Alternatives Journal articles from January 1999

Alternatives Journal archives from January 1999

THE PLANET IS WHAT WE EAT.
January 1, 1999... It's true, we are what we eat. But more so than ever, the planet is what we eat. While we used to depend on food that was locally produced and processed, we are now participants in a global system, as organized as any industry and using...

First, tenth or second last?(rating Canada)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... In September 1998, Canada was ranked as the best place in the world to live for a record-setting fifth year in a row by the UN development index. Using data from 1995 the UN study measures life expectancy, health, education, literacy and...

Special Stumps Group Chopped.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... The Alberta government has decided to get rid of the multistakeholder advisory body that it had appointed to provide advice on its protected areas programme. The announcement came after months of controversy during which all but one of the...

Small engine woes.(air pollution)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... Park the lawnmower and the boat along with the car. Current statistics from the US Environmental Protection Agency suggest that outboard motors and gasoline-powered lawnmowers are two of the biggest emitters of air pollution. Lawn and...

Going further in guzzlers.(Canada's air pollution problems)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... The good news is that cars have become more fuel efficient. Unfortunately, the potential environmental gains are being offset by a double hit of bad news: the cars are being driven more, and Canadian car buyers are increasingly favouring the...

PLANTING HOUSES IN THE ROUGE.(environmentalist and developers seek truce in Ontario)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... Deal shows that housing and urban wilderness may be able to co-exist At Morningside Tributary, the scene was set for another showdown in the perpetual clash between land development and environmental preservation. But this time, something...

IMPROVEMENTS NOT CLEAR-CUT.(lumber cutting in Canada)
January 1, 1999... Praise and skepticism greet Macmillan Bloedel's announcement of sweeping new changes to the way it harvests timber Macmillan Bloedel (MB) has recently announced dramatic changes to its forestry practices -- changes that have...

NEW BRUNSWICK GETS THE TICKET.(new provisions for anti-pollution enforcement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... Polluters face fines under new legislation Tickets may be issued for such offences as failure to conduct monitoring tests, minor exceedance of limits, open burning without a permit, and exceeding smoke density limitations. Pollution...

Saving Seeds.(biodiversity in agriculture)
January 1, 1999... Farmers and gardeners are the best hope for protecting what remains of food plant diversity THE ABILITY TO ACQUIRE viable, well-adapted seeds has allowed human beings to form civilizations, set up permanent settlements and build cities,...

Bitter Fruit.(the environmental impact of imported fruit)
January 1, 1999... Attractive supermarket displays of tropical fruit conceal ugly environmental and social costs CANADIANS TAKE IT for granted that they can walk into the nearest supermarket in the middle of winter and find an ample selection of imported...

Community Agriculture Rises in Quebec...(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... ASEED Quebec (Action for solidarity, equality, environment and development) is a non-profit organization dedicated to research and public education on issues relating to the environment and social justice. Created in 1992, ASEED has focused its...

... and Uruguay.(community shared agriculture program in Montevideo, Uruguay, it successes and problems)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... In Montevideo, Uruguay, a group of young farmers is providing 70 households with an ecologically healthy and socially just alternative to the foreign-owned chain-supermarket. In 1997, farmers from three organic farms started what they...

Food Powers Social Change in EI Salvador.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... The Salvadoran Centre for Appropriate Technology (CESTA) promotes ecological recovery through community projects such as forest rehabilitation, waste reduction and appropriate technology. Over time, CESTA members have come to realize that...

Youth Garden Thrives in Vancouver Wasteland.(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... Unobtrusively situated in Vancouver's semi-industrial neighbourhood of Strathcona is a small paradise called the Youth Garden. For five years, the Environmental Youth Alliance (EYA) has been planting and growing edible and visual treats on this...

Urban Growth.(reconnecting cities with agriculture)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... Bringing agriculture into the city We tend to think of cities and agriculture as two separate, almost contradictory ideas. Cities grow by destroying farms in the path of expansion. Cities are parasites, drawing food and other resources from...

Mad Cows and Bad Berries.
January 1, 1999... Conventional approaches to solving agricultural problems can encourage old and new diseases PEOPLE BORN AFTER World War II in North America are sometimes referred to as the baby boomers. This is the generation that, faced with looming...

VIDEO ACTIVISM.(Review)
January 1, 1999... The Video Activist Handbook, Thomas Harding, Chicago: Pluto Press, 1997. Reading The Video Activist Handbook provokes a certain nostalgic pleasure. The late 60s and early 70s were highly charged periods of documentary film and video...

POWER POLITICS.(Review)
January 1, 1999... Ecopolitique internationale, Philippe Le Prestre, Montreal: Guerin Universitaire, 1997. In an ideal world, matters related to the environment would not be subjected to the vagaries of politics. Environmental protection policy would be...

CUTTING DOWN THE FOREST INDUSTRY.(Review)
January 1, 1999... At the Cutting Edge: The Crisis in Canada Forests, Elizabeth May, Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1998. Clearcutting the Pacific Rain Forest: Production, Science, and Regulation, Richard A. Rajala, Vancouver: UBC Press, 1998. Ecoforestry:...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 1999... Looking for Clarity "The Day the NGOs Walked Out," by Debora VanNijnatten [Alternatives, 24:2, Spring 1998], contained numerous extremely wordy passages, a fair amount of fuzzy thinking, and three fundamental problems that require comment:...

Correction.
January 1, 1999... On page 18 of the Fall/98 issue of Alternatives, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, and the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada were incorrectly identified as the Canadian Energy and Paperworkers Union and the Pulp...

THERE'S NO GOING HOME.(the return of a killer whale to the sea raises many questions)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... Last summer I got a chance to see Keiko the Huggy Whale. I hadn't actually planned to visit Keiko. It just sort of worked out that way. I suppose if I sound embarrassed, it's just that I thought there might be other adults there. Besides me and...

QUICKSILVER ALERT.(loons in Nova Scotia face mercury contamination)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1999... Evidence mounts that mercury contamination is endangering Nova Scotia loons Mercury contamination in lakes and rivers along the northeastern seaboard is increasing to levels that are apparently harming the common loon. Although blood...

DEATH SCIENCE CREEPS ONTO THE FARM.(the impact of genetic engineering, and an account of artificial insemination with cattle)
January 1, 1999... Keith Downey may have crossed the line into biotechnology when he used an eye surgeon's scalpel to slice a rape seed in half. Food-Health-Hope." This is not, as one could well assume, the slogan of a church-sponsored community kitchen....