It isn’t your imagination — food prices have jumped. COVID-19 gutted much of the economy, but the grocery cartels controlling our food supply didn’t let the crisis go to waste for their profit margins... Read more
[translation] We can produce food differently and agroecology is demonstrating this by redesigning food systems and adapting them to local contexts. The result was reflected in the so-called 10... Read more
Women and men from the rural community of Sachac, at more than 3500 meters above sea level, build a kilometer-long infiltration ditch to capture rainwater and use it to irrigate crops in Cuzco, in Peru’s Andes highlands. CREDIT: Janet Nina/IPS
“When I was a little girl we didn’t suffer from water shortages like we do now. Today we are experiencing more droughts, our water sources are drying up and we cannot sit idly by,” Kely Quispe, a small... Read more
Transnational Corporations and Free Trade in Mexico
Caravan on the Social and Environmental Impacts
This report presents the main results of the “Caravan on the social and environmental impacts of transnational corporations and free trade in Mexico” (#ToxiTourMexico), which took place in December... Read more
[Translation] The Independence watershed, in the north of the state of Guanajuato, is a territory that encompasses seven municipalities, including Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel de Allende, which share... Read more
[Translation] On March 08, 2021, the BIÓSFERA column published an article entitled "Integral Program to Reduce Health Risk in Environmental Emergency Regions" which stated:
"The BIÓSFERA column... Read more
[Translation] A draft of the revised General Water Law was presented yesterday by members of the Senate Water Resources Commission, the Morena parliamentary group on the Environment, the PT fraction... Read more
Once the degraded land has made the first timid steps toward recuperation, it is planted with agave, one of the few plants that will flourish in such barren soil — and the plant will begin to replenish its fertility. Image courtesy of Alejandro Vasconcelos.
Buying new clothes can be fun, but it can also be costly—to both your wallet and the environment. The fashion industry accounts for 10% of the carbon emissions in the world, making it a major... Read more
Fertilizers and pesticide production and use make up 40% of the on-farm energy use
"It is clear that if we want a more sustainable model, the world food system has to be completely turned around. We need to move towards agro-ecological production methods that use hardly any external... Read more
Gleaners at Salvation Farms in Morristown, Vermont.Photo from Salvation Farms
A Vermont nonprofit is connecting independent farms with buyers and distributors, reducing food surplus and working to eliminate food insecurity.
Each year, farmers like Joe Tisbert of Valley... Read more
Plastic bottles and bottle caps are among the most frequent items found along Mediterranean shores. Credit: Eleonora de Sabata / Clean Sea LIFE
St David’s, Wales, Jul 1 2021 (IPS) - Documented images of albatross chicks and marine turtles dying slow deaths from eating plastic bags and other waste are being seared into our consciences. And yet... Read more
[Translation] We cannot live without eating. Food and everything that surrounds it is at the basis of everyone's life. That is why controlling this market is a fundamental objective of transnational... Read more
Farmers in the Chaltenango Department of El Salvador. Agriculture is one of the sectors that generate more employment in Latin America and the Caribbean (image: Alamy).
Protecting and restoring natural areas in Latin America, home to 50% of the planet’s biodiversity and over a quarter of its forests, could help the region achieve a ‘... Read more
Millions went hungry when the pandemic hit, but at the Black-owned cooperative Brooklyn Packers, workers rose to the challenge by packing thousands of meals a week. In a sector known for exploitative... Read more
[Translation] Surely most of us may be wondering what digital agriculture is all about. Perhaps we think of tractors with GPS or the robotization of some tasks in the field. The use of drones in the... Read more
UNITED NATIONS - As the United Nations prepares for its solutions-based Global Food Systems Summit in September, officials say resolving issues around water scarcity, pollution and wastage is crucial... Read more
MEXICO CITY, The situation of the energy transition in Central America and the Caribbean was the main issue debated this Friday 21st in the sessions at the XXX La Jolla Energy Conference, which is... Read more
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 28 2021 (IPS) - A new global report on forests says that while the COVID-19 pandemic is the latest threat to achieving ambitious forest protection goals, it has brought the... Read more
If you were in California this winter, you may have noticed something missing: the monarch butterflies.
