Toban Black

A community garden photo by “sbcg08”

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A Wall Street Journal video clip about urban farming [via Wild Green Yonder]
Most of the video revolves around one guy who farms neighbourhood lawns in Colorado.

[Read more →]

“Interested in eating less oil? In this VideoNation/Hidden Driver report, animator Molly Schwartz keeps track of how many miles your food travels from field to fork.”

This video offers a U.S. perspective on these issues. It’s well done.

by Stephanie McMillan

Sean Hurley - “The future is food”

After explaining why we should expect energy costs to rise, Sean proposes that we “agree, for now, that energy prices, and particularly fossil fuels prices, will remain high into the foreseeable future.” Then Sean writes about food issues –

“Petro-chemicals play a critical role in global agriculture. Higher energy costs translate directly into higher food prices. With every bite we take, we consume oil and gas. As well, the rush to bio-fuels is having the impact of diverting food energy away from empty bellies to empty tanks. That in turn helps to drive global food prices.

Don’t take my word for it. Place the search terms ‘food prices’ into Google News and see for yourself.

It is not all due to higher energy prices, either. The same global forces at play in energy are also impacting food. The emerging Chinese and Indian middle-classes are demanding the same diets we enjoy as westerners. They are demanding more meat which requires more grains and more water.

[Read more →]

From StudioBendib

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A related article -
John Ross at Counterpunch - “Zero Hour: NAFTA and Mexico’s Agrarian Apocalypse”
(I haven’t read all of it.)

by Kirk Anderson

There are many forms of localization (toward community autonomy) and de-localization (toward subordination under distant structures and powers, including agribusiness), and these different types of localization and de-localization are all interrelated. Without large-scale shipping and trade, mass consumption (of t-shirts, CDs, and other products) wouldn’t be possible; this consumerism also couldn’t muffle and take the place of local creativity. Conversely, if people didn’t flock to those mass products there would be less support for de-localization.

[Originally posted on the Relocalization Network]

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Update (January 27, 2008) -
According to Sharon -
The words “‘farm’ and ‘farmer’ … come from the same root as ‘to form’ and imply creation”

A photo:

[Originally e-mailed to people]