the GoodEater Collaborative

4 Days to Make-or-Break Haiti’s True Story

Haiti is an amazing test case of the risks and failures of the global food economy. There are 4 days remaining for the public to decide whether the true story is told.

Slash, Laos, and Vimeo Tape: Controversies of Swidden Agriculture

There are many myths and misconceptions surrounding swidden agriculture. By dismissing the importance and sustainability of swidden agriculture, researchers may continue to marginalize this highly sustainable system, as well as missing out on ways of incorporating some of its principles into other farming systems.

In Hidalgo, Cactus Plant is at Root of Economy, Community

Xoxoc is a producer of prickly pear products in the Hidalgo region of Mexico, an area that was once a major producer of Pulque, a favorite fermented alcohol produced from the Maguey plant. But in the mid 1900’s when beer became popular, the maguey plants were left to die and the local economy along with them. Over subsequent years, many of the region’s men left to look for income elsewhere, and devastating erosion washed away the deserted fields.

Swidden agriculture: Sustainable slash and burn?

I recently came across a video on “slash and burn” farming, produced by the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York. It made me want to dispel some of the myths surrounding this form of agriculture, but I should start by describing exactly what slash and burn agriculture really is.

Haiti’s Post-Quake Grassroots Sustainable Agriculture Movement

Haiti’s post-quake humanitarian disaster is directly tied to its food supply and the collapse of the rural economy. Combating the dominant paradigm is an accelerating grassroots movement — from farmers burning Monsanto seeds to edible schoolyards.

Beyond Organic: Central Bean’s Sustainable Alternative

Josh Dorf and I took a trip to Quincy Washington to visit Tom Grebb, a bean farmer who has been pioneering new methods of sustainable farming. Tom and the farmers he sources from grow about 4,000 acres of ten different varietals of beans, including pintos, black beans, garbanzos, etc. Here are excerpts from our discussion.

Top 5 Moments in Western Food History

1. Neolithic Revolution

The last ice age ended 13,000 years ago, leaving behind a warmer environment full of the flora and fauna we know today and starting the Neolithic Period. This environmental shift fueled a 13,000-year explosion of population, technology, and culture. One plant that prospered in the newly warmed climate was wheat.

Is Kañiwa the new Quinoa?

Kañiwa is in the same goosefoot family as quinoa, which has seeped into American consciousness over the last several years. Yet kañiwa is much easier to process since it is not covered in the bitter saponin found on quinoa.

Do Bangladeshis Think the Earth Will Be Okay?

In places like Bangladesh, a one meter increase in sea level will submerge 20 percent of the land and displace 35 million people, many of whom will die in the flooding. How many people there can afford to take the attitude that humans are just a blip?

Rooibos: Biodiversity to Achieve Sustainability

Can biodiversity at source help achieve sustainability? From South Africa’s Rooibos farming community – and a pack of baboons! – comes some real life examples of biodiversity in action.