Two decades ago, more than 1 million would arrive in California every winter, clustering... Read more
Monterey, CA (April 14, 2021) — Total organic fresh produce sales for the first quarter of 2021 saw a continuation of last year’s growth, increasing by 9.3 percent from the same period in 2020 and... Read more
There’s one skill that Big Food and Big Ag corporations have in abundance: taking control of every situation and corrupting it into an opportunity for profit.
For example, as consumer interest... Read more
MEXICO CITY, Apr 5 2021 (IPS) - In neighbourhoods like Tehuixtitla in southern Mexico City, rain brings joy, because it provides water for showering, washing dishes and clothes, and cooking, by means... Read more
Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador quietly rocked the agribusiness world with his New Year’s Eve decree to phase out use of the herbicide glyphosate and the cultivation of genetically... Read more
AE4EU: Building a European network on agroecology to accelerate the transition towards sustainable agriculture and food systems.
ECVC [European Coordination Via Campesina] is among 12 European... Read more
My usual response to the question “What is Regenerative Food and Farming?” goes something like this: Regenerative agriculture and animal husbandry is the next and higher stage of organic food and... Read more
On December 8, 2020, several media sources reported that fresh water started to be traded on Wall Street as a commodity such as gold and wheat. This comes as water scarcity is increasing in California... Read more
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico’s Agriculture Department has proposed rules for phasing out the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in weed killer Roundup, by early 2024.
The rules were praised by... Read more
Seeds need to be brought back into public ownership, rather than belonging to a small group of agrochemical companies, say campaigners, after a year in which seed-swapping and saving has reached new... Read more
NEW YORK - The year 2020 is ending with the world caught up in an unprecedented human and economic crisis. The pandemic has contaminated 75 million people and killed 1.7 million. With the lockdowns,... Read more
In a Facebook LIVE conducted on December 3, 2020, renowned environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate... Read more
San Miguel de Allende/Irapuato - Ecologists from Guanajuato announced that they will file a protection petition for the revocation of the recently approved "Urban Tree Law" because they do not defend... Read more
Our most insightful urban commentators generally agree that the liveliest cities are those with greatest diversity. Diversity of activities, diversity of people. Jane Jacobs long ago highlighted the... Read more
In response to the lawsuits filed in 2019 by El Observatorio Ciudadano de los Sanmiguelenses AC and El Charco del Ingenio AC before the State Administrative Justice Tribunal, requesting that the... Read more
Let's get to work...
How can we educate ourselves for action? In action itself. The gift of promoting actions and small sustainable changes - to achieve actions and big changes... Read more
This article was published as part of the launch of DeSmog’s Agribusiness Database, where you can find a record of... Read more
Small actions ... big changes …
They say that hope is a voluntary construction to start changing the world. And while many are in a "waiting" situation, there are others who... Read more
Valuing is conserving…
In the epicenter of a watershed that has been overexploited to the maximum despite the warnings and exhaustive work of environmental groups such as CEDESA... Read more
Since the onset of the Neolithic Revolution some 10.000 years ago, farmers and communities have worked to improve yield, taste, nutritional and other qualities of seeds. They have expanded and passed... Read more
The world cannot take it anymore, that is, societies and nature. The evidence is there with the confluence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ecological crisis on local, regional, national and global scales... Read more
As COVID-19 unrelentingly spread across the U.S. this summer it has become abundantly clear that our agricultural system – from farm to fork – can't handle a pandemic. The novel corona-virus exposed... Read more
Some states are addressing the bottleneck in the industry by allowing state inspectors to approve direct-to-consumer and interstate sales. And new federal legislation could make those efforts possible... Read more
Global Call for Solidarity Action
(Harare, October 6, 2020) This October 16th, the International Day of Action for Peoples’ Food Sovereignty and against... Read more
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 9 2020 (IPS) - With the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize bestowed on the Rome-based World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations and its affiliated agencies continue to hold a monopoly of... Read more
A critical new book released on 24th September by United Nations’ World Agriculture Report (IAASTD) members calls for an accelerated transformation of our food systems. In “Transformation of our food... Read more
Despite much uncertainty and upheaval of our economy during the 2020 outbreak, many organic farms have been bright spots of the COVID-19 economy. With consumers now having 100% control over their food... Read more
When Brian Campbell and Crystine Goldberg of Uprising Seeds in Bellingham, Washington, opened a letter from German multinational chemical... Read more
After the thick neoliberal night of the last three decades, full of corruption and the handing over of the nation's public goods, it is urgently necessary to rescue and recover the material bases of... Read more
The Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) program, a rigorous sustainability certification for foods, fibers, and personal care products, is now publicly available after a yearlong pilot phase. The... Read more
Worldwide, there are now over a thousand coastal areas where fish can’t breathe. The nitrogen that makes crops grow is also destroying offshore ecosystems.
