How do we feed more people?

The answer in the 1960s was the so-called “green revolution” –  a pretty name for industrial agriculture: more chemical fertilizers and pesticides on certain mono-crops  to max out yields.

It worked: developing countries went from growing 800 million tonnes to more than 2.2 billion tonnes between 1961 and 2000.

It also didn’t [...]]]>

How do we feed more people?

The answer in the 1960s was the so-called “green revolution” –  a pretty name for industrial agriculture: more chemical fertilizers and pesticides on certain mono-crops  to max out yields.

It worked: developing countries went from growing 800 million tonnes to more than 2.2 billion tonnes between 1961 and 2000.

It also didn’t work: eco-systems were polluted, fertile soil destroyed, water resources sucked dry and millions of small farmers  driven off the land.

So now we’re close to 7 billion people, looking at estimates of 9 billion in 2050, and the question remains: how do we feed more people?

The answer this time is a greener revolution, an ecological approach to farming that protects and improves the environment while increasing yields.

The concept of Sustainable Crop Production Intensification is explained in Save and Grow: A Policymaker’s Guide to the Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Crop Production. available from the Food and Agriculture Organization in a beautifully-designed booklet for $45. That’s pricey for anyone outside an agency, but you can get a grasp of the notion from the website.

A few random factlets from the booklet:

• The total number of undernourished people in 2010 was 925 million, higher than it was 40 years ago.
• 80 percent of the food in developing countries is provided by low-income smallholder farmers.
• Agricultural production must increase by 70 percent globally to feed the world in 2050 (this doesn’t account for biofuels to feed their machines).
• Farm practices that conserve resources and protect the environment in 57 low-income countries studied led to average crop yield increases of 79 percent.
• The nitrogen-uptake efficiency in China is just 26-28 percent for rice, wheat and maize, and about 20 percent for vegetables, the rest being lost to the environment.
• Worldwide sales of pesticides were expected to exceed $40 billion in 2010, while crop losses to pests are estimated at 30-40 percent, similar to those of 50 years ago.
• Worldwide “perverse” subsidies encouraging the use of natural resources in ways which harm the environment are an estimated  US$500 billion – $1.5 trillion a year.

This NYT story may be a quirky diversion about a few people foraging for edible plants in  parks…or a harbinger of what could become general as we head into an uncertain food future.

It reminds me of the Tragedy of the Commons, the often-quoted essay by Garret Hardin about what happens when some people exploit the [...]]]>

This NYT story may be a quirky diversion about a few people foraging for edible plants in  parks…or a harbinger of what could become general as we head into an uncertain food future.

It reminds me of the Tragedy of the Commons, the often-quoted essay by Garret Hardin about what happens when some people exploit the common good for personal profit, ruining the common space for the rest. Often-misquoted may be a better way to put it, at least by people who use it to denigrate our inherent affinity for cooperation. (Hardin himself later said it should have been called The Tragedy of the Unregulated Commons.)

But what to do, for now, about the tasty stuff growing in parks? This example from the article might demonstrate how early we are in working this stuff out:

Some natural areas outside New York City accommodate foragers. Sandy Hook in New Jersey, which is part of the federal Gateway National Recreation Area, limits the harvesting of beach plum fruit, berries and mushrooms to “one quart container per person, per day,” said John Harlan Warren, a spokesman for the recreation area.

It’s also delicious, and packed with nutrients. No wonder it’s getting the star treatment from good food fans around the world. Trouble is, folks back home in Bolivia are now finding it too expensive to [...]]]> Quinoa is not a grain after all, I learned from reading this NY Times piece. It’s a chenopod. Now you know.

It’s also delicious, and packed with nutrients. No wonder it’s getting the star treatment from good food fans around the world. Trouble is, folks back home in Bolivia are now finding it too expensive to buy.

In Salinas de Garcí Mendoza and elsewhere, part of this change is due to climbing quinoa prices and more quinoa being destined for export.

“I adore quinoa, but I can’t afford it anymore,” said Micaela Huanca, 50, a street vendor in El Alto, a city of slums above the capital, La Paz. “I look at it in the markets and walk away.”

Not all Bolivians are upset. Those growing for export now have more money. Which they can spend on what the youth want more of anyway: noodles, white bread and sugar-water.

Quinoa’s Global Success Creates Quandary in Bolivia – NYTimes.com.

