Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
How do we decarbonise and degrow the economy while nourishing ourselves not only physically, but also socially and culturally? I can’t see any plausible answer to that question which doesn’t involve embracing a greater emphasis on diverse small-scale farming to meet local needs – which was part of the point of writing Saying NO…
Residents are helping to make Knowle West a healthier place, backed by a £20,000 funding pot. Shaping Places, an NHS and local government programme, is designed to improve community health through changes to local social, environmental and economic systems, from food security to mental health and fear of antisocial behaviour.
(Re)creating community is a sine qua non for the transition to agricultural practices that are more respectful of farmers and the environment. And in this perspective, seeds are an inexhaustible source of passion to bring a community together.
We propose that agroecologists explicitly aim to reconceptualize work, disrupt power imbalances, and galvanize support across classes, sectors and species of laborers to have a truly transformative transition to an agroecological economy founded on care.
As you can imagine, I don’t have much time for much of anything besides the garden under the Hay Moon. But this is sort of what we humans live for. Certainly I do. Making food! Making tasty and nutritious food, food that has no unpronounceable ingredients and much less embedded carbon than what is found in grocery stores — even my food co-op.
There’ve been two seismic events in British public life in the last couple of weeks. One was the general election. The other, of course, was the publication anniversary of my book Saying NO to a Farm-Free Future.
Alternative grains are becoming increasingly crucial in transforming the food system as producers and consumers appreciate the value of biodiverse, organic, and agroecological produce.
Overall, the message of this book is that transitioning from the chemical-intensive approach to farming that has come to be called “conventional” to ways of doing things that try to sequester carbon in soil and regenerate the health of the soil, while making a living, can be done and is being done by these people who have this in common: they care.
We are showing why a new generation of farmers is turning away from conventional farming and choosing to work with nature to create resilient farming systems that do not rely on chemical inputs, heavy mechanisation and monocrops.
I’ve long argued that the current global meta-crisis is essentially a cultural or spiritual crisis, even though I’ve never been an especially spiritual or religiously oriented person.
Celebrating Indigenous foodways is significant and offers profound learnings, but it also requires us to confront the barriers and threats that continue to impede us from doing the restoration work we require. Environmental degradation, loss of habitat, and the erosion of our food heritage pose daunting challenges to food access and Indigenous sovereignty.
Welcome to the gardens of St John’s monastery in the village of Anatoli, Thessaly, Greece. We bring you a heartwarming story of sharing and sufficiency, in a letter from a visit to the farm by Hannes Lorenzen.
