Change the Story, Change the World
"Sikkim has become India's first fully organic state by converting approximately 75,000 hectares of cultivated land into organic farmland. Sikkim had achieved the status in December, but a formal declaration will be made by PM Modi in Gangtok on January 18, an official said. The Pawan Chamling-led state government had in 2003 decided to make Sikkim a fully organic state." Read more.... Continue reading
"Life in Syntropy" is the new short film from Agenda Gotsch. It tells the story of Brazilian farmer Ernst Gotsch, who bought 1,200 acres of completely deforested land on the edge of the rainforest in 1984 and transformed it into a remarkably biodiverse working farm that reverses climate change by sequestering carbon. Watch video
"Natabar continues to find, save and share his indigenous rice seed with local farmers. To date he has managed to re-introduce over 350 varieties. "But it’s not just about the indigenous rice seed of India or about the survival of a sustainable agriculture system with the knowledge of over ten thousand years. "It's about a global phenomenon taking place where a non-sustainable system systematically destroys a sustainable one, where short term profit has the power to overwhelm common sense and … Watch video
Tiyéda Abalah Bawiena from Togo, West Africa, shares her story, one year on from Findhorn's New Story Summit. Tiyéda was meant to attend the summit in person, but unfortunately did not receive the necessary visa. This is her long-awaited opportunity to share the story of the work of she and her husband, Séda, to bring back the practices of the ancient agrarian civilisation of their people, which are now being used as a model to implement similar holistic, organic farming structures and … Continue reading
"In 2011, the tiny mountain nation of Bhutan announced a lofty goal: make the country’s agricultural system 100 percent organic by the year 2020. If it succeeded, it would be the first country in the world to achieve the feat. "Bhutan — nestled in the Himalayas between India and China — only has about 700,000 people living within its borders, and most are farmers. It’s a majority Buddhist kingdom, and its culture reflects several key tenets of that religion — sustainable development, … Continue reading
Crops that have been around for centuries shouldn’t be allowed to disappear. Native Seeds/SEARCH recently hosted 25 Native American farmers for a workshop about the art and science of saving and growing traditional seeds. Read the full story to learn what participants are doing to strengthen seed security in their communities.... Continue reading
"The quick fix mindset behind geoengineering must be transformed to one that seeks a humble partnership with nature if we are to address climate change." Read the full story.... Photograph: Intensive agricultural systems overlook the ecological benefits of regenerative farming. Photographer: blickwinkel/Alamy Continue reading
America's heartland is graying. The average age of a farmer in the U.S. is 58.3 — and that number has been steadily ticking upward for more than 30 years. Overall, fewer young people are choosing a life on the land. But in some places around the country, like Maine, that trend is reversing. Small agriculture may be getting big again — and there's new crop of farmers to thank for it. Continue reading
[quote"Dr. Vandana Shiva"]As 2015 has been declared the Year of Soil, let us recognize that in the seed and the soil we can find answers to every one of the crisis we are facing.[/quote] Watch video
A reminder and awareness raising feature in Truthout about the benefits of establishing a conglomerate of small, bio-diverse, ecological farms around the world and a localised food system that promotes consumption of local/regional produce. An unlikely pairing perhaps, however, Helena Norberg-Hodge was recently interviewed by Russell Brand on this subject: "I try to raise awareness about the need to shift away from globalising to localising." Findhorn friend, Helena Norberg-Hodge, is an analyst … Continue reading