soylent-green image

Why Soylent Green Got 2022 So Wrong

https://slate.com/technology/2022/08/soylent-green-2022.html

The Dance of Sympathy on a Planet Gone Mad

Working for peace and justice is not only the moral and right thing to do, but is also a creative expression of what it is to be human, an effort to eliminate war by bringing order to chaos and replacing violence with harmony.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/08/25/dance-sympathy-planet-gone-mad

Pakistan declares national emergency as flood toll nears 1,000

At least 937 people are dead and 30 million are without shelter as Pakistan struggles to cope with devastating floods. 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/26/pakistan-floods

Why The Same Temperature Can Feel Different Somewhere Else

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/heat-index-temperature/

More Energy on Less Land: The Drive to Shrink Solar’s Footprint

https://e360.yale.edu/features/small-solar-agriculture-technology

A utopia of clean air and wet peat amid Sumatra’s forest fire ‘hell’

https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/a-utopia-of-clean-air-and-wet-peat-amid-sumatras-forest-fire-hell/

As many as one in six U.S. tree species is threatened with extinction

Some 100 native tree species could die out amid an onslaught of invasive insects, a surge in deadly diseases and the all-encompassing peril of climate change

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/08/23/extinct-tree-species-sequoias/

Photo Essay: The Next Generation of DC Central Kitchen Chefs

After three decades of feeding and training low-income residents for jobs in restaurants, the nonprofit is about to dramatically expand its reach.

https://civileats.com/2022/08/24/photo-essay-dc-kitchen-culinary-training-program-low-income-residents-chefs/

Can greenhouses fit into the regenerative organic movement? 

What it means to be regenerative organic and why it’s an idea worth considering.

https://www.greenhousecanada.com/can-greenhouses-fit-into-the-regenerative-organic-movement/

Here’s how the food industry can decarbonize

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/08/carbon-neutral-eggs-climate-food/

Taking Action on Climate Change Requires Coming Together

https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2022/08/11/climate-change-coming-together

Hot profits, hot temperatures and necessary solutions

As parts of the world reel under unprecedented heat, oil companies are raking in unprecedented profits. In the first three months of 2022, the 28 largest fossil fuel companies made close to US$100 billion.

https://davidsuzuki.org/story/hot-profits-hot-temperatures-and-necessary-solutions/

Liberal States Like California Are Also Failing to Make Progress on Climate

https://truthout.org/articles/liberal-states-like-california-are-also-failing-to-make-progress-on-climate/

Food price rises around the world are result of ‘broken’ system, say experts

Surge of about 20% this year due to system that concentrates power and profits in hands of few companies

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/24/food-price-rises-around-the-world-are-result-of-broken-system-say-experts

Regenerative agriculture in Mexico boosts yields while restoring nature

Chiapas is Mexico’s second-most biodiverse state and provides 30% of the country’s freshwater, but has lost 55% of its forests for farmland and livestock pasture.

https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/regenerative-agriculture-in-mexico-boosts-yields-while-restoring-nature/?_kx=s7I5Mw_hc10a-pgQU9gnOfaoKN3yeBZQ2AS1eUQFxgwf9QpYptWeu8jk34YTWqI6.WKh32v

It’s Time For Fashion to Talk More About Regenerative Agriculture 

For fiber and textile producers, the path to growing sustainable cotton, hemp and flax is complicated.

https://modernfarmer.com/2022/08/sustainable-fashion-regenerative-agriculture-fiber/?_kx=s7I5Mw_hc10a-pgQU9gnOfaoKN3yeBZQ2AS1eUQFxgwf9QpYptWeu8jk34YTWqI6.WKh32v

You are what you eat! Why you want food that was Cover Cropped

The goal of cover cropping is to keep a cover of living crops on the land during the offseason as well as to introduce a mulch of crop residue during the main crop growing period.  The cover crops, between growing seasons, will produce the mulch residue, but at the same time introduce microorganisms below the surface of the soil.  These organisms will produce nitrogen fertilizer, many times in the range of one to two hundred pounds per acre. 

