Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
I am very excited about the growing recognition of using ecological approaches to growing food, particularly linked to the growing interest in rebuilding local and regional food systems. This not only builds regional economic and cultural vibrancy, but it helps us all stay healthier.
Our work has proven that low-income consumers, regardless of ethnicity or geography, want to feed their families well. If they can’t afford produce, they won’t buy it. But if they can afford it, they will!
So, for example, we have city discussions about the need for a city policy on urban agriculture, instead of city discussions about the need for city policies to support various forms of urban agricultures.
In the small township of Port Medway on Nova Scotia’s South Shore, Annabelle Singleton and Debra Melanson, their husbands, and their staff have made The Port Grocer into the heart of the community.
However, the very core of the problem and the largest component of food waste is at the consumer level, which means the food wasted every day when each person buys, uses, and throws away food, based on how we live and what we value.
A lot of typical agriculture doesn’t work this way or focus on what’s actually happening to the land or paying attention to seeing what’s going on around you. When you have healthy animals and healthy land you also improve healthy wildlife.
Do you think you or your loved ones will live 60 more years? If so, you’ll be around to witness the end of food production on the planet. Unless, that is, we become conscious of the crisis and evolve.
Youth-powered Rebel Ventures is a nonprofit social enterprise in West Philadelphia creating “healthy deliciousness” in the form of healthy, affordable foods for schools.
Either we accept cheap food at the grocery store, and have people – invariably poor people – pay for environmental damage in health, social and economic costs incurred elsewhere. Or we have more expensive food that reflects the full costs of its production.
Since we set up Transition community cafe 4 years ago, many other surplus food projects have developed but most have food poverty as their prime purpose, so we are pleased that our key aims of carbon reduction and building community resilience have been validated and rewarded.
How long it will take the food shipping industry to achieve zero emissions is uncertain, but it needs to happen sooner than later…Government would need to provide more incentives and institute more stringent regulations to speed up adoption of zero-emissions trucks.
The Sustainable Economies Law Center proposes a regulatory scheme that promotes food safety and economic opportunity for home cooks while ensuring community ownership of our food economy — not more absentee shareholder controlled economic development.
