why must we continue to pour human & material resource into extracting this poisonous energy resource when we could instead be building solar panels around the world?
The area of panels required to power the world is ridiculously small - http://lostdollsclub.tumblr.com/post/48843385823/mapsontheweb-area-needed-to-power-the-entire - I just don’t understand why we can’t do it…
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Towards food sovereignty: reclaiming autonomous food systems
‘Towards Food Sovereignty’ is an online book with full color photo illustrations and linked video and audio files. It describes the ecological basis of food and agriculture, the social and environmental costs of modern food systems, and the policy reversals needed to democratize food systems. The photos, video clips and audio recordings show farmers, pastoralists, indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, food workers and consumers all working to promote food sovereignty - highlighting the importance of locally controlled and diverse food systems to sustain both people and nature.
(via sabelmouse)
