Dr. Martin J. Hodson spoke on “Are GM crops necessary to secure global food supplies at affordable prices?” at the summer conference on GM Crops and Food Security 2010-2050 put on by the ASSOCIATE PARLIAMENTARY FOOD & HEALTH FORUM at the House of Commons on Wednesday 21 July 2010.
You can download the talk at: Are GM Crops necessary?
Susan Atkinson has just produced her new paper: “Bearing all their faults away” Scapegoats in Agriculture
Christopher Jones has now completed his major paper on Farmer/Government Relations and it can be downloaded here:
JRI/Redcliffe College Environment day Conference: Food Futures
Organised in partnership with Redcliffe College, CMS and the Agricultural Christian Fellowship
A full report on this meeting is now available in the June 2010 JRI Newsletter (number 23)
The Agricultural Theology Project (ATP) is a joint venture between the Agricultural Christian Fellowship (ACF), the Church Mission Society (CMS) and the John Ray Initiative (JRI). The project aims to reach a clear understanding of trends in farming worldwide and of the factors and forces behind them, alongside a Biblical understanding of the human relationship with Creation, of poverty and justice, and of food, family and culture – Theology and reality in juxta position.
The project seeks to investigate, illuminate and analyse, and to use the findings to inform and challenge thought and action at all levels, witnessing to the existence and nature of Christian perspectives.
Background (or Context)
i) A large proportion of the worlds’ people are rural and live from farming and in a culture largely framed around it. Many urban dwellers in the “global South” are rural people attracted or coerced into towns.
ii) The majority of this majority are poor and powerless and subject to injustices global and local.
iii) Many farming people in the “North” feel marginalized and misunderstood, their lives constrained by many of the same forces bearing down on their southern colleagues, though often they do not recognise this.
iv) Many young people in the “North” are acutely aware of environmental issues. It is often where they are closest to a God’s eye view.
v) Food is a necessity for all – a necessity with familial, social, cultural and religious resonance. Agriculture controls much of the Earth’s surface and with it landscape, wild life habitats, water catchments and future food availability. It is a principal expression of the human relationship with the rest of Creation.
vi) Mission requires understanding of and incarnation among the people it would woo. In addition a clear view is needed of injustices and of the idols enticing the strong, coercing the weak and damaging the Creation.
Climate-Change Study Cites Role of Ancient Farming
This is an interesting article by David A. Fahrenthold in the Washington Post (Monday, September 28, 2009) looking at the work of William Ruddiman, whose “early anthropocene” idea puts human induced climate change back thousands of years.
Note- this does NOT mean that emissions today are unimportant- “Ruddiman said there is still a need to cap and reduce greenhouse gases, since modern smokestacks and tailpipes are pumping them out at a level that dwarfs anything from earlier eras.”
Andrew Jones’ Tall Skinny Kiwi Blog has much on CMS, agriculture and food. Most recently (Sept. 18th 2009) there is an article on “A Farmer’s Search for a Theology of the Land” Worth keeping an eye on this!
Farming Dilemmas – Continuity and Succession
The annual ACF conference this year will be at Stoneleigh on 19th November 2009. See programme
Details: No farmer lasts forever, half a century at most. However, land lasts for aeons and there is a remarkable degree of continuity in farming families. Transition that engages real people at deep levels has always demanded a lot of human nature and involved pain and failure as well as success. For several reasons, this process is becoming harder and more uncertain, often leading not merely to an end of one family’s involvement, but to the disappearance of the farm as an entity. We want to explore people’s personal experiences of this. Very possibly some issues will emerge which can be carried forward but this day’s focus will be on the personal experiences, and we hope people will come ready to share some of their own insights.
However, all this does have a context, both in our understanding of family and human relationships and in our understanding of our relationship with Creation and of farming. Does scale and “familyness” matter? Would it matter if half of England was farmed by a couple of farming companies? Is a banana plantation as good as farms, which grow bananas? Should square miles of the Ukraine be farmed by foreign companies or half of Mauritius be leased for a hundred years to the Daewoo motor company? There is much at stake all over the world as well as in our farming lives, but we will focus on our lives and experiences. We will begin with biblical reflection on farming, family, community and land.
Out of Africa Blog
News and reflections from a summer sabbatical exploring “Climate Change and Christian responses” by Revd. Chris Halliwell. He says “I hope you will enjoy news and views from my summer adventure. I am looking forward to learning lots about God’s wonderful creation and how it is changing. Along the way, I hope to meet lots of interesting people with loads of ideas and activities. I will update this blog with news and pictures whenever possible.”
Really interesting read with lots about agriculture in Kenya, A Rocha, Climate Change…..
A new paper by John Wibberley in Rural Theology 6(2), 75-89, Issue 71, 2008.
ABSTRACT- The case for global climate change is made, with reference to current warming trends and consequent increases in the severity and unpredictability of the weather. Consensus is considerable that substantial contribution is made to it by human activity. Agriculture, including livestock production in particular, contributes its share to global warming. Agricultural implications may include suffering or gain from climate change depending upon where one is farming. In general, already marginal, food insecure areas will suffer most – notably in sub-Saharan Africa. Moral dilemmas are raised not only by the events resulting and likely to result from climate change but also from the actual and potential responses to it at both policy and personal levels. Practical responses to these realities are considered in the light of some basic theological reflections.