Christopher Hale standing in front of a large building with lots of foliage and looking to the left, next to a mockup of his book ‘The Great Groundnut Fiasco’. The cover has a sand-coloured background and green detailing of grass, trees, and a tractor, and there is an image of peanuts in the middle. There is black and cream lettering for the title, subtitle and author name.
OUT JAN 2027 🗓️
In 'The Great Groundnut Fiasco', Christopher Hale reveals the fascinating story of Labour's efforts to feed post-war Britain by leveraging its African colonies—and the enduring political consequences of the Scheme’s failure.
Pre-order ➡️ tinyurl.com/2zd42p2w
09.03.2026 10:18 —
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International Women's Day 2026: Hidden histories
Discover the stories of three women curators, collectors, and designers at The Museum of English Rural Life in the 20th century.
Women curators, designers, and collectors have played a huge part throughout our history at The Museum of English Rural Life.
For #InternationalWomensDay 2026, read about the stories of three women from our earlier years in our new blogpost.
merl.reading.ac.uk/news-and-vie...
08.03.2026 08:28 —
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Increasing synchronicity of global extreme fire weather
Yin+
doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adx8813
synchronous fire weather increased during 1979 to 2024
>2X increase in most regions
"over 1/2 of the observed increase is attributable to anthropogenic climate change."
07.03.2026 11:08 —
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Museum caption -
“Spencer shows Mr Lambert and Kathleen harvesting vegetables in their garden (he enjoyed their hearty cooking).
The painting also displays his fascination with the texture and pattern of fabrics, and the straw plaiting of their hats and basket.”
“Gardening” - c.1945
Stanley Spencer (1891-1959)
Mr Lambert & daughter Kathleen digging vegetables in the garden in Wangford, Suffolk. Spencer was lodging with them.
In the “Love & Landscape: Stanley Spencer in Suffolk exhibition”.
Gainsborough House Museum, Sudbury, Suffolk.
#Art #StanleySpencer
02.03.2026 19:13 —
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How cockfighting imperils Peru’s critically endangered sawfish
MANCORA, Peru — The largetooth sawfish is a critically endangered fish distinguished by its long, blade-like snout edged with tooth-like projections. In the waters off Peru, it’s become an unlikely…
Mongabay’s new film investigates how Peru’s legal cockfighting industry is driving demand for spurs made from the critically endangered largetooth sawfish.
With each fish yielding dozens of spurs worth up to $250, the film asks whether reform can outpace the illegal trade.
02.03.2026 19:18 —
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The 15 foods destroying rainforests, in one simple chart
New research reveals which food crops are razing the rainforest. One comes out way ahead — and it’s an American favorite.
The same week our study about non-forest ecosystem loss came out, here's another new study looking at what foods are being grown or produced in areas deforested between 2001-2022 with a good article by @benjij.bsky.social:
02.03.2026 19:09 —
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An infographic from Our World in Data titled "Global land use for food production" uses a series of stacked horizontal bar charts to visualize the distribution of Earth's surface and the disproportionate land requirements of livestock. The first bar shows Earth's surface is 71% ocean and 29% land (141 million km²); the land surface is then broken down into 76% habitable land, 10% glaciers, and 14% barren land. Of the habitable land, 45% (48 million km²) is used for agriculture, while 38% is forests and 13% is shrubland. The agricultural land bar reveals a major disparity: 80% (38 million km²) is dedicated to livestock (meat, dairy, and textiles) including grazing land and cropland for feed, while only 16% is used for crops for direct human consumption and 4% for non-food crops. Finally, two smaller bars at the bottom contrast this land use with nutritional output, showing that while livestock uses 80% of agricultural land, it only provides 17% of global calories and 38% of global protein, whereas plant-based foods provide 83% of calories and 62% of protein.
80% of agricultural land is used for livestock (and textiles), yet this huge land use provides only 17% of our calories and 38% of our protein.
16% of the land used for crops provides 83% of our calories and 62% of our protein. It's past time we rethink what we eat.
19.02.2026 21:34 —
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Excellent talk, thanks
20.02.2026 17:36 —
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Aerial view of farmland surrounded by forested mountains. An excavated area of paddy fields in outlined and annotated 'Shiao'. A nearby site (Tianluoshan) is also annotated.
Rice is the staple of over half of the world's population 🍚
Research at one of the earliest & largest paddy fields in China sheds light on how the development of rice agriculture underpinned the formation of complex societies in Asia #FarmingFriday
(£) doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
20.02.2026 08:13 —
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YouTube video by Agroecology Map
How to register an agroecological initiative on the #Agroecology Map
💡How to register an agroecological initiative on the Agroecology Map in less than two minutes 🌳
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gC0...
#agroecology #agroecologia #agroécologie #permaculture #permacultura #agroforestry #agrofloresta #agroforesterie #ecology #citizenscience #opendata #opensource
20.05.2025 12:18 —
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Brainfood: Diversity of Sugarcane, Rice, Lentils, Olives, Sweetpotato, Cassava, Beans, Buckwheat, Pigeon pea, Landscapes
The genomic footprints of wild Saccharum species trace domestication, diversification, and modern breeding of sugarcane. The genome of modern sugarcane is a mosaic of wild introgressions, including on...
Brainfood: Diversity of Sugarcane, Rice, Lentils, Olives, Sweetpotato, Cassava, Beans, Buckwheat, Pigeon pea, Landscapes – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog agro.biodiver.se/2026/02/brai...
#agrobiodiversity #conservation #genebanks #biodiversity #seeds
16.02.2026 07:34 —
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I know, hard to believe.
14.02.2026 21:25 —
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Thanks. Corn could be wheat I guess. Certainly not maize, of course.
12.02.2026 10:33 —
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Are the actual crops mentioned? Are legumes recognized as improving the soil?
12.02.2026 09:36 —
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Rata de dos patas, te estoy hablando a ti
Porque un bicho rastrero aún siendo el más maldito
Comparado contigo, se queda muy chiquito
11.02.2026 19:33 —
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Map identifying the approximate regions where various Indigenous groups lived in North America in 1776.
The Utah Historical Society just produced a new, excellent map of "The Peoples of North America in 1776." Great resource for anyone teaching, writing, presenting about Native peoples as part of their 250th work. america250.utah.gov/power-of-pla...
03.02.2026 13:48 —
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Olives have been essential to life in Italy for at least 6,000 years – far longer than we thought
New research suggests olive trees have been exploited for more than 6,000 years. The first Italian olive oil was produced perhaps 4,000 years ago.
Olives have been essential to life in Italy for far longer than we thought! In a new article for @theconversationnz.bsky.social, @emlynkd.bsky.social explores the history of olive cultivation and olive oil production from the Neolithic to the Roman period: https://bit.ly/3M5OSTs @ics.bsky.social
05.02.2026 09:45 —
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