HOME, the latest work by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, is an amazing visual feast recommended to all fans of Planet Earth, David Attenborough and other natural-world-exploring documentaries and documentary filmmakers. It is available to watch in its entirety for free on YouTube.
So much interest in Ananda Harvest has been building this year that we’ve decided to build a new cabin to house the upcoming flow of volunteers and Wwoofers for the 2010 season. In order to do this, we need your help. We have setup a Kickstarter project that allows small donations to be made. Our goal is to raise $10,000 US in 3 months.
From the always amazing Deconstructing Dinner Podcast:
In January 2009, the Agroinnovations Podcast featured Deconstructing Dinner. Agroinnovations touches many of the subjects covered on Deconstructing Dinner but further offers unique perspectives and subjects worth exploring.
Today’s episode features segments from Agroinnovations featuring well-known figures like Paul Stamets – a mycologist (aka mushroom specialist) from Olympia, Washington, the U.K’s Rob Hopkins who has popularized the Transition Town Movement and Montana journalist and author Richard Manning, who possesses a keen interest in the history and future of the American prairie and agriculture.
Voices:
Paul Stamets, mycologist, Fungi Perfecti (Olympia, WA) – Stamets is on the editorial board of The International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms, and is an advisor to the Program for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Medical School. He runs Fungi Perfecti – a family-owned company specializing in using gourmet and medicinal mushrooms to improve the health of the planet and its people. Paul is the author of Mycelium Running.
Rob Hopkins, co-founder, Transition Town Totnes (Totnes, UK) – Rob is the co-founder of Transition Town Totnes and of the Transition Network. He has many years experience in education, teaching permaculture and natural building, and set up the first 2 year full-time permaculture course in the world, at Kinsale Further Education College in Ireland as well as co-ordinating the first eco-village development in Ireland to be granted planning permission. He is author of ‘Woodlands for West Cork!’, ‘Energy Descent Pathways’ and most recently ‘The Transition Handbook: from oil dependence to local resilience’.
Richard Manning, author/journalist, Against the Grain: How Agriculture has Hijacked Civilization (Missoula, MO) – Richard is an award-winning environmental author and journalist, with particular interest in the history and future of the American prairie, agriculture and poverty. He is the author of eight books, and his articles have been published in Harper’s Magazine, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Audubon and The Bloomsbury Review. His 2007 release is titled Against the Grain: How Agriculture has Hijacked Civilization.
Click here to download the MP3.
Dave W pointed out this great-looking seed source for farmers in New York and bordering areas that I thought you guys should be aware of:
The Hudson Valley Seed Library exists to create an accessible and affordable source of locally-adapted seeds that is maintained by a community of caring gardeners. After four years of developing the Seed Library concept, we are ready to blossom–from selling seeds that are grown in distant soils to cultivating a regional seed production network in New York State. In 2009, we will be offering over twenty varieties of locally grown seed, and most of our varieties will be rooted in the history and soils of New York.
Every year we plan on growing additional varieties on the Seed Library farm and contracting with organic and certified naturally grown farmers in the Hudson Valley to grow even more varieties. By 2014, we aim to be 100% New York grown.
Be sure also to check out their events page, with activities ranging from farmers markets to seed-sharing workshops!
Wow, these guys in Greenpoint, New York seem to really have it figured out! From their site:
The view from the rooftop is still one of verdant deliciousness! Walk down Eagle Street in Greenpoint this Sunday, from 10am-5pm for the last market of 2009. We’re on Eagle just past Franklin and before the East River–look for the Farm sign and our open door! We’re looking to garner 100% of next year’s seed budget, so come support, eat well, and take in the gorgeous view of hundreds of marigolds still blooming on the Rooftop. The Farm stand features spicy mesclun, pickled peppers, nasturtium pesto and three kinds of kale on just the short list! You can pick up your sweet “I’m a local foodie” market bag and t-shirt, too, designed by the talented volunteers here at the Farm.
