Showing posts with label food crisis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food crisis. Show all posts

Sunday, October 27, 2013

AFP — Chef at ‘The Naked Lunch’ offers ‘insect tapas’ to Paris bar-hoppers


I have been saying for years that insects are the new protein and are going to be really big when the public gets over its squeamishness. Interestingly, among those who have gotten lost in the boonies for a significant time, the difference is survival is determined based on whether one can eat insects and worms. It's all psychological. Insects are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world. Glad to see this chef helping the cause. Meat-eating is not compatible with controlling climate change, but the world's appetite for protein is increasing. Insects to the rescue.
At a tiny bar in Paris’s Montmartre district, chef Elie Daviron is happy to admit his new menu has disgusted some clients while others need two or three drinks before they can face it.
In my days as a world-traveler I ate just about anything — after a few beers. I was never disappointed either.

The Raw Story
Chef at ‘The Naked Lunch’ offers ‘insect tapas’ to Paris bar-hoppers
Agence France-Presse


Saturday, October 27, 2012

Food production — Simple is beautiful


Hydroponics at work.
Most of his rooftop is given over to an aquaponic system, which produces food by linking fish tanks of tilapia with gravel-filled planters.
The integrated system feeds the water from the fish tanks into the plant beds, where Abu Ahmed’s crops — lettuce, peppers, broccoli, celery and herbs — are fertilised by waste produced by the tilapia.
As the water trickles through the gravel, the plants absorb nutrients from the fish waste, cleaning the water, which then replenishes the tanks.
“The idea really was to help the poorest people in Gaza be able to grow some of their own food, and healthy food, grown without pesticides,” explains Mohammed El Shatali, the project’s deputy manager.
The Raw Story
Fish and vegetables grow without soil on Gaza rooftops
Agence France-Presse

See also:

Drip Irrigation
The 2012 World Food Prize will be awarded to Dr. Daniel Hillel for his role in conceiving and implementing a radically new mode of bringing water to crops i­­n arid and dry land regions - known as “micro-irrigation.”
Dr. Hillel’s pioneering scientific work in Israel revolutionized food production, first in the Middle East, and then in other regions around the world over the past five decades. His work laid the foundation for maximizing efficient water usage in agriculture, increasing crop yields, and minimizing environmental degradation.
The World Food Prize
2012 Laureate

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

We Are Now One Year Away From Global Riots, Complex Systems Theorists Say


Short description of 2011 study. We may be getting close to the tipping point, although it is difficult to predict effects of complexity with precision.

Mother Board
We Are Now One Year Away From Global Riots, Complex Systems Theorists Say
Brian Merchant
(h/t Naked Capitalism)

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Jeremy Grantham — ‘Welcome to Dystopia’

Summary of the Summary: We are five years into a severe global food crisis that is very unlikely to go away. It will threaten poor countries with increased malnutrition and starvation and even collapse. Resource squabbles and waves of food-induced migration will threaten global stability and global growth. This threat is badly underestimated by almost everybody and all institutions with the possible exception of some military establishments.
Climate Progress
Jeremy Grantham on ‘Welcome to Dystopia’: We Are ‘Entering A Long-Term And Politically Dangerous Food Crisis’
Jeremy Grantham