First published on Tai Tokerau Climate Change Action. The Soil Story, created by Kiss the Ground outlines with absolute clarity how people have upset the carbon balance by burning fossil fuels and industrial agriculture. Kiss the Ground is a movement started in 2013. Its mission is "Inspiring participation in global regeneration, starting with soil". The website's … Continue reading Kiss the Ground – Carbon Clarity
Category: Climate change
One billion trees
The new government want to plant 100 million trees over 10 years to support achieving our climate change commitments. Northland has roughly 5.1% of New Zealand's land area, so that equates to about 5.1 million trees for Northland per year. Of course we should probably have more, as we don't have snow here and trees will … Continue reading One billion trees
Feeding the world
The convergence of rapid population growth and climate change threaten our ability to feed everybody. But our thinking about solutions has been a monocultural reflection of how we grow our food. A recent Guardian article suggests switching to organic farming could cut greenhouse gas emissions and still feed the world. What we don't need We don't need … Continue reading Feeding the world
Trees and dairy
We have to deintensify dairy for a whole lot of reasons. Uppermost in public discourse is water quality, but also intensification has to be sustained by increased inputs that place a burden on the environment. For example, imports of palm kernel meal has risen from 96 metric tonnes in 2003 to 1,600 metric tonnes in … Continue reading Trees and dairy
Election outcome a great result for MMP and sustainable food systems
Our new government, led by Jacinda Adern is a win for MMP and sustainable food systems. A win for MMP and the evolution of governance To form a government in New Zealand a party has to obtain a majority of seats. In a mixed member proportional (MMP) government, any party will need to work effectively … Continue reading Election outcome a great result for MMP and sustainable food systems
Let me count the ways… food makes us sick
A new report from the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food (IPES-Food) outlines how industrial food and farming systems are making people sick in a variety of ways. An Overwhelming Case for Action lead author Cecelia Rocha says "Food systems are making us sick. Unhealthy diets are the most obvious link, but are only one of … Continue reading Let me count the ways… food makes us sick
Bananas and climate change
The question is not "is climate change happening?" The question is, "what are we going to do about it?" Some people continue to deny it, others choose to look the other way and hope it will go away, and another group only want to take action if it doesn't interfere with economic growth. In his … Continue reading Bananas and climate change
Climate change hope
The Drawdown project has raised my optimism about climate change. There are plenty of doomsayers who think that we are stuffed. For a whole lot of people, its a problem that is just too big to handle, so the strategy is to ignore it. In New Zealand our government tells us that we are too … Continue reading Climate change hope
The food solutions to climate change
Wow. Who would have thought that there are so many ways that we can reverse climate change. The Drawdown project, led by Paul Hawken is a game changer. His project team details 80 ways we can take carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the atmosphere. Drawdown is the point where globally we start to reduce atmospheric … Continue reading The food solutions to climate change
Building momentum towards a sustainable food system
Every project I'm involved with aspiring to move from an industrial food system to a sustainable food system reinforces the critical importance of connecting people. In Northland we have a lot of organisations aspiring to improve our food system. They range from environmental groups and landowners working to improve waterways, health workers, farmers and growers, … Continue reading Building momentum towards a sustainable food system
The industrial agriculture “feed the world” myth
A video from Friends of the Earth International has some startling claims about how the need for industrial agriculture is overstated. This sounds plausible, but the problem is, I can't find this video anywhere other than Facebook - so it is difficult to find data that supports the numbers. And my attempts to link to … Continue reading The industrial agriculture “feed the world” myth
Aotearoa Food Policy Network 