Tag: ecology

  • Ecology Florida Announces New Vice President

    Ecology Florida Announces New Vice President

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    EcologyFlorida
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    Ecology Florida has elected Jesse Haskins to serve as vice president.  Jesse Haskins is an attorney who dedicated his law practice to strengthening our local food systems. He offers legal services to small scale agricultural enterprises. Jesse Haskins is excited about serving as vice president of Ecology Florida because of the organization’s emphasis on local food systems. Ecology…

  • Guest Column: Local Food, National Security

    Guest Column: Local Food, National Security

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    EcologyFlorida
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    BY JESSE HASKINS • AGRICULTURE LAW Photo: American Phytopathological Society, Rye infected with ergot In 6th century B.C.E., the Assyrians, in modern day Iraq, poisoned enemy wells with rye ergot, a fungus disease. Imagine seeing a person suffering ergotism. The first victim of bioterrorism in recorded history may have felt a violent burning. “Holy fire” became the nickname…

  • 500 Million Plastic Straws a Day? Let’s Go With the Paper

    500 Million Plastic Straws a Day? Let’s Go With the Paper

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    EcologyFlorida
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    Part I of a three-part series on plastics an Ecology Florida Editorial A trending ecological initiative is the contra-straw movement.  USA Today has a good short article on the “anti-straw movement,” and Fast Company has an article about cities that have banned or are considering banning the plastic drinking tubes.  As it pertains to Florida,…

  • University of Florida IFAS: Invasive Species Cost ‘Tens of Millions’, Seeks Help

    University of Florida IFAS: Invasive Species Cost ‘Tens of Millions’, Seeks Help

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    EcologyFlorida
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    By Jack Payne A snake so voracious it can swallow a fully-grown deer prowls the Everglades. An insect’s arrival in Florida seemed innocuous enough until the discovery that it carries a fungus that kills avocado trees. A spiny newcomer to Florida is eating fish that could have been on your plate, and it is wreaking…

  • Rotarians Reflect on Culture of “Consumerism”

    Rotarians Reflect on Culture of “Consumerism”

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    EcologyFlorida
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    We are a consumer society and it is bred into us from our earliest memories.  We get gifts from Grandma, toys from a jovial stranger at Christmas, acquisitions from stores with toys stacked to the ceiling.  From the moment we can talk, we learn to demand: “I want, I want, I want…”  It’s the American…

  • Florida Loquat Festival News – No. 15, February

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    Florida Loquat News The Newsletter of The Florida Loquat Festival No. 15 February 2016 Celebrating Florida’s Urban Fruit An Ecology Florida/Friendship Farms & Fare Annual Event FLORIDA LOQUAT FESTIVAL ALMOST HERE! Fruit at Friendship Farms & Fare It is almost time for the annual celebration of our favorite fruit.  That’s right, the annual Florida Loquat…

  • Florida Loquat News – #14 January

    Florida Loquat News – #14 January

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    EcologyFlorida
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    Florida Loquat News The Newsletter of The Florida Loquat Festival No. 14 January 2016 Celebrating Florida’s Urban Fruit An Ecology Florida/Friendship Farms & Fare Annual Event 2016 Florida Loquat Festival – March 26, 2016 – 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM, Frances Avenue Park. New Port Richey Mark Your Calendars This year’s Florida Loquat Festival will be Saturday March 26.…

  • From ‘Sustainable’ to ‘Regenerative:’ The Future of Food

    From ‘Sustainable’ to ‘Regenerative:’ The Future of Food

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    by André Leu and Ronnie Cummins edited by Marilynn deChant The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture wants “farmers and agricultural interests to come up with a single definition of sustainability in order to avoid confusing the public with various meanings of the term in food and production methods.” Is “sustainability” meaningless to consumers and the public?…

  • Loquats News #12 – October 2015

    Loquats News #12 – October 2015

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    EcologyFlorida
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    Florida Loquat News The Newsletter of The Florida Loquat Festival No. 12 October 19, 2015 Celebrating Florida’s Urban Fruit An Ecology Florida/Friendship Farms & Fare Annual Event Growers Update Budding and Flowering Continues Tiny Fruit Appearing The 2015-2016 budding and flowering season continues, and the first tiny fruit can be observed on some trees. This…

  • Laurel Wilt – Bay Tree Deaths: Surprising Losses in New Port Richey

    Laurel Wilt – Bay Tree Deaths: Surprising Losses in New Port Richey

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    EcologyFlorida
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    Laurel Wilt, Bay Tree Deaths: Surprising Losses in New Port Richey Dell deChant Chair, Environmental Committee, City of New Port Richey Citizens of New Port Richey, Florida, in the southwest corner of the Springs Coast Watershed, may have recently noticed an unusually large number of dead and dying trees, some of which are huge, once…