Tag: Agriculture

Economic and Social Strategies for Adapting to Worst-Case Climate Change

A world with temperatures 3 to 5°C higher than pre-industrial levels would be vastly different from the one we inhabit today.

On 22nd October 2024 by Garry Rogers at garryrogers.com via https://wp.me/pIJl9-EyC at https://wp.me/pIJl9-EyC Telegram t.me/thefreeonline

The World Bank[i] cautions that many regions would be unable to adapt to such a temperature increase. Ecosystems would collapse, crops would fail, extreme weather events would become more frequent and severe, and rising sea levels would reshape coastlines and inundate major cities. The social and economic foundations of global civilization would be strained to their limits.

This article outlines four key strategies that towns and farms can implement to prepare for and adapt to a changed world. While these strategies alone cannot fully prepare us for the scale of the impending disruption, they represent essential steps towards building resilience and maintaining some semblance of societal stability.

Universal Basic Income (UBI) and Job Guarantee Programs

As climate change disrupts traditional economic sectors and displaces workers, we need new systems to ensure basic economic security. At the local level, communities can experiment with and advocate for these programs.

Universal Basic Income (UBI) could provide a crucial safety net as people transition between precarious forms of employment[ii]. For communities, this might involve piloting a small-scale UBI program, starting with the most vulnerable community members, partnering with nearby communities to create a regional UBI pilot, or advocating at the state and federal level for UBI policies.

Alternatively, a job guarantee program focused on climate adaptation and mitigation work could both provide employment and address crucial climate-related needs[iii]. This could involve creating local government jobs focused on climate resilience projects or establishing a community corps that provides training and employment in climate-adaptive skills.

Coastal Adaptation for Worst-Case Climate Change September 16, 2024 In “Adaptation for Climate Change”

These programs will be essential not just for individual wellbeing, but for maintaining social stability in the face of severe economic disruption. Without them, there is a risk of widespread poverty, social unrest, and the collapse of local economies.

Agriculture and Food Security Adaptations to Worst-Case Climate Change September 23, 2024 In “Adaptation for Climate Change”

Continue reading “Economic and Social Strategies for Adapting to Worst-Case Climate Change”

Permaculture Project: reinvent ourselves

The Free best colour Jan22 2012. _Page_300_Image_0001Why start with: what permaculture means? Because many people don’t know what  it means, A lot of people think that it’s the normal agriculture with nothing different and that you are crazy because in this time of crisis, catastrophes and war you think only about nature and having some lush vegetables in your garden…but permaculture or synergistic agriculture, as you prefer, is not only a method to work the soil and have lush and sane vegetables but it’s above all “taking care of people”. Continue reading “Permaculture Project: reinvent ourselves”

Food Mythbusters: Small farms can feed the World

Food Mythbusters: Do we need industrial agriculture to feed the world?

from Grist with thanks

Are you tired of hearing claims that chemical-intensive monocultures are the only way to feed the planet’s growing population? With the first in her series of “mythbusting” videos, Anna Lappé, author of Diet for a Hot Planet and occasional Grist contributor, takes on this point directly.

She argues that, in fact, a network of small-scale, independent farms using diversified, sustainable practices and a shift in the way the food we already grow gets eaten will go a long way toward solving the problem without such a heavy reliance on corporate agriculture.

Take a look and tell us what you think.

(Did we mention that last week we had Food Day? Find food-related activities in your area here.) Continue reading “Food Mythbusters: Small farms can feed the World”

permaculture.. Farming without water

Millions Against Monsanto: The Food Fight of Our Lives
By Brie Mazurek     The Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture
Farmer David Little of Little Organic Farmgrows potatoes without irrigation in a dry part of California.This week, as the nation grapples with the worst drought in decades, the USDA added more than 218 counties to its list of natural disaster areas, bringing the total to 1,584 — more than half of all U.S. counties. Farmers in the Midwest and Great Plains have been the hardest hit, but the drought is a growing reality for farmers across the country, including California. While the secretary of agriculture won’t comment on the drought’s link to climate change, it’s at the forefront of everyone’s mind, and as global warming unfolds, knowledge of dryland agriculturewill become increasingly valuable.David Little of Little Organic Farm has had to adapt to water scarcity in California’s Marin and Sonoma counties, where most farmers and ranchers rely on their own reservoirs, wells, and springs, making them particularly vulnerable in years with light rainfall. Through a technique known as dry farming, Little’s potatoes and squash receive no irrigation, getting all of their water from the soil. Continue reading “permaculture.. Farming without water”