Talk about... Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended our world. It has laid bare the inequity, the limits, and the failures of capitalism. The door to a better future beyond capitalism, already cracked open by the Great... Read more
This note will review the current food picture that is complicated for much of the world, especially for vulnerable countries, given two particular factors: the fall in population incomes that the... Read more
Universidad de la Tierra in Mexico is working to transform our ways of learning and our connection with the Earth. It is not often that you come across a university that centres respect and care for ... Read more
Covid-19 is inflicting great suffering upon many of us upon many of us, whilst wreaking havoc on the economy on a scale not seen in the history of the modern world, according to many measurements. The... Read more
In Oaxaca's Mixe region, the community of Ayutla has been without potable tap water for three years.
On the dusty path between the natural spring and her home, Laura Morales hauled as... Read more
“Unsustainable land use and greenhouse gas emissions are delivering a one-two punch to natural ecosystems that are key to the fight against global climate change.
... Read more
When the restaurants closed, factory farms lost their customers. Local produce is suddenly in demand.
One Wednesday in early March, Abra Morawiec realized something seismic was... Read more
Nearly 40 mayors representing more than 700 million people in cities across the globe are calling for a transformative recovery from the Covid-19 crisis that fundamentally alters global economic and... Read more
Coronavirus is the old movie that we’ve been watching over and over again since Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone (1994) introduced us to the exterminating demon, born in a mysterious... Read more
UNITED NATIONS, The UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), described as an integral part of... Read more
Regenerative agriculture has gained a lot of attention since Robert Rodale coined the phrase fifty years ago. Many organizations use the word “regenerative” today, but the... Read more
As Chuck D says, it’s ‘food as a machine gun,’ and that’s even more deadly in this pandemic
When I finished working on my book, “Formerly Known As Food: How the Industrial Food System... Read more
When a crisis hits, Americans need a food system that's resilient enough to withstand the storm. Here's how banning factory farms can help make that happen.
My great grandparents once... Read more
Are glyphosate and COVID-19 connected? Glyphosate, one of the most toxic chemicals in the world, may be the key to why some people get severely ill from COVID-19.
The pandemic that we... Read more
The destruction of forests into fragmented patches is increasing the likelihood that viruses and other pathogens will jump from wild animals to humans, according to... Read more
The global spread of coronavirus/COVID-19 has sent researchers and scientists into overdrive to find both treatments and cures.
In the meantime, doctors and other practitioners are, to a large... Read more
Let’s be clear: there is no solid evidence that the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is the cause of the current Covid-19 disease pandemic, is an open seafood market in Wuhan that also trades in... Read more
Scientists have fingered bats and pangolins as potential sources of the virus, but the real blame lies elsewhere—with human assaults on the environment.
