Tag: agriculture

A Plan for Dadaab Refugee Camp – Foundations

The overcrowded Dadaab camp in Kenya is struggling to provide for the continual stream of starving Somali refugees Much has been written on this blog and others about the dire situation currently being faced in the Horn of Africa. The countries in this region are facing their worst drought in 60 years. A famine has …

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Horn of Africa Crisis Worsens

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the Horn of Africa is currently experiencing one of the most severe droughts in history. For countries like Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti, the drought is forcing families to flee to overcrowded refugee camps and leaving hundreds of thousands of children homeless and malnourished. Unfortunately, conditions in …

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The Repercussions of Wasting Food

I love food.  No, I’m passionate about food.  Better yet, I’m obsessed with food.  So when I read or hear about something negative about the food industry, I naturally want to be one of the people that can create change, or at least do a good job of playing my role as a responsible consumer …

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Alternative Forms of Sustainable Farming: Part I

Community Supported Agriculture – Making Friends with Your Food and Local Farmers Ever since I was young, I have been personally invested in the food I eat.  While my grandfather started off by growing a few plant varieties in the backyard, my father has since ambitiously converted most of our yard into a vegetable garden.  …

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King Crops: The Dangers of Monocrops (Part III)

The Demise of Biodiversity I come from a family of amateur farmers. For as long as I can remember, my backyard in New Jersey has been filled with several types of cucumber, tomato, hot peppers, basil and lettuce plants, all courtesy of the tender ministrations of my grandfather and father.  Growing up around such a …

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King Crops: The dangers of monocrops (part II)

2)Biofuels: a Trojan horse? In a previous post I discussed one of the reasons why some crops (such as corn and soybean) have gained so much importance in our agriculture. Our food system and our food quality are set up in a way that inevitably increases the demand of these two crops, and economical and …

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Understanding Your Food: Part II

Debunking Some of the Myths About Organic Food Last week I wrote on the importance of understanding your food, based on knowing where your food comes from, and how to eat organically or locally in a bid to be environmentally friendly and health conscious.  While making the move to organic foods products is a good …

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King crops: The dangers of monocrops (part I)

The food market is a difficult one. Production depends on weather and soil, prices are very volatile (they fluctuate a lot) and products are easily perishable. In spite of these difficulties, a few crops have managed to dominate the agricultural market. They have become the “king crops“ (in reference to the great documentary King Corn), …

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Understanding Your Food: Part I

Understanding Your Environmentally Conscious Eating Options A few years ago, I decided to become vegetarian after reading numerous reports on the production of meat and viewing horrific footage of the fishing industry in Japan, which I mentioned last week.  For a year, I dedicated myself to avoiding meat and seafood.  After a while of living …

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Cloned Meat: Dangerous? Or Delicious?

Ever since the successful cloning of a mammal, Dolly the sheep, cloning has been a hot and controversial topic.  In addition to the moral and ethical issues with cloning, most of the recent focus has been on whether it’s safe to use the offspring of cloned animals as a food source.  Animals like pigs and …

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