It’s Getting Hot In Here

Well, it’s Canada Day today but I have opted to commemorate this National holiday by writing about the US Farm Bill. Perhaps this is a rather strange way of approaching things, but I can tell you that up here in Canada we do not have a Farm Bill or any comparable farm legislation, for better or for worse.

What is the Farm Bill?

Every five years, Congress revisits and passes the Farm Bill. The Farm Bill is a gargantuan piece of legislation that emerged to provide emergency bailouts for millions of farmers and unemployed citizens during the Dust Bowl era and Great Depression. Today, the Farm Bill has emerged as arguably the most influential piece of legislation affecting agriculture, land use and food in the US.

In his book, Food Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to a Food and Farm Bill, Daniel Imhoff highlights specific reasons why the Farm Bill is of utmost importance to US citizens:

· The twilight of the cheap-oil age and the onset of unpredictable climatic conditions;

· Looming water shortages and crashing fish populations;

· Broken rural economies;

· Escalating medical and economic costs of child and adult obesity;

· Record payouts to corporate farms that aren’t even losing money;

· Over 35 million Americans, half of them children, who don’t get enough to eat;

· Almost 50 percent of all commodity subsidies went to 5 percent of eligible farmers in 2005;

· Subsidies help the largest farms to acquire the best land and squeeze out smaller growers;

· Euphoria over corn and soybean expansion for biofuels.

Continue reading ‘2007 Farm Bill Trashes Climate Through Inaction’

This is the first in a series of articles on agriculture and climate change. With increased climatic variability and all of the associated environmental shifts, the future of farming is uncertain. This bi-monthly column digs deep to give you the dirt on contemporary issues facing farmers and food processors. In this series, I showcase practical examples how communities are forwarding local food security. I also discuss national and international struggles pertaining to food sovereignty, and existing and emerging policy initiatives. All of these issues will be explored through a dual lens: a farmer lens and a climate change lens.

Questions, comments and ideas for new stories are welcome.

It’s Getting Hot In Here hones in on global efforts aimed at stopping, or at least slowing down, global warming. Given the focus of this column, it is appropriate to begin by answering the inevitable question: What’s agriculture got to do with it?

Continue reading ‘The Future of Farming: It’s Getting Hot Out Here’

The Food and Agriculture Organization released a report on May 3, 2007 encouraging states to integrate organic agriculture objectives within national priorities. According to the FAO NewsRoom (click here to view it) “organic agriculture is no longer a phenomenon in developed countries only, as it is commercially practiced in 120 countries, representing 31 million hectares and a market of US$40 billion in 2006.‚Äù These findings and recommendations are elucidated in a paper Organic Agriculture and Food Security, presented at an International Conference on Organic Agriculture and Food Security (3-5 May 2007). The FAO paper relies on the Codex Alimentarius Commission and all existing national regulations, to define organic agriculture as ‚Äúa holistic production management system that avoids use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and genetically modified organisms, minimizes pollution of air, soil and water, and optimizes the health and productivity of interdependent communities of plants, animals and people.‚Äù

Of particular interest to readers of this site is that the paper illuminates “[t]he strongest feature of organic agriculture is its reliance on fossil-fuel independent and locally-available production assets; working with natural processes increases cost-effectiveness and resilience of agro-ecosystems to climatic stress.”

Continue reading ‘Organic Agriculture Promoted for Fossil-fuel Independence’

In a press release dated May 4, 2007 environmental groups condemn the IPCC’s call for large scale biofuels as a climate disaster in the making.
The release states:

The IPCC Assessment Report Four has made a compelling case on what global warming means to the planet this century. It is the IPCC’s strongest warning yet that drastic cuts in carbon emissions are vital if we are to avoid a catastrophic acceleration of climate change. Environmental groups are, however, deeply concerned that the IPCC’s Summary for Policy Makers on climate mitigation, released earlier today, includes a recommendation for large-scale expansion of biofuels from monocultures, including from GM crops, even though monoculture expansion is a driving force behind the destruction of rainforests and other carbon sinks and reservoirs, thus accelerating climate change. The IPCC also recommend the expansion of large-scale agroforestry monoculture plantations. These plantations, which will include GM trees, are similarly linked to ecosystem destruction. Monoculture expansion is a major threat to the livelihoods and food
sovereignty of communities many of which are already bearing the brunt of climate change disasters caused largely by the fossil fuel emissions of industrialised countries.
Continue reading ‘Environmental Groups Condemn IPCC Push for Biofuels’

While the 1990s were marked by “Food for Oil,” The first quarter of the Twenty-First Century will be marked by “Food AS Oil,” and the implications of this for food security and food sovereignty are significant. As the Global North’s desire for ethanol and clean gas increases, the amount of corn destined for food (and feed for animals that become food) decreases. As C. Ford Runge and Benjamin Senauer highlight in this months issue of Foreign Affairs, “filling the 25-gallon tank of an SUV with pure ethanol requires over 450 pounds of corn – which contains enough calories to feed one person for a year.” With millions of people starving worldwide, it is worth reflecting a bit on biofuels.

