Banff Transition

Calgary Herald: “A German pensioner who had kept a tub of lard in his cupboard for 64 years, took it to authorities who pronounced it very much fit for consumption – if a little tasteless.Retired chemist Hans Feldmeier, 87, told AFP he had received the pig fat as a student in 1948 near the northern city of Rostock as part of the post-war U.S. aid program…. Finally, after 64 years, he took it to food safety agents and was astonished at their appraisal.

“There is of course a slight lack of smell and taste,” sniffed Frerk Feldhusen, from the office of agriculture, food safety and fisheries in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Moreover, the lard was “of gritty consistency, difficult to dissolve and looked a bit old,” the officials added. However, “all in all, given its level of freshness and its material composition, the product is assessed as satisfactory,” Feldhusen said, adding it would stand up to today’s definition of being fit for the dinner table.

 

Low-tech Magazine: “Recycling animal and human dung is the key to sustainable farming
Flushing the water closet is handy, but it wreaks ecological havoc, deprives agricultural soils of essential nutrients and makes food production dependent on fossil fuels. For 4,000 years, human excrements and urine were considered extremely valuable trade products in China, Korea and Japan. Human dung was transported over specially designed canal networks by boats.”

 

Winter Watch: “Every 10 percent increase in global food prices equates to a 100 percent increase in anti-government protests, according to a recent report from the International Monetary Fund. Looking at recent increases in foodstuff commodities — up a total of 45 percent since the arrival of QE2 last year — it’s no wonder there are revolutions, civil wars and riots breaking out across the globe. According to the IMF, a  45-percent increase in foodstuffs should quadruple the levels of unrest, and that seems to be precisely what’s happening”.

 

Post Carbon Institute: “The farmers’ market saves energy by carving it out of the processing, packaging, and retail segments of the food chain, which are much larger than the transportation segment. From this perspective, the backyard garden offers all of the advantages of a farmers’ market, and then some.”

 

Casaubon’s Book: “The food crisis is manifestly just that – a crisis. At the same time, there’s another side to this coin. Rising food prices are to some extent good for farmers…. How do you balance the merits and demerits of food prices? One way would be think historically, because in purely historic terms, it is entirely normal to spend a lot of your income on food.”

 

Open Source Ecology: “Open Source Ecology is a movement dedicated to the collaborative development of tools for replicable, open source, modern off-grid ‘resilient communities.’ By using permaculture and digital fabrication together to provide for basic needs and open source methodology to allow low cost replication of the entire operation, we hope to empower anyone who desires to move beyond the struggle for survival and ‘evolve to freedom.’”

 

The Oil Drum: “The fact of the matter is that the present agricultural system cannot be maintained for much longer. Decreasing oil production and rising oil prices will effectively bankrupt the American agri-food system. Without petroleum and all of its benefits, there will be little choice but to revert to a system of local, organic production and consumption.”

 

Casaubon’s Book: “I bloody hate Earth Day. No offense to those of you who love it, and I know there are some awesome Earth Day programs out there, but by the time we get there, I’m spending my days hiding under the covers, because every freakin’ time I open my email inbox a wave of the most nauseating spew of greenwashing comes flowing out.

“Guess what? A major department store chain, nearly in bankruptcy, is now selling the eco-tote, made from organic sheepskin, embossed with ‘Think Global, Act Local’ to show your care for the earth and indifference to grammar. And not to trouble me, but just so you know, the manufacturers of a disgusting sugar laden soft-drink have a new organic one, in a special collectible earth-day bottle.…”

 

Casaubon’s Book: Rather than buying seedlings.

 

Casaubon’s Book — Notes about early germination of seeds of plants that require periods of cold.