“We would die from starvation. It’s that simple.” Or so TV botanist James Wong recently tweeted in response to the title question, taken from a BBC feature. In this post I’m going to make the case that we wouldn’t, that it isn’t simple, and that in fact our chances of starving are probably higher – albeit in some quite unsimple ways – if we don’t start eating more food from local farms. A good many of the comments under James’s tweet rehearsed various misconceptions about local food, so I … [Read more...]
Iowa, Pseudo-Events, and Hyperreality
The Iowa caucus affair last night was a masterclass in hyperreality. The relevant facts are as follows. It was the long-anticipated kickoff to the primary season in an ever-expanding election cycle that now seems more or less co-terminous with the president’s four-year term. Iowa has an outsized place in this process, as it traditionally holds the first-in-the-nation caucus. Last night, under intense media scrutiny and pressure for immediate results, a complex system buckled, a new app made … [Read more...]
The Key to the Environmental Crisis is Beneath Our Feet
The Green New Deal resolution that was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives in February hit a wall in the Senate, where it was called unrealistic and unaffordable. In a Washington Post article titled “The Green New Deal Sets Us Up for Failure. We Need a Better Approach,” former Colorado governor and Democratic presidential candidate John Hickenlooper framed the problem like this: “The resolution sets unachievable goals. We do not yet have the technology needed to reach “net-zero … [Read more...]
Controlling 5G: A Course in Obstacles
Across the United States, telecom providers have begun mapping their plans to deploy 5G "small," microwave-emitting cellular sites throughout neighborhoods. Every person deserves to be informed about what's happening and what's within every household's ability to control. Already the largest thing that humanity has built, we double the Internet's size every two years. The Internet of Things (IoT), also known as machine-to-machine communication, generates data traffic via the "smart" power … [Read more...]
Saving Japan’s seed heritage from “free trade”
I recently had the opportunity to interview Masahiko Yamada, formerly Japan´s Minister of Agriculture and now one of the country´s foremost food sovereignty activists. We met at an international Economics of Happiness Conference in Prato, Italy, where Yamada delivered a keynote speech about the birth of a new citizens’ movement to protect Japan´s food-crop heritage from corporate take-over. Keen to learn more, I ask Yamada for an interview before he departs Italy. With only an hour to spare, … [Read more...]