The land on which we grow and forage food is a complex ecosystem that supports and sustains us; how we view ourselves in relationship to the land influences how we interact with it. In modern Western culture, land is viewed as something to be owned and used, rather than as an entity in its own right — a member of our community that works with us.
Climate change is bad news for agriculture; it’s predicted to result in crop loss as unpredictable temperatures and precipitation become more common. This is especially true in areas where food insecurity is already a threat, such as sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia.
Imagine my shock when I found that almost all of the risk management effort for pesticides — especially in Low and Middle Income Countries – relied on behaviour change. The use of personal protective equipment remains, in many cases, the only measure in place to manage the risks associated to using pesticides.
I farm, and I am acutely aware of the role soil plays in my life as a grower of food. Healthy soils provide my farm with pasture areas for our laying hens so they can forage, enjoying some clover and chasing various insects in a plant-diverse landscape. I rely on these same soils to provide the foundation necessary for the green beans, cucumbers, and other vegetables we grow each season.
When I was in graduate school, there was an ethics certification training at my university. My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I think it was specifically for science students. One scenario in the training covered a conflict of interest (COIs) — whether or not to disclose funding sources in an academic paper.
Last week, PAN delivered a letter on behalf of 80 organizations to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai, opposing the interference by U.S. government officials and agribusiness interests in Mexico’s planned phaseout of glyphosate and genetically modified corn.