2008 “Can We Go Organic?” Videos Are Up!

13Jun10

Join Canadian Organic Growers as we explore how organics is making a difference. Who is making this vision real and how can you be part of it ? What is your role? Hear farmers, researchers, local food security advocates and community organizations discuss the state of Canada’s food system and share their positive vision for the future

Filed under: Agriculture, business, Conferences, Food Distribution, Toronto   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Agriculture, bartering, carbon, climate change, community, development rights, farmer, farming, Food, global warming, labour rights, land trust, local, markets, multiplier effect, organic, Toronto, trading, transport, video, Wal-Mart

Salmon Better Than Beef Farming

12Nov09

A recent study found that salmon farming is better than beef farming though not by much.

Filed under: Agriculture, Aquaculture, Environment, Global/World, research   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: animals, farming, fish, Norway, protein, salmon, soy, UK

Pesticide 4800 Times Worse than CO2

18Jul09

Public health and environmental advocates Friday asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to deny a request from Dow AgroSciences for a permit allowing it to release large amounts of sulfuryl fluoride onto farm fields in four states. The chemical is a toxic pesticide whose global warming effects are thousands of times stronger than carbon dioxide.

Filed under: climate chaos, Environment   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Agriculture, climate change, climate chaos, DOW, EPA, farming, global warming, pesticides, sulfuryl fluoride

City Farm Hands – FoodCycles, Toronto, ON, ft/pt [Volunteer Job]

10Jul09

Are you interested in:  City farming, gardening and growing food?  Learning the practical side of environmental and food issues?  Getting lots of exercise and fresh air?  Composting and creating good soil?  Learning skills to get you a paying job?  Are you ready to make a difference!

Filed under: Community Development, Composting, Gardening, Jobs/Careers, Local Agriculture, Soil Management, Urban Agriculture, Vegetables and Fruit, Volunteering   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: assistance, city, farming, FoodCycles, News, Urban Agriculture, volunteer

Breaking Ground: 2nd Farm Work Gig Revs Up

04Jul09

Looking for some exercise and stress relief? Need something extra to do while vacationing close to home? Or looking to kill time between gigs? Well there’s plenty to do right here at the FoodCycles farm (http://bit.ly/ATb3G and http://bit.ly/YDDfp).

Filed under: Agriculture, Food, Food Sovereignty, Local Agriculture, Organic Agriculture, Toronto, Urban Agriculture   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Agriculture, city, Compost, cultivation, Downsview, farm, farming, Food, FoodCycles, garden, growing, horticulture, News, Park, pdp, urban

Get Rid of Climate Change Once & For All!

07Jun09

There is one way we could save ourselves and that is through the massive burial of charcoal. It would mean farmers turning all their agricultural waste – which contains carbon that the plants have spent the summer sequestering – into non-biodegradable charcoal, and burying it in the soil. Then you can start shifting really hefty quantities of carbon out of the system and pull the CO2 down quite fast.

Filed under: Agriculture, Environment, Soil Management, technology   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: biochar, burning, charcoal, climate change, farming, gaia, global warming, james, lovelock, low heat, pyrolysis, sequestration, solution, storage, theory, world

The Real Deal: Who Created Swine Flu…

17May09

Fingers are pointing to our current system of agriculture for the outbreak of swine flu (H1N1). When you decide to cram a lot of pigs together you’re creating a perfect place for disease to grow and thrive. In particular, some fingers are pointing towards a massive pig farm run by Smithfield Corporation.

Filed under: Agriculture, Environment, Global/World, Health and Wellness   |  2 Comments
Tags: Agriculture, disease, factory farming, farming, flu, H1N1, industrial agriculture, pig, swine flu

Factory Farming Is Among Top 8 Killers

12May09

Taxpayers are demanding that government enforce existing regulations and create more stringent rules to limit the excess and greed in banking, insurance, housing, and on Wall Street. But, in the rush to regulate, we can’t forget to oversee industrial agriculture. It is one of our most polluting and dangerous industries. Like the financial sectors, its practices have not been well regulated for the last thirty years. Let me run down a few of the major problems that have developed because of our poorly regulated U.S. agriculture.

Filed under: Agriculture, CSR, Environment, Food Sovereignty, Health and Wellness, sustainability   |  3 Comments
Tags: Agriculture, Burger King, chemical, CSR, Environment, factory, farming, industrial, KFC, McDonald's, pollution

Less Means More: Get Your $ Worth with Organic

08May09

Leifert wastes no time getting to his findings. Organic farming methods “are the only way forward,” he begins his talk at COG. “Even in the short term, organic is the only way to achieve acceptable yields.”

Filed under: Agriculture, Environment, Food Sovereignty, Health and Wellness, Organic Agriculture, research   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: academics, carlo leifert, chemicals, ecologically friendly, farming, fertilizers, Food Sovereignty, inputs, low input, Newcastle University, nitrogen, NPK, nutrition, Organic Agriculture, organic farming, pesticide, phosphorous, potash, potassium, qlif, quality, research, sustainable farming, vitamins

How to Start Farming through Apprenticeships

04May09

Part of the lure of organic farming is the challenge of working in a ‘field’ that requires skill, knowledge, and passion. Apprenticing is an age old method of learning your trade from a master; absorbing wisdom acquired through years of observation and experience. This primer, for those thinking of a career in organic farming, will introduce you to students well on their way to becoming organic farmers as well as a WWOOFER who has traveled the world through organic farming

Filed under: Jobs/Careers, Toronto, Training   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Agriculture, apprenticeship, career, farmer, farming, job, Training, voluntary, wwoofing