Despite a growing demand and marketplace for organic food, the unofficial report is that the producion of Canadian organic goods is diminishing due to the regulations that required mandatory inspection of products to make the claim to be organic for goods that are being shipped nationally and internationally. There is a massive market in Canada for organic foods, one that has increased by 600 million over two years, yet we import 75% of our organic foods to meet the demand that could be filled by local suppliers - that is if they had the incentive and government cooperation to rejoin or join the industry.
Regulating the organic foods industry is fine, and arguably nessecary to prevent farmers from cashing in on the "buy us we're organic" that are not at all, however when it reaches the extent that people begin to leave the industry due to inter-province and international shipping regulations, its gone too far. To make matters worse, Canada food producers are not at all evenly distributed, so preventing the export of goods from the areas of high production with shipping regulations would have detremental effects on the areas that need to import from out of province.
There is clearly significant potential for the expansion of the organic industry, such as the ""opportunity for 20,000 new acres of organic forage seed” to sell alfalfa and other organic forage seed into the United States." Judging from this, the easing of organic regulations and inspections which has been scaring farmers from the prospect could definetly boost Canadian exports and return farmers to the field of organic farming, while creating a far more sustainable an.d independant enviorment
The artical mentions the ride of natural foods, yet leaves their actual impact and even their definition completely ambiguous and open ended. However, it seems that many of the organic farmers are moving to natural farming to take advantage of the more lenient or all togeather non-existant regulation. I've never heard or seem any significant "natural foods" selection of any food store, so perhaps there will be a shift resulting in the promotion of natural foods and their take over.
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
York Region hospitals focus on food
The general theme of the article is focused around the concept of using local food and produce to both promote local sustainability while boosting the quality of food for hospitals, or at least those of York for the time being.
It's a great example of how to sustain a population -all be it on a small scale- and I love how they've brought in actual chef's instead of using generic food services. From the sounds it it, they've really closed the gap between the kitchen and the recipiant in terms of customer satisfaction by giving a significant amount of feedback and being able to order what you want from a diverse menu hours before hand.
Their proposal to introduce a steamed foods menu one I can definetly support. I've been hearing increasing talk of how steaming food preserves the nutrition of vegetables and fruits as opposed to conventionally boiling of cooking food (which I suppose would denature a fair amount of protein and break down the food). However, I hope they introduce it as a portion of the menu, as it can be trying to live off streamed foods, especially in contrast with a good ol' grilled steak.
While this all seems well and good, this is still only a small scale operation working in the most bountiful area in Canada (food wise). It's great that they're getting the majority of their Canadian food from Ontario, but that just isn't possible for other areas where farming isn't nearly as significant in the culture; such as B.C. The implementation of such a program in Vancouver for example on a much broader scale -such as in all hospitals and school cafeteria- would take a tremendous amount of financing and possibly the revamping of the farming infrastructure itself.
It's a great example of how to sustain a population -all be it on a small scale- and I love how they've brought in actual chef's instead of using generic food services. From the sounds it it, they've really closed the gap between the kitchen and the recipiant in terms of customer satisfaction by giving a significant amount of feedback and being able to order what you want from a diverse menu hours before hand.
Their proposal to introduce a steamed foods menu one I can definetly support. I've been hearing increasing talk of how steaming food preserves the nutrition of vegetables and fruits as opposed to conventionally boiling of cooking food (which I suppose would denature a fair amount of protein and break down the food). However, I hope they introduce it as a portion of the menu, as it can be trying to live off streamed foods, especially in contrast with a good ol' grilled steak.
While this all seems well and good, this is still only a small scale operation working in the most bountiful area in Canada (food wise). It's great that they're getting the majority of their Canadian food from Ontario, but that just isn't possible for other areas where farming isn't nearly as significant in the culture; such as B.C. The implementation of such a program in Vancouver for example on a much broader scale -such as in all hospitals and school cafeteria- would take a tremendous amount of financing and possibly the revamping of the farming infrastructure itself.
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Weeks 8-9
Article 1:
The concept of a systemic pesticide is really quite frightening, as it seems to be done to cut corners and save money, but by doing so, farmers completely overcommit to the pesticide and there isn't much opportunity for turning back. It's especially rediculous being that private corporations are the ones to test their pesticides.
