Three scholars argue that agriculture is failing to sustain either the land or American farmers. They propose a modern version of the New Deal that centers on ecology and economic fairness.
An abandoned village in the Huesca Pyrenees has undergone ‘passive rewilding’.
Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock
The interplay of poverty, inequality, urbanisation and the industrial food system leaves low-income families with limited access to fresh, healthy foods.
A weaker domestic economy could limit Trump’s options.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Stian Rice, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Since Reconstruction, states have leased prisoners to US industries. That diminished in the 20th century, but now it’s resurging, with prisoners leased to harvest food for American consumers.
For poet John Kinsella, veganism is an ethics of commitment. Living as a vegan, he writes, is not a holier-than-thou situation, but a move towards being more respectful of life.
In the event, the federal election turned out to be more about the economy than the environment. But there are steps the Coalition government can take to help conservation and boost the economy too.
Coffee bushes in a shade-grown plantation in the Andes, Ecuador.
Morley Read/Shutterstock
Many people think climate change caused Classic Maya civilization to collapse abruptly around 900 A.D. An archaeologist says that view is too simplistic and misses the bigger point.
Soil carbon can play a role in tackling climate change.
Shutterstock
Carbon in soil can help with tackling climate change. Maintaining soil quality by supporting farmers through economic incentives and technical approaches is important.
Edwards’s pheasants (Lophura edwardsi) are a wild relative of domesticated chickens.
Wildlife Reserves Singapore
The industry relies on traditional family knowledge so it has been resistant to a culture of health and safety.
Workers spray pesticides on strawberry fields. Most of the studies that examine the effects of pesticides are funded by the chemical’s producer.
(Shutterstock)
Most studies on the use of pesticides are funded by those that produce the chemicals but only independent research can inform us about the best agricultural practices.
Prime Minister Andrew Fisher meets farmers in Murgon, Queensland, in 1913.
Queensland State Archives, Digital Image ID 3057
In the early 20th century, voters in rural Australia began to organise politically for the first time – and proved crucial to the ousting of the reformist Labor government in 1913.
Managing Director, Triple Helix Consulting; Chief Executive Officer, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research; Professorial Fellow, ANU Fenner School for the Environment and Society, Australian National University