Tag: Sustainable agriculture

  • Zimbabwe Adopts Plan to Protect Rights of Small Farmers

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    Jeffrey Gogo’s latest piece in The Herald outlines how the Plan for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) “aims to ‘catalogue, protect and promote’ cultivated indigenous crops as well as wild plants and fruits” in Zimbababwe. The National Strategy and Action Plan for Plant Genetic Resources For Food and Agriculture is based on protection…

  • Support better conditions for farm workers with fair trade

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    Our current industrial farm culture not only degrades the environment, the soil and the water, but subjects workers to an array of hazards such as respiratory infections, sprains, bruises, severe head trauma, fractures, electrocution and repetitive motion injury. Paul Rice, Founder and CEO of Fair Trade USA emphasizes the need for Fair Trade Certification in the…

  • Agroecology Popular in Latin World

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    I came across several good articles on agroecology this week.  First, Lois Ross at Rabble.ca feels we have a lot to learn from Cuba’s agroecological revolution.  After the collapse of the Soviet Union Cuba’s export market for sugar fell.  “It did not have the currency to import petroleum or petroleum-based fertilizers to continue cultivation of monocultures…

  • FAO Announces International Symposium on Agroecology

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    The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will host an International Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition on September 18 and 19, 2014. The symposium, at FAO headquarters in Rome, will explore recent scientific research and knowledge around agroecological practices, promote open dialogue, and showcase existing experiences and programs on agroecology. Food Tank is excited to be participating…

  • Indian Bio-Diversity Board to Open up 110 Seed Banks in States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

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    News like this gives me great hope that we are wising up and moving away from mono-cultures and industrial farming. HYDERABAD: To preserve indigenous seed varieties and also promote organic farming, the state bio-diversity board will soon open over 110 seed banks across the two states. With the requisite budgets sanctioned for this pilot project,…

  • Vermont GM food labeling bill clears key hurdle

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    Vermont last week took a key step towards becoming the first state to require labeling of genetically modified foods. The state’s Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved labeling legislation without a trigger requiring other states to act, a signal that lawmakers and the state’s attorney general are prepared to battle litigation if the bill is signed…

  • Organics Under Attack

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    The OCA has a long history of defending the integrity of organic standards. Last September, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), under pressure from corporate interests represented by the Organic Trade Association, made our job harder. They also made it more important than ever for consumers to do their homework, even when buying USDA certified organic products.…

  • UN Report Calls For Radical, Democratic Food System

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    By Jacob Chamberlain The current global food system needs to be “radically” and “democratically” changed in order to alleviate global hunger and serve human rights over the profits of major agribusiness corporations, according to a report released Monday by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food. “At the local, national and international levels, the policy…

  • My Potato Project; The Importance of “Organic”

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    A child’s experiment turns into a lesson on the toxins in our food supply.

  • Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK): An Interview With Dr. Michael Hutchins

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    Reposted from National Geographic blog: Posted by Jordan Carlton Schaul of University of Alaska on January 11, 2014   Inuit man eating narwhal (NGS) The following interview is my 12th in a serieswith my esteemed colleague Dr. Michael Hutchins. Michael recently joined the American Bird Conservancy, as the organization’s National Bird Smart Wind Campaign Coordinator. The distinguished ecologist has agreed to answer my…