Although systemic economic forces make it difficult for anyone to survive as a farmer — and even harder to acquire enough land to start a farm — institutional racism and other forms of discrimination have made it all but impossible for people of color. That’s why Soul Fire Farm, a people of color led community farm near Albany, New York , has launched a project meant to deal with the lasting effects of discrimination in a way that both empowers POC farmers to grow the food their communities … [Read more...]
Cooking fresh for the planet
How often do you cook a meal from scratch? For 11% of British people, the answer is never. But subsisting entirely on processed food and ready meals is not only bad for your health, it is also bad for the planet. It makes little sense financially, either: it is cheaper to create a meal using whole foods and fresh ingredients than it is to buy a substandard supermarket version. Eating well shouldn’t be a luxury reserved for the well-off, everyone can do it: it is part of the Economics of … [Read more...]
Agriculture and Autonomy in the Middle East
Editor’s Note (March 29th, 2018): An earlier version of this article incorrectly described MEM as operating in Rojava. In fact, MEM only operates formally in North (Turkish) Kurdistan, though its goals and principles are also being pursued by groups in Rojava, including the Internationalist Commune of Rojava.In the predominantly Kurdish regions of Syria and Turkey, known respectively as Rojava and North Kurdistan, a groundbreaking experiment in communal living, social justice, and ecological … [Read more...]
Farming for a Small Planet
People yearn for alternatives to industrial agriculture, but they are worried. They see large-scale operations relying on corporate-supplied chemical inputs as the only high-productivity farming model. Another approach might be kinder to the environment and less risky for consumers, but, they assume, it would not be up to the task of providing all the food needed by our still-growing global population.Contrary to such assumptions, there is ample evidence that an alternative approach—organic … [Read more...]
To Find Alternatives to Capitalism, Think Small
In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s shocking election victory, a shattered Democratic Party and dazed progressives agree on at least one thing: Democrats must replace Republicans in Congress as quickly as possible. As usual, however, the quest to recapture power is focused on tactical concerns and political optics, and not on the need for the deeper conversation that the 2016 election should have provoked us to have: How can we overcome the structural pathologies of our rigged economy and toxic … [Read more...]
Eating Well is a Revolutionary Act
“We all need nourishment for our psyche. It is impossible to find such nourishment in urban tenements without a patch of green or a blossoming tree. We need a relationship with nature. I am just a culture-coolie myself, but I derive a great deal of pleasure from growing my own potatoes.” — Carl Jung If you don’t have a few fruit flies in your house, you may not be enjoying the harvest as much as you could. Life tries to abound around us as it has during all of human evolution. Only recently … [Read more...]
Branding Tradition: A Bittersweet Tale of Corporate Capitalism
It’s almost sugaring time here in Vermont. On our homestead we tap about 25 trees, boil down the sap on the kitchen cookstove, and – in a good year – end up with 4 or 5 gallons of maple syrup. That may sound like a lot, but since it represents our family’s main source of sweetener it’s rarely enough to get us through the year. By mid-winter we’re usually buying syrup from a neighbor – someone who makes his living from his sugar bush. His syrup comes in a gallon jug with an iconic sugaring image … [Read more...]
Connecting over Soil
It’s no secret that there’s a divide between the global North and South. Most people know about the huge wealth gap between the industrialized and so-called "developing" worlds, and that rates of pollution, resource use, greenhouse gas emissions – and much more – vary widely between them. But there’s another gap, one that’s rarely discussed in the media, or even by NGOs. It involves changing attitudes to farming, to the land and the soil – something worth considering in this UN-designated … [Read more...]
Born to Buy?
With Christmas just behind us, household consumption has hit its yearly peak in many countries. Despite the homely pictures of tranquility on mass-produced greeting cards, the fact is that Christmas is more about frenzied shopping and overspending than peace or quality time with family and friends. As with so many areas of our lives, the holidays have been hijacked by the idea that satisfaction, even happiness, is only one more purchase away.Two generations ago, my Norwegian grandmother was … [Read more...]
7 billion for dinner? Here’s how to feed them
At this time of year – the Thanksgiving season – more Americans are celebrating conspicuous food consumption than giving thanks for a successful harvest. But in either case it’s a good time to consider how to feed not only America’s population in the years to come, but the rest of the world’s 7 billion inhabitants.Most people – even many of those who support small farms and eat organic food – believe that there’s no way to feed the global population without the use of chemical fertilizers … [Read more...]