2014 Social Ecology Intensive Seminar

January 3-10, 2014 in Denton, Texas This year Texas has become an inspirational focal point in struggles for reproductive rights, anti-racism, climate justice, and democracy. This January, the Institute for …

VT History panels on communes & cooperatives

ISE faculty and board members Dan Chodorkoff and Grace Gershuny are presenting on 2 panels for the Vermont History Association’s annual meeting, Sat. Sept. 21st at the Pavilion auditorium next …

Book Review: Gunnar Rundgren’s “Garden Earth”

Garden Earth: From Hunter and Gatherer to Global Capitalism and Thereafter by Gunnar Rundgren Reviewed by Grace Gershuny Gunnar Rundgren is well known in the international organic community as an …

By Grace Gershuny | May 31st, 2013 | Book Reviews, Green & Food Politics, Social Ecology Blog | 2 Comments |

Grace Gershuny on Ecologizing the Food System

From ISE faculty member and organic pioneer, Grace Gershuny: This is a first installment of an ongoing discussion about Social Ecology and the food system – both why the one …

By Grace Gershuny | April 29th, 2013 | Green & Food Politics, Social Ecology Blog | 4 Comments |

Vermont towns say no to tar sands oil

Tuesday, March 5th was Town Meeting Day in Vermont and, following a long tradition of our towns taking a stand on issues of wider importance, at least 29 towns, including …

Support Food Democracy at Green Mountain College

The fate of a pair of oxen at Green Mountain College’s Cerridwen Farm (Poultney, VT) has attracted national media attention, but not because of the exemplary way the administration at …

By Grace Gershuny | November 16th, 2012 | Green & Food Politics, Social Ecology Blog | 12 Comments |

New book: “Our Food, Our Right”

This outstanding introduction to today’s community-based food movements is designed by Annie Brulé of SEEDS, the social ecology project on Washington state’s Vashon Island. This review was written for the publisher’s website at seattleglobaljustice.org:

Local food is all the rage these days, and rightfully so. People across the US are increasingly frustrated by the chemical-laden, processed calories that pass for food in most major supermarkets and are increasingly looking to alternative sources, from farmers markets and farm share programs to co-ops and natural food stores. But with food prices rising everywhere, healthy food is in danger of becoming even more of an elite niche market, accessible only to those with surplus income to spend. While some of us will pay more for food that is local, organic and fair-trade, many of our neighbors are often limited by shrinking household budgets to food that is nutrient-deficient, genetically engineered, and potentially hazardous to health.

By Brian Tokar | November 2nd, 2012 | Current Movements, Green & Food Politics, Social Ecology Blog | 2 Comments |

Carmelo Ruiz on Vavilov’s Legacy

Vavilov’s legacy by Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero Every modern society needs a substantial public investment in agricultural research. And such research requires the acquisition of useful plant and seed specimens from all …

By ISE | July 16th, 2012 | Climate Justice, Green & Food Politics, Social Ecology Blog | 1 Comments |

“Failure of the Green Economy”

The German group, Bundeskoordination Internationalismus (buko.info), has just published a new critical paper titled After the Failure of the Green Economy. This comes at an important time, as delegates from …