1. Lab-grown meat could be 25 times worse for the climate than beef

Mai 2023 | UC Davis

Study Finds Scaling Up Production Using Existing Processes Highly Energy-Intensive: "According to a new life cycle assessment, meat produced from cultured cells could be 25 times worse for the climate than regular beef. Lab-grown or “cultivated” meat is made by growing animal stem cells around a scaffold in a nutrient-rich broth. It has been proposed as a kinder and greener alternative to traditional meat because it uses less land, feed, water and antibiotics than animal farming and removes the need to farm and slaughter livestock, which are a source of greenhouse gases. However, Derrick Risner at the University of California, Davis, and colleagues conducted a life-cycle assessment of cultivated meat that estimated the energy used in each step in current production methods. They found that the nutrient broth used to culture the animal cells has a large carbon footprint because it contains components like sugars, growth factors, salts, amino acids and vitamins that each come with energy costs. GMWatch warned about these issues with lab grown meat back in January 2020."

2. Waldgärten: Dieser Garten muss weder gegossen noch gedüngt werden

Juli 2023 | TagesAnzeiger

"Waldgärten sind gut für die Biodiversität – zudem sind sie essbar. Jetzt wird das Konzept aus den Tropen auch hierzulande immer populärer.

Ein Wald als Garten – das hat Zukunft, finden jene, die es ausprobieren. Waldgärten sind noch wenig bekannt, geschweige denn verbreitet. In der Schweiz versuchen vorwiegend Leute aus der Permakulturbewegung, die Prinzipien von Waldgärten anzuwenden, auf hiesige Bedingungen anzupassen und die Idee bekannter zu machen. "

ENGLISH ARTICLE IN THE CONVERSATION ON FOOD FORESTS IN THE US

3. Bringing back neglected crops: A food and climate solution for Africa

Juni 2023 | GM Watch

"As the food and climate crises continue to cause suffering around the world, one under-appreciated solution — neglected crops — could be a powerful tool to alleviate both crises in one of the worst affected regions: Africa. Neglected crops — including grains such as sorghum and millet and vegetables such as amaranth, eggplant, and kale — are also known as “indigenous”, “lost”, “native”, “orphan”, “traditional”, or “underutilised” crops, or as ingredients in “forgotten foods”. These terms capture various aspects of these important crops: They are indigenous or native to a specific region (e.g., regions in Africa); they have traditionally been the basis for highly nutritious foods, but over time, they were lost or forgotten by many and thus orphaned; and they are now underutilised by farmers and producers and, likewise, neglected by consumers, plant breeders, policymakers, and donors."

4. Pesticide firms withheld brain toxicity studies from EU regulators, study finds

Juni 2023 | The Guardian

"Pesticide companies failed to disclose a series of studies assessing brain toxicity to European regulators, according to new research, despite the same studies having been submitted to US regulators. When the EU authorities were made aware of the studies, between 14 and 21 years after they were conducted, new safety limits were applied in some cases and evaluation is still under way in other cases."

5. Ernst Götsch – ein Schweizer pflügt Monokultur auf bio um

Juli 2023 | SwissInfo

"Ein ausgewanderter Agronome lehrt die Welt, wie Landwirtschaft künftig gehen könnte. Ernst Götsch nennt seine Methode Syntropie. Sie verbreitet sich in Brasilien rasant. Götschs Jünger machen ihn zur Ikone."

6. Gene scissors found to cause chaos in the genome of tomatoes

Juni 2023 | Testbiotech

"Recent scientific findings have revealed chromothripsis-like effects after the application of CRISPR/Cas in the genome of tomatoes. Chromothripsis refers to a phenomenon in which often several hundred genetic changes occur simultaneously in a 'catastrophic' event. Many sections of the genetic material can be swapped, twisted, recombined or even lost if this occurs."

7. Diversity, Mutuality, Non-Violence & Care – An Ecofeminist Manifesto

March 2023 | Navdanya International

"Women activists, scientists and scholars are at the forefront of shaping new scientific and economic paradigms to reclaim seed sovereignty and food security across the world. As seed keepers and food producers, as mothers and consumers, women are engaged in renewing a food system that is better aligned with the ecological processes of the earth’s renewal, the laws of human rights and social justice, and the means through which bodies may stay well and healthy.

It is time that those in power start listening to the women and the small-scale farmers protecting their plants, seeds and cooperating with Mother Nature to live in harmony with the Earth. Food is life, and it will continue to be defended. Diverse women stand for the promotion, protection and practice of diversity: biological, cultural, economic, political, and knowledge."

8. ‘Women bear the biggest brunt of climate change,’ says climate scientist Susan Chomba

Juni 2023 | The Guardian

"She leads a team of 100 at a non-profit with operations across Africa and says climate has been seen through a male perspective for too long."

9. Umstrittene CO₂-Kompensationen: Ein Wald voller Versprechen

August 2023 | SWI/SRF

"Schweizer Unternehmen South Pole in der Kritik: Intransparente Geldflüsse, wenig Impact vor Ort – die Realität hinter einem der grössten CO₂-Kompensationsprojekte."

10. Gentechnik - wie wichtig ist die Kennzeichnung?

Juli 2023 | Angelika Hilbeck in 3Sat Nano

"Künftig keine Kennzeichung mehr für gentechnisch veränderte Nutzpflanzen? Was würde dies bedeuten? Wir sprechen mit Agrarökologin Angelika Hilbeck."

11. Differenzieren zwischen Ausbildung und Bildung in der Agrarpolitik

Mai 2023 | Agrarpolitik-Podcast

"Im Agrarpolitik-Podcast wirft Agrarhistoriker Peter Moser einen Blick zurück. Er zeigt, wie sich Aus- und Weiterbildung entwickelt hat und weshalb es sich lohnt, über die Unterscheidung von Bildung und Ausbildung nachzudenken.

Peter Moser ist Leiter und Initiant des Archivs für Agrargeschichte – einer unabhängigen Institution, die in der Archivierung und der historischen Forschung tätig ist und der erste Gast, den wir zum zweiten Mal im Agrarpolitik-Podcast begrüssen dürfen. Weil er als Historiker einen fundierten Blick in die Vergangenheit werfen kann und weil er dank präzisen Analysen dazu einlädt, über die Diskussion nachzudenken; also darüber, was wie und vom wem (nicht) gesagt wird.

Peter Moser differenziert zwischen Ausbildung (einen Abschluss erhalten) und Bildung (Lösungen suchen) sowie zwischen Wissen und Information. Er erklärt den Einfluss der Industrialisierung auf die landwirtschaftliche Bildung und warum in der Landwirtschaft mehr Reflexion über den eigenen Gegenstand (also was Landwirtschaft überhaupt ist) wünschenswert und sinnvoll wäre."

12. Real Zero pathways or dangerous distractions? Why geoengineering & risky removals are no path to 1.5

Juni 2023 | UN Climate Change - Events (Video)

"Geoengineering and carbon removal offsets fail to reduce emissions and lead to temperature overshoot with serious impacts to Indigenous Peoples’ and Women's rights, as well as the right to food. Observing rights and ceasing CO2 expansion has proven our most effective course of action.

Speakers: Thomas Joseph, Indigenous Environmental Network; Rachel Rose Jackson, CAI/Demand Climate Justice; Serayna Solanki, HOME Alliance; Erika Lennon, CIEL, IATP/CLARA; Melissa Moreano, Life/Gender Climate Constituency; Silvia Ribeiro, ETC group"