A recent UN report, which I wrote about recently in Treehugger has found that almost 90% of the subsidies given to farmers around the globe each year are harmful to people and the planet. Thinking about how we can overhaul current farming subsidies around the world is crucial to creating the future we all wishContinue reading “Farming Subsidies”
Tag Archives: agriculture
Glyphosate – Enough is Enough
With the recent news that Bayer will stop selling glyphosate-based weedkillers to domestic buyers (though not to professionals and for agricultural use) in 2023, and the substance up for review in the EU next year, now seems a good time to ask ourselves whether we can really put up with Roundup and other herbicides andContinue reading “Glyphosate – Enough is Enough”
How To Support Sustainable Farmers and Food Producers
One of the big questions that we need to ask ourselves as we transition to a fairer, greener future is how we can make life better for sustainable farmers and food producers. The current agricultural systems have to change. But we cannot make that change without providing support for sustainable farmers and food producers. SupportContinue reading “How To Support Sustainable Farmers and Food Producers”
Food and Society – How Can We Fix What’s Broken?
Those of you who are familiar with key issues in sustainability will no doubt already be well aware of the problems with our current agriculture and food systems. Millions go hungry while waste is enormous, and many people in developed nations have too much food rather than too little. Around the world, farmers struggle byContinue reading “Food and Society – How Can We Fix What’s Broken?”
Big Data is Not Always Bad
After writing this brief piece recently for Treehugger: Using Data and Citizen Science for Gardening Success I’ve been thinking more about ‘big data’ and both the challenges and opportunities wide scale data gathering can bring. We tend to think of ‘big data’ in negative terms – as a tool used against us rather than somethingContinue reading “Big Data is Not Always Bad”
The Future of Farming
Food system reform is a hot topic. It is essential that agriculture changes, if we are to successfully tackle the environmental and social challenges we face. As a permaculture designer, I often focus on the basics – energy use, water, fertility… But as we develop sustainable growing systems, we need to recognise that while weContinue reading “The Future of Farming”
Where the Wildwood Went
The wildwood is a term used by historical geographers to describe Britain’s dominant landscape type when there were not yet managed, distinct areas of ‘greenwood’ but just one massive, uncultivated, untamed woodland/ forest ecosystem. We began to see the destruction of the British wildwood far earlier than many people imagine – from the very earliestContinue reading “Where the Wildwood Went”