A recent program on ABC 1, The Feral Peril, examined the evidence that foxes have got loose in Tasmania and are destroying native species. Every bit as stealthy and cunning as portrayed in the story books, foxes in Tassie continue to avoid detection leading sceptics to argue that they don't even exist.
Over and above eye-witness accounts of fox sightings and laboratories returning positive results on fox skats, what impressed me most were the words of one of the interviewees. I don't recall whether he's a landowners, scientist or conservationist, but to paraphrase what he said: Human beings are the most widespread feral animals and we have had the most destructive effect on the planet. He's right of course.
Reading Eckhart Tolle's The Power Of Now (which, by the way, I recommend to anyone keen on exploring a less ego-driven life and one with less mental chatter and distraction), he asks the reader, "Are you polluting the world or cleaning up the mess?" Because it's not just our relentless consumerism and plundering of the earth's resources that are damaging the planet and all forms of life above and below sea. Our negative thought patterns and behaviour are adding to the toxic load. Observe yourself on an average day and notice how much you complain, judge, criticise or experience feelings of anger, guilt, blame, fear or resentment. The scary thing is that we don't even know we're doing it.
We need to be mindful not just of our carbon footprint but also our emotional and energetic footprint. As Tolle says, "You are responsible for your inner space; nobody else is, just as you are responsible for the planet. As within, so without. if humans clear inner pollution, then they will also cease to create other pollution."
27 July 2009
22 July 2009
Food aid or agri-business?
The announcement at the recent G8 summit of a $15bn investment in agricultural initiatives to boost food security in the developing world sounds great on paper, but will it succeed where past interventions from the developed world have failed?
It's encouraging that the emphasis is not just on aid but on educating and assisting communities to become self-sufficient and produce food locally with access to local markets. We all know that pouring in aid without education and capacity building is not a sustainable solution.
The 1970s 'Green Revolution' when Western nations introduced industrialised high-yield farming into developing nations such as India came at a high price. The application of machinery, chemicals and mono-cropping put paid to regional varieties, mixed cropping and traditional methods of irrigating the land. Documentary-maker and journalist Barbara Summer Burstyn travelled to India with her husband, Canadian cinematographer Tom Burstyn, and biodynamic farmer Peter Proctor to produce an award-winning film One Man, One Cow, One Planet. href="http://www.cloudsouthfilms.co.nz">
I heard Barbara speak in February 2008 at the 'Taste of Slow Food Festival' in Melbourne. During her travels around India, she discovered that mechanised farming has made many farmers redundant and created high levels of personal debt. As a result the suicide rate among farmers has escalated. The environmental costs have been equally high: the accumulation of chemicals in the soil has eradicated the vital layer of topsoil. "Soil in India has become merely a means of keeping plants upright," says Barbara.
Interestingly in the context of the G8 initiative, Barbara found many of the farmers in rural areas were consistent in their message to the West: “Leave us alone: we don’t want your food aid, your GM technology or your free trade.”
Referring to big-bucks agri-business as 'anti-human' and 'anti-growth', Barbara think it is essential to maintain a bank of knowledge about traditional human-based systems, "so that we will be ready to forge ahead when everything else falls over."
And this is where the work and legacy of Peter Proctor come in. Travelling around New Zealand for many years on behalf of the Biodynamic Farming Association, Peter, now 82, gave up a comfortable retirement in New Zealand and, instead, started to travel regularly to India with his partner, Rachel, to promote the benefits of biodynamic farming. Using cow dung to enrich the soil is central to his teachings: a method which has clearly found resonance with many Indian farmers. As the old Indian saying goes: 'The Goddess of prosperity lies in cow dung.'
Let's hope that the G8 agri-dollars will be spent wisely and will respect traditional farming methods and local knowledge about climate, land, water supply and regional varieties of seed. And let's hope that the big agrochemical companies don't dictate the agenda. While GM technology may have a place in combating malnutrition, food shortage and climate change, evidence from North American farmers shows that GM crops are a liability.
Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser’s tale of GM-contaminated canola crops and his legal battle with Monsanto over patent infringement is now well known. His experience is a sobering reminder of what can happen when farmers are forced to sign away the right to their own seeds, livelihood and production methods.
href="http://www.percyschmeiser.com">
It's encouraging that the emphasis is not just on aid but on educating and assisting communities to become self-sufficient and produce food locally with access to local markets. We all know that pouring in aid without education and capacity building is not a sustainable solution.
