Ben Eagle

French Agriculture and the 51st Salon de l’Agriculture

This year is the International Year of Family Farming, a UN scheme that aims to ‘raise the profile of family farming and smallholder farming by focusing world attention on its significant role in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, in particularContinueContinue reading “French Agriculture and the 51st Salon de l’Agriculture”

Farmageddon – How do we create change?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uah8LBUbfc Over the last few years there have been a string of ‘organidocs’, documentaries regarding the organic movement and the problems within the global food industry, attempting to send the message out about the ‘real’ state of the global agricultural situation to a wider audience. When I watch them, as someone who is already aware,ContinueContinue reading “Farmageddon – How do we create change?”

Farming Today and the Floods

Farming Today and the FloodsFarming Today this week follows the tragic story of the farmers, the floods and the Levels. Really worth a listen to understand the people (and animal) situation more acutely. This is an absolute disaster for these farmers. Animals are stressed, crops are drowned, people are homeless and there is no endContinueContinue reading “Farming Today and the Floods”

Climate, Surveillance and Sustainability

Last week I attended several events here at the University outside of my normal remit of study (although all related to my wider interests). The first was an evening lecture by Professor Richard Aldrich of Nottingham University on ‘the Future of Surveillance’, the second a lunchtime lecture from Steve Smith of the Climate Change CommitteeContinueContinue reading “Climate, Surveillance and Sustainability”

Small is Beautiful – four aims for positive land management

I have recently been re-reading E.F. Schumacher’s classic work, first published in 1973, Small is Beautiful. It is a book that remains relevant for the Western world and, I would hasten to guess, will remain increasingly relevant as time marches on this century. Rather than carry out an elongated review or synthesis of ideas contained inContinueContinue reading “Small is Beautiful – four aims for positive land management”