Again on Ecology, Agriculture, Education, Environment, Life, etc.
#1. Leap Of Faith (about 3 families in Home schooling, Organic farming and Natural healing)
2. Poison on a Platter (on GM food and the health /environmental impacts)
3. Bt Cotton: A three-year Fraud (about GM Cotton failures in Andra)
4. "I Want My Father Back" (highlights the crisis in small farmer's families in India)
#5. The shape of water (water and culture in various societies in India and Africa)
6. The Seedkeepers (about how dalit women helps in sustainable agri and eco movement in Andra)
7. Mere Desh Ki Dharti (in the name of food security - food safety is compromised)
#8. Seeds of Life (2005 best agri film awarded) by Vandana Shiva
9. A Disaster in Search of Success: Bt Cotton in Global South (by Deccan Development Society)
10. Pedalling To Freedom (about life in one TN village)
#11. Eco-Dharma (about Bishnoi community - ecology as their religion)
12. Apna Aloo Bazaar Becha (about a village caught in globalisation)
#13. True Love In Pure Gold (about how relationships are entirely based on money)
14. The Technological Encroachment (how real life is increasingly becoming virtual)
#15. Shores of Silence (a landmark film for wildlife conservation globally)
#16. Black Pamphlets (global consumerist attitudes and Indian youth)
#17. Health Matters (important film on how corporatisation of healthcare is affecting India)
18. Accounts and Accountability (how a village people used RTI act against corruption)
#19. Dharma Dollies (about the stress and anxiety amongst the younger generation in urban India)
#20. What About The Children (about TV Ads exposed to children)
#21. Temples Of Water (water harvesting in Rajastan)
#22. Gharat (about water and sustainable energy in small scale and sustainable living)
#23. Urumaatram (on agri-land sold to a plastic factory in TN and happenings within the family which sold the land)
#24. Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Sorrow (on the effects of Green Revolution in India)
#25. Tingya (about a small boy and his bull - life in a dry village)
#26. Gaabhricha Paus (The Damned Rain - on farmer suicides)
#27. Goshta Choti Dongraevadhi (life in a village and how situations force farmers to suicide)
#28. Holy Water 2007 (farmers protesting against Coca-Cola, decreasing water levels)
29. Autumn In The Himalayas (on Buddhist nuns and preserving the Eco system)
#30. The Slow Poisoning of India (on how pesticides gets into almost everything that we consume)
# - must see (as per reviews and comments - not my opinion)
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Top 50 Documentary films - Foreign
On Ecology, Agriculture, Nature, Lifestyle...
#1. Story of Stuff (20 minutes animated on Consumerism) - www.storyofstuff.com
2. 'Food Production and Population Growth' -by- Daniel Quinn & Alan D. Thornhill (about Food)
#3. World according to Monsanto (GMO & Biz tactics of Monsanto to bypass regulations for profits)
#4. Future of Food (GMO in our foods)
5. King Corn (about GM)
6. Hidden Dangers in Kids' Meals: Genetically Engineered Foods -by- Jeffrey M. Smith
7. Pig Business - UK (on livestock farming in US)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkd8uPFjZfo
8. A Forest Garden Year (a documentary on Agro-Forestry based garden /farming - UK)
#9. Food Inc. (about corporatization of Food & Food manufacturing)
10. Fast food nation (about Food and health)
11. Meatrix (about Industrial livestock farming)
12. Super size me (about Food and health)
#13. Flow (about Water - the most important natural resource and how it is abused /controlled)
14. Earth Days (about Environment)
#15. Living with Renewable Energy (on Renewable energy for families)
16. Kilowatt Ours: A Plan to Re-Energize America (on largescale Renewable energy)
17. A Delicate Balance - The Truth (is on the effects of diet on health and the environment)
#18. The Man Who Planeted Trees (Animated documentary based on the famous story of Jean Giono)
19. The 11th Hour (on global warming)
20. What A Way To Go: Life at the End of Empire (about USA and their lifestyle - which we copy)
#21. No Impact Man (one family's journey in reducing carbon footprint - living in New York city)
22. Zeitgeist Addendum (about how Money is created - Fractional banking and controlling the world)
23. The Corporation (about how Businesses controling everything that we all touch)
24. Who killed the electric car (about how oil lobby killed alternative energy transportation)
25. The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (on economic collapse and recovery of Cuba)
26. Crude - The real price of oil (on destruction of Amazon rain forests for oil by Chevron/Taxaco)
27. Up The Yangtze (about how mindless Industrialization spoiled Yangtze river)
