Tag: natural resources

Unsustainable Consumerism Part 1 – Extraction

It’s been about a year and a half since I bought a new pair of running shoes, three times the “recommended” usage time frame.  Now there is only slight wear and tear, but what makes me, as a consumer, feel that I am doing something wrong by not buying the latest style or most updated …

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Natural Gas, Not Renewable Resources… At Least Not Yet

Renewable energy, the wave of the future, right? Yes and no. What if I told you that I think we should curb production of renewable resource technology such as wind turbines and solar panels? Most people would think I’m crazy even environmentally irresponsible. However, I have an alternative to the immediate deployment of our current …

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Inversiones peligrosas

Read this post in English Durante los últimos años en los países del sur se está experimentando un aumento de la inversión extranjera directa en tierras agrícolas. Motivados en parte por la crisis alimentaria, los inversores públicos y privados están comprando millones de hectáreas de tierras agrícolas en África, Asia y América Latina. Sin embargo, muchas inversiones …

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Land grabs

During recent years the Global South is experiencing a surge in foreign direct investments in agricultural land. Prompted in part by the food crisis, state and private investors are buying and leasing millions of hectares of farmland in Africa, Asia and Latin America. However, many large-scale land investments do not service the goal of ensuring …

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Granjas verticales

Read this post in English ¿La nueva revolución verde sucederá en las ciudades? Existen dos principales razones para explicar el creciente interés en la agricultura urbana. Una de ellas es la creciente preocupación que muchos individuos sienten sobre los impactos en la salud y en el medio ambiente de la agricultura industrial. La agricultura urbana …

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Vertical farms

Is the next “green revolution” going to happen in cities? There are two main reasons that explain the increased interest in urban agriculture in the recent years. One of them is the increasing concerns about health and environmental impacts of large-scale industrial agriculture. On the other hand, urban agriculture is growing because it is becoming …

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Migración rural en México

Read this post in English Se calcula que en México, alrededor del 50% de la población es urbana. Desde 1940, la población urbana empezó a crecer exponencialmente porque hubo una falta de apoyo a la población rural. En los últimos 50 años, han habido decisiones económicas y políticas que han cambiado la distribución de la …

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Mexico’s Rural Migrations

In Mexico, it is calculated that a little over 50% of the population is urban. Since the 1940’s, the urban population began to grow exponentially because of the lack of economic support for the rural population. In the last 50 years there have been important political and economic decisions that have given people large incentives …

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Lebanon’s agricultural challenges

Facing climate change and modernization Lebanon is a relatively resource rich country. It has no deserts, it has good arable land, it has four seasons and it is the most water-gifted country in the Arab world. But despite such natural attributes, Lebanon is a food import dependent country for 70% of its total food consumption. …

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Sustainable Agriculture (Part II)

Our agricultural and food system have many inefficiencies. Damages to the environment and promotion of an unhealthy food system are both causes and consequences of bad agricultural practices. We’ve previously studied the dangers of the monocrops. They’re apparently threatening our long-term agricultural sustainability (to learn more see posts). A change is needed, but how can …

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