United Nations News Centre – UN agricultural agency links food security and climate change in new guidelines

12 May 2017 – The United Nations agricultural agency today unveiled guidelines to help Governments balance the needs of farming and climate change when making decisions, such as whether to refill a dried up lake or focus instead on sustainably using the forest on its shore.

“Medium to long-term adaptation planning is crucial to build climate resilience and food security for future generations,” said Julia Wolf, UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Natural Resources Officer and co-author of the guidelines.

“The agriculture sectors, often the economic backbone of developing countries, need to be a key driver and stakeholder. The guidelines are set out to address the key issues, entry points and steps to take,” Ms. Wolf said.

Agriculture – including fisheries and forestry – are important in efforts to keep global temperatures from rising more than two degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels.

The industry is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, to meet the food demand of a larger population, food production would need to be 60 per cent higher in 2050 than it was in 2006, said FAO.

…(read more).

Food-Matters

Ebola: WHO declares outbreak in DR Congo – BBC News

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At least one person has died after contracting the virus in the country’s north-east, the WHO says.

The Congolese health ministry had notified the WHO of a “lab-confirmed case” of Ebola, it added on Twitter.

More than 11,000 people died in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2015, mainly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

• Updates on this and other African stories
• Why Ebola is so dangerous
• DR Congo profile

The last outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo was in 2014 and killed more than 40 people.

…(read more).

Gina McCarthy – Climate change as an opportunity for innovation | News | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/322140443/stream?client_id=2t9loNQH90kzJcsFCODdigxfp325aq4z

GINA MCCARTHY: Yeah. It’s great to take people back, because it brings me back to when I was pretty young. And basically, it was all about recognizing that we were polluting our environment in a very visible and meaningful way. So it came out of the ’60s and ’70s, when you had Rachel Carson pointing out the dangers of pesticides and DDTs.

But it was even more than that. I mean, I lived in this area. It was about Boston Harbor being basically a place where the sewage went. And it wasn’t a place where you could swim or boat without taking your life in your hands.

And it was all about the black smoke that was spewing out of smokestacks. And people just got fed up. They knew we were damaging their health and our environment, and they needed a change.

New Campaign Urges People “Off Fossil Fuels” In Their Own Communities

Food-matters

CIRCLE OF POISON | FMTV

FREE WORLDWIDE SCREENING OF CIRCLE OF POISON

Runtime: 70m 43s | Release date: 2016

Once a pesticide is banned in the United States for its dangerous health and environmental effects, companies are still permitted to manufacture it for export only. This policy sends a message to the world that American lives are more valuable, yet ironically, these toxic pesticides circulate the globe and come back to the US as residues on imported food in the circle of poison.

Narrated by Elizabeth Kucinich and featuring interviews with President Jimmy Carter, Dr. Vandana Shiva, Professor Noam Chomsky, Senator Patrick Leahy, and his Holiness the Dalai Lama, the film exposes the shocking practice of corporate profit in the toxic pesticide trade. It takes viewers across the globe to India, Mexico, Argentina, Bhutan, and the United States, to document the emotional stories of victims and the inspiring ways communities are fighting back.

Circle of Poison shows how the global pesticide industry is politically powerful, shaping regulations (or lack thereof) and the conditions of food and farming around the world. Yet for every victim of the industry, there are even more people fighting for their rights to safety and health, and creating alternatives to the agrochemical industrial complex.

From organic farm co-ops in Mexico and Argentina, a growing Farmers Market in India, to the entire country of Bhutan becoming 100 percent organic, people are finding ways to grow food that is healthier for their families, communities, and the environment that don’t rely on or enrich the agrochemical corporations that have poisoned them.

Featuring:

President Jimmy Carter
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Professor Noam Chomsky
Dr. Vandana Shiva
Senator Patrick Leahy
Elizabeth Kucinich
C Jayakumar
Kathryn Gilje
Monique Harden
Kesang Tshomo
Jay Feldman
Daniel Bareilles

Food-Matters

Boomers and “Planet B” (We only get one chance…)

How can Boomers Change their Minds on Climate?

Published on May 10, 2017

“In our Hands” author, Wilford Welch responds to Bruce Gibney and spells out three ways baby boomers can change when it comes to climate.