This really is outrageous how it was blatantly stated that the new pesticides were harmful to the bees, but were approved anyways by congress to get them on the market. It's going to be this short-sightedness that hamstrings us in the future.
It's quite convenient how the private companies are not subjected to independant critcism over their results, which are clearly fundamentally flawed by using such a miniscule test area in comparasin to the realistic space that honey bee colonies actually use.
I'd like to know how local farmers are treating this and the various opinions and theories around the causes and solutions of colony collapse.
This video talks about how all the American farmers are loosing massive numbers of bees, but I wonder how serious this is in Canada.
Article 2:
It's somewhat distrubing that organic food manufacturers aren't forced to record their use of chemicals by quantity. This seems to take them down the same path of the unregulated pesticide manufactureres where the government just believes that the companies will do the right thing, which as one can see from the pesticide manufacturers they don't.
I'm somewhat frightened that in one report, 10% of the Organically farmed produce contained E. Coli, while it was only 2% in food farmed by conventional methods. However, this is only one report. Still not very assuring.
It's understandable why organic producers refuce to genetically modify their food, despite the obvious benefits. If they did support it, I suspect they would take a lot of flak from their supporting community, and would seem somewhat hypocritical of them.
I'd like to see what kind of chemicals -if any- local, small scale farmers use, and get their opinion on the matter.
I wonder how they know what genes to encode into the yams to make them resistant to the whatever virus kills them. Same for the nuts that wouldn't produce their tell-tale proteins that trigger allergic reactions.
Article 3:
It's too bad that the long standing laws around milk pasturation still stand today. The data from the 1910's and 1920's definetly seem to support the mandatory processing of milk. However, I've heard many a story about local farmers drinking their own unpasturized milk and being fine! It's suppose to be delicious.
I think it's great that Schmidt is taking a stand, and proving that the whole raw milk controversey have shifted in the last century... A point clearly needs to be proven that things have changed and it's ok to drink unpasturized milk.
I think it would be great to purchase raw milk! I've heard great things about it, however there are the obvious conerns of the hormones that are given to the cows to increase yield...
I'd like to see how farmers deal with milk pasturization, and whether they drink their milk raw or not.
Why is transporting crops across state borders not allowed? It seems rediculous, being that “even if a farmer lives close by, he cannot cross the state line”.
The concept of a systemic pesticide is really quite frightening, as it seems to be done to cut corners and save money, but by doing so, farmers completely overcommit to the pesticide and there isn't much opportunity for turning back. It's especially rediculous being that private corporations are the ones to test their pesticides.
This really is outrageous how it was blatantly stated that the new pesticides were harmful to the bees, but were approved anyways by congress to get them on the market. It's going to be this short-sightedness that hamstrings us in the future.
It's quite convenient how the private companies are not subjected to independant critcism over their results, which are clearly fundamentally flawed by using such a miniscule test area in comparasin to the realistic space that honey bee colonies actually use.
I'd like to know how local farmers are treating this and the various opinions and theories around the causes and solutions of colony collapse.
This video talks about how all the American farmers are loosing massive numbers of bees, but I wonder how serious this is in Canada.
Article 2:
It's somewhat distrubing that organic food manufacturers aren't forced to record their use of chemicals by quantity. This seems to take them down the same path of the unregulated pesticide manufactureres where the government just believes that the companies will do the right thing, which as one can see from the pesticide manufacturers they don't.
I'm somewhat frightened that in one report, 10% of the Organically farmed produce contained E. Coli, while it was only 2% in food farmed by conventional methods. However, this is only one report. Still not very assuring.
It's understandable why organic producers refuce to genetically modify their food, despite the obvious benefits. If they did support it, I suspect they would take a lot of flak from their supporting community, and would seem somewhat hypocritical of them.
I'd like to see what kind of chemicals -if any- local, small scale farmers use, and get their opinion on the matter.
I wonder how they know what genes to encode into the yams to make them resistant to the whatever virus kills them. Same for the nuts that wouldn't produce their tell-tale proteins that trigger allergic reactions.