It could have been a... Read more
[Note] In a groundbreaking plebicite on March 22, 74% of Mexicali voters voted to halt construction of Constellation Brands brewery, a mega project in an arid region where water resources are... Read more
With COVID-19 crisis, humanity is facing one of the most serious and uncertain crises in recent history. RIPESS shares its statement and the need to globalize solidarity.
... Read more
I attended one of three major biodiversity planning meetings this February, originally scheduled for China, but relocated to Rome. The day I arrived, there were three cases of the coronavirus COVID-19... Read more
El Charco del Ingenio, Botanical Garden and Protected Natural Area of San Miguel de Allende, wishes to express its position regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, which has become, in a few weeks, the total... Read more
The period from 1990 to 2025/2050 will most likely be a period of little peace, little stability, and little legitimation, "Immanuel Wallerstein wrote in 1994.* In periods of turbulence and confusion,... Read more
We are all inundated with news about the COVID-19 pandemic, but one thing is glaringly missing from the coverage: the underlying structural reasons for why this is happening. Yes, in... Read more
We are one Earth Family on one planet, healthy in our diversity and interconnectedness. The planet’s health and our health is non separable. As Dr King reminded us “We are caught in an inescapable... Read more
Disgruntled farmers torched 6 vehicles belonging to the National Guard and the National Water Commission (Conagua).
The National Water Commission (Conagua) announced on Thursday that it... Read more
Solving bad distribution and privatization and guaranteeing human access to this resource is necessary.
Palacio Legislativo, 11-03-2020 (Notilegis). Members of the parliamentary group,... Read more
A new federal bill, introduced by Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), would force... Read more
Agricultural production used to be basically divided into two camps; conventional and organic. The two production styles have clear delineations and are pretty much exclusive of each other. Today the... Read more
Demonstration held "in solidarity with every community that has found itself staring down the barrel of a gun for daring to oppose Canada's ongoing colonial project through resource extraction."
... Read more
Under the motto 'connecting solidarity', it allows people to search for co-op providers of goods and services.
Co-ops in Argentina can now connect with customers and other social and solidarity... Read more
On February 4, 2020, at the opening of the fourth session of Mexico’s 64th legislative assembly, the first Citizen’s Law Initiative was presented before the Chamber of Deputies inaugurating... Read more
Right across from Atholton High School in Columbia, Maryland, sits a garden roughly a third of an acre with rows of vegetable beds and a... Read more
About a year ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made it official: Consumers can no longer buy paint removers containing... Read more
Positive news stories about the state of our environment are few and far between. More common are stories that we’re almost at the point of irreparable damage, that if we don’t act now, it will be too... Read more
About half of all American adults have one or more preventable, chronic, diet-related diseases.
Whether it’s factory-farm foods from animals raised on GMO feed, or sugary foods and drinks made... Read more
The National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt) will issue a call in which rural and urban communities may request researchers and technologists to solve local problems including pollution,... Read more
ASHEVILLE — The city has become the first community in North Carolina to declare a "climate emergency," setting rigorous goals on warming greenhouse gases and renewable energy. The Jan. 28 emergency... Read more
In 1962, Rachael Carson warned us, with the publication of Silent Spring, that the indiscriminate use of pesticides was disrupting critical ecosystems and causing severe damage to human health.
... Read more
Dolores Hidalgo, Gto. Last night, organizations and civil associations that have been fighting against the exploitation of the Cerro del Gallo Mine in the San Anton de las Minas community in Dolores... Read more
I will make a guess that there will be two trends relevant to platform co-operativism that will shape how our economic system works.
Trend 1: Increasingly diverse models of... Read more
This week's UN Climate Action Summit will be tricky for agribusiness CEOs. With forest fires raging in the Amazon, a damning new report about... Read more
The Regional Council of Original Peoples in Defense of the Territory of Puebla and Hidalgo will express to the president Andrés Manuel López Obrador a demand for cancellation of the Tuxpan-Tula gas... Read more
“They say the darkest hour is right before the dawn.”
