07 March 2009

Spoiled: Organic and Local Is So 2008 | Mother Jones

Our way of producing food and feeding people has to change. Not many who look at food production and distribution doubt that. The UN Agriculture Assessment says it pretty succinctly: "business as usual is not an option." What, then, is to be done? Good article here by Paul Roberts provides his two cents.

27 February 2009

Op-Ed Contributor - Yellow Is the New Green - NYTimes.com

Human and animal waste are vastly underused sources of nutrients for agricultural production. Yet globally prices of fertilizers, nitrogen and phosphorus in particular, have been skyrocketting. Phosphorus supplies are finite, and we'll soon start hitting the wall with our phosphorus supplies. The sooner we start figuring out how to recycle wastes on a large scale for use in agriculture, both human and animal wastes, the better.

20 February 2009

Crop Scientists Say Biotechnology Seed Companies Are Thwarting Research - NYTimes.com

This is a very strong statement from a community that is not known for its political engagement -- university researchers. Things have to be pretty bad for them to speak out. Of course, the stifling of research by biotechnology companies has been going on for decades, so it's about time the scientific community made a fuss.

19 February 2009