- Meat is not murder.
- Agribusiness wants to keep you on your allotment and off their back.
- Britons ignore agribusiness in search of The Good Life.
- Talkfest on adapting West African agriculture to climate change.
- Natural feeding regime produces unhealthier pigs that grow more slowly.
- Yeah but I bet these ones taste better!
Nibbles: No-dig, Joe, Gritty Veg, Insect food, Forests, Finger millet, Bees
- No-dig, (almost) no-water surplus veggies in Lala land. Via.
- Smell the coffee and wake up.
- Yet more urban agriculture reviving neighbourhood culture.
- Giant grasshopper is good for you.
- And speaking of Google Earth (see below): you can use it to track disappearing forests as well as disappearing gourds.
- “Our mother who grinds ragi at home is far more superior to our father who rules this country.” Finger millet makes a comeback in India.
- Aussie report urges honey bee protection. Good on ya, mate.
Nibbles: Medicinal rice, Dairy, Dates, Food, Cuba, Mango
- Red rice extract prevents heart problems.
- Got milk?
- Marrakesh date palms in trouble. But back in 2002 Gary Martin was doing something about it, I thought.
- “Diet for a small planet” revisited.
- Cuba’s urban agriculture revolution.
- “The Mango Mela, an agricultural fair dedicated to the fruit, … featured only 20 varieties, compared with more than 100 last year.”
Nibbles: Potato, Cheese, Edible landscapes, Apples, Bees, Cacao, Vegetables
- The Guardian has a leader on the potato. Please let this year end soon. And thanks, Danny.
- Lucy Appleby RIP.
- Inner city farming in the UK.
- Gary Nabhan on where apples came from, and where they’re going. And more. Thanks again, Danny!
- Tracking bees’ response to climate change by satellite.
- Mars thinks cacao biodiversity is important. No news from Earth.
- The “keyhole gardens” of Lesotho.
Cities have no agrobiodiversity, it seems
UNEP and UN-Habitat announced today the publication of “case studies from around the world on cities, ecosystems and biodiversity.” I’ve had a quick look at a number of the summaries of studies on individual cities, including that on Rome, but unfortunately could find little evidence that agricultural biodiversity was even considered. That is a pity. Lots of agriculture goes on in cities, even cities in industrialized countries, in small homegardens and on terraces, in allotments and along roadside verges. 1 The people involved are dedicated and knowledgeable. Often, they grow old, rare varieties and otherwise unusual species. Why not enlist them into the more general biodiversity conservation effort?