Article 3:
It's too bad that the long standing laws around milk pasturation still stand today. The data from the 1910's and 1920's definetly seem to support the mandatory processing of milk. However, I've heard many a story about local farmers drinking their own unpasturized milk and being fine! It's suppose to be delicious.
I think it's great that Schmidt is taking a stand, and proving that the whole raw milk controversey have shifted in the last century... A point clearly needs to be proven that things have changed and it's ok to drink unpasturized milk.
I think it would be great to purchase raw milk! I've heard great things about it, however there are the obvious conerns of the hormones that are given to the cows to increase yield...
I'd like to see how farmers deal with milk pasturization, and whether they drink their milk raw or not.
Why is transporting crops across state borders not allowed? It seems rediculous, being that “even if a farmer lives close by, he cannot cross the state line”.
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Weeks 6-7
Article 1:
Bacillus larvae must be pretty serious for farmers to burn entire hives because of it, it's too bad. Though, I wonder why it is that the larvae don't form properly and turn to goo.
It's nice too see a more natural counter to tracheal mites, other than the commercial menthol packet. Getting the bees onto the oil patty by baiting them with sugar seems to be great way to cover up the trachea's odor.
Haha, I was waiting for the bear problem to come up in this article. I think that rather than erecting an electric fence, couldn't one just elevate the hive to the top of a post, or hang it from a large tree, then when one needs to tend to it, the hive could be lowered.
I'd like to see how farmers and other bee keepers deal with bears, they seem to be the most pertinent problem here in B.C.
How would one find that their hive is infected before it is too late, as the fixes for them seem to be fairly drastic.
Article 4:
It's astounding how fast these Varroa mites can grow, from undetectable to colony collapse in a few months. It really encourages proper and regular inspection of hives, else you could be in some serious trouble. It doesn't help that 85% of them are undetectable.
After the comparison of Verroa mites to the relative size of a basketball to us, its a wonder that the bees cant deal with them themselves by simply knocking them off or eating them.
It's unfortunately -for bees- ingenious that the mites can smell the scent that the bees use as a cap command for the brood combs, so that can get into the brood cell and down to the royal jelly to use to reproduce.
I'd be interested to see how often bee keepers check for mites, and the various precautions they take against them, as I'm sure there would be more than a few home-grown methods of dealing with them.
I wonder if there are any methods underway to interrupt the mite's ability to smell the bees cap command pheromone. Maybe a smell could be used that only the mites could smell, that would overwhelm them and block all other scents.
Bacillus larvae must be pretty serious for farmers to burn entire hives because of it, it's too bad. Though, I wonder why it is that the larvae don't form properly and turn to goo.
It's nice too see a more natural counter to tracheal mites, other than the commercial menthol packet. Getting the bees onto the oil patty by baiting them with sugar seems to be great way to cover up the trachea's odor.
Haha, I was waiting for the bear problem to come up in this article. I think that rather than erecting an electric fence, couldn't one just elevate the hive to the top of a post, or hang it from a large tree, then when one needs to tend to it, the hive could be lowered.
I'd like to see how farmers and other bee keepers deal with bears, they seem to be the most pertinent problem here in B.C.
How would one find that their hive is infected before it is too late, as the fixes for them seem to be fairly drastic.
Article 4:
It's astounding how fast these Varroa mites can grow, from undetectable to colony collapse in a few months. It really encourages proper and regular inspection of hives, else you could be in some serious trouble. It doesn't help that 85% of them are undetectable.
After the comparison of Verroa mites to the relative size of a basketball to us, its a wonder that the bees cant deal with them themselves by simply knocking them off or eating them.
It's unfortunately -for bees- ingenious that the mites can smell the scent that the bees use as a cap command for the brood combs, so that can get into the brood cell and down to the royal jelly to use to reproduce.
I'd be interested to see how often bee keepers check for mites, and the various precautions they take against them, as I'm sure there would be more than a few home-grown methods of dealing with them.
I wonder if there are any methods underway to interrupt the mite's ability to smell the bees cap command pheromone. Maybe a smell could be used that only the mites could smell, that would overwhelm them and block all other scents.
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Weeks 3-5
Article 1:
I think it's great how you can compost 500 kilos of material that would otherwise be waste, it seems to be the most effective and realistic alternative to the current disposal system.
