A secret report by the World Bank finds biofuels are contributing way more to the current world food crisis than has ever been suggested before! Read more..... (Also see my article, "Bursting the Ethanol Bubble" by scrolling way down to older posts.) L.P.

Thanks to all who turned out to support our "Earth Day Too," end-of-season farmers market and celebration in Roblin, Manitoba, Canada on Labour Day weekend! While the crowds were perhaps not all we had hoped for, those who did attend clearly appreciated the produce, crafts, information, tea party put on by our host, the Life & Art Centre, and the live music. Enthusiasts of local food production and marketing and the so-called "eat local" movement are well aware that many in our community grow their own gardens and share their bounty, free-of-charge, with their friends and neighbours। This is a time-honoured tradition and is as it should be. It is a culture that is well-entrenched and understandable, given the convenience factor. Come to think of it, this practise surely is as central to the "eat local" movement as any other element - another pillar in a structure we know as "food security." The consu

Martin Entz, pictured above, is a professor at the University of Manitoba's Department of Plant Science. In 1992 Martin Entz started growing crops in an un-Western way to prove to himself that it couldn’t be done. But after nearly 17 years of comparing organic and conventional agricultural practices at research farms around Winnipeg the plant scientist delightfully notes his assumptions were wrong. The Glenlea long-term organic/conventional crop rotation study is Canada’s oldest and it’s providing valuable insights into natural farming systems. A major finding pertains to soil health, specifically, the microorganisms living in it. (To re-cap from a first-year Biology course, over 95 per cent of vascular plants have fungi in their roots and this association benefits the plants in numerous ways.) In Year 13, graduate student Cathy Welsh, working with Entz and soil sciences’ Mario Tenuta, compared the plots’ fungal spore density and diversity – a hallmark of soil health, and ind