Published on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 by Environmental News Service (ENS)
World Water Crisis Underlies World Food Crisis
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The world’s supplies of clean, fresh water cannot sustain today’s “profligate” use and inadequate management, which have brought shrinking food supplies and rising food costs to most countries, WWF Director General James Leape told the opening session of World Water Week in Stockholm [on Monday].

“Behind the world food crisis is a global freshwater crisis, expected to rapidly worsen as climate change impacts intensify,” Leape said. “Irrigation-fed agriculture provides 45 percent of the world’s food supplies, and without it, we could not feed our planet’s population of six billion people.”

Leape warns that many of the world’s irrigation areas are highly stressed and drawing more water than rivers and groundwater reserves can sustain, especially in view of climate change. At the same time, he said, freshwater food reserves are declining in the face of the quickening pace of dam construction and unsustainable water extractions from rivers.

At a time when billions of people live without access to safe drinking water or suffer ill health due to poor sanitation, when food producers battle biofuel producers for land and water resources, and when global climate change is altering the overall water balance, 2,500 water experts are gathered this week at the Stockholm International Fairs and Congress Center to craft solutions to these problems.

Published on Monday, August 18, 2008 by the San Francisco Chronicle
A Modest Proposal for Sustainable Eating
by Katrina Heron

SAN FRANCISCO - No one knows less about food than us. We, the American people, having inherited an extraordinary and unprecedented wealth of native and immigrant culinary traditions and knowledge - a kind of Alexandrian library of edible wisdom - no longer know how to feed ourselves.0818 04 1

We love fast food, whether it’s from a drive-through or a grocery aisle, and it’s really bad for us. It’s bad for our health, our culture, the environment. In short, it’s unsustainable.

But our once-diverse food lore and skills have been scattered to the four winds. Our taste buds have been jammed on salt, sugar and every conceivable molecular permutation of corn. We literally eat petroleum-derived substances, and ask for more.

This is how we got here: Over the past couple of decades, processed food became more affordable, thanks to economies of scale, logistics and transportation developments, cheap oil and government crop subsidies, especially for corn, which quickly became the staple of our new national diet. This, in turn, further centralized farm operations, threatening the markets for small farmers and the preservation of a diverse food supply.

Essentially, the food economy was turned upside down, so that now, a cheeseburger and fries at a fast-food chain can cost less than a pound of sustainably and locally grown tomatoes.

Show us the data

I am one of the many people who avoid genetically engineered foods We’re not against science. Who doesn’t want to feed the world?

But Kaua‘i should have a choice about being an experimental station for corporations. This is “crop improvement” without the basic tenant of science ... precaution.

Show us the data that the antibiotic resistance genes of GMO crops are not transferring into our soil. Do a safety study on the ingestion of pesticide producing plants and pollen.

We are for sound science. There is an understanding that all experiments abide by the precautionary principle. This principle states that when outcomes are unknown, every effort must be made to protect people. It does not state that you must know of harm, it states that if it is unknown, you must look before you leap.

The United States considers GMO food no different from non-GMO food solely based on a 1992 Executive Order. Therefore, no pre-market safety testing occurs on any GMOs before they are released into the food. At this point we cannot say whether they are safe to eat or not.

We can say that the National Institute of Health looked at DNA proteins in each type of plant breeding method. They found greater health risks in foods produced by genetic engineering. Did they feed these crops to people? No, that would be poor science to allow human consumption of something found to be unsafe in the lab.

You are invited to participate in an interactive seminar designed to address the impending food crisis on our island. It will be held at Kauai Community College, in the Trade Technology Building, room 114, on September 16, 18, 23 and 25, from 4:00 till 6:00 pm. Please see the attached description for more details.

This seminar, entitled “Growing Food,” will be the first in a series designed interactively with and for the participants along with specialized food industry consultants to accomplish the following purposes:

1. To increase the level of food self-sufficiency for our island by improving the production of locally grown food in home and community gardens and in small farming enterprises.
2. To engage our residents in planning and managing these gardens as a means for reducing our dependence on imported food ….. its rising costs, inferior nutritional quality and diminishing supply
3. To design programs that will provide the training and technical assistance required to insure the success of these gardens as a reliable source of wholesome food for our families, markets and restaurants
4. To develop grants and fund raising projects that will provide the necessary
funding for the successful start-up and expansion of these gardens

http://starbulletin.com/2008/08/16/business/story01.html

Whole Foods Market said this week that it is scaling back its plans for its flagship store at Ward Village Shops as part of an adjustment to today's economic environment.

Whole Foods Hawaii openings
» Kahala Mall, 28,670 sq. ft., opening Sept. 10

» Maui Mall, Kahului, 26,366 sq. ft., opening late 2009 or early 2010

» Ward Villages, 35,000 sq. ft., opening 2010 (1st quarter)

» Kailua, 40,000 sq. ft., opening 2010

Source: Whole Foods Market

Instead of opening a two-level, 67,000-square-foot store, Whole Foods will occupy 35,000 square feet on the bottom floor at Ward Village Shops.

