Mark
Farmers know what to do; they are smart folk. They adapt even when asked to think outside the box.
Avoid confusion over important terms
Nature includes biodiversity and biodiversity helps deliver ecosystem services while conservation assigns value to some of the components. How sure are you of the meaning of these technical terms?
Remember, not everyone is wealthy
A great fortune is bestowed on those born into a time of plenty. We are blessed with wealth that can distort our worldview. Sometimes another one is required.
Resilience of people, communities, and ecosystems are not the same thing
Finding and keeping enough food is every organism’s bane. The endless foraging means risking being foraged or failing to find enough food. Success is longevity and the ultimate aim of making more.
Animals eat plants and humans are animals
Animals eat plants, humans are animals, so humans eat plants. Indeed, we eat many different plants according to this simple logic. Some animals eat other animals. Humans are one of these animals.
Overshoot, the precursor to collapse
Overshoot is when the consumption of resources exceeds the amount available, which should trigger the ecological principle of density-dependence to pull consumption back below the resource limit. We had better hope this...
Some really scary shit about the food system
I want to alarm you. I know it is not the way to gain likes or shares, but it has to be done, so here it is… One-third of the people on earth today suffer from malnutrition.
Food requirements if affluence slows
Scientists are human too or so it is said. But unlike most of the customers in the local pub, they tend not to criticise outside of their discipline. Here we look at why that is a problem.
The right to life
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights set an agenda for the common achievement of all peoples, a worthy aspiration that should be at the front of everyone's mind. Here we ask what it means for food.
Political correctness means we miss the real driver of unsustainability
Humans use more energy today, roughly 173,000 terawatt-hours (TWh) than at any other time in history. This is an unfathomable number so let’s bring it back to a more human scale.
Soil at the heart of six global challenges
Almost all of the food grown to feed everyone well requires soil. This universal truth has been with humans every step out of Africa and across the planet.
Yield volatility can cripple a farm, just ask Joe
Farming is a tough gig. Uncertainty, volatility and so many factors that cannot be controlled makes you wonder why anyone would take it on. Thankfully many do, including our buddy Joe.
The best is the enemy of the good
When the good is good enough it might be better to run with it than wait for the best to appear. When time is short it can be the only option.
Intensifying land use has consequences for humanity
Agriculture is essential to humanity. We cannot live in cities or choose not to grow food for ourselves without it. But the current version of agriculture has serious consequences.
Is the energy transition easy?
Few people alive today can remember when society ran on horsepower—power equal to 550 foot-pounds per second that an imaginary horse could muster. Such meagre power barely touches the sides today.
Vegetarianism will save the planet? Maybe, maybe not.
If we all ate less meat or even ditched animal-based food altogether would such a radical diet shift save the planet? Assuming that she needs saving, not a given, then would vegetarianism be enough?
Meeting human needs is basic thermodynamics
Humans are needy. Our egos would not have life any other way because, without need, we risk starving our bodies of fuel and the failure of our chemical engine.
