Blog for People, Food and Nature

Editor's Note: The following was originally published on the Worldwatch Institute blog on October 7th, 2015. It is reposted here with permission of the author.   We’re often told that agriculture is a “victim” of climate change and needs to adapt. But farmers, ranchers, and researchers increasingly recognize…

As 2015 comes to its conclusion, the world is engaged in a battle for sustainability, but what political headway is being made in the field? Editor’s Note: Steps Toward Green, recently published by EcoAgriculture Partners and the World Bank, discussed pathways for improving agri-environmental policy in East and S…

Every so often, I read a headline highlighting a study that proposes to prove cities are able to grow significant amounts of food. These studies claim that urban farming can provide for the food needs of an entire city. For you urban dwellers, spend a day or two writing down everything you eat and then look at the lan…

The ancient Egyptians developed the first means for using solar thermal energy by designing their buildings in architecturally appropriate ways. Today, thousands of years later, the conscious use of renewable energy is more important than ever. That’s why the Egyptian SEKEM Initiative has installed a number of sol…

The science is clear—climate change is happening. How are farmers grappling with changes in local climate regimes, vegetative variability and soil quality? Editor's Note: In August we posted the first part of an interview with researcher Rachel Schattman on her graduate work for the University of Vermont Center of…

The new book Steps Toward Green presents research across six countries in East and Southeast Asia to provide guidance to national policy makers in how to make seemingly conflicting land use priorities mutually beneficial. Academics and civil society often refer to the ‘enabling environment’ needed to solve some of…