Continue reading ‘Food as Oil?’

Congratulations go out to the Sierra Club who just secured a 5-4 ruling to stop the (ironically named?) US Environmental Protection Agency from putting politics ahead of science and social justice.
The Sierra Club (http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/releases/pr2007-04-02.asp) has issued a press release outlining the case and the outcomes.

(Washington, DC)–In a huge victory in the fight against global warming the Supreme Court today issued a ruling in the case of Massachusetts v. EPA decisively rejecting the Bush administration’s inaction on global warming. In a 5-4 vote, the High Court sided with the Sierra Club, 12 states, 3 cities, and the other petitioners in the case by agreeing that carbon dioxide and other global warming pollutants can be regulated under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Additionally, in a separate 5-4 ruling, the Justices wrote that the EPA cannot refuse to regulate these pollutants for political reasons. The Court gave its overwhelming stamp of approval to states that are taking action to fight global warming. At a time when automakers are suing states for taking this step forward, the Supreme Court stated clearly that states have the right to protect their citizens and the environment. It also provides momentum for efforts in Congress to reduce vehicle emissions.

Continue reading ‘Good News: 5-4 Ruling Stops EPA from Putting Politics Ahead of Science [and social justice]‘

According to the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6225677.stm),

“Norway has announced plans to offset the greenhouse gases produced by public employees when they fly abroad by buying emissions credits. The move, which is intended to fight global warming, was announced by Norway’s prime minister. He said the scheme was thought to be the most ambitious of its kind in the world and hoped others would follow. Under the scheme the government will buy credits to be invested in projects which reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Continue reading ‘With “green” being the new “health care,” do you think Harper will go for it?’

So I am back in Vancouver and I miss Kenya terribly. 

Some of you know that I have spent perhaps an unhealthy amount of time pondering my future as an academic. I came to academia to be an activist and have been, time and again, overwhelmed by the elitism and hierarchy of the ivory tower. That being said, there are people actively chipping away at the tower. 

This morning I got an email about a new environmental justice initiative called “JustEarth” coming out of the Status of Women committee of the Canadian Sociology Association. They have established  a web site with information as well as a place for people to sign the Declaration. 

The web site address is http://www.justearth.net/declaration/index.aspx 

Continue reading ‘Take Action: Academics Address Climate Change’

On Tuesday, November 14th, a group of seven youth from around the world met with David Miliband to discuss the Youth Stakeholder Proposal and plans for the Post-Kyoto Regime.
David Miliband is the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for the United Kingdom. In this role has overall responsibility for all departmental issues; represents the UK at the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council and at the EU Environment Council; and leads for the UK in other international negotiations on sustainable development and climate change.
Overall, the meeting went as well as could be expected. General impressions: Mr. Milliband is a young, energetic, empathetic and frank individual.

Continue reading ‘Meeting David Miliband, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK’

“By means of water, we give life to everything”

Koran

Water is the “stuff of life.” According to the UN Secretary General, “Access to safe water is a fundamental basic human need and, therefore, a basic human right.” However, this vital resource is currently embroiled in a crisis that threatens the lives of countless millions of people worldwide.
The United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report 2006, has just been released. The report, Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis, contends that climate change “now poses what may be an unparalleled threat to human development.”
The report itself is 441 pages and I am writing this blog entry in the throws of high-level negotiations. As a result, what I offer you, dear readers, is a very quick review of the report’s finding and recommendations. What I hope to get across in this blog is the extent of the water crisis. Due to restrictions on time and space, I will not spend time reviewing how the impacts of global climate change (drought, weather variability, salination of fresh water) enhance this problem. Rather, I encourage you to read the report for a detailed, yet accessible, review.
The report starts with the assertion that there is a water crisis and laments the paucity of action. The authors contend that the “root of the crisis of water can be traced to poverty, inequality and unequal power relationships, as well as flawed water management policies that exacerbate scarcity.”

Continue reading ‘BEYOND SCARCITY: New UNDP report on water crisis highlights climate change’