US agriculture is destroying insect life (online)

New study: U.S. agriculture 48 times more toxic to insects than 25 years ago

A new peer-reviewed study shows an explosion in the toxicity of U.S. agriculture for insects over the past 25 years since neonicotinoid pesticides were introduced. The study found that U.S. agriculture is 48 times more toxic to insect life, and that neonicotinoids account for 92 percent of the increase in toxicity.

Published in the journal PLOS ONE, An assessment of acute insecticide toxicity loading of chemical pesticides used on agricultural land in the United States, is the first study to quantify how hazardous our agricultural lands have become for insect life by providing a way to compare changes in the toxicity of U.S. agriculture year-to-year. The increase in toxic load measured by the study is consistent with recent reports of dramatic declines in beneficial insects and bird populations. The study comes on the heels of the first meta-analysis of global insect decline, which found that 40 percent of insect species face extinction in coming decades, leading the authors to warn of “catastrophic ecosystem collapse” if we don’t change the way we farm.

AgroecologyNow! (online)

AgroecologyNow!

AgroecologyNow! is an initiative convened by the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience in the United Kingdom working with partners including social movements, civil society, governments and research institutions to promote a transformative agroecology for food sovereignty and social justice. It is based on the commitment to co-producing and mobilising knowledge with civil society organisations, intergovernmental bodies, policy-makers, researchers and food producers to advance societal transformations for agroecology. Work especially stresses the importance of People's Knowledge in societal transformation and using participatory, transdisciplinary and action oriented approaches to research.

Traditional food systems prevent malnutrition (report)

Exploring the Potential of Diversified Traditional Food Systems to Contribute to a Healthy Diet

This report authored by members of the Food Sovereignty Alliance India along with the Catholic Health Association of India is an in-depth analysis of the traditional diets of marginal farmers, landless and agro-pastoralists.

The enquiry provided clear evidence of the following:

• Marginal farming communities continue to be a rich repository of knowledge, resilient food systems, biodiversity and agro-ecology.
• Their food systems are nutritionally diverse and rich in nutrients.
• These traditional food systems have been eroded over time.
• Land, water and forest rights are seriously under threat.
• Lived experience and knowledge is an integral part of lives and livelihoods and socio-ecological resilience.

 

First peer reviewed permaculture book - free! (Download)

The Permaculture Student 2

The first peer-reviewed permaculture textbook EVER and the first cited and referenced global permaculture textbook since Bill Mollison's 1989 Permaculture: A Designer's Manual. Representing & collaborating with dozens of experts & organizations from around the world, Matt Powers' latest installment in his series of curriculum takes permaculture to a new level & organizes all regenerative techniques & methodologies into one clear, understandable system that also serves as a path to deeper study. Download it FREE.

The amazing evolution of oak trees (online)

Evolutionary history of oaks

Oaks have a complex evolutionary history that has long eluded scientists. New research, however, provides the most detailed account to date of the evolution of oaks, recovering the 56-million-year history that has made the oaks one of the most diverse, abundant and important woody plant groups to the ecology and economy of the northern hemisphere.

An agroecological Europe by 2050 (report)

An agroecological Europe in 2050: multifunctional agriculture for healthy eating
This report explores the possibility of generalising agroecology to a European scale. An original quantitative model makes it possible to analyse retrospectively the functioning of the European food system and to quantify an agroecological scenario by 2050 by testing the implications of different hypotheses. The core scenario is based on the widespread adoption of agroecology, the phasing-out of vegetable protein imports and the adoption of healthier diets by 2050. Despite an induced drop in production of 35% compared to 2010, this scenario: - provides healthy food for Europeans while maintaining export capacity; - reduces Europe's global food footprint; - leads to a 40% reduction in GHG emissions from the agricultural sector; - regains biodiversity and conserves natural resources.

Agro-ecology and political transformation (journal)

From Transition to Domains of Transformation: Getting to Sustainable and Just Food Systems through Agroecology 

 

Agroecology has a fundamentally political dimension. It is based on an aspiration of producers and citizens to self-organize for sustainability and social justice. This review analyzes the enabling and disabling conditions that shape agroecology transformations and the ability of communities to self-organize. It develops the notion of ‘domains of transformation’ as overlapping and interconnected interfaces between agroecology and the incumbent dominant regime. We present six critical domains that are important in agroecological transformations: access to natural ecosystems; knowledge and culture; systems of exchange; networks; discourse; and gender and equity. The article focuses on the dynamics of power and governance, arguing that a shift from top down technocratic approaches to bottom up forms of governance based on community-self organization has the most potential for enabling transformation.