This is what freedom looks like.
You hear more and more about families doing this type of thing. Alternatives are possible. You just have to think differently…
And for more info on this interesting family and their urban homestead, go HERE.
January 26, 2010
Slow money for slow food
“It is two things: a new way of thinking about money at a macro level, in terms of philanthropy and social investing, and on the ground it is getting money into local food systems,” said Tasch. “Our objective is a very robust network at regional and local levels across the U.S. — many, many players who are all interested in the same goal: rebuilding local food systems.”
Read the whole article HERE. Very interesting.
January 25, 2010
What could be worse than deep-fried twinkies…?
You guessed it: Krispy Kreme bacon cheese burger.
this in not a joke
Compliments of the Al Dente blog.
January 21, 2010
Ecosystem services: how much is nature worth?
mangroves providing services
This is an interesting article. An ecological approach to farming values and preserves the services nature provides. Seems like a no brainer to me. What the article points out is how that decision is made — conventional ag is the no-brainer if you just look at the short-term bottom line. For long-term sustainability, you gotta work with nature, not against her.
Over the past two decades around a third of the world’s mangrove swamps have been converted for human use, with many turned into valuable shrimp farms. In 2007 an economic study of such shrimp farms in Thailand showed that the commercial profits per hectare were $9,632. If that were the only factor, conversion would seem an excellent idea. However, proper accounting shows that for each hectare government subsidies formed $8,412 of this figure and there were costs, too: $1,000 for pollution and $12,392 for losses to ecosystem services.
Read the whole article. We need more of this type of accounting.
January 20, 2010
Organic Coffee from Latin America
still organic in Brazil
Prices have dropped and many smaller coffee farmers who converted to organic for the price premium are switching back to conventional. Read the whole article HERE.
Thankfully, FAF isn’t converting back, and I am getting ready to take another group of students there in March to explore first-hand what sustainability really means. To check out what we did last year, look HERE.
