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Suckled on Lies
Consumerism, Education, Society — by George Monbiot April 26, 2013
The case for banning advertisements aimed at children is overwhelming.
How many people believe this makes the world a better place? A company called TenNine has hung advertising hoardings in the corridors and common rooms of 750 British schools(1). Among its clients are Nike, Adidas, Orange, Tesco and Unilever(2). It boasts that its “high impact platform delivers right to the heart of the 11-18 year old market.”(3)
Other firms are closing in. Boomerang Media, which represents Sega, Atari, Virgin, Umbro and others, has persuaded schools to distribute Revlon perfume samples to their pupils(4). This campaign, it says, “was effectively linked into their PSHE and PE classes”. PSHE means personal, social, health and economic education, or “learning to live life well”(5). How the disbursement of perfume by teachers helps children to keep fit and live well is a mystery I will leave you to ponder.
Comments (1)“Urban Permaculture: The Micro Space” Trailer
Demonstration Sites, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Land, Medicinal Plants, Plant Systems, Trees, Urban Projects — by Geoff Lawton
The trailer for my next video is up:
"Urban Permaculture: The Micro Space" trailer
Register your email here and we’ll let you know when
the full movie is ready to watch
Many of you have been asking what Permaculture can do for you in the small Urban space.
Well, one of my students, Angelo, has transformed his tiny Melbourne backyard into an amazing productive garden and documented every detail over the last 4 years. You’ll find out how much food you could grow in the micro space when you apply Permaculture design creatively.
You will be amazed.
Comments (2)Bamboo Wattle and Daub Structures
Building — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor
Photos © Craig Mackintosh
The main buildings at the PRI’s Zaytuna Farm remind me a little of those cute homes I saw in tales in children’s books as a kid. You know — the edible type, made of sugar, etc. The natural colour, texture and shape all lend themselves to this nostalgia. But, despite appearances, most of these structures are actually made of straw bale (with a daub and lime render over top), so even though they look great, I wouldn’t encourage you to try to eat them.
Comments (1)Tackling “Monoculture of the Mind”
Biodiversity, GMOs, Health & Disease — by Vandana Shiva April 25, 2013
Billionaires forgo iron-rich crops in push for GM bananas in India
Nature has given us a cornucopia of biodiversity rich in nutrients. Malnutrition and nutrient deficiency result from destroying biodiversity. The Green Revolution has spread monocultures of chemical rice and wheat, driving out biodiversity from our farms and diets. And what survived as spontaneous crops — like amaranth greens (chaulai) and chenopodium (bathua) that are rich in iron — were sprayed with poisons and herbicides. Instead of cherishing them as iron- and vitamin-rich gifts, these vegetables were treated as “weeds”.
The “monoculture of the mind” treats diversity as disease and creates coercive structures to remodel this biologically and culturally diverse world of ours on the concepts of one privileged class, one race and one gender of a single species. As “the monoculture of the mind” took over, biodiversity disappeared from our farms and food. It’s the destruction of biodiverse rich cultivation and diets that has led us to the malnutrition crisis.
Comments (1)PDC With FWS in Tanzania, June 2013
Courses/Workshops — by Robert Cork
Click for larger view (2mb PDF)
Following the success of our 2012 PDC, FoodWaterShelter is pleased to offer you the chance to join USA based instructor Steve Whitman and a team of local teachers in Arusha, Tanzania from June 17th to 28th 2013 for two weeks of intensive learning and an incredible networking opportunity. Click here to find out more and to register.
Comments (0)A Visit to Rak Tamachat Farm (Thailand)
Commercial Farm Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres — by Ted Swagerty
The Rak Tamachat farm was a great introduction to motivated, intelligent permaculturists, and the beginnings of a robust permaculture farm in the works.
Jake (Australia) and Mark (Texas) gave me a grand tour of the farm. The first thing we saw was the grey water system, here the tap water used for cooking and washing dishes is funneled through a bucket filter that is piped to irrigate an herb garden nearby.
Comments (1)PDC in Austria: May 9-20, 2013
Courses/Workshops — by Fraser Bliss April 24, 2013
Bliss Permaculture is happy to announce that it will be giving a Permaculture Design Course in the beautiful rolling foothills of the Austrian Alps in May 2013.
Comments (0)The Self-Hating State
Alternatives to Political Systems, Economics, Society — by George Monbiot
Devolving policy to “the market” doesn’t solve the problem of power. It makes it worse.
In other ages, states sought to seize as much power as they could. Today, the self-hating state renounces its powers. Governments anathematise governance. They declare their role redundant and illegitimate. They launch furious assaults upon their own branches, seeking wherever possible to lop them off.
This self-mutilation is a response to the fact that power has shifted. States now operate at the behest of others. Deregulation, privatisation, the shrinking of the scope, scale and spending of the state: these are now seen as the only legitimate policies. The corporations and billionaires to whom governments defer will have it no other way.
