The Organic Minefield: How organic are your organic eggs, soy and dairy?

I wish the label “organic” meant all that I mean when I use the term, but unfortunately organic is not a a guarantee of sustainable agricultural practice, much less humane treatment of livestock. The Cornucopia Institute promotes sustainable organic agriculture and family farms, and helps consumers parse the difference between greenwashed and genuine organic farms and suppliers. They release quick reference charts on various subjects, as well as...

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Permaculture Design Course at the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano

...– Large-scale / global permaculture projects, past Eco-Apprentices project updates JUNE 19 / FINAL GROUP PRESENTATIONS – Group presentations, potluck, evaluations, feedback, favor and information exchange Scholarships and work/study opportunities exist thanks to the generous support of The Boeing Company Global Corporate Citizenship Fund, SDG&E Environmental Champions, and the Center for Living Peace. To register, complete the Permaculture Design...

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Stoicism as a Toolkit for Modern Life

...e, without wishing for what he has not. In this age of me-centric Facebook updates, we we have a lot to learn from Seneca’s wisdom. If you live in harmony with nature you will never be poor, if you live according what others think, you will never be rich. Suggested Reading I recommend beginning with Seneca’s Letters From a Stoic–-short concise essays that offer a great introduction to stoicism. All of Seneca and Marcus Aurelius are available onlin...

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Age of Apocalypse

...the time comes to get back to work, to monitor all those tweets, Facebook updates and text messages. The return to civilization from this weekend’s Age of Limits conference, held in a pristine wilderness area in Pennsylvania was especially jarring. One moment we were in wilderness, the next we were queuing up for the TSA’s carefully stage managed Security Theater show at Dulles airport. Thanks to the TSA, fear has never been so slick and high tec...

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Moonshine

...preferably from a source that will lend itself to a pretty picture on the label — bottle it, and you’re in the vodka business.” As it turns out there is an art to good homemade moonshine — a far cry from the soulless mouthwash Archer-Daniels-Midlands turns out. Here’s some excerpts from an interview of ex-moonshiner John Bowman conducted by the Coal River Folklife Project from “Tending the Commons: Folklife and Landscape in Southern West Virginia...

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