It's really decent of the city to subsidize the cost of the composter, should you choose to install one in your backyard at any point. That seems to be one of the more practical ways of encouraging people to implement them, as it is a substantial change in lifestyle.
I never realized how significant aerating your compost was, but it seems to be quite significant in the process of aerobic bacteria, lest you want that pleasant ammonia smell...
I will be looking for easy methods of aerating compost, as it does seem fairly labour intensive to shuffle it around everyday.
What I don't understand is how they get 500 kg of waste into 100 kg of fertilizer, does the other 400 kg just decompose into the soil and evaporate?
Article 2:
This seems to be a fairly effective way to dispense of a wide range of organic materials, particularily meats such as poultry and steak. I hope it has worked out for him!
I'm glad that he included a way to make your own Bokashi mix, so as not to strictly market it, but rather pass the information along in good will.
Bokashi seems to be a great alternative to conventional aerobic composting, which from the sounds of things tends to get quite smelly, while Bokashi is supposidly odour free!
When at various farms, I'll keep an eye open and ask about how many people actually use the Bokashi mix.
I wonder how wide spread the use of it is, as it seems to be quite effective, but I can't imagine many people going through the trouble of making the mix, while conventional composting mostly just requires your organic materials and some hay to keep the smell down.
Article 3:
Well the leaf mould certainly seems to be effective if you have enough leaves to use, either by themself or in conjunction with a composter.
The mesh cage looks like a great idea, being that it allows maximum airflow through into the leaves, while maintaining the sides of the composter. It could be even more effective to add rows of empty space throughout the cage (ie. 2 rows of mesh about a 1cm apart) to allow greater air flow.
Contrary to the video, I would never consider using pine needles, being that they air so acidic and they have a tendancy to reek havoc on production gardens which I tend to focus on.
I'm going to look for how people adapt on this design, as it is perfectly sound on itself, but I'm sure one could increase its efficiency a number of ways.
I'm curious to know how many people use these, and why. Whether becuase they have an excess of leaves or if it produces a higher quality fertilizer.
Article 4:
Worm composting looks like yet another great alternative to conventional composting, especially if you life in an appartment and can't have a smelly compost.
I'm suprised at how effective the worms are at breaking down compost, even just a single bed of them at the bottom of a container are supposidly able to turn an entire bin of waste into compost.
It seems the worms take a fair bit of taking care of as well, between their climate, what you feed them, and separating them out when decomposition is complete.
I'm going to be looking for various uses of worm in composting, as I'm sure there are other ways to apply their decompostive abilities.
My only quesiton about worms is: how are you suppose to separate then from the decomposed fertilizer?
Article 5:
It's astounding that those students managed to get 13 8x12 foot beds , a greenhouse, and a aquaponics system in, that's huge! Plus they aren't even students at the school, talk about devotion!
I love how they're not just using it as a garden, but as a means of community building and expansion by reaching out and getting the community to donate, while encouraging leader roles within the school.
An orchard seems like a great idea also, but it would take a fair amount of time for some of the trees (like apple trees) to mature, so it's a shame that those who plant them might not get to the the.... fruits of their labour :p
I'm going to look around and see how many farms actually incorporate orchards into them, as I'm sure they're easy enough to fertilize, and take far less effort than plants to maintain.
I wonder how the students managed to promote their project to such a degree that it got enough public exposure to recieve grants and community donations.
I think it's great how you can compost 500 kilos of material that would otherwise be waste, it seems to be the most effective and realistic alternative to the current disposal system.
It's really decent of the city to subsidize the cost of the composter, should you choose to install one in your backyard at any point. That seems to be one of the more practical ways of encouraging people to implement them, as it is a substantial change in lifestyle.
I never realized how significant aerating your compost was, but it seems to be quite significant in the process of aerobic bacteria, lest you want that pleasant ammonia smell...
I will be looking for easy methods of aerating compost, as it does seem fairly labour intensive to shuffle it around everyday.
What I don't understand is how they get 500 kg of waste into 100 kg of fertilizer, does the other 400 kg just decompose into the soil and evaporate?
Article 2:
This seems to be a fairly effective way to dispense of a wide range of organic materials, particularily meats such as poultry and steak. I hope it has worked out for him!
