Category Archives: Soil and food security

Nature farming and EM workshop

The last days I’ve been at a Nature Farming workshop at the EM center in Saraburi, just outside Bangkok. Interesting and very inspiring. Have a ton of pictures to share so I’ll post them in small batches. Nature Farming and EM is an integrated thing, but the nature farming movement has Japanese roots going backContinue reading “Nature farming and EM workshop”

Why the soil under our feet is so damn important

How come no one talks about soil? There’s always a lot of discussion about water, about energy, about wildlife, about air. All good. But it’s always been very quiet on the soil front. But now, finally, it seems soil is up on the agenda. The global Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has got started with a seriesContinue reading “Why the soil under our feet is so damn important”

2015: International Year of the Soils

And about time! We have been talking about pollution, the environment, climate change and the future of the planet for decades. We talk about the air, about the water, about sound pollution, plastic and deforestation. But when was the last time you ever heard anyone talking about our soil? About the fact that if weContinue reading “2015: International Year of the Soils”

Soil and souvlaki.

Just back from a couple of weeks backpacking in the Greek Islands. Heavenly — of course!! But there were a couple of things that really got me thinking. The first was plastic bags — far too many of them were blowing around on the islands and out to sea. Blah. And the other was theContinue reading “Soil and souvlaki.”

Save the bees!

Some of our best friends are bees. (And worms!) But we’re losing them, faster than many of us realised. So I signed a petition in the weekend, along with a half million others. Let’s save the bees! It’s all about chemicals. Getting them out of our food chain and getting the bees back in. IfContinue reading “Save the bees!”

Biogas — fuel from food waste

I don’t know how things are in your corner of the world, but here in Sweden there’s a lot happening on the biogas front. Making fuel out of food and animal waste would seem to be — on the surface — a cool way of making something good out of something bad. Which is is.Continue reading “Biogas — fuel from food waste”

How do we feed a growing world population?

It’s a good question. So, how do we? If the chemical companies could decide the solution would of course be easy. Which is of course the angle here on this poster. According to them… We can grow more using less water and land through technologies that unlock the potential of plants. These include drought-tolerant seedContinue reading “How do we feed a growing world population?”

10 tips for reducing food waste in 2010

Pic: http://www.toonpool.com I know Bokashi is about making soil out of what you can’t eat in the kitchen. But it’s just as much about tossing less stuff. Carrot peelings are one thing but you can’t help feeling a bit embarassed when you tip what should really have been dinner into the bin. Happens to theContinue reading “10 tips for reducing food waste in 2010”

Where has all the food waste gone?

I was thinking about this song the other day, you know the one: Where have all the flowers gone, Long time passing. Shows my age? No, honest, I think it was before my time. Thinking how our concerns have changed focus but are infinitely more serious in a way. It feels like you couldn’t even tryContinue reading “Where has all the food waste gone?”