Rainforest to save lovers of chewing gum?

A bonus of the new gum for Britain's local authorities is that it will be biodegradable and start to break down almost immediately after use, potentially saving councils millions in pavement cleaning bills. The chicozapote tree is about to tapped for its resin. It doesn’t do as much damage as deforestation for farming or building and may provide jobs for some people. You can read more here and see a slide show with commentary here.

Tropical Rainforest Destruction

At 770,000 square miles (two million sq km), the Congo Basin contains an estimated 26 per cent of the world's remaining rainforest and has been described as the world's “second lung”. Logging, the spread of agriculture and human population rises are the biggest threats.It is estimated that the forest is home to 50 million people, 10,000 species of plants, 1,000 species of birds and 400 species of mammals.

A log barge travels down the river here.The Congo’s forests are very important for its inhabitants, who depend upon the rainforests to provide essential food, medicine, and other non-timber products, along with energy and building materials. A large area of forest cleared by loggers can also be seen above. The United Nations estimates that two-thirds of the forest will have vanished by the year 2040.

Look at the Guardian’s interactive page on this issue here. Click the image above.

Rice shortage

The global rice shortage has prompted one leading supermarket to ration sales to shoppers. Rice is as much a staple of the modern British diet as bread and potatoes.
So the news that supermarket chain Lidl has decided to ration sales to 20kg per family has sent ominous rumblings through the nation's stomachs.
Read what the alternatives are here

The world food crisis

How the west could stave off disaster.
The international community is talking hopefully of a "second green revolution."
1986, 20% of foreign aid spent by rich countries was devoted to agriculture in the developing world. By 2006, that share had shrunk to less than 3%.
African governments, currently spend less than 5% of their budgets on supporting farming and the rural people, despite the fact that these are the poorest two-thirds of their populations.
There is also the creeping disaster of climate change with competition for land and resources from biofuels and the controversial problem of GM crops. The crisis will require consideration of long and short term solutions.
The Guardian has a superb article on this topic. See here for details

Green Revolution

There are problems in the Indian region of Punjab, where science once seemed to have found answers for a hungry world. They use pesticides and fertilizers as part of the Green Revolution. The sprays all have instructions demanding that they should only be used with face masks and protective clothing. But the farm workers here do not use protective equipment, and they spray far more than the recommended amount. High oil prices, drought, over-intensive farming leading to lower yields, increased food demand in India and China and the loss of land to biofuels have all played their part in ending the long period of cheap food that the world has enjoyed for the past 30 years. Read article here.

Rural Change in the UK

Good introduction here to the changes which have taken place over the last couple of thousand years in Britain and the impact these have had on the countryside. This is a potential Higher question folks. Watch the whole movie if you can and then read the info -the written text is better for us than the movie but the film is beautifully done. Explore the tabs at the top especially all the sections of the “modern” section. Changes in the structure of agricultural support, which started in 2005 meant far reaching changes for British and European agriculture. In practice this means that farm support is no longer be linked to production. Support is independent of the number of livestock carried or the hectares of a crop grown and made through a Single Farm Payment (SFP) based on the historic production claims of the years 2000 – 2002.

Integrated Farm Management (IFM)Integrated Farm Management is a whole farm system providing efficient and profitable production that is environmentally responsible. IFM works by integrating beneficial natural processes into modern farming techniques and ensures that high standards of stewardship and environmental care are practiced. Practitioners of IFM need to be able to clearly demonstrate improvement to the quality of soil, water, air, wildlife habitat and the landscape. Read more about this by clicking on the Key Subjects link to the left of the page and then under the “Issues” tab on Integrated Farming. Lots of good stuff here for S grade as well as Higher / Int 2. Link here.

Green Revolution

This one is against the green revolution


This one is in favour of it


Lots of emotive language used here. Make up your own mind. Read this article about Rice farming also. There is a great summary here from the Punjab in India for you to use. Read about the green revolution then find out about the White revolution. I have to admit this one was a new one for me too!

Rainforest Destruction

Two good videos here showing what is going on. I love the first one. Would you like this happening to your home?

Rainforest Carve up
Love the spiffing accent!

Tropical Rainforest Desstruction

Worrying trend on rainforest destruction
Read this article here to see why the situation is just as bad now despite all the information we have about the dangers of Rainforest destruction.

Chicken farming to change in Britain .

A campaign to raise the standards of chicken production has been launched by chefs, the RSPCA and an animal rights group. Farmers in the UK will have to stop battery farming their egg-laying chickens by 2012, under new government proposals. A wee video relevant for S3 doing the farming unit at the moment and for S4 to revise is found here. This article here tells you what factory farming means and why it is cruel to the animals and the government has now agreed.

Anatomy of a rainforest

BBC News science correspondent David Shukman has been looking at the effects of deforestation on Borneo's rainforests. The tropical rainforests - running in a belt around the Equator from the Amazon, through Congo to South-East Asia - are not only a vast store of carbon, but also have a direct impact on global weather patterns.
The problem is that the "rainforests are worth more dead than alive"Read these articles here and here. Here is a good video as well which is great for S4. Click the diagram below.And this video of the understorey is useful too. This one shows the forest floor and explains why those trees grow so tall.

Store wars

May the Farm be with you - a funny video featuring Cuke Skywalker, Princess Lettuce, Ham Solo and other brave vegetables!Just have a look at this one. I’ll not comment ‘til later. I like Ham Solo though! click here.

One farm, one family

This case study in Devon has lots of amazing information on how farming has changed over the last 350 years and how agribusiness as well as more recent issues of foot and mouth and changing EU legislation have affected farming. If you don’t have time or really face reading all the info at least listen to the videos from each person. Go into these sections.

Farming: A family tradition
Farming: Where it's at
This is brill for S grade farming, Higher Rural which we will cover soon and Int 2 conflict. click the link on the photo above.

The lost tribe now found

Is this the last sighting of these rare people? Perhaps this will be the end of this remote nomadic tribe since the state in Peru want their land. Should they be forced off their land or should they be protected? What do you think? Watch the video here.

Soil Association Organic Food Fortnight

The Soil Association Organic Fortnight 2007 runs from 1-16 September

For over sixty years the Soil Association has been busy working with communities across the UK to help local people get better access to local food.
In the wake of recent food scares, BSE and the devastating foot and mouth outbreak, more and more questions are being asked about the future of British agriculture.

Have a look at the site below for more details. S3 will be looking at this soon for the Farming section of S grade.

Soil and farming