Water, Food & Climate Wisdom, March 7th at the Schubert Centre, Vernon.
“The Okanagan is the driest watershed in Canada”, world acclaimed water research and planning expert, Dr. Hans Schreier, affirmed Monday evening. Praising Vernon & Coldstream for their progressive performance in water management, UBC Professor Schreier warned an overflowing audience at the Schubert Centre; “Politicians at all levels must do more to control urban & agricultural water waste and prepare for climate change”.
“It is critical for governments to achieve better balance in water, food & energy accounting, conservation & management”, he said.
“70% of municipal water in the Okanagan is used for agriculture. The majority of that is irrigated to low value forage for livestock. It makes more sense to direct scarce water supplies to more value added crops such as grapes”, he recommended. Noting that the number of retention dams has grown 10 times since the 1920s, Dr. Schreier doubted that more storage capacity is possible, “especially when climate change predicts the Okanagan will become drier”.
“Planners must regulate consumption to match capacity. A 30% reduction in urban and agricultural water consumption is quite possible”, he suggests, “with modern irrigation, livestock management, low flow toilets & landscape techniques”
“The time has come to consider processing farm sewage as seriously as city sewage. Livestock produce seven times more toxic nitrogen than humans. Once teeming with fish, Lake Winnipeg is turning into a dead algae swamp, from the effects of manure and excess fertilizer runoff.”
Professor Schreier stated that fresh water is so scarce around Singapore that it is now re-processing treated sewage for its drinking supply.
A 50% increase in world food production will be needed over the next 10 years, to satisfy a 2 billion increase in population, rising demand in emerging economies, and diversion of edible crops to bio-fuels, which absorb 40% of current corn production. At the same time, climate uncertainty is leading to destructive drought & flooding. Water is basic to food production. Noting that it takes 15,000 litres of water to produce 1 Kg of meat but only 1,000 litres to produce 1 Kg of crop food, Dr. Schreier suggested that reducing meat consumption may be the only way to achieve future food requirements.
“We must invest in innovation, but unfortunately, business as usual keeps going faster” Dr. Schreier lamented. “30,000 new homes were constructed in BC last year but only 15% included low flush toilets. Quoting high volume water consumption in the tar sands and fracking, he called on politicians to reflect new water, food and energy realities in building codes and best practice regulations.
The next presentation in the GUEST PROFESSOR Speaking Series hosted by the Green Party, will be UBC Professor Ross Hickey speaking about economic adjustments required to create post-OCCUPY equity in taxation, corporate governance & income.
Hear Professor Hickey at 7:00 pm Monday, March 12 at the Schubert Centre.
Vernon ♦ Schubert Centre (3505 30th Ave) ♦ 7pm ♦ Admission by donation
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Why is North of 50 on a subscription drive?
When North of 50⁰ was first published, almost 10 years ago, I could count the free magazines distributed in racks in the Central Okanagan on one hand. It was an efficient, cost-effective way to distribute our magazine - a win-win for the retailers and other high traffic businesses who allowed North of 50⁰ racks on their premises; each benefitting from the other’s clientele.
Recently,however, I counted 20 free magazines in Kelowna’s Capri Centre mall. We believe North of 50 is different. We present stories about social and political issues. We remain independent, not influenced by advertisers. We pay our writers and do not publish ads under the guise of advertorial. We are the ONLY magazine in the Okanagan that adheres to those high journalistic standards.
North of 50⁰ is the BEST READ magazine in our region. So here’s the thing. We’re changing our business model. We will now be a reader supported, subscription based, bi-monthly publication. We are still printing 14,000 and mailing to businesses and subscribers.
WHY SUBSCRIPTION BASED – A reader supported magazine makes us accountable to our readers. It gives us more freedom to print stories that some advertisers and mainstream media will steer away from. We’re not interested in turning into an ”off the wall” or “lefty” magazine; we ARE interested in being a progressive, forward thinking, publication, unafraid to dig deeper, to say more. We want to do more investigative reporting, print more opinion pieces and offer content different from mainstream media that relies so heavily on advertising for income.
That’s not to say North of 50⁰ doesn’t value advertisers. We do! We hope to attract advertisers who wish to be associated with a quality read, who believe there is a need for a progressive, independent voice in our region.
WHY BI-MONTHLY – It takes time to investigate stories. To ensure we can deliver the quality content we are committed to, we need two months to research and gather information, to arrange interviews, to check and double check sources. We want to bring you stories and interviews that mainstream simply can’t.
WILL YOU STILL CARRY THE SAME COLUMNISTS? Yes, we will. And more, too. Calvin White and Don Sawyer ‘went national’ years ago; each has been published in major magazines and newspapers across the country. They’ve been called the best opinion writers in Canada, and for good reason. Whether you agree with them or not, they certainly bring compelling editorial to the table.
We would like to hear from others, too and we invite submissions from authors from various backgrounds and levels of experience. We’re especially interested in social, political and cultural issues, especially as they relate to the Thompson/ Okanagan.
The new North of 50 will require more eyes and ears, more editorial focus than little old me can handle on my own. So I have asked Christine Pilgrim to act as editor. The idea of the new magazine with the new editorial focus is right up her alley. Christine Pilgrim has been a regular contributor for several years, and has tackled topics like poverty and homelessness, and arts and culture. Now, she will add a new title to her resume, as editor of the new North of 50.
