Question
I love the smell of Stinking Roger, but my neighbour says it’s a weed to get rid of. Please do tell me what use I can make of it.
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Tag Archives: Food security
Towards A National Food Plan
Draft notes for Queensland Conservation’s submission to aid in the development of a National Food Plan. The final draft was submitted by QC on 2.9.11…
Beerwah Farm
Introduction
A National Food Plan is vital for Australia’s ongoing food sovereignty.
Food Sovereignty may be defined as a nation’s self-sufficiency in food, where affordable staples are made available to its people irrespective of their age, personal wealth, or place of residence.
Without a well-researched National Food Plan the long-term outlook for Australian food sovereignty is not good. Our nation produces a relatively small food surplus in good years, mostly meat and grains, sufficient to feed between 30-40 million. This is a small amount of food compared to current and predicted global population statistics.
Australia covers 7.7 million km2, our fossil soils are infertile and 3 billion years old, and our current population is 22.4 million. In a good year we produce a surplus of grains and meat sufficient to provision another 30 – 40 million people. By contrast the neighbouring island of Java covers 1.9 million km2 (1.8 times the size of the state of Victoria), its volcanic soils are young, fertile and well watered, and its current population is 138 million. In a good year, Java is almost self-sufficient in most staple foods.
Threatened Lunch…‘Convict’ Lettuce And Subtropical Leeks
Today I received confirmation from the head gardener at Buckingham Palace that the Royal Household will be growing ‘First Fleet’ lettuce once more in Britain. Carried from Britain by the First Fleet to be cultivated at Sydney’s First Farm in 1788, this doughty traditional vegetable has since disappeared from Britain’s market gardens.
I love this lettuce for two reasons. Firstly, generations of Australian gardeners have acclimatised this cool temperate plant to suit our various climatic regions, from warm temperate Sydney to subtropical Brisbane. Secondly, unlike most other leafy vegetables, whenever I grow ‘First Fleet’ lettuce it never gets attacked by pests like aphids and caterpillars. And that makes me a happy organic gardener.
Catalyst – Informing Growers And Conservationists About Climate Change
Gardeners, farmers, conservationists and planners should watch this recent segment produced by ABC’s ‘Catalyst’ show on how climate change is affecting the health of our harvests.
Rising CO2 levels will mean: Continue Reading →
Book Launch: ‘Love, Mary’ – A Thinking Person’s Christmas Gift
“And the lungfish moves unwittingly midst the calm of Mary’s reeds, unaware of politicians and other such damning breeds…”
The official Book Launch of ‘Love, Mary’ will be held in West End, Brisbane at ‘The Avid Reader’ bookshop on the 4th of December. I’ll be introducing the LNP’s David Gibson, MP for Gympie, and Greens MP Ronan Lee as they launch the book.
The Mary River now has its own book to share its story as one of the last remaining rivers still flowing relatively freely in south-east Queensland. Although the dam proposal has now been ‘delayed’, this book will continue the momentum of the campaign to save the Mary River, aiming to stop the proposed dam completely. Continue Reading →
Polluter Pays?
Storm Clouds approaching Bellis…
While politicians bicker about the ‘cost’ of sustainable action, the balance sheet changes under their feet.
A Dutch environmental consultancy has revealed that the coal industry is costing the international community $170 billion damage each year due to natural disasters caused by Global Warming.
Warming is one disaster. Ocean acidification is another gift of fossil fuels. Rising carbon dioxide levels are increasing acidity in the oceans more than ten times faster than scientists thought, posing a greater threat to shell-forming creatures such as coral, crustacea and shellfish. Continue Reading →
Driving To The Grocery Store Brings Famine To Your Neighbour
Suddenly the UN, which has spent years warning world leaders that we would reach Peak Food early this century, are being listened to. The UN has accurately described how, where and who would be hit by famine.
I recently wrote a piece in The Organic Gardener about this topic because home food gardeners have role to play in food security as oil prices rocket and harvests become less reliable. Since 2000, the last six out of seven global harvests have failed to feed our rising global population.