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/26/2065949/-You-are-what-you-eat-Why-you-want-food-that-was-Cover-Cropped?utm_campaign=recent

Reconstructing ice age diets reveals unraveling web of life

https://news.rice.edu/news/2022/reconstructing-ice-age-diets-reveals-unraveling-web-life

Dealing with drought: how fog collectors are providing trees with water in Spain

Scientists in the Canary Islands and Portugal are collecting water from fog to enable reforestation of degraded landscapes 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/26/fog-collectors-reforestation-trees-canary-islands-portugal-eu-aoe

Earth Day 8 Walk Away With a Win

We are raising local awareness of the murderous devil in our midst and helping to generate a national movement against war corporations like Raytheon. 

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/08/26/earth-day-8-walk-away-win

One small step for us, one giant leap for the planet: how to achieve a zero-waste society

https://screenshot-media.com/politics/climate-change/how-to-achieve-zero-waste

Ohio Conservation Farm Family: John and Jordan Settlage operate a grass-fed dairy using regenerative practices.

https://www.farmprogress.com/conservation/settlages-focus-saving-soil

ELEVENTH HOUR: Solving the plastic crisis and pursuing a circular economy

https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/20/eleventh-hour-solving-the-plastic-crisis-and-pursuing-a-circular-economy/

West Africa is drowning in plastic.

https://mercadosafricanos.com/en/africa-ocidental-esta-se-afogar-em-plastico/

Thailand’s bio-circular economy and the problem of imported trash

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thailands-bio-circular-economy-and-the-problem-of-imported-trash/

Circular business new notion to Vietnamese firms

Vietnam has been increasingly embracing the green transition and circular economy to make efficient use of its resources to boost economic growth, according to Nguyen Hoa Cuong, deputy head of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM).

https://en.vietnamplus.vn/circular-business-new-notion-to-vietnamese-firms/235983.vnp

What Is the Circular Economy and Where Does It Lead?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/what-is-the-circular-economy-and-where-does-it-lead/2022/08/19/8a554134-1f83-11ed-9ce6-68253bd31864_story.html

Extended Producer Responsibility, Packaging Waste Reduction and Eco-design

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10640-022-00696-9

These 3D printed soil structures could become the building blocks of future homes

https://www.designboom.com/technology/university-of-virginia-researchers-develop-3d-printed-soil-structures-08-19-2022/

Our reliance on plastic to build homes must change

Many people will not realise how much plastic goes into a newly built house. But if we are serious about building a new circular economy, we need to find alternatives. Our demonstration project might show the way, says Craig Currie

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/comment/our-reliance-on-plastic-to-build-homes-must-change-77122

Biotechnology start-up secures funding to commercialise circular economy platform technology.

Whiskey Distllers ‘spent’material producing algae rich in Omega-3 

https://www.circularonline.co.uk/news/biotechnology-start-up-secures-funding-to-commercialise-circular-economy-platform-technology/

What Is Regenerative Agriculture and Why Do We Need it?

https://wellnessmama.com/health/regenerative-agriculture/

We need to change how we think about soil

With record temperatures this summer along with dry conditions, ongoing concerns about food security, wildlife habitats and biodiversity, having a healthy soil system is more vital and challenging than ever before. But what does the term ‘soil health’ mean and how should we measure it? New research says that how we think about, measure and study soil must be changed to give a better understanding of how to manage this resource effectively, with academics proposing an entirely new approach for assessing soil health.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/08/220802105043.htm

‘Walking’ forest of 1,000 trees transforms Dutch city​

Spectacle of leafy ash, oak and elm ambling through Leeuwarden’s streets offers vision of a greener future.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/04/walking-forest-of-1000-trees-transforms-dutch-city-aoe

This pillar of the rainforest needs support

Enforcement, policy and funding are critical if Indigenous people are to continue to sustainably manage mahogany

https://ensia.com/voices/this-pillar-of-the-rainforest-needs-support/

Jumbo task as Malawi moves 263 elephants to restock a degraded national park

https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/jumbo-task-as-malawi-moves-263-elephants-to-restock-a-degraded-national-park/

