Turkey farmers growing greenhouse tomatoes have been using this technology since 2005. California is going to get it before the end of this year.

LA-based ClimateMinder now completely owns the Turkish company Kodalfa and it is eager to bring some of its technology to the US. This company’s “new” climate-monitoring and control system helps greenhouse farmers to monitor their crops and adjust the conditions of their greenhouses with wireless technology. This helps farmers and consumers in numerous and significant ways.

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Farmers illegally using poison to kill suspected livestock predators are causing Namibia’s vulnerable vulture populations to decline.

As a consequence of farmers continuing to illegally use poison for livestock management, several lappet-faced vultures (Torgos tracheliotos) recently died from consuming the carcass of a poisoned jackal.

Tragically, this news comes shortly after the Vultures Namibia’s fundraiser gala raised N$8 000 for lappet-faced vulture conservation in Namib Naukluft Park. Lappet-faced vultures are classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They are Africa’s largest vulture species - with a wingspan of up to 2.8 meters.

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I took this photo in the meat section of my neighborhood grocery store earlier this week.

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City Supports Baboon Monitoring and Wants to Develop a Plan

In the first news story since the recent post on the Cape Peninsular baboons, the Cape Town City Council has set aside a quarter of a million dollars to continue the funding of the baboon monitoring programme on the Peninsula.
This was good news for many as there has been uncertainty, as to whether the city council would continue to fund a ten-year-old baboon monitor programme. The programme has minders keeping watch over baboon troops and where possible keeping them away from the urban areas. Sensibly the city has also decided that the quarter of a million dollars is only an interim solution and will also be working with South African National Parks (Sanparks) and Cape Nature Conservation to address the problem. The city will host a baboon expert workshop at the Civic Centre on July 2, with the aim of finding “the most effective strategy for baboon management in the Cape Peninsula” and determining how best to implement it.

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Due to its many benefits, bamboo has been touted as an environmental miracle crop. It’s a significant carbon sink, it grows fast, is more termite-resistant than timber, and can be used for everything from food to clothing material to scaffolding for building construction.

But are environmentalists being bamboozled? Despite its benefits, increased bamboo production could raise a lot of concerns too.

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Cocoa Camino is a line of premium Fair Trade Certified and certified organic chocolate, cocoa and sugar products produced by the Canadian La Siembra Co-operative.  These products include chocolate bars, sugar, hot chocolate, cocoa, chocolate chips, syrup and couverture.  They’re sold in natural health food stores, pharmacies and grocery stores.

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When it comes to organic dairy, make friends at the supermarket. A short conversation will leave you in the know regarding markdowns. I learned that our market slashes prices when dairy is five days prior to its sell by date. I also learned that these markdowns occur around 2pm daily. Now I hit the store in the late afternoon and check for future dates while I’m there so I know in advance when the new markdowns will arrive. Also, watch in store nutrition magazines and circular for coupons. I just found a $2.00 off 2 organic dairy items, when combined with our store markdowns, I can get two gallons of milk for $1.79 each!

(Image from Angela Vetu at Dreamstime under RF-LL)

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A team of researchers at Baylor University, Texas, have figured out a way to make car parts from coconuts, opening the door to the replacement of environmentally damaging plastic with an abundant, renewable resource.

The team have also created biodiesel from coconut oil, and are confident the new fuel could be an economically viable substitute for gasoline, as well as a vital source of income for more than ten million coconut farmers worldwide struggling on tiny annual incomes, typically as little as $500.

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In general it is thought that rural America feels more closely aligned with the Republican Party’s conservative social views.  However, right now it’s the Democrats who support the ethanol and subsidy policies that help so many farmers in the middle of the country to stay afloat.

Corn growers from across the nation are heading to the polls next week, and many are still feeling confused.

John Wallbrown owns a 2,800-acre farm in Portage County, Ohio.  He said that he has heard from peers who are upset with the Republican Party, and though he still plans to cast his ballot for McCain, he told the Beacon Journal in Ohio that:  ”McCain will probably lose some votes this year.”

Historically McCain and Obama have not agreed on the issue of farm subsidies.  Subsidies offer a financial safety net for farmers across the nation, whose livelihoods are very tied to the whims of nature.  McCain has been opposed to them, while Obama has offered support.

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To start with, researchers at Iowa State University have found that, even though $1.3 billion was given to the corn ethanol farming industry in the form of subsidies in 2007, the government saved $3.45 billion on what are called loan deficiency payments as a direct result of these ethanol subsidies.

Loan deficiency payments were established in 1985 as a way to ensure farmers’ incomes remained steady even when prices for commodities such as corn were abnormally low. Since 1998 the loan deficiency payment program has cost taxpayers more than $29 billion.

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This is a guest submission from John Addison, Publisher of the Clean Fleet Report and an environmental writer.

The warm summer breeze carried the aromas of ripe berries, almonds, fresh honey, heirloom tomatoes, and exotic mushrooms. I was like the cartoon character lifted by mouthwatering fragrances and carried to the source in a hungry trance. I was soon in the middle of a farmers market, a tradition as old as civilization. The food was local, seasonal, often organic, and at peak freshness.

Thousands sampled and bought 35,000 packages of local goodies. Neophytes learned about the collage of heirlooms displayed in front of their eyes. Regulars traded hellos and stories and recipes with the farmers who brought their food. Free water stations, generously located everywhere, reduced an estimated 100,000 water bottles from being sold and discarded.

