The two most vital resources that humans need for survival are water and land. Both resources are environmentally, politically, and ecologically significant as they support the food production system for human survival and sustainability. As the world population grows larger, there is a growing concern for providing food, for generating food into biofuels, and people wanting to move up the… Read more »
Our environment is changing. When we consider the state of our environment and the various negative impacts that have taken place over time, particularly those caused by human consumption and fossil fuel emissions. However, changing how one product is produced or farmed can have more of an impact than people realize. Various grains are extremely versatile and used in different… Read more »
What will happen- ecologically, politically, and economically- as our world’s water sources are depleted? Water is connected to agriculture through grain production; this means that water shortages around the world, due to climate change, desertification, and over-exhaustion of aquifers will produce food shortages as well. While groundwater continues to diminish through overuse and drilling into aquifers becomes more energy and… Read more »
I was shocked to learn about the intricate systems of rainwater harvesting in India. Not only that, but how long they have been place, some of the for hundreds of years. Anupam Mishra mentions in his TED talk titled The Ancient Ingenuity of Water Harvesting that the reasons these systems have been in place for so long, in a place… Read more »
China is the world’s largest agricultural producer and they are dependent on nitrogen based fertilizer. Reducing the use of fertilizer to minimize the ecological impact, while reducing costs to the farmer, and still producing the greatest yield, seems like common sense. Studies have shown that China uses 30 percent of the world’s fertilizer production, over half of what other countries… Read more »
Vertical farming is an innovative way to garden and conserve water. By stacking multiple “shelves” of vegetation, one can reuse water as it drains from one raised bed to another. This format of farming is an effective way to produce lettuce, kale, and other greens. It is also an effective way to contribute to water conservation because as each “shelf”… Read more »
Several years ago, my brother was traveling regularly to Israel, Palestine, and the surrounding areas as part of a team working to research and advocate for the water rights of the Bedouin tribes. He was in law school, working with the Muslim Student Association on a project that I took very little interest in. Now I have an entirely different… Read more »
My favorite contemplative practice was from Lesson 8, Soil and Water. I think about soil every day, believe it or not, from the small amount that gathers under my fingernails when I repot my flowers to the large swaths of it that make agriculture possible. When learning about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, I thought about what an… Read more »
In recent times there has been an increase in awareness of the downsides associated with industrial agriculture. The loss of soil, inefficient water and resource usage, toxic chemicals, poorly regulated GMO’s, and the inhumane environments for animals. With such a long list of skeletons, it’s no wonder that a range of movements to shift away from this system have… Read more »
Awareness key to understanding and grappling with a lot of the dense and complex issues surrounding the world food system. Many people make an effort to eat locally-produced sustainable meats and organic vegetables, generally avoiding beef that has racked up many “food miles” and genetically modified produce, because the alternatives are automatically “bad” or “unsustainable.” These kinds of hard line… Read more »