Science & Research

SharkwaterExtinction_RobStewart_FilmsLemonShark

Why Sharks Matter

Sharks are the perfect predator – formed by 450 million years of evolution having lived longer than the dinosaurs and surviving five major extinctions. They formed life as we know it and keep the oceans, our planet’s life force, healthy. We exist, in part, because sharks did – and still […]

Accidental Gravity. Bernard Quetchenbach. Oregon State University Press, 249 pp.

‘Accidental Gravity: Residents, Travelers, and the Landscape of Memory’

There’s an ethereal quality to much nature writing that can feel oppressively twee, miscalibrated to life in the Anthropocene. Annie Dillard may have had a year to wander the Blue Ridge Mountains playing King of the Meadow with grasshoppers, but that was 1974. Haven’t you heard? A Delaware-sized iceberg is […]

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It’s Time to Unite!

Day 5 of the 2018 Turtle Island Solidarity Journey was spent back at the Pointe-Aux-Chien Tribal Building. We had connected with the community and shared a meal with its members a few days earlier, but this time we returned to nurture the relationship we all share – our relationship with […]

go to farm final

The GO Train to Farm Country?

Imagine catching a GO train to see, taste, and pick the best the world grows and prepares all in one place. Imagine picking your own berries and then drinking squeezed juice while watching some frisky goats. Then imagine sitting down to enjoy what can be done with the cheese they […]

Solar installation

Powering ethical agriculture with the sun

Twelve kilometres east of Parliament Hill, the Just Food Farm grows a dazzling mix of organic fruits and vegetables including carrots, brussel sprouts and watermelon. Executive director Moe Garahan tells me the 150-acre agricultural operation forms part of the National Capital Commission’s Greenbelt yet it’s squarely within Ottawa city limits. […]

Proposed Greenbelt Expansion Study Area - Streams and Water Map

The Greenbelt is Growing

Alternatives Journal and the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation are hosting a celebration of the possible expansion of the Greenbelt into Waterloo Region and Wellington County. There’s just one problem: earlier this month, Waterloo Regional council voted for revisions to the greenbelt expansion before agreeing to join. In fact, if […]