Seaweed to Improve the Soil – a New Zealand Success Story

When New Zealanders Jill Bradley and her partner Keith visited an organic farm that used seaweed to improve the soil, it changed their lives forever. They researched which seaweed had the best qualities, and started a business to supply farmers with natural biostimulants. Some twenty-five years later, Agrisea is a sizeable player in New Zealand’s agricultural sector. The Sailors for Sustainability, Floris and Ivar, speak to Tane and Clare Bradley, the company’s current directors, to learn more about their business model and their products’ environmental benefits.

Will Animal Protein Still Be on the Menu in 2050?

The world population is projected to rise to 9 billion people in 2050. In order to be able to feed the world by then, food production will need to increase intensely. However, this intensification needs to be carefully balanced since environmental impacts are major. The livestock sector in particular is under scrutiny, since it is the world’s largest user of natural resources with 80% of all agricultural land accounts for grazing or animal feed production, and 8% for global water use. With the introduction of different future scenarios to fulfil future protein need such as alternative diets, insects as a protein source and stem cell grown meat, the livestock value chain has to get serious about its sustainability approach.

Community Supported Agriculture at the Kattendorfer Hof

As part of their round-the-world sailing trip in search of sustainable solutions, the Sailors for Sustainability recently came ashore in Kattendorf, Germany. This is their report on a visit to Kattendorfer Hof, an organic farm that works on the basis of Community Supported Agriculture.

Global Warming as Next Challenge for Livestock

The livestock sector is under scrutiny. Food scandals and the current bird flu outbreak have drawn the public’s critical attention to the sector with concerns focusing on food safety, food integrity and animal welfare. Meanwhile, a much lesser known fact is that greenhouse gas emissions associated with livestock production are estimated to account for over 14.5 percent of the global total output, exceeding the amount of emissions produced from powering all the world’s road vehicles, trains, ships and aeroplanes combined. This emerging topic appears to have ducked the radar of consumers, which poses the question: what can the sector do to prevent the next reputational scandal from happening?

From BlackRock to Black Angus: Adapting Global to Local

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has recently called for "urgent concerted policy responses" to deal with the growing threat of climate change to global food security. With predicted demand for ruminant meat to almost double between 2000 and 2050, which is in line with earlier reports concerning the growth effects of dairy and poultry on global warming, the FAO flags potential problems to be addressed – particularly on the issue of water scarcity. When looking at the broader range of materialities surrounding the highly globalized food industry, there appears to be a strong need for a local approach to address these issues in an effective manner.