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Wednesday, 13 January 2010 |
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Interesting article on local food systems by Steph Larsen
"Local food distribution has received even less attention than
processing, and it is a complex piece of the food chain we’ll have to
get creative about if local food will be available in grocery stores.
In Nebraska, where I live, the distributor serving most of the rural
grocery stores has a weekly buying minimum. A grocer won’t even
consider buying produce from a local farmer if it will put them below
their minimum because the distributor levies a fine…
We all need a grocery store nearby, unless you are one of the few
that produce all your own food. Without a grocery store, people will
not want to live in our communities and neighborhoods, which makes them
less vibrant and more vulnerable to failure. Grocery stores are more
than food retail, however—they are often the focal point of a town or
neighborhood where people go to see friends, swap recipes, and catch up
on local gossip.
I used to think there were four distinct pieces to a local food
system: production, processing, distribution, and retail. Now I realize
there is a fifth: community. Without an involved community of customers
who believe in what the local farmer, miller, distributor, and grocer
is doing, none of them will last very long.
If growing a local food system is our goal, it must begin with
vibrant communities, then follow with genuine opportunities for careers
everywhere in the food chain. Expanding our policy solutions beyond
producers will help the idea of local food move forward from a trend to
a permanent fixture of our food system."
Read the full article by Steph Larsen on Grist.
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Tuesday, 12 January 2010 |
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The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has created an online resource guide
on maximising the benefits of plants through sustainable residential
landscape architecture. The guide contains lists of organisations,
research, concepts and projects related to plants and sustainable
landscape architecture, and includes sections on: native [U.S.] plants,
residential agriculture, residential wildlife habitat, indoor plants
and residential composting. Developed for students and professionals,
the resource guide contains recent reports and projects from leading
U.S. and international organisations, academics, and design firms.
This sustainable residential design resource guide is the third in a
new four-part series. See earlier guides in the sustainable residential
design series: increasing energy efficiency and improving water efficiency.
One last future guide in this series will focus on how sustainable
residential landscape architecture can incorporate innovative, recycled
(and recyclable) materials.
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Read more...
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Tuesday, 12 January 2010 |
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There is an interesting article on recycling at work up at Urban Sprout.
"Reducing the amount of plastic, tin and glass everyone brings into
the office is a good place to start. Buy in bulk, re-use stuff you have
bought for other functions (pot plants in old tins, re-use your
eco-friendly washing up liquid container and get refills in bulk, reuse
envelopes and packaging, print on both sides of the paper etc.)
And for those things you have to buy (milk, coffee, sugar), avoid
buying anything that is over-wrapped, over-merchandised and presented
in something you cannot recycle (this involves squinting at the base of
all plastic purchases to try and read their recycling logos and only
succumbing to those that can be recycled by the company collecting your
recycling or the drop off depot you use – makes for interesting
shopping)."
Read the full post ...
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Monday, 11 January 2010 |
Nominations for the Biodiversity Award, which forms part of the Mayoral Awards, are open. The Biodiversity Award recognises the efforts of those schools,
community groups/ NGOs, businesses/ industry and individuals who are
making an invaluable contribution to conserving biodiversity in the
eThekwini Municipality Area.
Nominations are accepted throughout the year, culminating in the Awards Dinner held in November each year. Nominations may be submitted to the Environmental Planning and Climate Change Department at:
PO Box 680 Durban 4000 or Room 226, City Engineers Building, 166 KE Masinga Road, Durban 4000 or Fax: 031 311 7134 or Email: NdlovuLungi@durban.gov.za.
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