We can continue to squander our resources and react to food crises as they happen, or we can fundamentally change the way the food systems work, says Carolyn Steel
'Where do I start?' Paul Kingsnorth answers the oft-asked question of those who want to grow their own food - but are lacking in knowledge, time, space, or all three. No problem. Read on...
Food safety campaigners have reacted angrily to a refusal by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to ban controversial plastic additive Bisphenol A (BPA), which is present in some food packaging and containers.
The thing is, I like urban farming. Rooftop gardens and window boxes excite me. Balconies filled with beans and tomatoes give me hope. Nonetheless, the ‘next big thing’ in urban horticulture has left me cold.
‘“Visionary” is a terrible word to use,’ Jimmie Hepburn grimaces. ‘I’m not doing this for my own ego. I’m happy for contributions and new ideas; I’m starting from scratch here, but I want people to build upon this.’
In the last few years the Ecologist has written extensively on the flu – both the garden variety that strikes us on an annual basis and the wider threat of avian influenza, H5N1.
The uniting of 800 million rural workers against the loss of their traditional way of life gives lie to globalisation’s claims to beneficence. Resistance is far from futile, says Ed Hamer
Another strain of MRSA is emerging from the factory farms of Northern Europe, and it is linked to the insatiable demand for cheap meat on our plates. The Ecologist Film Unit investigates