28. Manufactured Landscapes (about urbanisation and its problems)
29. Fahrenheit 9/11 (about how 9/11 used to wage wars)
30. Sicko (about Health care system in US - India is following the footsteps of US)
31. Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids (For Adults)
#32. The Secret life of plants (Film on the same popular book of Tom Hopkins)
#33. Home - (Full featured film on the mother of all earth - with no copyrights-free)
34. The Insider (a feature film on the Tobacco industry's illegal means of business)
#35. Addicted to Plastic (the names says it all)
36. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies - (NatGeo educational documentary)
#37. The Age of Stupid
38. Silent Storm (about the deadly poison, Strontium-90 byproduct of nuclear testing in Australia)
39. Earth (2007 film)
40. The Cove (about killing of over 2500 dolphins in Japan)
#41. FernGully: The Last Rain-forest (1992) (Educational film for children)
42. What Would Jesus Buy (on affluenza, over-consumption, addictive shopping etc.)
#43. All Jacked Up (about foods and food habits of teenagers)
44. Capitalism: A Love Story
45. The Yes Men 2003 & The Yes Men - fix the world (2 films) (about politics-business nexus)
46. Religulous (How organised religion breeds fanaticism & stupidity - comedy)
47. We Buy, Who Pays? (on consumerism, affluenza)
#48. Diverseeds (a documentary on the importance of Bio-diversity in agriculture & life)
49. An Inconvenient Truth (about Global warming)
#50. Life Running Out of Control (about GE /GM on plants /animals and its effects on environment)
#51. Coconut revolution
#52. WE FEED THE WORLD (about food and globalisation and how much is wasted)
# - Must see (as per reviews and comments - not my opinion)
Did I say only 50?!, well 52 are given...
#1. Story of Stuff (20 minutes animated on Consumerism) - www.storyofstuff.com
2. 'Food Production and Population Growth' -by- Daniel Quinn & Alan D. Thornhill (about Food)
#3. World according to Monsanto (GMO & Biz tactics of Monsanto to bypass regulations for profits)
#4. Future of Food (GMO in our foods)
5. King Corn (about GM)
6. Hidden Dangers in Kids' Meals: Genetically Engineered Foods -by- Jeffrey M. Smith
7. Pig Business - UK (on livestock farming in US)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkd8uPFjZfo
8. A Forest Garden Year (a documentary on Agro-Forestry based garden /farming - UK)
#9. Food Inc. (about corporatization of Food & Food manufacturing)
10. Fast food nation (about Food and health)
11. Meatrix (about Industrial livestock farming)
12. Super size me (about Food and health)
#13. Flow (about Water - the most important natural resource and how it is abused /controlled)
14. Earth Days (about Environment)
#15. Living with Renewable Energy (on Renewable energy for families)
16. Kilowatt Ours: A Plan to Re-Energize America (on largescale Renewable energy)
17. A Delicate Balance - The Truth (is on the effects of diet on health and the environment)
#18. The Man Who Planeted Trees (Animated documentary based on the famous story of Jean Giono)
19. The 11th Hour (on global warming)
20. What A Way To Go: Life at the End of Empire (about USA and their lifestyle - which we copy)
#21. No Impact Man (one family's journey in reducing carbon footprint - living in New York city)
22. Zeitgeist Addendum (about how Money is created - Fractional banking and controlling the world)
23. The Corporation (about how Businesses controling everything that we all touch)
24. Who killed the electric car (about how oil lobby killed alternative energy transportation)
25. The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (on economic collapse and recovery of Cuba)
26. Crude - The real price of oil (on destruction of Amazon rain forests for oil by Chevron/Taxaco)
27. Up The Yangtze (about how mindless Industrialization spoiled Yangtze river)
28. Manufactured Landscapes (about urbanisation and its problems)
29. Fahrenheit 9/11 (about how 9/11 used to wage wars)
30. Sicko (about Health care system in US - India is following the footsteps of US)
31. Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids (For Adults)
#32. The Secret life of plants (Film on the same popular book of Tom Hopkins)
#33. Home - (Full featured film on the mother of all earth - with no copyrights-free)
34. The Insider (a feature film on the Tobacco industry's illegal means of business)
#35. Addicted to Plastic (the names says it all)
36. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies - (NatGeo educational documentary)
#37. The Age of Stupid
38. Silent Storm (about the deadly poison, Strontium-90 byproduct of nuclear testing in Australia)
39. Earth (2007 film)
40. The Cove (about killing of over 2500 dolphins in Japan)
#41. FernGully: The Last Rain-forest (1992) (Educational film for children)