Revealed: US agribusiness giants’ soy linked to stolen indigenous land and murder in Brazil

In May an investigation by Earthsight and De Olho nos Ruralistas, There Will Be Blood, exposed links between chicken and pet food sold by some of Europe’s largest retailers and egregious indigenous rights violations in Brazil. Now we have discovered that the world’s two largest traders of Brazilian soy are connected to the same abuses.

https://www.earthsight.org.uk/news/US-agribusiness-soy-linked-to-stolen-indigenous-land

FarmLogs and Nori partnership helps farmers enroll in the carbon marketplace

https://www.agriculture.com/crops/carbon-markets/farmlogs-and-nori-partnership-helps-farmers-enroll-in-the-carbon-marketplace

Across the globe, those harmed by climate change are turning to courts

Climate litigation is on the rise, as is the activism that goes along with it — which some experts say can be just as important.

https://ensia.com/features/climate-change-litigation-courts-lawsuit-activism/

Plastic can take hundreds of years to break down – and we keep making more

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/08/plastics-climate-crisis-environment-pollution-kim-heacox

Renowned Farmer Jean-Martin Fortier Gives Rodale Institute a Tour of His Farm (Part 1; video 7 ½ minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN1f4rAae0A

Lack of Data May Be Hiding True Extent of Biodiversity Loss

https://e360.yale.edu/digest/wildlife-extinctions-data-deficient

Tazo commits to regenerative organic agriculture with tea relaunch 

https://www.fooddive.com/news/tazo-regenerative-agriculture-tea-relaunch/629031/

Native Growers Can Help the US Meet Its Climate Goals. Will the New Farm Bill Offer Enough Support?

A conversation with Carly Griffith Hotvedt about the Native Farm Bill, traditional Indigenous knowledge, and environmental conservation.

https://www.thenation.com/article/environment/indigenous-agriculture-climate-farm-bill/

22 Solutions-Focused Stories on the Food System in 2022

Not all the news is bad. We rounded up some of our favorite recent stories about people working together with compassion, ingenuity, and solidarity across the food system.

https://civileats.com/2022/08/01/22-solutions-focused-stories-on-the-food-system-in-2022/

Arctic Warming Is Happening Faster Than Described, Analysis Shows

The warming at the top of the globe, a sign of climate change, is happening much faster than previously described compared with the global average, scientists said Thursday.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/11/climate/arctic-global-warming.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes

To minimize harm from floods and droughts, we need to understand what water wants

As climate change alters the movement of water on land and in the air, a call for Slow Water

https://ensia.com/voices/slow-water-drought-floods-climate-change/

Climate change is increasing the risk of a California megaflood

Atmospheric rivers are ribbons of water vapor that extend thousands of miles from the tropics to the western U.S. At 250 to 375 miles wide, they provide the fuel for the massive rain and snowstorms that can cause flooding along the West Coast.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abq0995

AND

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/08/12/megafloods-could-devastate-california-new-study-says/10308979002/

We Are Not the First Civilization to Collapse, but We Will Probably Be the Last

The archeological remains of past civilizations, including those of the prehistoric Cahokia temple mound complex in Illinois, are sobering reminders of our fate. 

https://scheerpost.com/2022/08/15/chris-hedges-we-are-not-the-first-civilization-to-collapse-but-we-will-probably-be-the-last/

Ants can beat pesticides at helping farmers grow healthy crops, study finds

Harnessing natural insect power can, with proper management, have higher efficacy than resorting to harmful chemicals

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/17/ants-can-beat-pesticides-helping-farmers-grow-healthy-crops-study-aoe

Zero Waste Team: A Beginners Guide To Thrifting

https://ladailypost.com/zero-waste-team-a-beginners-guide-to-thrifting/

Diet for a hotter climate: five plants that could help feed the world

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/20/ancient-crops-climate-crisis-amaranth-fonio-cowpeas-taro-kernza