What’s weirder that eating slimy fish eggs? Farming them in Abu Dhabi’s desert. Because we have had a multiple-decade infatuation with eating slimy fish eggs, not to mention our obsession with oil and resultant pollution of their habitat, more than three quarters of sturgeon species are critically endangered. As a result, the global supply of […]
Bigger isn’t always better. Canaan Fair Trade helps small-scale Palestinian farmers survive and thrive. With the modernization of agriculture, farming has become an industry instead of a small-scale, community effort. All over the world, small-scale farmers who have retained traditional (and many times organic) methods of agriculture have been pushed out by larger, industrial farms. […]
Green Prophet’s new writer Rebecca shares her personal experience raising 5 female goats. She shares an easy goat cheese recipe too! The first goats arrived to our garden by chance. Our friends needed to get rid of their goats urgently as their neighbours were complaining about the baahing. We weren’t sure what that meant, but […]
Which is a bigger environmental sin – imported produce or imported farmers? For the past few days Israeli farmers have been protesting a governmental decision to cut the amount of foreign workers legally permitted to come work in the agricultural sector, with the demonstration planned to continue tomorrow as well. The growers have been demonstrating […]
Marda Permaculture Farm shows that traditional and modern sustainable farming practices can go hand in hand. Amidst the conflict and destruction that plagues Palestine, the Marda Permaculture Farm stands out as a model of sustainability and greenery. Founded in 2006 by permaculturist Murad Alkhufash (pictured above) who is a tenth generation farmer, the working farm […]
Digging for freshwater, Wadi Holdings found salt water instead; two years later, and their Seabass farm in the desert is roaring Anyone with an untrained eye entering a desert environment would see a vast expanse of virtual nothingness: only the occasional sandstorm or a stray herd of camels sauntering by might break the blank horizon, […]
More Jews in Britain are finding spiritual and culinary inspiration by growing their own food. Jews are known for their love of food, but less so for their love of farms. Most Jews in Britain live in big cities where, like many urban-dwellers, they are detached from the people and places producing their nosh. But […]
Eat delicious organic goat cheese and feel good about helping the handicapped at Rom Farm in the Galilee. Most organic farms have, at the very least, an environmental conscience. Many of them believe that not only is organic farming more traditional and more delicious, but better for the planet (and therefore very important). Not all […]
Poor management and water intensive crops to blame for what could be an irreversible desert in Syria. “If desertification is not controlled, it threatens the land and our heritage,” Abdulla Tahir Bin Yehia, head of FAO in Syria, said. “The situation is terrible in Syria and has been worsened by the past years of low […]
A visit to Israel’s Goats with the Wind organic farm is delicious and not at all baa-d for the environment. With the summer months upon us, some of you may be looking for an alternative activity to beach volleyball, matkot and tanning in the sun. For those of you living in or visiting Israel this summer […]
Traditional organic agriculture and gorgeous historic architecture come together at Tel Aviv’s restored Turkish train station. The historic Turkish train station between Neve Tsedek and Jaffa in Tel Aviv, which in its former glory operated trains from Jaffa to Jerusalem, has laid in ruins for decades. Over the past few years, though, the Tel Aviv […]
Farmigo aims to improve day-to-day operations for small organic farms. More and more Israelis are joining the worldwide move to buying their fresh produce from small, organic farms (and CSAs – see our list). But because they’re farmers, and not necessarily businessmen, most of these family-run businesses aren’t being run on the most optimal level. […]
All the uses of pig. From Christein Meindertsma’s book PIG 05049. Vegetarians, vegans, and those Muslims who keep halal or Jews who keep kosher – do you think you’re avoiding pig products simply by not putting them on your plate or in your mouth? Reader discretion advised: you may be in for a rude awakening.
Catch the big one or catch a little dew? New Middle East desert research finds fishing line can help irrigate fields. Some companies like Tal Ya are making the most of dew in irrigating farmers’ fields. Others like EWA are squeezing water out of thin air. Faced with an extremely dry winter last year, Israeli […]
At the Jericho Date Company Bedouin sheep, not pesticides, keep the weeds at bay. This story is written by Ronley Konwiser, a new farmer working the land. The Jericho Date Company maintains a date plantation of 320 date palms that is in the Judean desert, adjacent to Jericho and within plain view of the Dead […]
Jennifer C. Daniels is a visionary and artist in Florida who poses a good question for the world today — can farms and cities intersect in this modern world? Much of what she discusses applies to life in the Middle East as well. “The increase of population – a strong argument for urban living – […]
Although Iran holds the world title for pomegranates, runner-up Turkey is expecting a bumper crop this year that could propel it into the top spot. The Hurriyet Daily News reports that as world demand for pomegranates rises, Turkey has converted field after field of relatively unprofitable cotton over to the crowned red fruit that features […]
Plant pathologist Norman Borlaug, 95, died this Saturday, raising questions about the legacy of industrial food in the Third World. In 1970, Borlaug received a Nobel Peace Prize for averting famine through bringing fertilizers, pesticides and new plant strains to countries like India, Mexico and Pakistan. But environmentalists argue that his plant engineering only delayed […]
As part of its long bid for European Union membership, Turkey has announced that 74 pesticides are off limits because they are poisonous. The Hurriyet Daily News reports that the EU has a list of 135 illegal chemicals, and Turkey is working on the others. This is part of several environmental moves afoot in Turkey, […]
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu gave up an idea to close a 1.8 billion shekel ($450 million) budget gap by taxing fresh fruits and vegetables at 16.5 percent. The tax proposal was shot down by a combination of interests representing the poor, the farming sector and good nutrition. According to Ynet, 62% of […]
For readers who have driven or hiked past unmarked, run-down old stone buildings in Israel, former Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Meron Benvenisti’s Sacred Landscape (University of California, 2000) will reveal a layer of Arab ghosts inside Israeli towns, cities and the countryside. Born in 1934, Benvenisti spent his childhood accompanying his father on geographical tours of […]
Israeli company AfiMilk has developed a new meter that can monitor milk production in real time and online, giving dairy farmers critical information about possible contamination to milk supplies. Normally farmers would take a sample of milk from “each cow, once a month, and send that sample to the lab,” says Noa Yonish, the marcom […]
If the city folk won’t come to the farm, then the farmers will come to the city. Unfortunately, though, many times when the farm comes to the city, it comes in a yuppie, elitist form such as the slow food farmer’s market in the Tel Aviv port. Or even the farmer’s market in Jaffa. While […]
(Working on the organic goat farm at Kishorit, the largest organic goat farm in Israel that sells its “fair trade” milk to Harduf, the largest organic food supplier in Israel.) People born with mental deficiencies, or those afflicted later in life, are usually handed the short end of the stick. Facilities to accommodate needs and […]
(Afghan farmers get “burned out” as government there tows to US pressure. But for poppy farmers, it’s poppies or starvation. Wheat crops, or biofuel crops cannot compare in value.) Molar (not his real name) is an Afghan farmer living in the central Hazzrajat Province of Afghanistan. His 60 hectare farm along the Helmand River has […]