If you have a few hours to spare…. watch them all! Permaculture Education Permaculture Teacher Training CourseIn November 2022, Rowe Morrow taught her final Permaculture Teacher Training course at Fair Harvest in Margaret River, Western Australia. Jeff Nugent recorded the course on video and has been publishing it on YouTube. This link will take you to the playlist. Recommended TED “Ideas Worth Spreading” talks Video IconHow to fight desertification and reverse climate changeDesertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert,” begins Allan Savory in this quietly powerful talk. And it’s happening to about two-thirds of the world’s grasslands, accelerating climate change and causing traditional grazing societies to descend into social chaos. Savory has devoted his life to stopping it. He now believes — and his work so far shows — that a surprising factor can protect grasslands and even reclaim degraded land that was once desert. Video IconEvery city needs healthy honey beesBees have been rapidly and mysteriously disappearing from rural areas, with grave implications for agriculture. But bees seem to flourish in urban environments — and cities need their help, too. Noah Wilson-Rich suggests that urban beekeeping might play a role in revitalizing both a city and a species. Video IconHow we can eat our landscapesWhat should a community do with its unused land? Plant food, of course. With energy and humor, Pam Warhurst tells at the TEDSalon the story of how she, and a growing team of volunteers, came together to turn plots of unused land into communal vegetable gardens, and to change the narrative of food in their community. Video IconA teacher growing green in the South BronxA whirlwind of energy and ideas, Stephen Ritz is a teacher in New York’s tough South Bronx, where he and his kids grow lush gardens for food, greenery — and jobs. Just try to keep up with this New York treasure as he spins through the many, many ways there are to grow hope in a neighborhood many have written off, or in your own. Video IconA guerilla gardener in South Central LARon Finley plants vegetable gardens in South Central LA — in abandoned lots, traffic medians, along the curbs. Why? For fun, for defiance, for beauty and to offer some alternative to fast food in a community where “the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys. Video IconA plant’s-eye viewWhat if human consciousness isn’t the end-all and be-all of Darwinism? What if we are all just pawns in corn’s clever strategy game to rule the Earth? Author Michael Pollan asks us to see the world from a plant’s-eye view. Video IconOne seed at a time, protecting the future of foodThe varieties of wheat, corn and rice we grow today may not thrive in a future threatened by climate change. Cary Fowler takes us inside a vast global seed bank, buried within a frozen mountain in Norway, that stores a diverse group of food-crop for whatever tomorrow may bring. Video IconWhy we’re storing billions of seedsIn this brief talk from TED U 2009, Jonathan Drori encourages us to save biodiversity — one seed at a time. Reminding us that plants support human life, he shares the vision of the Millennium Seed Bank, which has stored over 3 billion seeds to date from dwindling yet essential plant species. Video IconThe beautiful tricks of flowersIn this visually dazzling talk, Jonathan Drori shows the extraordinary ways flowering plants — over a quarter million species — have evolved to attract insects to spread their pollen: growing ‘landing-strips’ to guide the insects in, shining in ultraviolet, building elaborate traps, and even mimicking other insects in heat. Video IconA plea for beesBees are dying in droves. Why? Leading apiarist Dennis vanEngelsdorp looks at the gentle, misunderstood creature’s important place in nature and the mystery behind its alarming disappearance. Video IconThe hidden beauty of pollinationPollination: it’s vital to life on Earth, but largely unseen by the human eye. Filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg shows us the intricate world of pollen and pollinators with gorgeous high-speed images from his film “Wings of Life,” inspired by the vanishing of one of nature’s primary pollinators, the honeybee. Video IconThe global Food Waste ScandalWestern countries throw out nearly half of their food, not because it’s inedible — but because it doesn’t look appealing. Tristram Stuart delves into the shocking data of wasted food, calling for a more responsible use of global resources. Video IconWhat’s wrong with our food system11-year-old Birke Baehr presents his take on a major source of our food — far-away and less-than-picturesque industrial farms. Keeping farms out of sight promotes a rosy, unreal picture of big-box agriculture, he argues, as he outlines the case to green and localize food production. Recommended GMO talks Video IconWhat are Roundup Ready & Bt Pesticide GMO crops? You need to know!Here is a great explanation on GMO and Bt pesticide. A must watch documentary by David Suzuki. Video IconKevin O’Leary vs Rachel Parent debate on GMOs14 year old Rachel Parent debates Kevin O’Leary on the issue of Genetically Modified Food.
