Interesting Articles
On this page we have collated a few articles which we have found interesting, have informed our work or provoked searching questions of both our present unsustainable society and the calls for a more sustainable future, categorised under Sustainable Production, Sustainable Activism and Sustainable Living:
Sustainable Production:
An Inconvenient Truth About Food – Neither secure nor resilient, 2009, Soil Association.
The Centre for Food Policy reviews the UK’s current food security, under the new fundamentals of the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% and of long-term scarcer and more costly oil. The review also assessed the limiting factors of natural resources, available labour, energy and other ‘capacities’ that determine the UK's ability to produce food both here in the UK or source it from overseas.
Edible Cities – a report of a visit to urban agriculture projects in the USA, 2008, Sustain.
This is a report of a visit to urban food growing projects in the United States by a group of four people from different organisations based in London.
Time for a Sustainable Economy?, 2003, Friends of the Earth.
This briefing sets out measures the then Chancellor should include in the
2003 pre-Budget to bring the UK closer to a sustainable, healthy economy, the “green industrial revolution”.
A Rough Guide to the UK Farming Crisis, 2004, Corporate Watch.
This report argues that at the root of the farming crisis are food and agriculture policies and global trade agreements which promote trade liberalisation.
Farms for the Future - How farming is meeting the challenge of sustainability, 2005, Forum for a Future.
Can a route map be developed to help the farming industry make the transition towards more sustainable land use management? This report details the findings from the Forum Farm Network, ten farms which underwent sustainability reviews from 2002 to 2004.
Sustainable Activism:
The Tyranny of Structurelessness, 1972, Jo Freeman.
An influential essay by feminist Jo Freeman inspired by her experiences in the 1970s American women's liberation movement concerning power relations within radical feminist collectives. The essay reflected on the experiments of the feminist movement in resisting the idea of leaders and even discarding any structure or division of labour.
The Movement Action Plan - A Strategic Framework Describing The Eight Stages of Successful Social Movements, 1987, Bill Moyer.
A strategic model for waging non-violent social movements developed by Bill Moyer, a US social change activist. The MAP uses case studies of successful social movements to illustrate eight distinct stages through social movements progress, and is designed to help movement activists choose the most effective tactics and strategies to match their movements' current stage.
The Rocky Road to Transition, 2008, Trapese publication.
This publication by the Trapese Collective analyses the moves towards transition towns and what it means for social change.
Weathercocks & Signposts, 2008, WWF.
This report raises questions the trust placed in the ‘small steps’ strategy, and the assumption that by encouraging people to take small and painless steps, they will be ushered onto a ‘virtuous escalator’to ever more significant behavioural change. Indeed, the report questions the very basis of marketing strategies for behavioural change – typified by appeals to an individual’s self-interest and the social status that might be derived from the purchase of the latest energy-efficient gizmo.
The Soul of Environmentalism - Rediscovering transformational politics in the 21st Century, 2005, Redefining Progress.
Nine economic, environmental, and social policy leaders provide a fresh perceptive on the soul of environmental and progressive movements today.
Sustainable Living:
A Green New Deal, 2007, Green New Deal Group.
The Green New Deal is a response to the credit crunch and wider energy and food crises, and to the lack of comprehensive, joined-up action from politicians.
Organicised Crime - The backlash against organic food has begun. But who is behind it?, 2001, The Ecologist Magazine.
Andy Rowell uncovers a global network of naysayers putting the boot into healthy food -- and profiting from it.
Can Britain Feed Itself?, 2007, Simon Fairlie.
At the moment Britain imports nearly 40 per cent of its food, most of its energy and nearly all of its fibre. In years to come we might have to become more self-sufficient. If so, it would not be for the first time. Many people alive today remember the last time the UK had to resort to home production. Could we do it again? And could we do it with organic agriculture?
The Pleasures of the Flesh - If you care about hunger, eat less meat., 2008, George Monbiot.
In this article Monbiot asks us to focus on the global food recession. He points out that there is plenty of food. It is just not reaching human stomachs. Of the 2.13bn tonnes likely to be consumed in 2008, only 1.01bn will feed people.