The 1970s 'Green Revolution' when Western nations introduced industrialised high-yield farming into developing nations such as India came at a high price. The application of machinery, chemicals and mono-cropping put paid to regional varieties, mixed cropping and traditional methods of irrigating the land. Documentary-maker and journalist Barbara Summer Burstyn travelled to India with her husband, Canadian cinematographer Tom Burstyn, and biodynamic farmer Peter Proctor to produce an award-winning film One Man, One Cow, One Planet. href="http://www.cloudsouthfilms.co.nz">
I heard Barbara speak in February 2008 at the 'Taste of Slow Food Festival' in Melbourne. During her travels around India, she discovered that mechanised farming has made many farmers redundant and created high levels of personal debt. As a result the suicide rate among farmers has escalated. The environmental costs have been equally high: the accumulation of chemicals in the soil has eradicated the vital layer of topsoil. "Soil in India has become merely a means of keeping plants upright," says Barbara.
Interestingly in the context of the G8 initiative, Barbara found many of the farmers in rural areas were consistent in their message to the West: “Leave us alone: we don’t want your food aid, your GM technology or your free trade.”
Referring to big-bucks agri-business as 'anti-human' and 'anti-growth', Barbara think it is essential to maintain a bank of knowledge about traditional human-based systems, "so that we will be ready to forge ahead when everything else falls over."
And this is where the work and legacy of Peter Proctor come in. Travelling around New Zealand for many years on behalf of the Biodynamic Farming Association, Peter, now 82, gave up a comfortable retirement in New Zealand and, instead, started to travel regularly to India with his partner, Rachel, to promote the benefits of biodynamic farming. Using cow dung to enrich the soil is central to his teachings: a method which has clearly found resonance with many Indian farmers. As the old Indian saying goes: 'The Goddess of prosperity lies in cow dung.'
Let's hope that the G8 agri-dollars will be spent wisely and will respect traditional farming methods and local knowledge about climate, land, water supply and regional varieties of seed. And let's hope that the big agrochemical companies don't dictate the agenda. While GM technology may have a place in combating malnutrition, food shortage and climate change, evidence from North American farmers shows that GM crops are a liability.
Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser’s tale of GM-contaminated canola crops and his legal battle with Monsanto over patent infringement is now well known. His experience is a sobering reminder of what can happen when farmers are forced to sign away the right to their own seeds, livelihood and production methods.
href="http://www.percyschmeiser.com">
13 July 2009
Macca's Meatless Mondays
Sir Paul McCartney and his daughters have recently launched a Meatless Mondays campaign in a bid to do their bit for global warming. The methane produced by cows, sheep and pigs is far more potent than carbon dioxide. In fact, Greenpeace estimates that curbing our carniverous cravings one day a week could reduce emissions from cattle by 10 to 20 percent. That's pretty staggering and something we can all do.
A dedicated vegetarian and supporter of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), cynics might think Macca is using climate change as an excuse to boost sales of Linda McCartney's range of frozen meatless meals, but I think he's making a valid contribution to the debate. And one that is far more constructive than Jonathan Porritt's recent missive about fat people and their weighty eco-footprint.(see 'Fat is apparently a climate change issue,' 6.17.09)
The truth is that we all need to modify our lifestyles and start to conserve rather than consume the earth's resources. When people ask, 'What can I do?', the answer is everything! Change your lightbulbs to low energy ones, mulch your garden, cut down on air miles by eating seasonally and buying locally, turn the heating down a notch and put on a jumper, lobby the government, speak up about climate change, change your car to a more fuel-efficient one, stop buying products full of palm oil and other ingredients that come from raped and pillaged forests. In short, speak up. People Power works.
A dedicated vegetarian and supporter of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), cynics might think Macca is using climate change as an excuse to boost sales of Linda McCartney's range of frozen meatless meals, but I think he's making a valid contribution to the debate. And one that is far more constructive than Jonathan Porritt's recent missive about fat people and their weighty eco-footprint.(see 'Fat is apparently a climate change issue,' 6.17.09)
The truth is that we all need to modify our lifestyles and start to conserve rather than consume the earth's resources. When people ask, 'What can I do?', the answer is everything! Change your lightbulbs to low energy ones, mulch your garden, cut down on air miles by eating seasonally and buying locally, turn the heating down a notch and put on a jumper, lobby the government, speak up about climate change, change your car to a more fuel-efficient one, stop buying products full of palm oil and other ingredients that come from raped and pillaged forests. In short, speak up. People Power works.
08 July 2009
Why are we fighting so many battles?