I'm glad that he included a way to make your own Bokashi mix, so as not to strictly market it, but rather pass the information along in good will.
Bokashi seems to be a great alternative to conventional aerobic composting, which from the sounds of things tends to get quite smelly, while Bokashi is supposidly odour free!
When at various farms, I'll keep an eye open and ask about how many people actually use the Bokashi mix.
I wonder how wide spread the use of it is, as it seems to be quite effective, but I can't imagine many people going through the trouble of making the mix, while conventional composting mostly just requires your organic materials and some hay to keep the smell down.
Article 3:
Well the leaf mould certainly seems to be effective if you have enough leaves to use, either by themself or in conjunction with a composter.
The mesh cage looks like a great idea, being that it allows maximum airflow through into the leaves, while maintaining the sides of the composter. It could be even more effective to add rows of empty space throughout the cage (ie. 2 rows of mesh about a 1cm apart) to allow greater air flow.
Contrary to the video, I would never consider using pine needles, being that they air so acidic and they have a tendancy to reek havoc on production gardens which I tend to focus on.
I'm going to look for how people adapt on this design, as it is perfectly sound on itself, but I'm sure one could increase its efficiency a number of ways.
I'm curious to know how many people use these, and why. Whether becuase they have an excess of leaves or if it produces a higher quality fertilizer.
Article 4:
Worm composting looks like yet another great alternative to conventional composting, especially if you life in an appartment and can't have a smelly compost.
I'm suprised at how effective the worms are at breaking down compost, even just a single bed of them at the bottom of a container are supposidly able to turn an entire bin of waste into compost.
It seems the worms take a fair bit of taking care of as well, between their climate, what you feed them, and separating them out when decomposition is complete.
I'm going to be looking for various uses of worm in composting, as I'm sure there are other ways to apply their decompostive abilities.
My only quesiton about worms is: how are you suppose to separate then from the decomposed fertilizer?
Article 5:
It's astounding that those students managed to get 13 8x12 foot beds , a greenhouse, and a aquaponics system in, that's huge! Plus they aren't even students at the school, talk about devotion!
I love how they're not just using it as a garden, but as a means of community building and expansion by reaching out and getting the community to donate, while encouraging leader roles within the school.
An orchard seems like a great idea also, but it would take a fair amount of time for some of the trees (like apple trees) to mature, so it's a shame that those who plant them might not get to the the.... fruits of their labour :p
I'm going to look around and see how many farms actually incorporate orchards into them, as I'm sure they're easy enough to fertilize, and take far less effort than plants to maintain.
I wonder how the students managed to promote their project to such a degree that it got enough public exposure to recieve grants and community donations.
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Weeks 2-4
Article 1:
I really like the idea of planting before winter, being that you get that head start on growing in the last weeks of autumn, then the plants have all winter to gather nutrients, so that they can finish growing come the first warm and sunny days of the new year.
Raised beds are a great idea as well, as they help with drainage when you have an excess of rainfall, but they can also absorb more sunlight and heat up faster with their increased surface area.
Insulating my plants is a concept I've never really thought of applying, but does make sense to do so! I've seen people make entire greenhouses for some crops, but I always thought that to be over the top. But these smaller canopies that they've made over their plants seem like a great idea. Even using some straw or a wide leafed vegetable in conjunction with your main crop sounds beneficial.
I will definitely be keeping an eye open for how other people cover their crops! I imagine there are hundreds of ways to do so!
Although I can see why they use fiberglass as a cover, I wonder why they are using the corrugated variety, being that it would just be more expensive, and the sun's rays would need to get through even more material at some areas. Would it not just be easier and cheaper to buy smooth fiberglass?
Article 2:
OK, first point straight off the bat is to deny the "ungarliciness" of Elephant garlic. My family uses it all the time when it comes to any kind of roast, and it's positively delicious, and although it does not have the most intense garlic flavor, that actually allows it -along with its sheer bulk- to be eaten like a potato. Om nom nom
It seems home grown garlic needs a lot of attention in the form of additional fertilizer, mulch, weeding, and various duties which I did not at all attend to, so it would make sense why all of my family's attempts at growing garlic have been unsatisfactory.