This is from Al Jazeera English. Remember when CNN rode its live coverage of the U.S. military campaign Desert Storm to become a world leader in journalism? That’s where Al Jazeera English is at right now. If you [...]]]> More voices are making the connection between the failure of the global agribusiness-run food system and global unrest.

This is from Al Jazeera English. Remember when CNN rode its live coverage of the U.S. military campaign Desert Storm to become a world leader in journalism? That’s where Al Jazeera English is at right now. If you haven’t been watching their live feeds from Cairo, you’re either missing the full story or getting it hours later from mainstream outlets including the big tv networks. I’ve been continually impressed by how professional, immediate and deep their coverage has been in very difficult circumstances (banned by the government one day, beaten by government thugs the next)

.

Rising food prices have been cited among the driving forces behind the recent popular revolts in north Africa, including the uprising in Egypt and the toppling of Tunisia’s long-time president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

via Global food prices hit record high – News – Al Jazeera English.

Three years ago it was a puzzle when the food price crisis starved millions. It was a time of record harvests; the world never had so much food. Turns out speculators — the same banks, hedge funds and capitalist investors who brought you to the brink of global financial wipeout — [...]]]>

Urban farmer in Cuba

Three years ago it was a puzzle when the food price crisis starved millions. It was a time of record harvests; the world never had so much food. Turns out speculators — the same banks, hedge funds and capitalist investors who brought you to the brink of global financial wipeout — were doing the same with crops, driving up prices to make a bigger profit. Turns out they’re still doing it, and more are going to die.

From the Guardian story: Food speculation: ‘People die from hunger while banks make a killing on food’

What does it mean to people in developed countries? Everything, including chocolate:

But the speculation is not just in staple foods. Last year, London hedge fund Armajaro bought 240,000 tonnes, or more than 7%, of the world’s stocks of cocoa beans, helping to drive chocolate to its highest price in 33 years.

That’s the question being asked near Nanaimo and throughout British Columbia as a 2.5 acre organic farm has been given 90 days to shut down because…it’s a farm, when it’s supposed a yard. The area is zoned residential. But what do the words “farm” and “yard” really mean as we [...]]]>
Is it a yard or farm?

That’s the question being asked near Nanaimo and throughout British Columbia as a 2.5 acre organic farm has been given 90 days to shut down because…it’s a farm, when it’s supposed a yard. The area is zoned residential. But what do the words “farm” and “yard” really mean as we stride into a precarious food future?

A letter from farmer Dirk Becker:

Farmers Dear friends and supporters:

We have recently been instructed by the RDN, at the request of the District of Lantzville, to cease “all agricultural activity” on our 2.5 acre farm due to us being “residentially zoned”. This followed a letter in September telling us to “remove the piles of soil from the property” (which we worked out with the Bylaw Enforcement Officer and agreed to and moved the one pile in question within 48hrs).

Our goal is to have the bylaw updated to reflect the current awareness and future needs of our communities. Yes, we could apply for rezoning, however this would only help “us” not the many people who are urban farming or SPIN farming.

We are writing to you because this issue impacts all of us on Vancouver Island. Many of you are aware that only 5% of our food supply is grown on Vancouver Island, thus 95% is imported. It may shock you to know that there is only 2 days fresh food supply on Vancouver Island. That means, that any disruption in ferry service, trucking or problems at the US border (75% of BC’s food comes from California) would have a dramatic and immediate effect on our food supply.

To us, “urban farming” is much more than a growing “trend” throughout North America. It is the way of the future; and the future is now.

Each year:
- land prices increase, preventing new farmers – especially younger ones – from acquiring land.
- remaining farmable land (even including the Agricultural Land Reserve) is forever swallowed up by development, further reducing our ability to sustain ourselves and increasing our already extreme dependence on imported food.

In light of this, we strongly believe it is our responsibility as individuals and as a community to stop and reverse this trend of complete UNsustainability and at least work towards a model of self-reliance.

Our intention:
That together, we see this as an opportunity to “change the system”. Please understand that we do not want the focus to be “us”. When you read the attached letter we received from the RDN, keep in mind what they are saying means: ALL “urban farming” and SPIN farming is illegal! (Small Plot InteNsive – where young farmers use people’s city backyards to grow food for sale). This includes: honey, vegetables, meat, eggs, plants, flowers, fruit, nuts – you name it! Of course, this affects Urban and SPIN farmers at the Bowen Road Farmers’ Market as well as other farmers’ markets in Canada where municipal bylaws have not been updated to reflect support for sustainable, local food production.

