Biodynamic treechange (homesteading)

Fighting Fire With ...... Fire?

Recently you would have seen the terrible catastrophe that wild bushfires have caused across the south eastern parts of Australia, with 200 people killed, thousands homeless, and whole communities shattered and destroyed.

Now the blame game has started so we can identify how we could have let this happen, and then, how we ensure it doesn't happen again. And international readers need to know that major bushfires are a way of life for most Australians, so 'ensuring that it doesn't happen again' is a furphy. Just like earthquakes, tsunamis and tornadoes, bushfires are natural occurrences and despite our best efforts, will continue to occur.

The initial reaction from most uninformed media commentators and the like is to blame greenies, incompetent Governments or public authorities, or all three.

Today I've read two articles that go to the heart of the matter, and arrive at a similar answer from differing points.

Monsanto's Greatest Hits

The greater part of the 20th century was about industrial and chemical innovations, and as a leader (?) in various fields, Monsanto was there.

 

Having spent the entire 20th century in pursuit of profit through science, here's a chronology of MONSANTO's pursuits over their first 100 years; from Saccharin to aspirin, from Agent Orange to Round Up.

 

1901--Founder John Francis Queeny names Monsanto Chemical Works after his wife, Olga Mendez Monsanto. 

1902--The company manufactures its first product, Saccharin. The U.S. government later files suit over the safety of Saccharin, but loses.

1917--Monsanto starts producing aspirin.

1929--Monsanto acquires Rubber Services Laboratories

1935--Monsanto goes into the soap and detergents industry, starts producing phosphorus.

1938--The company goes into the plastic business.

A Truly Most Unusual Panel Pairing

Back in September this year, at a suitable conference, the boffins at Google somehow convinced what I consider to be two of the food industries leading opponents to both join a panel to discuss ‘Creating a World That Can Feed Itself’.

One of these people was Hugh Grant, Chairman, President and CEO of Monsanto, and you can imagine the angle he took in the discussion.

The other participant was Mike Pollan, Knight Professor of Journalism, UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and author of ‘In Defence of Food’ and ‘The Omnivores Dilemma’.

I’ve written about Pollan before, and am a keen supporter of most if not all of his ideals. And I’ve written about Monsanto before, and am a keen opponent of most if not all of it’s ideals.

The discussion is most enlivening and interesting. Click below to view the battle!

We Live In Very Interesting Times

As an outsider watching the current US election campaign (are we there yet?) and a keen supporter of Al Gore's We Can Solve It initiative, I can't help but really wonder how different our world would be if Al Gore had won the election eight years ago, and George W and his cronies in Florida had not perverted the course of history.

The following video is a piece that aired in the US tonight after the Obama telecast, and is an edited version of the challenge that former Vice President Gore issued in July 2008.

Titled 'Al Gore's Challenge to Repower America' it's short, sharp and a clear indication of what we need as Western society to lead the way out of the very deep and dark hole we are blindly going down.

Click on the box.

Given that Australia's position as a provider/supplier of 'carbon' to the world, and as a nation has one of the largest 'greenhouse gas footprints', we need to follow this message too.

The Return of the Organic Maven!

Hi.

I stopped blogging for a month or so. And it wasn't intentional to be for any specific length of time. I just got that I was posting each day because I said that's what I would do, and the quality of the posts were suffering. So I stopped for a bit.

But now I'm back!

What's been happening in the meantime?

Well, ABC refused to air the Al Gore 'Repower America' advert (so much for freedom of speech!) and we've chosen to commence taking our produce to families and homes in Sydney!

And I spent a week or so 'under canvas' in the World Heritage listed Werrikimbe National Park, walking through some awesome cool temperate Antarctic Beech rainforests. Very inspiring and humbling stuff.

Over the next few months you'll see the posts on this site start to lean more towards food and nutrition, with a little less about the environment and climate change (well maybe not that much less!)

Anyway, for those of you who enquired where I'd gone or what had happened or how much you enjoy reading my writings, a BIG THANKS.

And as always your comments are more than welcome.

The images are from the rainforests of Werrikimbe.

It's Very Simple Really

Al Gore has never been shy when it comes to telling it like it is.

His latest campaign at We Can Solve It is pretty straight, too.

This post has been lifted from their site.

 

Eat the View

One of the more interesting 'campaigns' in the current US Presidential election (Are we there yet?) is by a group called Eat The View whose aim is to plant healthy, edible landscapes in high-impact, high visibility places, whether it's the 'First Lawn' or the lawn in front of your child's school. 

A project of Kitchen Gardeners International, a Maine-based network of 6500 gardeners from 100 countries who inspire and teach people to grow some of their own food, Eat The View are urging the next President to show leadership on global issues such as climate change and food security by converting part of the White House's 18 acre grounds back into an edible landscape.

It made sense in the past for the 'First Family' to eat foods grown close to home and - given the climate challenge - it makes sense again. Previous tenants of the White House have taken this on, most notably Eleanor Roosevelt, who planted a Victory Garden at the White House, inspiring many others to follow across the country.

Roger Doiron has taken the lead and created a short video, showing by example how to turn your white house lawn into a garden. Entered in the Climate Matters competition at vimeo, which is a Brighter Planet initiative, and titled 'This Lawn is Your Lawn', it is here for your viewing pleasure.

 

This Lawn is Your Lawn from roger doiron on Vimeo.

 

Are You In Need Of Some Social Change? Follow These Simple Steps

Being truly honest, the prime driving force behind what we are doing here at 'Near River', with this blog, and indeed with most, if not all of our actions, is the burning desire to contribute to the transformation of the way we exist as a (Western) society here on this planet. And I'll admit that occasionally, it all seems too much, particularly when our 'leaders' make what appear to be totally inappropriate and ill-informed decisions.

And I'm realising that it can be difficult being a leader in a climate of change.

Then I remember ...

The planet is not a gift from our parents, rather a loan from our children

and off I go again, empowered to do what it takes to have this turn out.

 

So what are the simple steps to causing social change?

Prince Not So Charming About Genetically Manipulated Crops

Last week, the heir to the British throne, HRH Prince Charles, spoke out about Genetically Manipulated crops and their many and varied impacts on food production.

Recognised as an opponent of industrialised agriculture, the Prince's comments come at an opportune time, and will surely re-ignite debate in the GM arena as scientists plead for more sites to run tests on, while opponents continue the fight, even taking to destroying crops at one test site earlier this year in the UK.

The article appeared in London's Daily Telegraph, after an exclusive interview with journalist Jeff Randall.

 

Listen: The Prince of Wales speaks out

Need Help Connecting Oil, Food and Climate Change?

Are you having trouble linking the rising price of of oil with food shortages and the impact the changing climate is having?

This cool video 'Oil Addiction' from Good Magazine will quickly bring you up to speed.

 

 

 

In short "As the price of oil creeps higher, finding new energy sources is more important than ever. But the search for alternatives, combined with environmental disruptions, is putting new pressures on other essentials like food. There are some things that are going well in the world. Right now, the economy is not one of them."

Directed and animated by Chris Weller, 'Oil Addiction' gives an American take on where we are at with this weighty problem facing us all.