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And now they want your input on what those sustainable practices and standards should be — they’ve released the first draft of their “Principles and Baseline Practices for Sustainability” (PDF) to the public under a 45-day comment and review period.

So, if you’ve ever questioned the wisdom of growing our own fuel, or you’ve wondered how biofuels can be considered sustainable at all given other seemingly cleaner options like solar, wind and geothermal, now’s your time to speak up.

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High Yield Per Acre

Soybeans generate a measly 60 gallons of biodiesel annually from an acre of land and has an energy balance of 2.5. Corn generates about 300-400 gallons of ethanol per acre and has an energy balance of 1.3. Sugar cane can generate 600-800 gallons of ethanol per acre annually and has an energy balance of 8. Sugar cane unfortunately is very labor intensive to cultivate and could contribute to deforestation.

Agave however can yield an impressive 2,000 gallons of distilled ethanol per acre each year annually. Cellulosic ethanol from agave has 6 to 9 times the yield per acre. This would significantly reduce the quantity of land needed to produce the same quantity of transportations fuels.

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But first, a digression.

Part 1: When an egg was just an egg

I remember a time when an egg was just an egg. Nobody argued about that. It was a blissful time. Yet, for all its strengths, it was a fragile time held together by unsupported conclusions and limited knowledge.

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Saw an article in the New York Times that got my attention this morning - Cutting Out the Middlemen, Shoppers Buy Slices of Farms by Susan Saulny - that inspired me to do a little shout out in support of CSA(Community Supported Agriculture). Of course, the concept isn’t so new to many of us who have been at this sustainable lifestyle thing for a while, but I realize there are a lot of folks just learning about some of this - yeah!

Over 20 years ago (when I was about 12 - not really, but I hate to seem so old!), I lived in the Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts, which was an enclave of progressive, sustainability folks. I became president of one of the largest most comprehensive store-front food coops in New England, Berkshire Co-Op Market. We were plugged into some great local organic farmers and I was fortunate to be part of one of the early CSA groups.

It felt great to support our local organic farmers, who at that time, were struggling - there were no supermarket chains buying organic produce back then!

Find out more about CSAs and how you can find one near you!

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i-merino is about three years old, but a recent discovery to many. It may be the most sustainable performance activewear fabric on the planet. i-merino is the brainchild of a fourth-generation merino wool grower and first-generation snow boarder, Australian cofounder Stuart Adams. As a devotee of numerous sport and physical activities, Stuart experienced first hand the superior performance characteristics and comfort of merino wool. Merino is a renewable resource where a new fleece grows on the sheep’s back every year. The wool is obtained without harm to the animal. From farm to fabric, the process is fully tracked and certified, so you are guaranteed the wool passes stringent environmental, social and quality controls.

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A worrying alarm arrives now from the Italian Farmers Association (CIA): mass amounts of food is sitting and rotting in their fields because sale prices don’t cover all of the costs of production. The result is a 1.5 million of tons wasted every year and 4 billion of Euro frittered away. All this with rising costs for Italian consumers and farmers.

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One theory that has been widely discussed in recent weeks is that the nation’s growing demand for biofuels and the crops needed to produce them is the real culprit behind higher food prices, both at home and abroad. Yet the evidence that we have seen. . .does not support this.

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]]> http://gas2.org/2008/05/22/usda-says-ethanol-accounts-for-only-3-of-increased-cost-of-food/feed/ http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/03/25/growing-new-roots/ http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/03/25/growing-new-roots/#comments Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:48:26 +0000 Beth Bader http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/03/25/growing-new-roots/ I was not born in the country. When I arrived, I had already been uprooted seven times before. I was on my fifth family dynamic and sixth school. I was ten years old.

My father had always wanted a farm, and he and my step mom decided that life in a smaller community would be just the place for a child to grow up. And so I was transplanted.

Growing up on a farm gave me a safe place to roam the woods with several pets in tow. It gave me a small classroom, too small for me to remain the quiet “smart kid” in the corner. It gave me peace, and a sense of place — a feeling of belonging that seems to take its deepest hold in those who grow up in the country. You can wander across the world, and I have, but it never leaves, this sense of place. My roots.

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]]> http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/03/25/growing-new-roots/feed/ http://gas2.org/2007/12/18/b100-biodiesel-approved-by-agricultural-giant/ http://gas2.org/2007/12/18/b100-biodiesel-approved-by-agricultural-giant/#comments Tue, 18 Dec 2007 17:18:32 +0000 Clayton B. Cornell http://gas2.org/2007/12/18/b100-biodiesel-approved-by-agricultural-giant/ If biodiesel suits any demographic best, it’s farmers. Biodiesel was designed as an emergency fuel, intended to keep farm equipment humming when military conflict cut off oil supplies. That being said, it’s taken a while for major engine manufacturers to endorse biodiesel blends higher than 20%. This month Case IH, a global leader in heavy-duty agricultural equipment, has broadened its support of biodiesel to include B100:

Farmers now can use B100 on nearly all Case IH medium- to high-horsepower tractors, combines, windrowers, and most self-propelled sprayers and cotton pickers — so long as proper protocols are followed for engine operation and maintenance.

“With record prices for crude oil, Case IH committed to exploring better ways to use environmentally-friendly biofuels made from renewable raw materials. We have conducted rigorous laboratory and in-field tests to evaluate how our engines perform with various biodiesel blends,” says Don Rieser, Case IH director of tractor product management. “As always, our ultimate goal is greater productivity for our customers. That’s why we also are committed to educating our dealers and customers on how to get the best results with biodiesel fuels — especially when using higher-level blends.”

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