HOW CAN I SUPPORT North of 50⁰? – Please show your support by sending us your contact / subscription information by email, fax or snail mail. Or call the office toll free, 1.877.667.8450. You can also subscribe online:
IF YOU ARE ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER, thank you, thank you. If you are already a subscriber, you will continue to receive North of 50⁰ for the number of issues you subscribed to.
http://www.northof50.com
Recently,however, I counted 20 free magazines in Kelowna’s Capri Centre mall. We believe North of 50 is different. We present stories about social and political issues. We remain independent, not influenced by advertisers. We pay our writers and do not publish ads under the guise of advertorial. We are the ONLY magazine in the Okanagan that adheres to those high journalistic standards.
North of 50⁰ is the BEST READ magazine in our region. So here’s the thing. We’re changing our business model. We will now be a reader supported, subscription based, bi-monthly publication. We are still printing 14,000 and mailing to businesses and subscribers.
WHY SUBSCRIPTION BASED – A reader supported magazine makes us accountable to our readers. It gives us more freedom to print stories that some advertisers and mainstream media will steer away from. We’re not interested in turning into an ”off the wall” or “lefty” magazine; we ARE interested in being a progressive, forward thinking, publication, unafraid to dig deeper, to say more. We want to do more investigative reporting, print more opinion pieces and offer content different from mainstream media that relies so heavily on advertising for income.
That’s not to say North of 50⁰ doesn’t value advertisers. We do! We hope to attract advertisers who wish to be associated with a quality read, who believe there is a need for a progressive, independent voice in our region.
WHY BI-MONTHLY – It takes time to investigate stories. To ensure we can deliver the quality content we are committed to, we need two months to research and gather information, to arrange interviews, to check and double check sources. We want to bring you stories and interviews that mainstream simply can’t.
WILL YOU STILL CARRY THE SAME COLUMNISTS? Yes, we will. And more, too. Calvin White and Don Sawyer ‘went national’ years ago; each has been published in major magazines and newspapers across the country. They’ve been called the best opinion writers in Canada, and for good reason. Whether you agree with them or not, they certainly bring compelling editorial to the table.
We would like to hear from others, too and we invite submissions from authors from various backgrounds and levels of experience. We’re especially interested in social, political and cultural issues, especially as they relate to the Thompson/ Okanagan.
The new North of 50 will require more eyes and ears, more editorial focus than little old me can handle on my own. So I have asked Christine Pilgrim to act as editor. The idea of the new magazine with the new editorial focus is right up her alley. Christine Pilgrim has been a regular contributor for several years, and has tackled topics like poverty and homelessness, and arts and culture. Now, she will add a new title to her resume, as editor of the new North of 50.
HOW CAN I SUPPORT North of 50⁰? – Please show your support by sending us your contact / subscription information by email, fax or snail mail. Or call the office toll free, 1.877.667.8450. You can also subscribe online:
IF YOU ARE ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER, thank you, thank you. If you are already a subscriber, you will continue to receive North of 50⁰ for the number of issues you subscribed to.
http://www.northof50.com
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Can you live on $610 /month? - Press Release from Raisetherates.org
“Welfare Challenge” group challenges BC to match Alberta’s disability rates
Raise the Rates, the BC coalition that challenged MLAs to live on the welfare rate of $610 a month issued a new challenge today:
“We challenge the BC government to immediately raise disability rates to the Alberta level of $1588 per month,” said Andrina Perry of Raise the Rates. “There is no reason for BC residents who have a disability to have their health issues compounded by trying to live on the mere $906 that they get in BC.”
Raise the Rates wants the BC government to increase all income assistance benefits, including those for single parents and single people, to levels that are adequate to live on.
“People with disabilities in BC are living in poverty,” said Robin Loxton of the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities. “We call on the BC government to immediately increase BC’s disability rates.”
“If BC copied the Alberta increase it means people with disabilities like me could go to the community fitness gym for physiotherapy without taking the money out of our food budgets,” said Brenn Kapitan. “It would mean I could get a massage for my inflamed joints, have a longer life expectancy and reduce my risk of cancer.”
Alberta also increased the amount of earnings that people with a disability can keep from $400 a month to $800.
raisetherates.org
Raise the Rates, the BC coalition that challenged MLAs to live on the welfare rate of $610 a month issued a new challenge today:
“We challenge the BC government to immediately raise disability rates to the Alberta level of $1588 per month,” said Andrina Perry of Raise the Rates. “There is no reason for BC residents who have a disability to have their health issues compounded by trying to live on the mere $906 that they get in BC.”
Raise the Rates wants the BC government to increase all income assistance benefits, including those for single parents and single people, to levels that are adequate to live on.
“People with disabilities in BC are living in poverty,” said Robin Loxton of the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities. “We call on the BC government to immediately increase BC’s disability rates.”
“If BC copied the Alberta increase it means people with disabilities like me could go to the community fitness gym for physiotherapy without taking the money out of our food budgets,” said Brenn Kapitan. “It would mean I could get a massage for my inflamed joints, have a longer life expectancy and reduce my risk of cancer.”
Alberta also increased the amount of earnings that people with a disability can keep from $400 a month to $800.
raisetherates.org
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