Info, news & debate

Plants

Does the sustainability of meat production depend on the size of a holding and the number of animals kept on it?

| 84

I want to investigate at what size meat production becomes unsustainable (in terms of acreage, number of animals etc.) – i.e. whether it can be sustainable at all, and if so, whether there’s an upper limit, above which it can’t be sustainable

Read more about Does the sustainability of meat production depend on the size of a holding and the number of animals kept on it?



How the ‘One Planet Development’ policy is helping people get back onto the land in Wales

| 8

Something special is happening in Wales. The country is using legislation to shift itself into a very different direction from England. It wants to be more sustainable. It wants to reduce its ‘ecological footprint’ to a level that’s fair compared to the rest of the planet’s population and resources.

Read more about How the ‘One Planet Development’ policy is helping people get back onto the land in Wales











The Trump administration is going to attack us if we try to restrict the imports of US genetically-modified food in any way

| 20

Linda Kaucher of Stop TTIP UK recently alerted us to the fact that the US government is determined to go into battle with any country that tries to restrict imports of its genetically-modified food.

Read more about The Trump administration is going to attack us if we try to restrict the imports of US genetically-modified food in any way

How the study of animal behaviour (ethology) can help you keep livestock more ethically and sustainably

| 1

I want to talk about something which can help us design more ethical and sustainable ways of keeping our livestock. It is a subject that has always fascinated me and, if you keep animals, I think you will find it fascinating too. It is the is the study the behaviour of animals, particularly in their

Read more about How the study of animal behaviour (ethology) can help you keep livestock more ethically and sustainably


Could the ‘paperpot transplanter’ be a boon for small farmers or is it just a gimmick?

| 16

How about a human-powered tool that allows you to plant out 264 young plants per minute (!) without bending over? The paperpot transplanter, developed in Japan, allows you to do just that (if 264 seems a bit precise, it’s because each little paper chain contains 264 pots).

Read more about Could the ‘paperpot transplanter’ be a boon for small farmers or is it just a gimmick?

Vital foreign labour in action: Romanian workers harvest the grape crop in an English vineyard in Sussex.

Should we be reliant on cheap foreign labour to work on our farms, or is there a better way to feed ourselves?

| 9

Recently The Guardian ran an article by John Harris called “They say after Brexit there’ll be food rotting in the fields. It’s already started.” To summarise, John is saying Brexit has made the UK look an unfriendly place to our European neighbours and with the increasing financial fortunes of eastern European nations, farm workers are

Read more about Should we be reliant on cheap foreign labour to work on our farms, or is there a better way to feed ourselves?