Archive for the ‘Ecology’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Reducing your Water-Use Footprint

Monday, May 4th, 2009

by Catherine Haug

Good Daily Water Choices

Check out this large, colorful info-graphic chart that illustrates the surprising amount of water that goes into our daily lives, and shows how much water one could save by making better choices. See Good Magazine for more.

What I want to know is how/where they got this data.  Are their examples from sustainable sources/processes? Or non-sustainable ones? For example, they site:

  • 36 gallons of water go into producing one breakfast egg.  Would that be an egg from a chicken raised in your yard? Or an egg you bought at a supermarket, that came from a factory-farmed chicken?
  • 634 gallons of water go into producing one hamburger sandwich.  Would that be from meat raised sustainably on pasture? Or meat from a factory farm?  What about the grain used to make the hamburger bun, or the lettuce, onion and tomato used as garnish; how are they raised?

Why not print this graphic to use for dinner conversation with your kids?

Posted in Ecology, Home & Ranch | Comments Closed

Pasture-Fed Meats, Eggs, Dairy

Friday, May 1st, 2009

by Catherine Haug

(Updated Sept 24 to add a third local dairy: Kalispell Kreamery).

For the most part, your local supermarket, Costco, Wal-Mart and Whole Foods do NOT carry pasture-fed meats, eggs and dairy.  These sources are all part of the modern monoculture food system which thrives on low-cost, factory-style food production, cheap transportation costs to ship their products around the country, and stressed-out consumers who don’t have the time to fix healthful “slow-food” meals at home.

Instead, if you want healthful pasture-raised animal food products, you need to go to a local producer or local shops that specialize in locally produced meats, eggs and dairy products. (more…)

Posted in Community, Ecology, Food-Nutrition-Health, Health, Home & Ranch, Shop Local | Comments Closed

Wild Pollinators Are Ailing, Too

Sunday, April 26th, 2009

The following is a transcription of a sidebar to the article in April 2009 issue of Scientific American:  Saving the Honeybee [see Saving the Honeybee: A Synopsis for information on that article].  To me, the problem of ailing bees is the canary in the mine: warning of a dire future if we don’t pay attention. Our monoculture ag system is at the root of the problem and should be discarded if our planet is to survive.

Refer to the Xerces Society and KQED-QUEST websites for much more information about pollinators, especially the following articles:

Posted in Agriculture, Ecology, Gardening, Home & Ranch | 1 Comment »

Saving the Honeybee

Sunday, April 26th, 2009

by Catherine Haug

This is a synopsis of a long article from Scientific American, April 2009 magazine, by Diana Cox-Foster and Dennis vanEngelsdorp:  Solving the Mystery of the Vanishing Bees” (original title: ‘ Saving the Honeybee’).  See also a sidebar to this article:  Wild Pollinators Are Ailing, Too.

To me, CCD is the canary in the mine: warning of a dire future if we don’t pay attention.  Our monoculture ag system is at the root of the problem and should be discarded if our planet is to survive.

“The mysterious ailment called colony collapse disorder [CCD] has wiped out large numbers of the bees that pollinate a third of our crops.  The causes turn out to be surprisingly complex, but solutions are emerging.

Key Concepts

  • Millions of beehives worldwide have emptied out as honeybees mysteriously disappear, putting at risk nearly 100 crops that require pollination.
  • Research is pointing to a complex disease in which combinations of factors, including farming practices, make bees vulnerable to viruses.
  • Taking extra care with hive hygiene seems to aid prevention. And research into antiviral drugs could lead to pharmaceutical solutions.”

(more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Ecology, Home & Ranch, Shop Local | Comments Closed

Our Sick Farms, Our Infected Food

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

by Catherine Haug

I came across this April 2009 Scientific American article while looking for an online version of Scientific American’s April 2009 article on “Saving the Honeybee.”  This article is likely ‘preaching to the choir’ of our ESP community, but I thought I’d share it anyway.

To me, this article hints at a far better solution to the food problem than the Food Safety bills being considered by our legislature.  And that solution would be to:

  • Move away from the highly efficient, low-cost modern food production practices, and return to more labor intensive, eco- and life-friendly local production.  
  • Leave behind the oil-guzzling chemical farming and return to organic and bio-dynamic farming methods.  

In so doing, we’ll go a long way toward resolving our health and climate change crises at the same time.

But, are our leaders listening?  Are they brave enough to stand up to the powerful corporate-farm/industrial-chemical/pharmaceutical/oil lobbies?

Perhaps we need to speak with our wallets, to get their attention.

Our Sick Farms, Our Infected Food

Congress and the FDA must upend the nation’s agricultural policies to keep its food supply safe.

Agriculture has fueled the eruption of human civilization. Efficiently raised, affordable crops and livestock feed our growing population, and hunger has largely been banished from the developed world as a result. Yet there are reasons to believe that we are beginning to lose control of our great agricultural machine. The security of our food supply is at risk in ways more noxious than anyone had feared.

For more, see Our Sick Farms, Our Infected Food (Scientific American, April 2009) (Scientific American April 2009)

Posted in Agriculture, Ecology, Food-Nutrition-Health, Shop Local | Comments Closed

Gathering Summary: Pollinators & Their Habitat, April 22, 2009

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

Three presentations this evening; almost more info than one can digest in one evening.  For complete summary, refer to pdf file: Gathering Summary: Pollinators & their Habitats; below is a summary. (more…)

Posted in Ecology, Gardening, Gathering Summaries, Home & Ranch, Landscaping | 2 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »