Tag Archives: season

How to Start Your Own Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) Business

by cazatrobfq Posted on April 23, 2016

You share bumper crops of tomatoes and peppers with the neighbors, turn berries into jam, and bake countless loaves of zucchini bread to keep fresh produce from going to waste. Whether youre an experienced gardener eager to share the harvest or a homesteader looking to make a profit from your backyard bounty, starting a CSA might be the answer.

CSA stands for community-supported agriculture. Farmers use this model to sell shares of their harvest to supporters. In exchange for a flat fee paid upfront, subscribers receive weekly (or bi-weekly) boxes of produce throughout the season that can be picked up at predetermined locations at set times.

Growers benefit from having guaranteed income and capital to purchase seeds and other supplies, and subscribers get access to a diverse array of fresh fruits and vegetables for an entire growing season.

While the CSA model is popular, you should know a few things before signing up subscribers.

Preparing for Success

Starting a CSA is not an undertaking for beginning gardeners. Subscribers purchase shares with the expectation of receiving fresh produce all season long, which means you need the experience to deliver.

A CSA is a business, and its important to consider the following issues.

Check local zoning laws:On a farm, it might not be a problem to have subscribers stopping by to pick up their shares. If your garden or homestead is in a residential neighborhood (or subject to HOA rules), on-site distribution might be prohibited. If this is the case, arrange for an alternate pickup location. A local farm-to-table restaurant may agree to allow subscribers to collect their shares there; delivering shares is another option. Youll also need to check with the city or county to determine whether you need a business license to sell fruits and vegetables.

Establish Agreements:Some CSA operators have written agreements for subscribers spelling out the price of the share, the length of the season, what is included with each share, and pickup times and locations.

Its also a good idea to outline some of the risks in a written agreement. Some crops may fail, and others may exceed expectations; subscribers need to understand that their shares could include a lot of kale and no tomatoes and that subscribing to a CSA means taking on a share of the risk. A University of Illinois professor of agricultural law developed a model CSA agreement that is available as a free download.

Put Safety First:Make sure you understand and follow state and federal guidelines for safe food handling and storage.

Cover Your Assets:Research insurance options. You want to be covered if a subscriber gets sick from something in their CSA share or gets injured while picking up their produce from the garden.

Planning the Harvest

The success of a CSA depends on good planning. Subscribers will expect to receive equal amounts of produce throughout the season, not a few heads of lettuce in the spring, dozens of vegetable varieties in the summer, and a handful of turnips in the fall.

CSAs often operate for 20 weeks; most also offer 10-week (or half-season) shares. Plan to have multiple crops available throughout the season.

As a general rule, each share should contain 10 to 20 pounds of fruits and vegetables. To provide a diverse array of produce, aim to harvest between five and 12 different types of produce each week. Use these numbers to plan the number of available shares your garden can accommodate.

Consider planting multiple varieties of the same type of vegetable. Some tomato varieties make great slicers, others are perfect for sauces and canning, and some, such as purple, black, or striped varieties, are just offbeat enough to wow subscribers. Dont forget about herbs, which offer a nice complement to fresh produce.

To help with planning, consider using an online tool. The Old Farmers Almanac Smart Gardener and Mother Earth News both offer online planners that show sowing and harvesting times based on hardiness zones to help ensure an impressive array of crops in each weeks share.

Setting the Price

The cost per share should be fair for subscribers, and it should provide enough capital to cover your costs.

The most basic method of establishing the cost per share is estimating the market price of the produce included in an average share and multiplying it by the number of weeks in a share. In other words, if a subscriber would spend $20 at the farmers market to purchase an equivalent amount of produce included in one weekly box, set the price at $200 for a half share (10 weeks) and $400 for a full share (20 weeks).

Do some quick calculations to ensure that the cost per share is enough to cover the cost of soil, seeds, and other supplies while providing a fair income for the work that goes into growing vegetables as well as marketing and managing the CSA.

Recruiting Subscribers

Once the number of available shares is calculated, its time to sign up subscribers.

Spread the word about the CSA to friends, neighbors, and co-workers; post on social media; and create flyers that include the share price, length of the season, and what types of produce will be available. Dont forget to include information about how people can sign up!

As the CSA grows, consider starting a newsletter that includes updates on the crops, photos, recipes, and information about washing, storing, and preserving produce in weekly boxes.

Maintaining Momentum

Operating a CSA is a lot of work. The good news is that you dont have to operate solo.

Some farms offer a discount on shares in exchange for volunteer labor. While an extra set of hands might sound appealing, subscribers might not be well versed in growing vegetables, and they could need a lot of direction and training to be of value; keep this in mind before inviting subscribers to work for food. A better bet is partnering with another homesteader or experienced backyard gardener to trade responsibilities and share revenues.

Co-operating a CSA can also mean expanding the types of products included in the share. If a neighbor raises chickens or bees, you could supplement the fresh produce youre growing with eggs or honey from their homestead.

At the end of the season, ask subscribers to fill out a survey about their experience. The information you gather can help you plan crops, tweak pick-up times or locations, and adjust pricing or share sizes before the next season.

Source: Fix.com

Written by Jodi Helmer. Reposted with permission from Fix.com.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Continue reading here:  

How to Start Your Own Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) Business

Posted in alo, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, PUR, Radius, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How to Start Your Own Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) Business

9 Ways You Can Get Cheap Organic Food

by RosalinaWard49 Posted on February 24, 2016

Organic foods have been shown to have higher nutrient contents and significantly lower amounts of toxic pesticide residues than foods grown using non-organic methods. Unfortunately, fresh and prepared organic foods are often sold at a higher price than their mainstream counterparts.

You dont have to pay a premium to buy organic food. Many options exist to keep healthy, organic food affordable.

1. Plan ahead

This may be tough for some of us, but planning your meals ahead of time can be a big money-saver. When you have a clear shopping list, youll be less likely to impulse buy expensive items you dont need.

Try writing down a list of what meals youll be preparing for the upcoming week. It doesnt have to be perfect, as long as you have an idea of the main ingredients youll need on hand. You can also try to make extra portions and freeze them for later.

This will help to make sure you use all the food you buy. If you buy food you dont have a plan for, its easier to let it sit unused and expire or go to waste.

2. Buy seasonal produce

The best place to find seasonal produce is at your local farmers markets. They typically bring freshly harvested produce, which will be at its nutritional peak. You can often buy in larger amounts for a reduced price. There may also be end of the day clearance sales of remaining products the farmers simply dont want to take home.

Grocery stores can also bring in seasonal, local produce. Sometimes these are available at reduced, bulk prices as well.

Another great option for finding seasonal organic produce is you-pick farms. Depending on where you live, you may be able to pick your own organic vegetables, fruit and berries. You-picks tend to have much lower prices per pound than in-store produce.

3. Find bulk foods where possible

Many communities have stores that specialize in bulk foods. Larger grocery stores also often have bulk foods sections that include organic items.

You can typically find lots of organic staples in bulk at good prices, such as beans, grains, dried fruit, nuts and seeds. If you can buy larger amounts at one time, the cost is usually lower.

Keeping your kitchen well-stocked with foods you use on a regular basis will help make meal preparation easier. You also wont need to buy last-minute items in small amounts, which are more expensive.

4. Look for no-name, in-store organic products

Many grocery stores will have their own lines of organic products. This can include prepared foods, such as condiments, canned foods or juices. Some stores even offer their own brand of organic produce.

These products are often priced very competitively compared to organic name-brands.

5. Make use of technology

We have a lot of different modern options to help out with saving money on food costs.

Websites like Living Rich With Coupons, My Grocery Deals and My Simon can automatically compare prices of foods available in regular and online stores.

Coupons are another good way to keep food costs down. You can use flyers from junk mail sent to your house or there are various websites where you can print coupons online, such as Living Rich With Coupons or Coupons.com.

Another way to save is by signing up for rewards and point programs some stores offer. These typically give you points every time you buy something in the store, which can be collected and used to buy more products later.

6. Broaden your definition of organic

Some farmers are committed to organic growing principles, but are not certified due to various reasons. The official organic certification process can be expensive and time-consuming. There is also the criticism that organically certified farms may still cheat and the regulations are not strict enough.

Getting to know your local farmers is a great way to find out more about their growing practices. Those who grow organically, but are not certified, will often be happy to tell you about their own processes for keeping their crops healthy and controlling pests naturally.

Their prices will also potentially be less than those who are officially certified organic.

7. Join a CSA near you

CSA stands for community supported agriculture. With these programs, you often pay a farmer a yearly or monthly fee and receive a box of produce every week or two for the entire growing season. Some CSAs will also operate year round, providing vegetables stored through the winter.

Some CSAs are certified organic, although smaller operations may simply follow organic practices and be uncertified. Ask your local CSA to find out more about them.

8. Grow your own

If you have an interest in gardening, growing your own produce is likely the cheapest option for eating organic. You also know exactly what products, such as compost, were used to grow your crop.

Seeds are fairly cheap, and many organic seed varieties are available. Most seed packages contain enough seed to last for a few years of crops.

Even if you dont have property of your own, find out if there is a community garden where you could rent a plot. Or check if there are any volunteering opportunities locally where you can share a portion of the harvest.

Exchanging crops with friends can be an efficient way to grow more varieties of food. For instance, you could commit to growing enough lettuce and potatoes to share with a few friends, and they would each grow other types of veggies that would also be shared.

9. Preserve your own produce

Canning, freezing and dehydrating are all excellent and affordable ways to preserve fresh organic foods. This allows you to buy in larger quantities at lower prices and create nutritious, convenient supplies you can use all year.

Canning supplies can be easily found secondhand, and canning jars can be consistently re-used. The only expense for freezing is buying freezer bags. A dehydrator can also be found secondhand or if you get a new one, it will be a one-time investment.

Hosting preserving parties can be a fun way to share a harvest with your friends and family. You can also get together and buy bulk quantities of produce together to lower everyones costs.

Related
6 Hearty Vegan Chili Recipes For Any Season
15 Reasons to Eat Organic Food
Top 10 Eco-Friendly Reasons to Buy Organic Meat & Diary

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Source:

9 Ways You Can Get Cheap Organic Food

Posted in alo, eco-friendly, Everyone, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, organic, Prepara, PUR, Radius, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 9 Ways You Can Get Cheap Organic Food

9 Tips for a Magical, Eco-Friendly Holiday Season

by KoryP257451363 Posted on December 4, 2015

The irony of the holiday season is not lost on me.

How did we get from a symbolic meal of abundance, sharing, community, gratitude and family to people literally shoving anyone in their pathto get in the doors of a store on Thanksgiving Day?

It’s not the magic of the season I recall. We were definitely spoiled with a lot of gifts when I was a kid at Christmas, but being together with family remained the central theme. Little rituals like football with dad, or trying to help my frantic mother with the Thanksgiving dinner,or wrapping gifts with big bro at midnight on Christmas eve, while listening to cool tunes and getting educated on various nuances of rock history (listen to my brother’s excellent, entertaining AND educational radio show, Uncle Buggy Radio Show). These are the things I look back on with that gooey, tingly, warm and fuzzy glow. Do I remember the gifts? No, not so much.

I knew the gift was being with my family, even if we were at odds or snarking at each other or someone was too drunk. I knew this for sure after my father died and the magic went kind of dark, then many family members evacuated the planet in rapid succession, which demolished the holidays for me — for a time.

My well-meaning older sister fought hard to keep us all together and recreate the scenes of our youth, but it never really worked. As my children appeared (as if by magic in this story), I knew it was up to me to create meaningful holidays for them (and for the purpose of this post, “holidays” = Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years).

It was my turn to become the standard bearer of this season and set the backdrop of great memories for my offspring. Daunting task. It has evolved over the 30 years since my first was born (wow, can you imagine what I was like as a teen mom? just kidding . . . but I don’t feel as old as all this makes me sound!). Now I have a new role as a Ya Ya (grandmother), and as a green diva, it’s also about making the most eco-friendly holiday possible.

My motto now is buy less, make more, and when I have to buy, I buy local and if I can’t buy local I make for damned sure it is sustainably made, recyclable, and as eco-friendly as possible!

Watch this short and silly Green Divas holiday message, then read on for more ideas!

Here are a few ways to create magic and meaning in the holiday seasonwhilereducing theimpact on momma earth…

1. Peace starts within ~ if I want to have a more peaceful and fun holiday season, I have to take darn good care of myself from the inside out. It’s a marathon not a sprint, so take good care and it will be a lot easier for you and those around you! Read my post about personal energy conservation for the holidays.

2. Remembering the Reason for the Season ~ whatever holiday you celebrate, try not to be sucked into the commercial marketing aspect of it or the expectations of those that ARE sucked in. Be who you are and shine your love on those around you. No really. I’m not going to get too philosophical, but I’m not sure if there is any religion or belief system (that is a positive one) that being kind and loving and generous isn’t a theme.

3. Make stuff ~ I do a lot of holiday preparation with my kids now. From Thanksgiving dishes to holiday crafts, and at least one of my daughters has begun her own creative traditions. Spending time with them coming up with crafty and creative ideas and then sitting around making stuff is probably my very favorite thing to do over the holiday season. Make this amazing vegan hot cocoa gift for friends and family (and yourself). It’s always a huge hit!

4.Buy less ~ I stopped buying crappy plastic stocking stuffers and filler years ago, and I spend a lot of time coming up with USEFUL and cool items, many of which are locally crafted (by real artisans as opposed to my goofy attempts). As a family, we decided years ago to give up the multi-gift crazed thing for Christmas and just focus on handmade items and stockings. We spend less money, consume less packaging in store-bought items, and use much less wrapping paper, but we all have a great time getting creative. I prefer getting a few meaningful gifts than a mess of haphazard (even expensive) gifts.

5. Regift ~ seems like a cardinal sin or something, but honestly, we just have way too much stuff and there’s no reason to generate more stuff! I have jewelry to pass down to my girls, or books or special things from my mother and grandmother that have infinitelymore meaning to them than anything I could buy at the store (well almost anything).

6. Buy local ~ I rarely go into a shopping mall EVER, but I have not stepped foot in a mall betweenThanksgiving and New Years in many years now. I have my favorite local shops I go to for the few gifts I don’t make or regift. I am fortunate that I live an an extremely cool little town and I enjoy visiting the store owners and sharing my dollars with them, especially during the holiday season.

7. Stick to healthy routines ~ it’s a wonderful season to visit with friends and family and attend all those fun parties, butit’s not necessary to toss out all your healthy ways (or become the super annoying vegan drag at the party). There are a lot of ways to maintain balance even if your friends and family are not. Here’s a fun Green Divas Foodie-Philes featuring Jerry James Stone about how he has a healthy vegan/vegetarian holiday season:

8. Ease up on the decorations ~ for the love of whatever god you believe in (0r none at all), PLEASE don’t create a blow-up doll village on your lawn! I’m sure I’ve offended someone (sorry), but they are probably manufactured in China of questionable plastic fabric, and they use up more energy than we should be wasting on this stuff. Minimize the blazing lights not only for the energy savings, but there is a thing called light pollution, which is serious and we could light up the sky with some neighborhoods that compete for who can be most creative with their holiday light extravaganzas.

Listen to this Green Divas Radio Show from the archives for a great feature with the Dark Ranger, Kevin Poe who talks about light pollution.

9. Gratitude & giving always works ~ even if your family sucks and the world seems bleak for you this season, I bet there is someone who has it worse off than you. Get your gratitude on and go out there and be generous with your time, love, kindness, energy, whatever you have to give. You don’t have to spend money to give amazing gifts, and nothing gets me out of a funk like helping someone who has less. Read my post from last year on how to Be the Light during the holidays.

Written by Green Diva Meg|image via shutterstock

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

This article is from: 

9 Tips for a Magical, Eco-Friendly Holiday Season

Posted in alo, eco-friendly, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Prepara, PUR, Radius, Sprout, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 9 Tips for a Magical, Eco-Friendly Holiday Season

10 Things to Do Instead of Shopping to Celebrate Buy Nothing Day

by LashondWilde Posted on November 23, 2015

Sure, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. But after giving thanks and gratitude for abundance with family and friends thousands of people across the country head out to big-box stores, malls and online to shop their way into oblivion on the infamous Black Friday.

Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping day of the year, falls the day after Thanksgiving. This tradition has been growing each year: stores open earlier on Black Friday, while others open on Thanksgiving evening to give shoppers a head start. And as shoppers move more online, retail outlets have tried to keep up, offering Black Friday deals all weekend (and even longer) and extra special offers all season long.

But what if we tried to enjoy the spirit of the season without shopping? Welcome to Buy Nothing Day, a campaign started by AdBusters to encourage shoppers to opt-out of the Black Friday shenanigans.

Buy Nothing Day is an international day of protest celebrated internationally this year on November 27 against excessive consumption and the unrestrained shopping frenzy of the holiday season. The website encourages us to take back our sanity by buying nothing on purpose:

“In a world where every inch of the capitalist system is bullying you into submission, can you resist? When advertisers hound you day and night, can you escape? This Black Friday, a massive, absurd, and destructive consumerist machine will coordinate against you for one simple reason – to convince you to max out your credit card to buy shit you dont need so that a broken system stays afloat. So when they say ‘BUY!’, will you say NOTHING!?

Buy Nothing Day is legendary for instigating this type of personal transformation as you suddenly remember what real living is all about you sense an upsurge of radical empowerment [as you join] Join millions of us in over 60 countries on November 28/29 and see what it feels like. Then, after Buy Nothing Day, take the next step for generations, Christmas has been hijacked by commercial forces this year, lets take it back.”

You can choose to be a more conscious consumer on Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day by opting out of the shopping madness (and dangers!) by taking on these 10 things to do instead of shopping.

1. Get outside! Legendary outdoor gear store REI is closing this year to encourage their employees to get outside, and you should too. Nature is good for our body, mind and spirit, so take advantage of the day off and go wander.

2. If you’re going outside, get yourself to water. Research shows that water can help us feel calm and collected, and can reset our brain after stress.

3. Make a gift: Instead of spending your day shopping for the perfect gift, why not make it? Find crafty ways to recycle, upcycle and make the perfect gift for your loved ones.

4. Cook some food: Nothing says love like homemade foods, whether you’re cooking for yourself or others. Do some meal planning or batch cooking, or try out some new recipes for your holiday parties.

5. Learn something new: Read a book about a new topic, try online courses for cooking or language development, or build your skills for food photography (this is what I will be doing!).

6. Practice mindfulness: The holiday season is arguably the most hectic season of all… if you let it become so. Learn some simple mindfulness techniques to help keep you grounded during these months.

7. Plan a trip: Give yourself something to look forward to in the upcoming months by planning a small road trip or an epic adventure.

8. Have a dance party: Most of your friends are probably off work, so why not throw a dance party? Get everybody moving joyfully to boost happiness and celebrate community.

9. Phone home: Whether your loved ones are near or far, give them an actual call, Skype or Facetime to let them know you love them and wish them a happy holiday season.

10. Do NOTHING! When was the last time you allowed yourself to lounge in bed, drink coffee, read the news, or just nap? Taking time off is important to help ourselves truly relax.

If you do choose to shop on Black Friday (or any day), ask yourself a few questions before purchasing an item. Care2 blogger Dave Chameidesencourages consumers to ask10 questions before buying anything:

Whatever you decide to do this Black Friday, choose to do so mindfully to fully engage (or disengage) with the season as you wish!

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Continued: 

10 Things to Do Instead of Shopping to Celebrate Buy Nothing Day

Posted in alo, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Pines, PUR, Radius, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 10 Things to Do Instead of Shopping to Celebrate Buy Nothing Day

Climate change is making wildfires worse and wildfires are making climate change worse

by ElishaGetty076 Posted on July 16, 2015

Climate change is making wildfires worse and wildfires are making climate change worse

By on 16 Jul 2015commentsShare

It’s the season when wildfires rage, and this year they’re raging particularly hard: In June alone, Alaska saw 1.1 million acres go up in flames. In California, firefighters had responded to 3,381 wildfires by July 11, “1,000 more than the average over the previous five years,” The New York Times reports in a big feature on wildfires in the state.

And that’s likely not a coincidence. A study published this week in Nature Communications connects worsening wildfire seasons to climate change, and suggests the trend will continue in the years ahead as climate change rolls forward. “Wildfires occur at the intersection of dry weather, available fuel and ignition sources,” the study’s authors write. Of those factors, “weather is the most variable.”

The study also suggests that wildfires will themselves play a role in driving climate change, creating a nasty feedback loop.

After combing through decades of data, the report’s authors show that, globally, wildfire seasons on average became 18.7 percent longer between 1979 and 2013. Some regions, of course, have it far worse: In parts of South America, wildfire season has increased by roughly 33 days over the last 35 years.

“We may be moving into a new normal. If these trends persist, we are on track to see more fire activity and more burned area,” lead author W. Matt Jolly told ClimateWire.

This map highlights areas where the length of the fire season has changed significantly since 1979, with the red areas seeing the most increase.

Click map to embiggen.

Nature

Longer fire seasons take a heavy economic toll. From the study:

Over the last decade, annual wildfire suppression costs on US federal lands exceeded $1.7B US dollars and $1B US dollars in Canada. When all components are considered, including preparedness/suppression costs and economic losses, these total costs are substantially higher. In Australia in 2005, total wildfire costs were estimated at nearly $9.4B US dollars or 1.3% of their Gross Domestic Product.

The fires, worsened by climate change, then hasten climate change by spewing carbon into the atmosphere in amounts that can be more than half of what we humans generate by burning fossil fuels.

That leads to the most worrying theory posited in the paper: That the world’s forests will become less able to take CO2 out of the atmosphere as climate change advances, in part because climate change–driven wildfires are killing them off. That means wildfires would be functioning as what climate scientists call a positive feedback mechanism, a phenomenon that is made worse by global warming and, as it gets worse, also drives warming — a vicious cycle that it might be too late to break.

Share

Please

enable JavaScript

to view the comments.

Find this article interesting?

Donate now to support our work. A Grist Special Series

Meat: What’s smart, what’s right, what’s next

Get Grist in your inbox

See more here:  

Climate change is making wildfires worse and wildfires are making climate change worse

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Radius, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Climate change is making wildfires worse and wildfires are making climate change worse

Climate Change Blamed for Severe Drought Hitting Vietnam’s Coffee Crops

by Myrna Posted on May 22, 2015

Exports drop 40% as world’s second-biggest coffee exporter suffers rising temperatures and drought, combined with effects of deforestation, land degradation and depleted water resources caused by decades of growth. Wikimedia Commons The last time Nguyen Van Viet saw water in his well was almost four months ago. The 44-year-old has farmed coffee in central Vietnam for two decades and says that’s never happened before. “This is the worst drought I’ve seen in over a decade,” Viet, told the Guardian. “Some people don’t have enough water to drink.” For Viet and millions of other coffee farmers, this season has been disastrous. A prolonged drought has affected all five provinces in Vietnam’s Central Highlands – a region that produces 60% of the country’s coffee. “Normally, in March or April, it should start rain, but this year it hasn’t rained until now,” Viet said. “Over the years I’ve realised it’s getting harder to grow coffee mostly because lack of water. The temperatures are getting higher and higher and the rainfall is less.” Viet says he’s lost almost 4,000 sq meters of coffee crops on his five-acre farm in Dak Lak, a province responsible for 30% of total coffee harvests last year. At least 7,000 acres of coffee plants have died there since March, according to the provincial Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. And in neighbouring Lam Dong Province, the drought has stressed another 150,000 acres of coffee. To keep reading, click here. Taken from:  Climate Change Blamed for Severe Drought Hitting Vietnam’s Coffee Crops ; ; ;

Visit source:

Climate Change Blamed for Severe Drought Hitting Vietnam’s Coffee Crops

Posted in alo, Citadel, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LG, Monterey, ONA, organic, OXO, solar, solar power, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Climate Change Blamed for Severe Drought Hitting Vietnam’s Coffee Crops

7 Fun & Natural Autumn Decor Ideas

by KandiceUYRG Posted on October 10, 2014

View this article: 

7 Fun & Natural Autumn Decor Ideas

Posted in FF, GE, LG, ONA, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on 7 Fun & Natural Autumn Decor Ideas

The EPA Dithers While a Popular Pesticide Threatens Ecosystems

by TWTKamwbbsdhe Posted on July 18, 2014

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

Ah, summer—the season when trillions of corn and soybean plants tower horizon-to-horizon in the Midwest. All told, US farmers planted more than 170 million acres in these two crops this year—a combined landmass roughly equal in size to the state of Texas. That’s great news for the companies that turn corn and soy into livestock feed, sweeteners, and food additives; but not so great for honeybees, wild pollinating insects like bumblebees, and birds.

That’s because these crops—along with other major ones like alfalfa and sunflower—are widely treated with pesticides called neonicotinoids. Made by European chemical giants Bayer and Syngenta, these chemicals generate a staggering $2.6 billion in annual revenue worldwide—and have come under heavy suspicion as a trigger of colony collapse disorder and other, less visible, ecological calamities.

Continue Reading »

See the original post:

The EPA Dithers While a Popular Pesticide Threatens Ecosystems

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, Radius, Uncategorized, Wiley | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The EPA Dithers While a Popular Pesticide Threatens Ecosystems

TV Strike Against Dodgers May be the Straw That Breaks the Sports Bubble

by PaulettPearl Posted on June 25, 2014

Mother Jones

LA Times columnist Steve Lopez thinks it’s long past time for everyone to figure out a way to end the Dodgers TV blackout in Southern California:

This all began in 2012 when the Guggenheim Group, or whatever they call themselves, paid too much money — about $2 billion — to buy the Dodgers from the hated Frank McCourt….The new owners then managed to dupe Time Warner Cable into spending an even more obscene amount — $8.4 billion — for the rights to broadcast the games on SportsNet LA.

….They figure they’ll get all of it back from you and me by raising the price of tickets and hot dogs and the fees for getting the games on TV….But in the case of the Dodgers, there was a snag along the way. DirecTV and other companies didn’t like Time Warner’s asking price for the right to carry the games, and they told the cable giant to stuff it. So the standoff continues, with half the season gone and no relief in sight.

Actually, I don’t think this is quite right. It’s not the asking price per se that cable companies don’t like, it’s the fact that Time-Warner is demanding that their spiffy new all-Dodgers channel be added to the basic cable menu. Other broadcasters aren’t willing to do this. If Time-Warner wants to set a carriage fee of $5 or $10 or whatever, that’s OK as long as it’s only being paid by people who actually want to watch the Dodgers. It’s not OK if every single subscriber has to pay for it whether they like it or not. At that point, it basically becomes a baseball tax on every TV viewer in Southern California.

Of course, this is just another way of saying what Lopez said: Everyone involved in this fiasco has overpaid. Time-Warner is demanding that their Dodgers channel be added to basic cable because they know they can never justify their purchase price if they can only get subscription revenue from the one-half or one-third of all households who actually care about the Dodgers. So they’re holding out for the tax.

I’d like to see the Dodgers on TV, but I hope everyone holds out forever anyway. It’s time for a revolt against the absurd spiral in prices for sports teams, and maybe historians will eventually point to this as the straw that finally broke the sports bubble. But that all depends on how long everyone can hold out.

Continue at source:  

TV Strike Against Dodgers May be the Straw That Breaks the Sports Bubble

Posted in alo, FF, GE, LG, ONA, PUR, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on TV Strike Against Dodgers May be the Straw That Breaks the Sports Bubble

Flood Danger Persists in Serbia, Threatening Power Plant

by Myrna Posted on May 19, 2014

Workers have so far been unsuccessful at building a barricade of sandbags to save the coal-fired Nikola Tesla power plant that provides half of the nation’s electricity. Link: Flood Danger Persists in Serbia, Threatening Power Plant ; ;Related ArticlesCalifornia Wildfires Spread Across Hills, Leveling HomesFire Season Starts Early, and FiercelyOutlasting Dynasties, Now Emerging From Soot ;

Originally from – 

Flood Danger Persists in Serbia, Threatening Power Plant

Posted in eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LG, Monterey, ONA, Prepara, solar, solar power, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Flood Danger Persists in Serbia, Threatening Power Plant