Food
Food Choices Can Squander Environmental Resources
Written by Peter, on March 28, 2018
It is often estimated that about a third of the food produced for human consumption globally is lost or wasted. But an even bigger waste, which is not included in this estimate, may be through dietary choices that result in the squandering of environmental resources. Read more »
Food and Fuel from Any Plant
Written by Peter, on April 20, 2013
Researchers at Virginia Tech, led by Associate Professor Percival Zhang, have developed a process by which approximately 30% of the cellulose from any plant material (including agricultural waste) can be converted into a starch known as amylose. Amylose can be used in food or as biodegradable packaging. Cellulose and starch have the same chemical composiition […] Read more »
Food Footsteps from a Rooftop Greenhouse
Written by Peter, on April 17, 2013
Green walls and roof gardens have become extremely fashionable. One New York supermarket is taking the idea two steps further. Rather than just plant any greenery on the roof, Whole Foods is partnering with Gotham Greens to construct an 1,860 square metre greenhouse on its roof. As well as the usual benefits of a green […] Read more »
“Food is the new oil”, Lester Brown
Written by Peter, on February 13, 2013
Lester Brown, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, and founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute, discusses the global struggle for food security, which is the subject of his latest book "Full Planet, Empty Plates". Read more »
Default Meat
Written by Peter, on August 16, 2011
The conventional wisdom is that it takes as much as 10 units of grain to produce one unit of meat with the equivalent nutritional value. George Monbiot has recently pointed out that we should be comparing the amount of land and water required to grow meat with the land and required to grow plant products […] Read more »
New Approach to Rice Growing Increases Yields and Reduces Water Use
Written by Peter, on November 10, 2010
Oxfam America is promoting a new approach, called "the System of Rice Intensification" or SRI, for small farmers which helps them produce more rice at lower cost without relying on harmful fertilizers and pesticides that can decrease soil fertility and threaten clean air, soil, and water. Farmers using the SRI method simply transplant younger seedlings […] Read more »
Eat Insects to Save the World?
Written by Peter, on August 6, 2010
A policy paper on the eating of insects is being formally considered by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. Professor Arnold van Huis, an entomologist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and the author of the paper, says eating insects has advantages: “There is a meat crisis,” he said. “The world population will grow […] Read more »
How to Feed 9 Billion People
Written by Peter, on November 13, 2009
The Friends of the Earth have published a report on a study of various ways in which the world’s projected population of 9.16 billion in 2050 could be fed. The key finding was that feeding the world in 2050 is possible without the most intensive forms of animal and crop production and without a massive […] Read more »
