The Environment.
There is no planet B but as a species we are behaving as if there are several spares. Here are some action ideas to help us "tread more lightly on the earth".
- Earth - Plant a tree. Grow some food. Waste less and compost what's left. Feed a bee. Reduce meat consumption.
- Plants and animals - Protect endangered species. Support neighbourhood wildlife.
- Rivers and Seas - Protect rivers, Save our seas. Water is life. Our blue planet.
- Air - Cut greenhouse gases. Switch to renewable electricity. Cut local pollution.
Food and Climate Change.
All food production should be environmentally sustainable and socially just. Genetically modified food should be banned until independent research proves it is beneficial. There should be an end to all food waste.
As the World Economic Forum notes:
Food, energy and climate change are fundamentally linked, through fertilizer production, methane emissions and more.
Geopolitical and climate shocks will become more common, and public-private cooperation in the food system is necessary to build resilience.
The global food system is unique in that it presents a significant opportunity to actually fight climate change while improving resilience and accessibility of food, at local and international levels.
According to the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, humanity, faced with the threat of irreversible tipping points in the climate system, is looking for options to rapidly reduce the rate of warming - with the most viable approach being to dramatically reduce methane emissions. Ultimate success will be dependent on which measures can be executed within the next 10 years, which according to science, is the critical time frame for slowing the rate and level of warming. Thanks to the short atmospheric lifetime of methane, strong methane emission reductions in the short term (between 2020 and 2030) can generate a significant impact on limiting the global mean temperature increase.
The United Nations notes that what we eat, and how that food is produced, affects our health and the environment. Food needs to be grown and processed, transported, distributed, prepared, consumed, and sometimes disposed of. Each of these steps creates greenhouse gases that trap the sun’s heat and contribute to climate change.
About a third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions is linked to food production. The largest proportion of food-related greenhouse gas comes from agriculture and land use. This includes:
- methane from cattle’s digestive process.
- nitrous oxide from fertilisers used for crop production.
- carbon dioxide from cutting down forests for the expansion of farmland.
- agricultural emissions from manure management and rice cultivation.
- burning of crop residues, and the use of fuel on farms.
Here are some links to useful food resources
All About Allotments:
http://www.allaboutallotments.co.uk/
Apply to your local council for an allotment to grow your own food: https://www.gov.uk/apply-allotment https://www.gov.uk/apply-allotment
Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF): leading UK organisation promoting sustainable agriculture, food and farming.
Real Junk Food Project: a global and national network of pay as you feel cafes which use food destined for waste to create healthy meals.
https://www.trjfpcentral.co.uk
Real Junk Food Project: listing of cafes in the Midlands which use food destined for waste to create healthy meals.
Soil Association: UK charity campaigning for healthy, humane and sustainable food, farming and land use. https://www.soilassociation.org/
World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF): links volunteers with organic farmers and growers in the UK and abroad to promote educational experiences based on non monetary exchanges. http://www.wwoof.net/
WRAP (Waste and Resource Action Programme): a UK charity working to reduce waste. https://www.wrap.ngo
Slow Food Birmingham. http://slowfoodbirmingham.co.uk
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