This is the second part of a two-part series on Puerto Rico, Climate Change and Food. Part one can be found here. “Back to the Land” and Agroecology Jesús Vázquez Negron and I visited Ian Pagán Roig at Finca (farm) Josco Bravo in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, which is one of the three sites at… Read more »
January 31, 2019
Revival of natural farming in Puerto Rico
This is the second part of a two-part series on Puerto Rico, Climate Change and Food. Part one can be found here. “Back to the Land” and Agroecology Jesús Vázquez Negron and I visited Ian Pagán Roig at Finca (farm) Josco Bravo in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, which is one of the three sites at… Read more »
Overview In December, I participated in a delegation comprised of staff from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), Presbyterian Self-Development of People (SDOP), and Special Offerings, and we invited local pastors and mid-council staff to join us for the visits to Fideicomiso de la Tierra, a decimated family farm in Lares, and Presbyterian Camp Guacio over the course of… 
Dear Friends in Christ, On behalf of all of us at the Presbyterian Hunger Program, we send our greetings and best wishes for a wonderful new year. We hope it is full of love and joy, and full of faithful effort to bring us closer to God’s vision of the beloved community here on Earth…. 
Take-aways from COP24 The nations of the world agreed on many of the tricky parts of the Paris Agreement ‘rulebook’, including how governments will measure, report on and verify their emissions-cutting efforts. This provides standards and makes it harder for countries to wriggle out of their commitments. What wasn’t hammered out was how countries will step up… 
Getting at the Roots The best session I attended at the global climate summit was How Do We Get There? Agriculture, Energy and Systemic Change to Meet the Paris Agreement, which included this presentation by Shefali Sharma. Shefali is the director of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) European office. IATP has been a great partner in… 
Thousands fill the streets of Katowice calling for climate action Protesters included people of faith from many religions, farmers from Latin America, environmentalists from Asia, students from the United States and families from Europe, many of whom said climate change is already affecting their lives. Thousands of people from around the world marched Saturday through… 
Hope in our vision On this cold, rainy day in Poland, hope could be a rare commodity. But the beautiful efforts and creativity of others produces a kind of Commons that can help us find meaningful perspectives and actions that transcend material limitations (i.e. into the spiritual dimension). So – and I say this to… 
The Voice of the Young 125,000 youth from all over the world have sent a message on the world’s largest postcard to the leaders at COP24: Fight climate change and help the environment! Check out this (soundless) video of the art. “Dear children, dear teachers, dear parents, dear colleagues and dear friends: We did it and… 
This one is personal. While making a Szybkie Danie Quick Meal ‘Taste of Thailand’ here at my airbnb (think fancy curry ramen, except with rice), Bob Dylan started whining about “times a changin” from my father’s memorial playlist. I’d made the playlist for a family celebration of his life last December. You see, my father passed in… 
If this COP24 Global Climate Summit is primarily about implementing the Paris Climate Agreement, it would help to know what that is, right? So, the Agreement is only 31 pages, but I for one would rather see an infographic that explains it. Well, here it is! Thank you World Resources Institute. Right. So the first…