– Bob Dylan, “Blood on the Tracks,” 1975
Beyond the media smog, the 24/7 fixation on the Trump cesspool and the endless... Read more
The EPA and states must insist municipalities investigate alternative methods for reuse of sewage wastes.
You may not realize it but some foods you eat may have been... Read more
MEXICO CITY [translation] - Foreigners who participated in the # ToxiTourMéxico criticized the worrysome situation they witnessed in regard to environmental pollution resulting from from the industries... Read more
Environmentalists and observers have been barred from UN climate talks in Madrid after a protest inside the conference.
Around 200 climate campaigners were ejected after staging a sit in,... Read more
In California, near immense industrial farms, small plots are rented out to field laborers so they can try to create their own farm businesses.
SALINAS, Calif. — The Salinas Valley is... Read more
A school in Queensland, Australia sent a note home to parents asking them to send their children with extra water bottles since its water supply has run dry, according to the... Read more
On November 29th Fridays for Future again will join the Global Call to Act before the Climate Crisis. In San Miguel we will join the movement going to our Natural Park with our signs asking for the... Read more
LONDON − When countries run short of food, they need to find solutions fast, and one answer can be urban farming.
That was the remedy Cuba seized with both hands 30 years ago when it... Read more
Council of Canadians Honorary Chairperson Maude Barlow was in Los Angeles yesterday to help celebrate the city’s designation as a Blue Community.
Los Angeles is now the first major city in the U... Read more
Yesterday, I went to a protest in San Miguel de Allende against a new gold mine in Dolores Hidalgo. A Canadian company wants to start yet another open pit mining operation in the Man Miguel region,... Read more
The French government has passed a law that could revolutionize barbecues, picnics, and birthdays. Starting in 2020, most plastic cups, plates and cutlery will be totally banned.
Introduced at... Read more
San Miguel de Allende [translation] - On Wednesday, a group of professionals presented an alternative project that had been presented to the municipal government for their consideration on... Read more
Immediately following the release of the activists detained for defending the trees on Avenida Guadalupe and the removal of the trees, Arnoldo Cuéllar interviewed one of the detainees—Maribel Arciniega... Read more
San Miguel De Allende, Gto. [translation] -- The municipal police of San Miguel de Allende arrested 12 activists (10 Mexicans and two foreigners) who had maintained a vigil on Guadalupe Avenue... Read more
INCHEON, South Korea, - Good news: the graph depicting climate investments has been steadily increasing. Climbing from the 2012 figure of $360 billion in climate investments across the world to close... Read more
Activists and defenders of the trees on Guadalupe Avenue have reached the goal of 13 Thousand Signatures to prevent the trees from being transplanted. Lawyers, environmentalists, Architects and Senator... Read more
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said that climate change is “the battle of my life.” He is not the only one.
Climate change is a battle we are all fighting. More than ever, cities... Read more
Residual sludge from treating waste water has been turned into a money-spinner but what are the costs to health of ‘the most pollutant-rich manmade substance on Earth’?
By some estimates,... Read more
"There is a magical machine that absorbs carbon from the air, costs very little and builds itself. It's called a tree."
On Friday, September 20 members of the "Climate Action group of... Read more
Speaking at the United Nations climate summit, the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg delivered a speech criticizing world leaders for their inaction on protecting the environment.
... Read more
Film by Swedish activist and Guardian journalist George Monbiot says nature must be used to repair broken climate
The protection and restoration of living ecosystems such as... Read more
On Friday, September 20, an estimated 400 to 500 people in San Miguel de Allende joined millions of people around the globe to demand "an end to the age of fossil fuels." The global climate strikes in... Read more
On Saturday, September 21, the removal of 41 trees was scheduled to begin on Avenida Guadalupe in front of the San Juan de Dios market. The trees, which line the center of the street, are more than 20... Read more
Climate activist Greta Thunberg will cross the Atlantic on a zero-emissions sailboat on her way to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit on September 23.