Good drainage seems to be a big deal for garlic as well. They seem to have a greater change of rotting and getting root diseases than other plants, so perhaps heightened beds with say foot high wooden sides would provide adequate drainage, along with the other benefits of raised beds.
Next time I see someone growing garlic, I will definitely inquire as to what they've done to boost their yield and prevent rotting.
However, I wonder why garlic in particular seem to be so susceptible to rotting and root disease, would it have something to do with needing excellent drainage, perhaps because they absorb too much water?
Article 3:
This article is really humbling. It never even occurred to me that if soil didn't absorb rain, all land masses would be barren and desolate, and that without it, the earth could never have developed the first plants that produce oxygen, one of the corner stones of sustainable life for humans.
I really like the point on "soil mining", I think its one of the major problems in industrial farming today. The "population pressure" is of course a factor that this article states, but I think that soil depletion is also caused by farmers not rotating crops, being that some are far more profitable than other, so they stay on a single crop and supplement the soil artificially.
The separation of crops and farm animals seems to be one of the major leaps forward in farming. Due the increasing population on the earth, it is understandable that the traditional system of farming has to be reworked into a more productive one, but like the article states, the CAFO's are ruining soil and polluting the environment.
If I ever get the chance to, I will inquire with a farmer with regards to how they fertilize their farms, and weather or not they can (or even afford to) rotate crops.
I wonder, at what point will the move to industrial agriculture (with the use of synthetic fertilizers to supplement farms that don't rotate crops and separate farms for animals and crops) come back to bite us as it can no longer keep up with a rapidly growing population?
Article 4:
First of all, I find it both amusing and sad how it was actually questionable whether or not the conservatives will "respect the will of Western farmers". The plebiscite was clear, and yet there was still the distinct possibility of them abolishing the Wheat Board.
I never knew that there are significant quantities of farmable land that are not already in use in Africa, and that being the case, it is a wonder why they're not occupied. Furthermore, the expansion of African farming lands would indeed reduce their need for foreign food aid, as they would have an augmented local agricultural economy to supplement their needs.
Furthermore, the claim (if it is true) that there are in fact enough calories available to feed the entire planet is appalling, and I absolutely support the motion of expose the inefficiencies of our current agricultural system.
If I ever get the chance, I'd love to ask a farmer about the difficulties of getting a reasonable price for their crops.
I wonder why it is that the available lands for farming in Africa are not being used, being that fertile land is running low in North America with an ever growing population?
I really like the idea of planting before winter, being that you get that head start on growing in the last weeks of autumn, then the plants have all winter to gather nutrients, so that they can finish growing come the first warm and sunny days of the new year.
Raised beds are a great idea as well, as they help with drainage when you have an excess of rainfall, but they can also absorb more sunlight and heat up faster with their increased surface area.
Insulating my plants is a concept I've never really thought of applying, but does make sense to do so! I've seen people make entire greenhouses for some crops, but I always thought that to be over the top. But these smaller canopies that they've made over their plants seem like a great idea. Even using some straw or a wide leafed vegetable in conjunction with your main crop sounds beneficial.
I will definitely be keeping an eye open for how other people cover their crops! I imagine there are hundreds of ways to do so!
Although I can see why they use fiberglass as a cover, I wonder why they are using the corrugated variety, being that it would just be more expensive, and the sun's rays would need to get through even more material at some areas. Would it not just be easier and cheaper to buy smooth fiberglass?
Article 2:
OK, first point straight off the bat is to deny the "ungarliciness" of Elephant garlic. My family uses it all the time when it comes to any kind of roast, and it's positively delicious, and although it does not have the most intense garlic flavor, that actually allows it -along with its sheer bulk- to be eaten like a potato. Om nom nom
It seems home grown garlic needs a lot of attention in the form of additional fertilizer, mulch, weeding, and various duties which I did not at all attend to, so it would make sense why all of my family's attempts at growing garlic have been unsatisfactory.
Good drainage seems to be a big deal for garlic as well. They seem to have a greater change of rotting and getting root diseases than other plants, so perhaps heightened beds with say foot high wooden sides would provide adequate drainage, along with the other benefits of raised beds.
