Fall Armyworm invades Middle East devastating crops
Fall Armyworm is invading the Near Middle East. New reporting app aims to mitigate risk, spread awareness. Have a half billion to spare? The UN is fundraising.
farms
SpiderNet’s Artificial Spider Web Protects Crops from Tiny Pests
What would Charlotte the spider think of this man-made SpiderNet? An Israeli made artificial spider web made to protect crops from insect pests will be one of the showcased products at Israel’s Agritech 2012 exhibit. Made from a special weave of micro-fibers, this new netting called SpiderNet is woven to catch insects in the field, […]
Permaculture Hannukah Party at Yesh Meain Ecological Farm
In honor of the last day of Hannukah, the Yesh Meain permaculture farm will be hosting an all-day permaculture celebration. Links are often found between Jewish holidays and the environment, and environmentally-minded organizations in Israel try to find eco-friendly ways to celebrate them. We’ve seen these eco Jewish celebrations center around Sukkot, a holiday that […]
Sustainable Bedouin Farm, Wadi Attir, To Break Ground in the Negev
After years of planning, a Bedouin eco-farm in the Negev will finally get under way next week. For years the Sustainability Laboratories (a New York-based organization) and the mayor of Hura in the Negev, Dr. Muhammad El-Nabari, have been planning an eco-farm for the Bedouin community. The farm, Project Wadi Attir, would aim to create […]
Eden Vardy Plants a Sustainable T.R.E.E. in Aspen
A sustainable T.R.E.E. grows in Aspen, where children learn about real food. As a child, Israeli-born Eden Vardy wanted to know where his food came from. And since he grew up in Aspen, Colorado, his food generally came from a supermarket and was probably transported from far away. As he grew older and learned more […]
Canaan Fair Trade Creates Sustainable Community of Palestinian Farmers
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. […]
Israeli Farmers Protest Lack of Imported Farm Help by Withholding Local Produce
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 Plants Sustainable Seeds in Palestine
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 […]
Rom Farm Brings Organic Goat Cheese to a Table Near You, With Some Help from the Handicapped
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 […]
WWOOF Your Way to Organic Food in the Middle East
If you think that WWOOF is the sound that a dog makes… well, you’re right. But it also stands for “Willing Workers On Organic Farms,” or “World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.” So keep your ears tuned in for that term, because the WWOOF movement is spreading globally – including right here in the Middle East. […]
Hotel Mizpe Hayamim in the Galilee Offers Luxurious Vacations in Their Hotel, Spa, and… Organic Farm
Luxury and “green” are usually mutually exclusive. Sure, you have to spend a lot of green to be luxurious, but generally speaking there isn’t much that’s environmentally friendly about five star hotels and luxury spas. Hotel Spa Mizpe Hayamim in the eastern Galilee region of Israel is trying to rectify that situation and create a […]
Futuristic Dubai Vertical Farm Uses Seawater to Sustain Crops
You have to hand it to those United Arab Emirates Gulf states. Their futuristic projects are simply something out of a popular science fiction novel; and 25 years or so ago, they definitely would have been. Just look at the towering Burj in Dubai, artificial islands, or their wind-powered rotating skyscraper to get a taste. […]
The Kibbutz Movement Revival
Want to learn about organic agriculture and how it’s done in the Middle East? Maybe you’re interested in making cheese from goat’s milk? Or perhaps letting come what may — being the assistant to an eccentric Kibbutznik’s experiment or mindless work on the production line. A number of Israeli kibbutzes are now privatized, leaving no […]
Get Off Prozac And Onto Ecotherapy
Once upon a time people lived in a different kind of harmony with nature (can you imagine yourself pictured above?). Except for the aristocracy who lived in castles and lords who collected taxes on land, most people all over the world, especially in the Middle East, prayed for rain and sun in the summer in […]
Bactochem Barcodes Your Organic Beef With DNA Databank
How do you really know that the beef you bought is organic, kosher, halal, or raised with loving kindness? The Israeli company Bactochem has the solution. The idea started in Israel, where animal theft has become a major concern. Hundreds of beef cows worth $2,000 a head are being stolen a year, and in most […]