In Michael Pollan’s New York Times essay, The Food Issue – An Open Letter to the Next Farmer in Chief , he says, “[W]hen we eat from the industrial-food system, we are eating oil and spewing greenhouse gases.” It would seem to be a no-brainer that local produce needs less fuel to get to marketContinue reading “The Food-Miles Dilemma”
Tag Archives: Matt Ridley
Will Living Simply Help Save the World?
Last month, famed primatologist Jane Goodall was quoted on the Huffington Post as saying, “The world is in a horrible mess … We need to starting changing (sic) the way we live, from the clothes we buy to the food we eat. We need to change our greed and materialism. We need a critical massContinue reading “Will Living Simply Help Save the World?”
Fried Green Sustainability
In the movie, Fried Green Tomatoes, Cathy Bates waits for a parking space only to have it taken by two female twenty-somethings who blow her off with, “Face it lady, we’re younger and faster.” She rams her tank of a car into their tinier VW convertible. Bates’ parting shot is, “Face it, girls. I’mContinue reading “Fried Green Sustainability”
Deep Optimism About Today and Tomorrow
Matt Ridley spoke in March 2011 at the Long Now FoundMatt Ridley spoke in March 2011 at the Long Now Foundation. Dr Ridley was the science editor for the Economist and has written several books. The latest is The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves.. Ridley makes compelling arguments that for me made sense, and forContinue reading “Deep Optimism About Today and Tomorrow”
Biofuel: Exacerbating the Food Crisis
The percentage of deaths related to malnutrition have declined over the past 40 years. In 1970, approximately 33% of the developing world was malnourished. In 2010, approximately 20% of the developing world is poorly nourished. If we were to put our concern toward micro and macro nutrition and less emphasis on greenhouse gas output, theContinue reading “Biofuel: Exacerbating the Food Crisis”
As we gallop toward 7 billion people, what can yeast teach us about population?
Love in the key of fermentation This was written during February, the month with Valentine’s Day, which leads our thoughts to yeasts. Okay well, love. But love can lead to sex, and that leads to reproduction. Yeasts may not know about love, but they do know reproduction. So do we humans: our population here onContinue reading “As we gallop toward 7 billion people, what can yeast teach us about population?”
A warmer and wetter world
I found a link the other day to a government website with global mean precipitation data from 1900 to 2000. Of course, I can’t find the link now (please comment if you have the link, but first see the note at the end of the post). Anyway, I put the numbers into an Excel spreadsheetContinue reading “A warmer and wetter world”
Self-sufficiency = poverty
In a recent letter to our local paper, a fellow wrote in that we should buy American products: “Americans all want to make top dollar for their labor but insist on buying the cheapest goods that they can find often made by countries with very low wages and lax environmental protections…We should always try toContinue reading “Self-sufficiency = poverty”
Can anything go right this year?
Haiti still reels from its earthquake from one year ago, Darfur and Somalia fester, the Korean peninsula appears to be close to war, unemployment near 10% has become endemic. Problems, crises, tragedies. Can 2011 be anything but a repeat of 2010? Over at the Rational Optimist Blog, Matt Ridley reminds us of the accomplishments ofContinue reading “Can anything go right this year?”
Should there be a new way of living for the top one billion? – iPat edition redux
Steven Earl Salmony of the AWAREness Campaign on The Human Population, commented on Dot Earth’s, “Do the Top Billion Need New Goals?” Dear Timberati, Do you think there is any chance at all that Paul Ehrlich, despite his poor showing as prognosticator and gambler, will be shown to be one of the greatest scientists ofContinue reading “Should there be a new way of living for the top one billion? – iPat edition redux”
Nullius in Verba 