42. What Would Jesus Buy (on affluenza, over-consumption, addictive shopping etc.)
#43. All Jacked Up (about foods and food habits of teenagers)
44. Capitalism: A Love Story
45. The Yes Men 2003 & The Yes Men - fix the world (2 films) (about politics-business nexus)
46. Religulous (How organised religion breeds fanaticism & stupidity - comedy)
47. We Buy, Who Pays? (on consumerism, affluenza)
#48. Diverseeds (a documentary on the importance of Bio-diversity in agriculture & life)
49. An Inconvenient Truth (about Global warming)
#50. Life Running Out of Control (about GE /GM on plants /animals and its effects on environment)
#51. Coconut revolution
#52. WE FEED THE WORLD (about food and globalisation and how much is wasted)
# - Must see (as per reviews and comments - not my opinion)
Did I say only 50?!, well 52 are given...
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Some good books on Environment
1. Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal -by- Tristram Stuart (this about food waste in UK)
2. Our Environment -by- Laeeq Futehally (this is on Indian environment)
Applicable for all ages, both offers important yet unknown pointers for our action and non-action wrt. many things.
I have a huge list that covers over 100 books and over 200 documentaries and films on various subjects from Organic Agriculture, Environment, Rural life, Home schooling, Psychology, Pedagogy, Spirituality, Science, etc., would too big to put in here... Hopefully some day I'll be able to get these and read and also put-up a library
2. Our Environment -by- Laeeq Futehally (this is on Indian environment)
Applicable for all ages, both offers important yet unknown pointers for our action and non-action wrt. many things.
I have a huge list that covers over 100 books and over 200 documentaries and films on various subjects from Organic Agriculture, Environment, Rural life, Home schooling, Psychology, Pedagogy, Spirituality, Science, etc., would too big to put in here... Hopefully some day I'll be able to get these and read and also put-up a library
One year update
Its been really a long time since I wrote... During this past year I was into a bit of Organic farming, a bit of teaching (Environmental sciences) and a bit of research on educational philosophies, environment and finally getting into some grass root level activities. Happy to be...
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Diet & Nutrition by Rudolph Ballentine
Friends its been a long time since I updated my blog... lot of change in my life during the past 3 months which I would record later.
It was a treat to read Diet & Nutrition... Packing a whole range of information on nutrition right from Soil, growing food, food stuff & nutritional content, cooking and eating (do we need somebody to tell us how to eat?... sure many of us need some understanding on this subject specially)
I was happy to read Dr. Ballentine mentioning about Fukuoka's farm briefly, mmm... unrelated yet like minded people think alike. This book is a must read particularly for doctors. Dr. Ballentine has MD in medicine and psychology and also trained in Ayurveda. He was associated with Swami Rama (Himalayan masters fame) for sometime.
