Whether someone wishes to eat meat or not is a very individual decision. Some people feel the need to eat meat regularly while others become ill if they so much as smell it. It can be for reasons of personal health and it can be a matter of principle. Either way being a vegetarian or a vegan is a very noble aspiration and one which need not conflict with biodynamic … [Read more...]
Partners collaborate for community learning and food security
We are very excited to announce the Living Soils Community Learning Farm, which will demonstrate ecologically-restorative methods of growing nutrient-rich foods to improve community food security. Woolworths has joined hands with its supplier, Spier wine farm; the Sustainability Institute and its AgroEcology Academy to launch the Living Soils Community Learning Farm, in the … [Read more...]
Time for conversations with the environment
How do we care for the ocean in a way that meaningfully impacts on the people? This question was posed by Dr. Gansen Pillay, Deputy CEO of the National Research Foundation, during the opening of the Chapman Conference on The Agulhas System and its Role in Changing Ocean Circulation, Climate and Marine Ecosystems at Spier this week. Dr. Pillay implored a hall full of young … [Read more...]
Doing well by doing good
“How do we do well by doing good?” This was the focus of the Green Team event at Spier of our previously local, but now national, leading waste minimisation company, WastePlan. During these events educational topics of interest are discussed and presented to anyone interested in learning more. Not many people know that the original idea for the Green Times newspaper was born … [Read more...]
Durban kicks off to “save tomorrow today”
Against a background of record greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, more frequent and intense extreme weather events, but also growing momentum for action to fight climate change, the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban (28 November to 9 December) kicked off today. At the start of the conference, South African President Jacob Zuma pointed to the climate impacts in … [Read more...]
Spier’s going biodynamic!
Behind the groomed Spier Estate we all know with its smooth picnic lawns and fine food, lies another world. Rolling back for hundreds of hectares is farmland going through biodynamic conversion. There are 3 models inspiring what's happening; Sekem in Egypt, Polyface Farm in the USA, and la Vialla in Tuscany. It's a big dream, of a major biodynamic centre producing everything … [Read more...]
Artists and scientists collaborate for climate change
A creative climate change communications conference titled Tipping Point was held at the Spier Wine Estate. For two days, scientists and artists gathered to participate in dialogue around how best to communicate climate change to our society in a fun and effective way. Jessica Thorn was invited to attend on behalf of the Climate Action Partnership (CAP), an alliance of … [Read more...]