We are asking:
That you contact the individuals whose information we have provided below beginning with Lantzville Council members (and anyone else you feel compelled to). We suggest that you approach this issue in the more general terms of local food and sustainability rather than what “the authorities” are doing – focussing it on our specific case merely limits the potential for us to work towards meaningful change in broader terms.

Please share whatever is important to you about this issue (links are posted below). In your letter, make sure you ask questions, especially if you want a response. If your children would like to write, that would be great.

It is likely that Lantzville council and the RDN will respond by telling you that we can apply for rezoning (which may or may not pass). This certainly does not help the SPIN farmers in downtown Nanaimo! Again, our goal is to have the existing bylaw changed for the benefit of our entire community
(much like what Victoria and other cities have done – http://postcarboncities.net/node/3686 )

Here is a brief background of our property, which lends some context to our current activities (before and after photos attached):

The previous owner, Billy Binns, used an excavator and dump truck to mine and scrape the land bare. He had a soil screener set up on the property, selling the soil, then sand, then gravel, which resulted in lowering the level of this property by about four feet. When we assumed ownership of this property, all that remained was gravel. There were no worms, no grasshoppers, no birds, no butterflies; essentially – no living creatures!

Since 1999, we have made a tremendous effort to heal the land, beginning slowly – one wheelbarrow at a time. It has been a gradual, organic process – from planting a few fruit trees and having a small growing area, to expanding with more hand-made soil using wood chips from local tree companies and a small amount of horse manure from local, Lantzville stables. Now we have 4 kinds of bees, several types of dragonflies, numerous types of butterflies, frogs, toads, snakes, and hundreds of birds and much more! We have dedicated our time to supporting hundreds of community members who have sought guidance on how to become more sustainable in their own lives; from educating people on how to support sustainable local initiatives, to teaching families how to grow their own food. Three years ago, we also started Nanaimo’s most successful farmers’ market, The Bowen Road Farmers’ Market at Beban Park.

Healthy, fresh food is the cornerstone of healthy families and communities. As time goes on, the importance of this issue will continue to grow. We hope that you feel the same way and we thank you in advance for your support.

Yours in service,
Dirk Becker and Nicole Shaw

PS: Please, if you would, “cc” us in your communication with authorities so we can keep track of the progress.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Topics and links related to these matters:

- Food security: The average meal has traveled 1,500 to 3,000 kms to get to our dinner tables, a model which is only affordable so long as the oil industry experiences no upset, whether resource, market, or technology-based.
- urban agriculture, http://postcarboncities.net/node/3686 ,
http://victoriavision.blogspot.com/2007/08/urban-farming-and-food-security.html ,

http://www.cityfarmer.info/category/urban-farm/

- transition towns, http://transitioncowichan.org/
- emergency preparedness
- ongoing increases in population
- sustainability

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Contact info:

District of Lantzville Councilor’s phone numbers and email addresses:

http://www.lantzville.ca/cms.asp?wpID=465

Mayor Colin Haime said this email should also be used: council@lantzville.ca

Regional District of Nanaimo Board of Directors phone numbers, mailing and email addresses:

http://www.rdn.bc.ca/cms.asp?wpID=1886

Brian Brack, RDN Bylaw Enforcement Officer and
Lantzville Emergency Program Coordinator Alternate
250-390-250-390-6530
Email: bbrack@rdn.bc.ca

Twyla Graff, Chief Administrative Officer, District of Lantzville
Telephone: 250-390-4006, ext.116
Email: twyla@lantzville.ca

Chris Midgley, Manager of Energy and Sustainability
Regional District of Nanaimo
250 390 6568
email: cmidgley@rdn.bc.ca

The VanGoGreen site has posted an author interview with me for the urban agriculture series I did on a Tyee fellowship. Questions are from Robert Oimet, the ace sound/vid man who put together CBC3.

Check out the VanGoGreen site here.

Even if you aren’t interested in our food future, or are too stretched to get through the [...]]]>

The VanGoGreen site has posted an author interview with me for the urban agriculture series I did on a Tyee fellowship. Questions are from Robert Oimet, the ace sound/vid man who put together CBC3.

Check out the VanGoGreen site here.

Even if you aren’t interested in our food future, or are too stretched to get through the entire 11:08 chat, check out the first 15 seconds. The jaunty intro music is worth a listen. I want a band like that to follow me everywhere.