What a disaster. From Democracy Now:
President Obama’s nominee for the Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the office of the US Trade Representative, Islam Siddiqui is currently a vice president at CropLife America, a coalition of the major industrial players in the pesticide industry, including Syngenta, Monsanto, and Dow Chemical. He was previously a lobbyist for CropLife and also served in the US Department of Agriculture under President Clinton and the California Department of Food and Agriculture. A coalition of over eighty environmental, family farm and consumer advocacy organizations have sent a letter to the Senate Finance Committee urging them to reject his nomination.
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Greening the Desert II: Greening the Middle East from Craig Mackintosh on Vimeo.
“This example has to be set so that the world can have a positive future. Unless this soil management is fully demonstrated, extended and enhanced, then we don’t have any future. The world is just going to turn to dust.” — Geoff Lawton
This half hour video documents the ongoing work of Permaculture gurus, Geoff and Nadia Lawton, in the Dead Sea Valley, and is an update to the famous ‘Greening the Desert‘ clip.
You’ll get to see and learn about the original Greening the Desert site and see some of the spin-off effects of its influence throughout Jordan, and you’ll also be introduced to a new educational demonstration site that was started last year.
This film is really a must-see for anyone interested in what happens when the oil really does run out:
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba’s economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens. It is an unusual look into the Cuban culture during this economic crisis, which they call “The Special Period.” The film opens with a short history of Peak Oil, a term for the time in our history when world oil production will reach its all-time peak and begin to decline forever. Cuba, the only country that has faced such a crisis – the massive reduction of fossil fuels – is an example of options and hope. The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil is a project of The Community Solution, a non-profit organization that designs and teaches low-energy solutions to the current unsustainable, fossil fuel based, industrialized, and centralized way of living.
Note: There are some audio sync problems for me in the Google Video version. You may alternatively try this version, hosted on Dailymotion: PART 1 and PART 2.
Michael Judd and his team seem to be doing some truly incredible work over at Project Bona Fide, and we certainly hope to have him as a guest lecturer this coming year at Ananda. From their website:
Project Bona Fide is a non-profit organization working toward sustaining culture through organic agriculture, community correlated outreach, and re-forestation projects in Nicaragua. Project Bona Fide has been created out of a need to support rural Nicaraguan farming communities so that they may gain self-empowerment and economic stability. In addition to offering farmers financial and technical support toward gaining international organic certification, Project Bona Fide focuses on establishing much needed fair trade export market* opportunities, preserving natural environments, and focusing on local health and nutrition projects.
Michael and his team also teach Permaculture PDC courses in both Nicaragua and New York. Thanks once again to Janaka for pointing all of this out!
Though certainly not the most energy-efficient model I’ve ever seen, this Discovery Channel how-to on growing commercial lettuce using a hydroponic technique is quite interesting, and for me at least was the source of a few nice ideas!
Found an interesting article on Utne’s website today entitled “Detroit: Farming Paradise?“. I have long wondered about the potential of turning an increasingly abandoned urban environment into a vital, producing, self-sustaining environment. Not surprisingly, it looks like a number of smart people have been thinking about this same thing for years already. From the article:
If thinking about Detroit conjures up depressing images of battle-scarred landscapes, you must read Mark Dowie’s proposal to turn the city into an “agrarian paradise.” Writing for Guernica, Dowie lays out an ambitious argument for why this maligned city—which is home to zero grocery chains or big-box stores and is very nearly a complete food desert—“may be best positioned to become the world’s first 100 percent food self-sufficient city.”
Some other interesting articles on this topic can be found here and here.
“The artist is the confidant of nature. Flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms. Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him.”
— Auguste Rodin
This is the video that first got me interested in the potential of advanced Permaculture, and I doubt that I am alone in that respect! It shows a technique of combining guilded planting and intelligent water harvesting to essentially reverse desertification, making such lands productive for growing food. The experiment was done in Jordan, just off the dead sea, and is pretty remarkable. As I understand, it is still there, and still producing without much additional human interaction.
Highly recommended viewing for everyone.
vbs.tv has created an absolutely mind-melting production about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Highly recommended viewing. From their site:
Come aboard as the VBS crew takes a cruise to the Northern Gyre in the Pacific Ocean, a spot where currents spin and cycle, churning up tons of plastic into a giant pool of chemical soup, flecked with bits and whole chunks of refuse that cannot biodegrade.