Setting off mid-August from an... Read more
It’s called “wishcycling,” and pretty much all of us do it.
If you’re like me, you’ve looked at a paper coffee cup or an empty tube of toothpaste and thought, “Is this... Read more
Fairlee, Vermont — Americans are more concerned about climate change than ever. An average of national polls conducted by... Read more
Last year California set a goal to become carbon-neutral by 2045. Some called it unrealistic, while we call it mission-critical. But how do we get there? As we search for ways to reduce greenhouse gas... Read more
(WASHINGTON) — A conservative lawyer and writer who argues for selling off the nation’s public lands is now in charge of a nearly quarter-billion acres in federally held rangeland and other wilderness... Read more
This remarkable Fair is devoted to recovering traditional community trading practices based on knowledge sharing, respect for nature, equity, promoting food sovereignty, responsible consumption and... Read more
Joseph G. Allen is assistant professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and faculty adviser to the Harvard Healthy Building Materials Academy.
Here’s a question: Do you... Read more
Do you prefer to hear good news or bad news first? I will begin by giving you the (unsurprisingly) bad news. Today’s world is an unequal place. Standards of living vary massively both between and... Read more
“The land that my father has given me, I hope to be able to pass on to my children in good condition, so that they can pass it on to future generations and that for them it will be even better than... Read more
Citizens and environmentalists fear irreversible damage if the Canadian company, Argonaut Gold, carries out its plans to begin operations in the Cerro del Gallo mining project which would exploit 20... Read more
Argonaut Gold would exploit more than 20 thousand hectares that include old deposits.
The Canadian company, Argonaut Gold, is planning to exploit minerals in the town of San... Read more
For farmers, young people, students, technicians & all lovers of learning how to cultivate living soils, food and happy hearts.
"Organic agriculture is dedicated to ... Read more
[The Education Collaborative is including this 2017 news as background information on the current protests in Dolores Hidalgo.]
Toronto, Ontario - Argonaut Gold Inc. (... Read more
[The Education Collaborative is including this 2017 news as background information on the current protests in Dolores Hidalgo.]
SAN SALVADOR — Lawmakers in El... Read more
On Tuesday, June 18, more than 1,500 people from communities in the southern region of Dolores Hidalgo gathered in a meeting attended by the president of the municipality, Miguel Angel Rayas. They... Read more
If the biotech industry has its way, the meat, eggs and milk on your plate could soon come from genetically engineered farm animals—and without laws requiring these products to be labeled, you’ll never... Read more
On June 11, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to "streamline" GMO regulations in the US. Trump's order also aims to brainwash the US people into accepting GMOs. There is to be no open... Read more
ANKARA, With two-thirds of the world’s population projected to be living in cities by 2050, increasing pressure continues to be placed on forests which are being cleared to make way for agricultural... Read more
Amazingly organised social communities, bees ensure food chain. ‘Bee’ grateful to them… at least on their World Day! While the (surprisingly) still called homo sapiens continue to destroy... Read more
Where, when, and how work is done is changing. Advances in artificial intelligence, automation, and data processing continue to shift responsibilities from workers to digital systems. These disruptions... Read more
Annually, for weeks at a time over his more than 30 years of farming, John Barton would spray a thousand gallons of Roundup every day to kill the weeds springing up among his cotton crop outside... Read more
Agricultural chemicals aren't helping us to be better farmers or make more money. Rather they are harming our health and undermining the economic and agronomic viability of our farms.
As a kid... Read more
A hard-hitting report into the impact of humans on nature shows that nearly one million species risk becoming extinct within decades, while current efforts to conserve the earth’s resources will likely... Read more
From October 10-13, 2019, the Mexican Network for Our Seeds will host its second encuentro--”Building Bridges Between the Country and the City: In Defense of our Food and Biocultural Diversity... Read more
Jamaica and other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are embracing renewable energy as part of their plans to become decarbonised in the coming decades.
The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew... Read more