Next time I see someone growing garlic, I will definitely inquire as to what they've done to boost their yield and prevent rotting.
However, I wonder why garlic in particular seem to be so susceptible to rotting and root disease, would it have something to do with needing excellent drainage, perhaps because they absorb too much water?
Article 3:
This article is really humbling. It never even occurred to me that if soil didn't absorb rain, all land masses would be barren and desolate, and that without it, the earth could never have developed the first plants that produce oxygen, one of the corner stones of sustainable life for humans.
I really like the point on "soil mining", I think its one of the major problems in industrial farming today. The "population pressure" is of course a factor that this article states, but I think that soil depletion is also caused by farmers not rotating crops, being that some are far more profitable than other, so they stay on a single crop and supplement the soil artificially.
The separation of crops and farm animals seems to be one of the major leaps forward in farming. Due the increasing population on the earth, it is understandable that the traditional system of farming has to be reworked into a more productive one, but like the article states, the CAFO's are ruining soil and polluting the environment.
If I ever get the chance to, I will inquire with a farmer with regards to how they fertilize their farms, and weather or not they can (or even afford to) rotate crops.
I wonder, at what point will the move to industrial agriculture (with the use of synthetic fertilizers to supplement farms that don't rotate crops and separate farms for animals and crops) come back to bite us as it can no longer keep up with a rapidly growing population?
Article 4:
First of all, I find it both amusing and sad how it was actually questionable whether or not the conservatives will "respect the will of Western farmers". The plebiscite was clear, and yet there was still the distinct possibility of them abolishing the Wheat Board.
I never knew that there are significant quantities of farmable land that are not already in use in Africa, and that being the case, it is a wonder why they're not occupied. Furthermore, the expansion of African farming lands would indeed reduce their need for foreign food aid, as they would have an augmented local agricultural economy to supplement their needs.
Furthermore, the claim (if it is true) that there are in fact enough calories available to feed the entire planet is appalling, and I absolutely support the motion of expose the inefficiencies of our current agricultural system.
If I ever get the chance, I'd love to ask a farmer about the difficulties of getting a reasonable price for their crops.
I wonder why it is that the available lands for farming in Africa are not being used, being that fertile land is running low in North America with an ever growing population?
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Weekly Reading Respone: Week 1
I find it really interesting and truly ingenious how dependent the bees are on smells and pheromones, though it must have taken centuries for them to develop and evolve to that stage when they had the necessary glandes to produce them, and the receptors to pick them up. Of that comes with their sensitivity and agitation to other foreign smells.
It's also fairly convenient for the bee hive owners that bees create their brood chambers in the base levels of the hive, while they make their honey combs in the top ones, so that it easily accessed, and one doesn't need to worry about the brood chambers mixing in with the honey combs.
The top bar hives seem very cool as well, but not quite as efficient as the bees seem to have to make their combs from scratch, while the langstroth hives have the base hexagons already in place for the bees to build on, giving them more time to work on building up the hive and to forage.
Ok, this last video dwarfs all the others. This is nuts how they can communicate distance and bearing through a dance and number of abdominal waggles, though I don't quite understand why the other bees need to sting the bee to death that's telling them where to go if it doesn't stop... Furthermore, the bees "hexagonal lenses" in it's eyes are pretty crazy too, and how they can track the sun with them, and measure how far they've traveled by how much honey they've eaten.
It's also fairly convenient for the bee hive owners that bees create their brood chambers in the base levels of the hive, while they make their honey combs in the top ones, so that it easily accessed, and one doesn't need to worry about the brood chambers mixing in with the honey combs.
The top bar hives seem very cool as well, but not quite as efficient as the bees seem to have to make their combs from scratch, while the langstroth hives have the base hexagons already in place for the bees to build on, giving them more time to work on building up the hive and to forage.
Ok, this last video dwarfs all the others. This is nuts how they can communicate distance and bearing through a dance and number of abdominal waggles, though I don't quite understand why the other bees need to sting the bee to death that's telling them where to go if it doesn't stop... Furthermore, the bees "hexagonal lenses" in it's eyes are pretty crazy too, and how they can track the sun with them, and measure how far they've traveled by how much honey they've eaten.
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