The store, which has faced numerous delays and was supposed to be the first Whole Foods to open in Hawaii, is now scheduled to open in 2010.

General Growth Properties is building the store on a 6-acre site as part of a mixed-use project that was also to include a multi-level parking garage, nearly 100,000 square feet of additional retail space, and a 17-story apartment building. Pier 1 Imports is the only original tenant still at the site.

Whole Foods Market is under construction next to the Hokua luxury high-rise condominium along the Auahi Street side.

Jan Yokota, General Growth's vice president of development in Hawaii, said it is now seeking retail tenants for the second floor of the store planned for Whole Foods, and that it could be leased to one or several tenants.

"We do believe in the future of Hawaii for Whole Foods Market and are committed to our four stores in development."

Bio-dynamic workshop offered Saturday from Marie Mauger. For more information please contact her directly. 822-7899.

Just a little reminder to save those seeds!
For the upcoming 2nd Biannual
Community
Seed & Plant Exchange
Sunday September 21st
Noon- 5pm
Kapa`a Neighborhood Center
Free Event
Bring the very best of your seeds, plants, and cuttings to freely give in exchange, with new and old friends!
There will be free lectures, a workshop, & surprise musical guests.
for more information email
inforegenerationsbotanical.org">inforegenerationsbotanical.org
Here are some great seed saving tips for you by the International Seed Saving Institute
http://www.seedsave.org/issi/issi_904.html

Jill Richardson
Regenerations Botanical Garden
P.O. Box 1137, Kilauea, HI 96754 USA
(808) 651-0717 • (866) 216-5373 FAX
www.regenerationsbotanical.org

BIODYNAMIC FARMING AND GARDENING WORKSHOP
for all who love life and care for gardens and land of any size

Saturday, August 9, 2008
9:30 am to 5:30 pm

Spirit of the Earth Farm--Uhane Aina
in Moloa'a (between Anahola and Kilauea)

Cost $50 to $75 sliding scale (2 work-trades possible)

To register contact Marie Mauger 822-7899 or email mariemaugeryahoo.com">mariemaugeryahoo.com

Workshop Includes:
* Core principles of biodynamic farming and gardening method of Rudolf Steiner
* Basics to get started using the biodynamic method with confidence
* Film 'A Winter's Tale'
* Film 'How to Save the World--One Cow, One Farm, One Planet'
* Principles of wise care and stewardship of land
* Report on Kauai field research using biodynamics to clean-up contaminated soil
* Farm tour
* Hands-on making of compost pile
* Stirring and applying a biodynamic preparation
* Resource list
* Suggested reading list

Bring Sun/Rain gear; pen and paper; pot luck lunch
Wear Farm or garden clothes, hat, and footwear

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/Educational-Resources...
Get Smart About Sustainable Agriculture

By Alison Rogers

Let’s face it. The way the world goes about the business of agriculture is changing. Take corn, for example: A crop that once was grown only for food now triples as fuel and even a component of biodegradable plastics. This increased demand, along with many other factors, is forcing us to consider the sustainability of our current farming practices. If you eat, and chances are you do, you may be curious about better food and better methods of growing food. Or perhaps you’re even drawn to the idea of working the land on a farm, instead of doing paperwork in a cubicle. Either way, it can be tough to know where to begin. But we’re here with a plate full of resources to help you get started.

Sustainable agriculture is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Alternative Farm Systems Information Center as a system of plant and animal production practices that will satisfy human food and fiber needs while enhancing environmental quality. It is the means to ensure that the lands we farm remain productive for generations to come. The study of sustainable agriculture has made great progress, and resources abound for those who wish to learn. We’ve compiled a list of examples to get you started, from local volunteer experience to graduate university programs.
Apprenticeships, Volunteering and Workshops

The coming black plague?
Oil fuels America's agricultural might. Soon, experts fear, it could plunge the world into a food crisis.

By Tom Pelton | Sun reporter
July 20, 2008

Harvest

During harvest, farmer Edward F. Stanfield burns the equivalent of about 1,400 gallons of oil a week in his diesel tractors and combines. (Sun photo by Glenn Fawcett / July 16, 2008)

The farmer drove a diesel-powered hay baler in a circuit around his field, followed by his son on a clattering machine that grabbed the bales with metal fingers.

Edward F. Stanfield, 77, and his son, Edward B. Stanfield, 49, have followed this oil-inspired choreography for decades on their 600-acre farm in the Randallstown area of Baltimore County.

Like farmers around the world, they grow their hay, corn and soybeans with petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides, harvest them with diesel combines, pack them with oil-based plastic and ship them in diesel trucks.

The mechanized 'Green Revolution' the family joined after World War II created an explosion in food productivity that allowed global populations to multiply. But it also forged a dependence on oil that could now lead to a food crisis, a small but growing number of scholars and activists warn.