The Supply of Food
Pleasure of Growing
"The Ministry of Agriculture’s ‘Dig for Victory’ slogan encouraged people to grow fruit and vegetables on any available land - gardens, parks, allotments."
The Supply of Food
Climate Change
Given that climate change seems to be happening at an increasing pace it will be interesting to see what effect this has on global food production.
...or grow flowers
The arguments as to why climate change is occuring also make interesting reading, but I have to say, reports that Mars is also undergoing climate change gives pause for thought... especially when you think that if a volcano spews dust on earth, it reduces the amount of sunlight reaching the surface and results in cooling, but one of the arguments for rising temperatures on Mars is dust in the atmosphere trapping heat!
But, one way or another, things are changing, and whilst the speed of that change is open to conjecture, and people might be arguing over the causes, it doesn't hurt to think about how things like the supply of food might be affected.
Dig for victory!
During the Second World War there was a big push for people to grow their own vegetables and we wonder what would happen today if the need arose again?
Garden Grabbers
With 'garden grabbing' reducing space for people to use, and planners and builders getting away with cramming more and more properties into less and less space, we wonder where it will lead?
To Bee or not to Bee?
I'm not sure for the UK, but I have seen quotes that in the US, one in three bites [of food] is dependent on the activities of pollinators... that translates to 33%!
Growing things that can help insects like bees seems like a good idea - we grow oregano in the garden and the bees love it. Then we get to put fresh oregano in and on our pizza. They also love lavender and it is a good idea to have something early flowering for the first foragers.
It seems bees need support. Reports of problems causing loss of bee colonies are all over the place right now (April 2007). There are also reports saying that the problem of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is mainly affecting commercial hive owners who treat bees differently to organic hive owners. We don't know the truth of the matter, but if it is our society or a combination of things in the way our society is run that is causing a decline in bees and pollinators, then things are going to get intensely interesting because insects are responsible for the pollination of many of our fruits and vegetables.
© Copyright wildchicken 2007