This week I am in Brazil with my good friend Abe Bicksler and nine UI-ACES students. The Sustainability Spring Break Study Trip is being hosted by Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza, a diversified organic coffee plantation, near the town of Mococa. Here we are learning first-hand about sustainability, and developing ideas for potential research projects that will [...]
Entries from March 2009
March 22, 2009
Brazil trip: travel day
March 20-21, 2009
Finally the day arrives.
Over the course of the last three to four months a lot of planning has gone into this Sustainability Study Abroad Spring Break trip. Even though we conceived of the idea on fairly short notice, things came together with incredible smoothness. That is until this week. Monday morning I received [...]
March 16, 2009
Local food success story in Brazil
Belo Horizonte is the fourth largest city in Brazil. There, 11 percent of the people used to live in “absolute poverty.” That was before a newly elected mayor set wheels in motion to rebuild the local food system. It’s a great story…
…[the] newly elected administration declared food a right of citizenship. The officials said, in [...]
March 7, 2009
Cuba’s local food revolution
Out of crisis comes a new vision and real change.
After the Soviet Union colapsed, Cuba lost the means and external resources it was using to support its thoroughly modern, industrial farm and food system. Faced with starvation (crisis) they were forced to develop a local, organic food system. This video focuses [...]
March 6, 2009
Major local food report released in illinois
Local food system has $30B economic stimulus potential for Illinois economy. Report of statewide task force reveals economic potential of local farm, food, and jobs system. Legislation filed to advance work to put Illinois-grown food on Illinois tables.
SPRINGFIELD, IL— A statewide task force report delivered today to the Illinois General Assembly presents a local farm-and-food [...]