Comments (4)Forests Keep Drylands Working (John D. Liu video)
Biodiversity, Deforestation, Desertification, Food Shortages, Global Warming/Climate Change, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Trees — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor April 23, 2013
John D. Liu of the EEMP, who has partnered with us in spreading the permaculture message, has created yet another excellent documentary — this time focussing on drylands, their past function and their present dysfunction through a broadscale loss of forest cover, and its impact on soil loss and on the hydrological cycle.
In this video we travel vicariously with John as he takes us from Jordan to Africa to Asia and the Americas, showing us both degradation and restoration — and sharing the inspirational message we all need to hear: that we can undo the damage we’ve inflicted on planet earth, our home.
Comments (3)“Stunning” Difference of GM from non-GM Corn
GMOs, Health & Disease — by I-SIS April 22, 2013
A comparison of US Midwest non-GM with GM corn shows shockingly high levels of glyphosate as well as formaldehyde, and severely depleted of mineral nutrients in the GM corn.
The results of a comparison
of GM and non-GM corn from adjacent Midwest fields in the US that first
appeared on the Moms Across America March website [1] are reproduced in Table
1.
Table 1 Comparison between GM and non-GM corn grown side by side*
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| Parts per million (ppm) | ||
| Ingredient | GM corn | Non-GM corn |
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| Glyphosate | 13 | 0 |
| Formaldehyde | 200 | 0 |
| Nitrogen | 7 | 46 |
| Phosphorus | 3 | 44 |
| Potassium | 7 | 113 |
| Calcium | 14 | 6 130 |
| Magnesium | 2 | 113 |
| Sulphur | 3 | 42 |
| Manganese | 2 | 14 |
| Iron | 2 | 14 |
| Zinc | 2.3 | 14.3 |
| Copper | 2.6 | 16 |
| Molybdenum | 0.2 | 1.5 |
| Boron | 0.2 | 1.5 |
| Selenium | 0.6 | 0.3 |
| Cobalt | 0.2 | 1.5 |
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Geoff Lawton’s Permaculture Masterclass – 5 Acre Abundance on a Budget!
Dams, Food Forests, Land, Swales — by Geoff Lawton
Geoff Lawton, with Zaytuna Farm behind (upper left)
Photo © Craig Mackintosh
I’ve been staggered by the reaction to my latest video I put up on the weekend. Over 500 comments, with most people telling me it’s my best video yet.
If you haven’t seen it, check it out. We hit the design wall on a 5 acre cow paddock and redesigned it with 7 dams and a huge food forest system for under $20 thousand.
Most people couldn’t believe what can be done on the small scale.
Comments (11)International Permaculture Day 2013 is on its Way!
Community Projects — by International Permaculture Day
Get ready for International Permaculture Day on Sunday 5th May – join a global day of celebration.
This year’s theme is Grow Local! to highlight the value of permaculture design for building local resilience. Grow Local! can refer to food, energy, shelter, fibre, community, economy and so on; please share how you’re ‘growing local’ with us!
Organise a Permaculture Day Event
Comments (0)Letters from New Zealand – a Permaculture Food Forest in the Far South
Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Plant Systems, Seeds, Trees, Urban Projects — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor April 21, 2013
The home of Robert and Robyn Guyton stands amidst an abundance of food
All photos © Craig Mackintosh
Robyn Guyton stands in the Zone 5 area of her food forest
Riverton is a quaint little windswept fishing settlement on the far-south coastline of New Zealand’s beautiful South Island (map). As well as being one of the southernmost inhabited towns in the world, and one of New Zealand’s oldest European settlements, Riverton has another, more relevant, claim to fame — that of hosting one of the best food forests I’ve ever seen! With this post, and the video included, I want to give you a bit of a look at this temperate climate, biological cornucopia.
Comments (11)Free Permaculture Videos: “5 Acre Abundance on a Budget” is LIVE!
General, Land — by Geoff Lawton
Geoff here again.
When the USA Army Core of Engineers wanted to re-design the 15,000 acre Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant into an eco-industrial park, they asked me to help.
When AECOM, a fortune 500 Civil Engineering company that turns over 8 Billion a year, wanted to do a sustainable design for the 18 Billion Dollar Masdar City in Dubai, they again called on me to consult for them.
Permaculture design principles work on large scale projects, large rural farms, small rural acreage, urban areas and even city balconies.
Many of you have been asking us to show you what you can do on a smaller rural property. So we’ve held off launching the next video on urban permaculture until next week and have put together a special new video on what can be done in a smaller rural property.
Comments (2)Just Label It! Tell Congress to Support the New Federal GMO Labeling Bill – We Have a Right to Know
GMOs, Health & Disease — by Jeffrey M. Smith April 18, 2013
In the U.S., we pride ourselves on having choices and making informed decisions. Under current FDA policy, we don’t have that choice when it comes to genetically engineered (GE) ingredients in the foods we purchase and feed our families. But thanks to your tireless support, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) will introduce new Federal legislation next week that would require the labeling of all genetically engineered (GE) foods; the first labeling bill to be introduced in the Senate in over a decade!
Tell your Senators and Representative to Co-Sponsor the GE food labeling bill!
Comments (4)
