At the southern tip of the Himalayas, farmers in the Kangra region of India’s Himachal Pradesh graze cattle among rolling hills and forests. The forests, under management by the state or farmer cooperatives, are thriving. But a new University of Illinois study shows, unlike state-managed forests, farmer cooperatives directly benefit both forest health and farmers.
The first time Mukulo Orgo cut open a tomato, he expected a mango-like fruit. Did it come from a factory, he wondered?
“People said first you wash it, and you cut with a knife and you prepare it with onion and you cook it, using oil,” said the 40-year-old.
But the first time he butchered a cow, well, he knew perfectly well what to expect.
On a mission to find the UK and Ireland’s future stars of food and drink, The Seed Fund has opened for entry, offering 12 places on its summer Academy run in partnership with Great Taste, the food awards.
In partnership with our friends at Dynamic Vines, we have a fantastic prize to offer to anyone who signs up to our Newsletter by midnight on 31st March 2019.
The prize is 12-bottle case of specially selected organic and/or biodynamic wines, valued at £220.
A traditional saffron cultivation system in Iran, an argan-based agro-pastoral system in Morocco, and an ancient olive trees system in Spain have been recognised by the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS).
All the sites feature unique ways to produce nutritious foods and/or spices using traditional knowledge and skills while improving local people’s livelihoods and preserving biodiversity.
Hidden away in the ancient Sherwood Forest on The Welbeck Estate, the ancestral seat of the Dukes of Portland, is the rather unique School of Artisan Food. The Estate has a fascinating history, but it is its reinvention through The Welbeck Project, of which the School is a part, which will see it prosper and thrive for future generations.
It was after nightfall when the folded sheet of paper was slipped under the door of the Mission to Seafarers building in South Africa’s Cape Town harbour.
“We are fishermen workers of the ship Fuh Sheng 11,” stated the letter written by the mostly Indonesian crew. “We have a problem in our ship.”
The letter helped to trigger an investigation which saw the Taiwanese trawler held in port in May. Over the following weeks, the crew showed photographs and video of squalid conditions on board – which they described as “hell”.
On a crisp morning in central London, a large vending machine has caught the attention of shoppers and commuters. Behind the glass sits a bruised and weary slave ready to dispense fresh tomatoes, lemons, avocados and eggs at the touch of a button.
The confrontational campaign, which used actors and a custom-built vending machine, highlights the plight of the estimated 136,000 people in Britain currently trapped in slavery.
In Louisiana, coastal cities have joined an oyster-shell recycling program aiming to help save the state’s shrinking shoreline
Decimated by civil war, South Sudan’s met office is barely running, with inadequate funding, outdated equipment and untrained staff, experts say
Like many young rural Ugandans, Christine Kyakunda needs more land. She and her husband farm 1.5 acres – some inherited, some bought, some borrowed from her widowed mother-in-law – but it is not enough to provide for her family.
Avocados, the soft, green superfood may be falling out of favour with some restaurants in Britain as they move to ban the trendy food from their menus, amid environmental and land concerns. Smashed on toast or artfully decorating plates, the fruit has gained popularity in Britain, becoming synonymous with hipster hangouts and millennials.
Now, some cafes in Britain are ditching avocados on ethical grounds, claiming that the water-intensive fruit is harming farmers and land in regions such as South America where is it grown.
The Apricot Centre CIC at Huxhams Cross Farm in Dartington, Devon has launched a centre, also called the Apricot Centre, to support the rural economy.
The new Centre offers seasonal fruit and vegetables, eggs, flour and wheat grain in addition to farm produce processing, vocational training in sustainable farming, as well as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for children and young people.
Any ‘planetary diet’ must also work for the poorest and most vulnerable
Over the past two years, 37 experts from around the world have battled to develop a diet that is both sustainable and healthy. They integrated existing knowledge on the impact of diet on diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, with the impact of current food production systems on the environment.