Rural Sustainability

Be warned: this document does not necessarily highlight the importance a sustainable environement has for a sustainable rural economy. Nowhere do the words "peak oil" show up. But at least we're almost moving in the right direction.

http://www.ruralmatters.ca/images/report/one%20vision%20many%20voices%20-%20english.pdf

Domestic Fair Trade

We all know what Fair Trade coffee is. It's people, producers especially, getting a fair price for their labour. It is to small producers and individuals what free trade is to huge multinational corporations. Now think of this: everything can be fair trade!

Fair trade lumber. Fair trade seafood. Fair trade biofuel. Fair trade clothe. Fair trade economies.

There is no reason why farmers, fishermen, small town mill workers, and various other producers have to be controlled by corporate exploitation. The best way to assure a sustainable future that will survive beyond the world we've brought about with cheap oil is by working together.

See http://www.dftassociation.com/ for an example of some possibilities.

En vidéo : pic pétrolier, à quand la fin du pétrole ?

Dans le cadre de la Semaine du Développement Durable, en partenariat avec neopodia, Futura-Sciences vous propose aujourd'hui de découvrir un reportage sur le pétrole : état des lieux des réserves, l'après-pétrole...

A quand l'extraction de la dernière goutte de pétrole dans le monde ? Le pic de production est-il déjà passé ? Quel est l'état des réserves ? Réponses de Jean-Luc Wingert, ingénieur-conseil spécialiste des questions énergétiques et de développement, auteur de "La vie après le pétrole".

Vidéo ici

Consume This

Food and farming

by Richard Heinberg and Michael Bomford, Ph.D.

Summary

The American (and Canadian) food system rests on an unstable foundation of massive fossil fuel inputs. It must be reinvented in the face of declining fuel stocks. The new food system will use less energy, and the energy it uses will come from renewable sources. We can begin the transition to the new system immediately through a process of planned, graduated, rapid change. The unplanned alternative-reconstruction from scratch after collapse-would be chaotic and tragic.

The seeds of the new food system have already been planted. America's farmers have been reducing their energy use for decades. They are using less fertilizer and pesticide. The number of organic farms, farmers' markets, and CSA operations is growing rapidly. More people are thinking about where their food comes from.

These are important building blocks, but much remains to be done. Our new food system will require more farmers, smaller and more diversified farms, less processed and packaged food, and less long-distance hauling of food. Governments, communities, businesses, and families each have important parts to play in reinventing a food system that functions with limited renewable energy resources to feed our population for the long term.

See full article here

Communiqué - Heuroeufs en ville

(Moncton, le 1 avril 2009) – Grand Moncton Post Carbone, un regroupement dont la visée consiste à aider les citoyens du Grand Moncton à réduire leur dépendance aux énergies fossiles, propose d’établir une petite ferme expérimentale en milieu urbain.


Pour la version complète de ce communiqué, veuillez consulter la section intitulée "Centre de documentation" dans la colonne de droite.

News Release - Chickens and the City

(Moncton, April 1, 2009) – Post Carbon Greater Moncton, a local group that aims to assist Greater Monctonians reduce their dependency on fossil fuel energies, is pitching a pilot project to run a small-scale farm in downtown Moncton.


Full news release can be found in the "Info Hub" section of this blog (see right hand column).