Tag Archives: climate change

#Potatoes – Crop of the Future? A discussion with Prof Anton Haverkort

Posted on 11 October 2019 by

Forty years ago, when I was working in Turkey, I met another young man called Anton Haverkort, just setting out on his career. He grew up on a potato farm in the Netherlands, studied potatoes, and came to Turkey to … Continue reading →

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The complex world of #coffee from grower to drinker – an unexpected global insight in the Pennines

Posted on 17 June 2019 by

As a non-coffee drinker, I’m not the most likely person to go on a visit to a coffee roasters. But I’m glad I did last week. I learnt a lot from Paul Meikle-Janney and Damian Blackburn of Darkwoods coffee, a … Continue reading →

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We can, but don’t, feed everyone on Earth and there’s #NoPlanetB to go to, says Mike Berners-Lee

Posted on 11 March 2019 by

We live in the anthropocene age. It’s a time when what people do changes how the Earth works – and whether it will be comfortable for us all to live on it or not. Today, humanity needs to wake up … Continue reading →

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Taking responsibility for a #sustainable #food future?

Posted on 3 December 2018 by

Whose responsibility is it to ensure we have a sustainable food future? That was the theme of this year’s food conference at Chatham House – the Royal Institute of International affairs – at the end of November 2018. The 6 … Continue reading →

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The many arguments for urgent #climate action – in 32 A5 pages

Posted on 1 June 2018 by

How do you convince governments to take more urgent action on climate change? When ministries spend so much of their time, as one ex-downing street advisor once said to me, firefighting the immediate problems of the day? The authors of … Continue reading →

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Svalbard #seed vault and #seedbanks are not enough to safeguard #agricultural #biodiversity says Patrick Mulvany

Posted on 25 April 2018 by

In this interview Patrick Mulvany argues that the seed vault in the permafrost in Svalbard (Spitzbergen) and other seed banks are not sufficient to safeguard and maintain the agricultural biodiversity we need for long term food security in the face of climate change. Continue reading →

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#Climate destabilisation and #biodiversity loss threaten our future – but too little attention is being paid to the latter

Posted on 16 February 2018 by

It seems to be a year of anniversaries for me. It’s 50 years since I went to university intending to study chemistry but then changing to study soil science. Soils are really complex physical, chemical, biological systems. Their health is … Continue reading →

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