Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . The holiday season is a time for gifts, decorations, and lots and lots of food. As a result, it’s also a time of spectacular amounts of waste. In the United States, we generate an extra 5 million tons of household waste each year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, including [...]

Interest in high-speed rail (HSR) is growing around the world and the number of countries running these trains is expected to nearly double over the next few years, according to new research by the Worldwatch Institute for Vital Signs Online . By 2014, high-speed trains will be operating in nearly 24 countries, including China, France, Italy, Japan, Spain, and [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet project Hamburgers, pizzas, french fries, and sugary drinks-in today’s fast-paced world, these foods have become staples for many Americans. But this unhealthy diet has led to an increase in chronic health problems such as obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . Global meat production and consumption have increased rapidly in recent decades, with harmful effects on the environment and public health as well as on the economy, according to research done by Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet project for Vital Signs Online . Worldwide meat production has tripled over the last four [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . Global fish production has reached an all-time high, according to Nourishing the Planet’s latest research for the Worldwatch Institute’s Vital Signs Online publication. Aquaculture, or fish farming—once a minor contributor to total fish harvest—increased 50-fold between the 1950s and 2008 and now contributes nearly half of all fish produced worldwide. [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . Increasing demand for water continues to put a strain on available water sources, threatening the livelihood of millions of small-scale farmers who depend on water for their crops. At a time when one in eight people lack access to safe water, Nourishing the Planet points to low-cost, small-scale [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . For over 40 years, Earth Day has served as a call to action, mobilizing individuals and organizations around the world to address these challenges. This year Nourishing the Planet highlights agriculture—often blamed as a driver of environmental problems—as an emerging solution. Agriculture is a source of food and income [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . Food prices have soared to record highs and are projected to increase further in the coming decade, pushing millions of people into hunger — and fueling political unrest around the world. But diversifying food production to include local and indigenous vegetables can help communities boost their self-sufficiency and protect [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . Many deserts that appear bone-dry actually have plenty of water flowing just below the ground’s surface. In these cases, when the ground level dips below sea level, the water will literally gush to the surface and create an oasis—a fertile, lush space that is perfect for cultivation. For three [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . The Land O’ Lakes company is best known for its butter, but the company also has a nonprofit division— Land O’ Lakes International Development (IDD). Land O’ Lakes IDD is part of the U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council, a group of organizations that share the belief that “ cooperative techniques , which [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . In Nangabo, a small county in south central Uganda, many families are struggling to put food on the table. But families with children with physical or developmental disabilities have an additional financial burden. The cost of medical care and assistance is often more than most can manage. “It [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . In the drought-prone state of Rajasthan in India, farmers struggle to grow nutritious crops. One vegetable, however, that thrives in the region is the indigenous guar or cluster bean ( Cyamopsis tetragonoloba ) , a leguminous crop with a variety of uses. Like other legumes, guar’s roots have nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which improve the [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . Shakti worked as a seasonal agricultural laborer in her village in Chitoor district, located in India’s southern Andhra Pradesh state. Her day-to-day survival was often tenuous –she walked for long hours to surrounding fields looking for work. But today, she is a proud landowner. Some 15 million people living in [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Plane t. The term “nightshade” refers collectively to a wide-ranging group of plants, including poisonous, medicinal, and edible species (from the genus Solanum). This includes three major crops of global importance: tomato, potato, and eggplant. The broad-leafed African nightshade ( Solanum scabrum )—often confused with its poisonous North African/ Eurasian cousins, Atropa belladonna and Solanum nigrum —is widely cultivated in [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . In Dhading province in central Nepal, most people are farmers, who depend on rain-fed agriculture for food and income. But erratic rainfall and natural disasters in recent years, including widespread drought and recurring landslides, are threatening the livelihoods of the region’s farming communities. Resource Identification and Management Society (RIMS)-Nepal , a [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . Ethiopia accounts for twenty-four percent of African honey production. One of its most unique and flavorful honeys is produced only in the very northern part of the country, in the Mountains of Tigray, at an elevation of 2,300 meters above sea level. Once a year, during the main rainy season, [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . We think of deserts as dry wastelands incapable of food production. Surprisingly, there is often enough rainfall to support vegetation. The problem is that most of this water falls only over the course of one week and pools in aquifers a meter below the surface. A tree with a [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute . Shallots ( Allium cepa var. aggregatum ), a relative of the onion, with a unique sweet and rich flavor, have long been appreciated for their use as a staple ingredient for many popular dishes. The nutritional and savory part of this vegetable is the bulb which grows underground and produces leaves, flowers, and fruits above [...]

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet . John and Joyce Wanda grew up in the villages of Bumwalukani and Bupoto in Eastern Uganda. In 1995 they came to the United States through a lottery visa and settled in Arlington, Virginia. After exposure to the Arlington public schools through their children, John and Joyce wanted to provide the [...]

Today is the Worldwatch Institute’s 15th Annual State of the World Symposium , hosted at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC. It is being live streamed on the Nourishing the Planet blog at 1:15PM (EST) for those unable to join the event in person. Bringing together leading thinkers in agricultural development, hunger, and poverty alleviation, the symposium [...]