It was a treat to read Diet & Nutrition... Packing a whole range of information on nutrition right from Soil, growing food, food stuff & nutritional content, cooking and eating (do we need somebody to tell us how to eat?... sure many of us need some understanding on this subject specially)
I was happy to read Dr. Ballentine mentioning about Fukuoka's farm briefly, mmm... unrelated yet like minded people think alike. This book is a must read particularly for doctors. Dr. Ballentine has MD in medicine and psychology and also trained in Ayurveda. He was associated with Swami Rama (Himalayan masters fame) for sometime.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Biosphere II Project
Biosphere II is a man-made closed ecological system duplicating earth (Biosphere I) - in Oracle, Arizona, built (1987-89) by, Space Biosphere Ventures and now managed by Environmental Research dept. of Columbia University. The project conducted two sealed missions; first from September 26, 1991 to September 26, 1993 and second for six months in 1994 – Both Failed - why read further... - Did we any Lessons ?? - there is a Calvin & Hobbes cartoon (Copyright of Bill Watterson) that answers this question
Biosphere II
Biosphere II project demonstrated how fragile the balance can become. This grand experiment attempted to replicate natural ecosystems inside a self-contained world. However, the system started to fail several months into the experiment. All parts of the ecosystem inside Biosphere II, were in jeopardy because the experiment's designers had overlooked the importance of every parts in an ecosystem, including that of microbes.
The delicate balance of microbes in the soil was tipped when too much fertilizer was used to prepare the soil for crops. The microbial population grew too fast and consumed a huge amount of the oxygen inside the Biosphere. Other species started to die. In desperation, both the team and the external supervisors decided to pump air from outside into the Biosphere. They had failed their primary goal -- all because of their underestimation of the microbes -- one tiny, but crucial part.
To completely understand an ecosystem, (which is beyond human intelligence as per Fukuoka San (One Straw Revolution) - it's necessary to examine every component, including the unseen microscopic life and there relationship with each other and with other lifeforms both living inside /outside the lifeforms. Failure of this experiment was a rude shock to the Biologist who thought they could replicate something like mother earth !...
Somewhere I read...
Ecosystems are like human beings-- working systems composed of living things. Each life form contributes to the whole in multiple ways, providing food for other life forms or consuming others or decomposing. The whole system depends on each member to fulfill a particular job. If something happens to one part, anywhere in the ecosystem, the rest of the ecosystem would suffer. If one species becomes extinct with it several microbes which are dependent on it - and their role we don't yet know. The simple(?) dung beetle role itself is so valuable in Ecology then we can only imagine(?) what are the roles of microbes in the Ecology
Of the 400 odd types of bacteria living in each one of us - we just know a few of them that too partially - we don't have a clue of the inter-relation between these microbes and the billions of microbes outside our body and other organisms /plants and their role in the food we eat and environment... the list is endless.
Biosphere II
Biosphere II project demonstrated how fragile the balance can become. This grand experiment attempted to replicate natural ecosystems inside a self-contained world. However, the system started to fail several months into the experiment. All parts of the ecosystem inside Biosphere II, were in jeopardy because the experiment's designers had overlooked the importance of every parts in an ecosystem, including that of microbes.
The delicate balance of microbes in the soil was tipped when too much fertilizer was used to prepare the soil for crops. The microbial population grew too fast and consumed a huge amount of the oxygen inside the Biosphere. Other species started to die. In desperation, both the team and the external supervisors decided to pump air from outside into the Biosphere. They had failed their primary goal -- all because of their underestimation of the microbes -- one tiny, but crucial part.
To completely understand an ecosystem, (which is beyond human intelligence as per Fukuoka San (One Straw Revolution) - it's necessary to examine every component, including the unseen microscopic life and there relationship with each other and with other lifeforms both living inside /outside the lifeforms. Failure of this experiment was a rude shock to the Biologist who thought they could replicate something like mother earth !...
Somewhere I read...
Ecosystems are like human beings-- working systems composed of living things. Each life form contributes to the whole in multiple ways, providing food for other life forms or consuming others or decomposing. The whole system depends on each member to fulfill a particular job. If something happens to one part, anywhere in the ecosystem, the rest of the ecosystem would suffer. If one species becomes extinct with it several microbes which are dependent on it - and their role we don't yet know. The simple(?) dung beetle role itself is so valuable in Ecology then we can only imagine(?) what are the roles of microbes in the Ecology
Of the 400 odd types of bacteria living in each one of us - we just know a few of them that too partially - we don't have a clue of the inter-relation between these microbes and the billions of microbes outside our body and other organisms /plants and their role in the food we eat and environment... the list is endless.
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