Why is everything a struggle nowadays and why do we couch everything in such bellicose language? We're fighting wars on all fronts: obesity; drugs; alcohol; poverty; fitness; climate change; social injustice - you name it.
And now, even our leisure time is a potential war zone. A recent advertorial magazine from Tourism Australia ran with the headline, 'Win the Work/Life Battle'.
What hope have we got of creating balance in our lives when the media feeds us with subliminal negative messages? The implication is that if we don't push and strive (i.e. battle) and put huge amounts of effort into life, we won't be happy.
Conversley, sometimes the harder we try, the more elusive our goals become. Starting out with the mindset that life is an uphill battle, we're already into negative goal setting.
Take fitness. How many people pump iron and push themselves to the point of collapse in their quest to develop big muscles? Putting all their trust in that old maxim, 'there's no pain without gain', they drive their bodies harder than their cars. And cars are a lot easier to replace.
So many of us are in conflict with our bodies on all levels. We try expensive creams to delay ageing, liposuction to get rid of the flab, miracle diets to shape up, supplements and herbal extracts to give us eternal life and super foods to give us more energy.
That's why I have found it such a relief to rediscover the Feldenkrais Method. Pioneered by Israeli Moshe Feldenkrais in the 1940s and 1950s, it's about developing awareness of how you move, exploring ways of letting go of the holding patterns in your body and reconnecting your movements into a fluid whole.
Like most other people in the Western world, I hold large amounts of tension in my body - spending long hours at the computer doesn't help. In my efforts to loosen up, I've tried just about every form of exercise and method known to man: yoga of all kinds; swimming; cycling; Tai Chi; The Alexander Technique; Pilates; Bowen Therapy; Rolfing; body work; massage; aromatherapy; hot baths and a large whisky and soda, but Feldy beats them all. Check out www.feldenkrais.com.
After my first session of Feldenkrais (well the first in six years), my body started to remember how to move efficiently and I found myself singing the words of Dem Bones to myself:
Your toe bone connected to your foot bone
Your foot bone connected to your ankle bone
Your ankle bone connected to your leg bone
Your leg bone connected to your knee bone
Your knee bone connected to your thigh bone
Your thigh bone connected to your hip bone
Your hip bone connected to your back bone
Your back bone connected to your shoulder bone
Your shoulder bone connected to your neck bone
Your neck bone connected to your head bone
Did you know that the words are based on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, 37,1-14?
And now, even our leisure time is a potential war zone. A recent advertorial magazine from Tourism Australia ran with the headline, 'Win the Work/Life Battle'.
What hope have we got of creating balance in our lives when the media feeds us with subliminal negative messages? The implication is that if we don't push and strive (i.e. battle) and put huge amounts of effort into life, we won't be happy.
Conversley, sometimes the harder we try, the more elusive our goals become. Starting out with the mindset that life is an uphill battle, we're already into negative goal setting.
Take fitness. How many people pump iron and push themselves to the point of collapse in their quest to develop big muscles? Putting all their trust in that old maxim, 'there's no pain without gain', they drive their bodies harder than their cars. And cars are a lot easier to replace.
So many of us are in conflict with our bodies on all levels. We try expensive creams to delay ageing, liposuction to get rid of the flab, miracle diets to shape up, supplements and herbal extracts to give us eternal life and super foods to give us more energy.
That's why I have found it such a relief to rediscover the Feldenkrais Method. Pioneered by Israeli Moshe Feldenkrais in the 1940s and 1950s, it's about developing awareness of how you move, exploring ways of letting go of the holding patterns in your body and reconnecting your movements into a fluid whole.
Like most other people in the Western world, I hold large amounts of tension in my body - spending long hours at the computer doesn't help. In my efforts to loosen up, I've tried just about every form of exercise and method known to man: yoga of all kinds; swimming; cycling; Tai Chi; The Alexander Technique; Pilates; Bowen Therapy; Rolfing; body work; massage; aromatherapy; hot baths and a large whisky and soda, but Feldy beats them all. Check out www.feldenkrais.com.
After my first session of Feldenkrais (well the first in six years), my body started to remember how to move efficiently and I found myself singing the words of Dem Bones to myself:
Your toe bone connected to your foot bone
Your foot bone connected to your ankle bone
Your ankle bone connected to your leg bone
Your leg bone connected to your knee bone
Your knee bone connected to your thigh bone
Your thigh bone connected to your hip bone
Your hip bone connected to your back bone
Your back bone connected to your shoulder bone
Your shoulder bone connected to your neck bone
Your neck bone connected to your head bone
Did you know that the words are based on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, 37,1-14?
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