Pixie's food for thought

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Terry Bridge

"Over the centuries man has selectively bred animals to achieve productivity. However, modern agriculture has meant that today relatively few breeds are now used and bred extensively. Fortunately, many of the more rare and interesting breeds still exist and are being carefully conserved for the future. We now realize the importance of their gene pool and enthusiasts everywhere are setting up small breeding programs for animals such as chickens, cattle, farm horses, goats, sheep, ducks and geese. This book will help the enthusiast set up a breeding program and instruct them in how to care and maintain their animals. A rare breed is defined as a breed of livestock that is not common in modern agriculture, though it may have been in the past. Various national and international organizations, such as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust of the United Kingdom, each define the exact parameters by which a breed may be defined as rare, and many breeds that qualify only have a few thousand or a even a few hundred breeding individuals remaining in the world."

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Debra L. Safer, Sarah Adler, Philip C. Masson

"Out-of-control eating is overwhelming and distressing--and one of the toughest habits to break. Grounded in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), this motivating book offers a powerful pathway to change. Drs. Debra L. Safer, Sarah Adler, and Philip C. Masson have translated their proven treatment into an empathic self-help guide that focuses on the psychological triggers of bingeing and other types of 'stress eating.' Readers learn how to stop using food to soothe emotional pain and gain concrete skills for coping in a new and healthier way. Filled with vivid examples and stories, the book features pointers for building and practicing each DBT skill, mindfulness exercises, and downloadable practical tools that help readers tailor the program to their own needs. Finally, a transformed relationship to food--and a happier future--are in sight"--

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David Keen

David Keen argues that famines, such as that which devastated the Dinka of Sudan in the 1980s, often have powerful beneficiaries within the affected nation, including political elites and traders. Meanwhile, shortcomings in the manner of international intervention, while contributing to famine, may offer significant political and bureaucratic benefits for international donors. Famine is not necessarily an apocalyptic natural disaster: it may have functions as well as causes. Drawing on a range of historical information and the accounts of famine sufferers, aid providers, and government officials, Keen explains the causes of the Sudanese famine, extracting vital lessons about the future of effective famine relief. Identifying those Sudanese interests that actively promoted famine and obstructed relief, Keen shows how the assets of the politically powerless Dinka were forcibly transferred to beneficiary groups. In a sense, and contrary to the emphasis of Amartya Sen, it was the Dinkas' wealth, rather than their poverty, which exposed them to famine in a context where they lacked political redress against exploitation. For the most part, international donors failed to counteract the processes leading to famine or to speak up on behalf of those who lacked political influence in their own society. At a time when the effectiveness of the U.N. and the international community in such crises is increasingly being questioned, this provocative work provides compelling evidence of flaws in current thinking about humanitarian intervention and in its practice.

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Kimberley Veness

Part of the nonfiction Footprints series for middle readers. Illustrated with many color photographs, this book explores where the food we eat comes from and what the future of farming looks like.