6. Good Organic Gardening - November-December 2016 AvxHome.in

THE GRAPEVINE | News
the grapevine
Environmental news and updates compiled by Jo Immig
Organic farming
tax credit now law
in Hawaii
In a first for the USA, Hawaiian lawmakers
have introduced a state-funded tax credit for
certified-organic food production designed to
complement existing programs by offsetting
the financial barriers to organic certification.
The new tax credit covers a wide range
of costs associated with organic farming
not covered under existing cost-share
programs and will extend to items such
as equipment, materials and supplies
necessary for organic certification.
During the legislative debate, speakers
recognised the need to support a new
generation of farmers to grow food and jobs
into the future. Speakers noted a vibrant
organic farming system is a vital component
of a healthy, sustainable food future.
centerforfoodsafety.org
innovation across the food industry.
Forum organisers propose the next 15
years will be decisive for people and the
planet. If we are to address the enormous
challenges we face, such as climate change,
we need to muster innovative solutions that
cut across current silos of knowledge and
power. While organisers praise international
agreements and policies already in place,
they cite the lack of action, implementation
and accountability as the missing ingredients
to getting us to where we need to go.
Alessandro Demaio, a participant of
the forum and blogger for the Huffington
Post, summarised some of the key
game-changing ideas that emerged
from EAT Stockholm.
Accept complexity. The world is complex
and interconnected in ways that are beyond
our imagination. We don’t have endless
time to get to grips with the complexities of
everything before we act. This thinking leads
to a paralysis and endless discussions about
complexity. Rather, we need to embrace it and
thrive in a complex environment.
Seek simplicity. It seems ironic but
within the complexity and endless noise of
“super-wicked” problems such as climate
change, focusing on inter-linkages presents
opportunities for converging solutions. Since
things are interconnected, it’s likely there are
common opportunities to address multiple
problems. Simple goals such as “zero waste”,
for instance, encapsulate multiple, complex
challenges, but set the compass in the right
direction and the rest will follow.
Leverage connections. The food system is
a complex network of farmers, processors,
marketers, retailers, transporters and
consumers. An action done in one link of
the chain has effects elsewhere. We need to
work with the whole food system if we are
seeking to fundamentally change it. We are
7.4 billion people on the planet who eat every
day, so our collective impact is big. Similarly,
Can food save the
world?
This was the question on everybody’s lips at
the EAT Stockholm Food Forum 2016, the
third in a series of forums designed to bring
together experts across multiple disciplines to
consider how to shift food systems “towards
sustainability, security and equity within
the boundaries of our planet”. The forum
zeroed in on consumption and production
patterns, cities, accountability, technology and
CanStockPhoto, Johan Lygrell
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