Worldwatch Reports and Papers
In Happier Meals: Rethinking the Global Meat Industry, Worldwatch researcher Danielle Nierenberg documents the harmful effects of factory farming in both industrialized and developing countries and explains the range of consequences for the environment, human health and communities. From transmission of disease and loss of livestock diversity to hazardous and unsanitary processing methods, this book shows clearly why factory farming is an unsafe, inhumane, and ecologically disruptive form of meat production.
By taking advantage of the work that healthy watersheds and freshwater ecosystems perform naturally, cities and rural areas can purify drinking water, alleviate hunger, mitigate flood damages, and meet other societal goals at a fraction of the cost of conventional technological alternatives.
The Brazilian Atlantic Forest is one of the world's biological "hotspots," a region of extraordinary, and threatened, biodiversity. Saving the Atlantic Forest will require a variety of strategies. An approach described in this paper hinges on one of the world's favorite foods: cocoa. Cocoa is a major crop in Brazil, especially in the northeastern state of Bahia, where most cocoa is grown in a longstanding agroforestry system called cabruca. Because cocoa trees tolerate shade, cabruca permits preservation of much natural forest. But the cabruca system itself is now in decline. A revived and modernized form of cabruca would promote the ecological goal of forest restoration, the social goal of creating a strong and green rural economy, and the political goal of building an international consumer constituency for the endangered forest.
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The 27 nations of the Second World—the former Soviet Union and its Central and Eastern European satellites—are undergoing a wrenching transition following the collapse of communism. The process is complicated by the history and legacy of communist rule, including severe economic, governance, and environmental problems. In some of these countries, such as Ukraine, the upheaval has led to a period of predatory capitalism and declining living standards. But the same turmoil offers an opportunity to change course and institute reform according to the principles of sustainable development—the only path that can lead to the twin goals of long-term human and environmental wellbeing.
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Through the things that they buy, large institutions wield great influence over the future of our planet. Nearly every institutional purchase, from office paper to buildings, entails hidden costs for the natural environment and the world's people. Shifting just a portion of that spending away from harmful goods and services to more environmentally friendly alternatives can benefit ecosystems and communities, save money, and send a powerful message to markets on behalf of more sustainable options.
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Birds inspire people with their beauty, song, and powers of flight. But birds cannot fly far enough to escape the dangers posed by our modern, ever-more-crowded world. Birds are under threat as never before; at least 103 species have vanished since 1800, and as many as 1,200 of the world's 9,800 bird species face extinction within the century. Birds require many of the same things we need for a sustainable future, and their alarming decline is a warning signal.
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A powerful pro-environmental coalition may be emerging worldwide as religious people and institutions begin to partner with advocates of sustainable development. The past decade saw a small but growing number of meetings, advocacy initiatives, educational programs, and lobbying efforts by the two communities, who long had kept each other at arm's length.
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Everyone, everywhere depends increasingly on long-distance food. Encouraged by food processing innovations, cheap oil, and subsidies, since 1961 the value of global trade in food has tripled and the tonnage of food shipped between nations has grown fourfold, while population has only doubled. In the United States, food typically travels between 1,500 and 2,500 miles from farm to plate, as much as 25 percent farther than in 1980.
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