Will climate change seal the end of the Mediterranean diet?

We often read about how climate change will impact the way we live as if it was something yet to come, a threat still far away from us. Most of us think that maybe our children or (the more optimistic ones) our grandchildren will have to deal with it, but not us. We are still the lucky ones, the last generation with the chance to live the life we have always dreamed of, before global warming will take a toll on humans, for the foolish way we have been living on Earth.

But is it really like that? Are we…

Here’s why trees could save coffee production from climate change

Once the Covid-19 pandemic will be swept away by mass vaccination programs, we will most likely feel that we have finally gotten our world back. No more virus, no more problems which are threating our daily lives (at least in the Western World). It will be then, when we will be enjoying a cup of hot coffee in front of the TV that we will hear back on the news a problem that the virus outbreak put in the background: climate change. …

The bitter reality of unsustainable coffee and what you can do to stop it

I will take the chance of coming across as blasphemous to the coffee lovers out there, but I have to admit that coffee had never been really part of my life, at least before University. Once I stepped into college world I soon understood that, without coffee, I would have not gone very far ahead. Eventually coffee became for me, as it does for thousands of students around the world, the perfect ally to shake off the morning tiredness caused by countless nights of late studying and partying.

Although the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has left its mark also on the…

We can breed better plants, but we can’t breed better soils

When we think of climate change and agriculture, the first images that come to our minds tend to be yellowish plants wilting under a scorching sun or fields infested with new and exotic pests, now acclimatized to a warmer and wetter weather. What we don’t think about, is that plants are not the only organisms to be affected by the devastating impacts of climate change. While we strive to breed better plants, capable of withstanding the increasingly harsher environmental conditions, there is a delicate component of an agroecosystem that is often neglected, despite being of pivotal importance. Yes, you guessed…

3 agriculture digitalization projects I took part in

As a matter of fact, we live in an era where having access to the internet makes the difference between making a living or not, for the majority of people. Despite the attempts of portraying life in the countryside as the last stand of a tech-free existence, chances are that nowadays even the remotest of hermits has a smartphone. Let’s get real! As I am writing this, someone somewhere is probably developing an App, which allows a shepherd to remotely herd a flock of sheep while peacefully minding his own business kilometers away. …

A short story of sustainability and adaptation

Disclaimer: this is not a guide on how to produce a best-selling wine! So, if you thought of quitting your job to follow a rural dream filled with grapes and money, I will stop you right there.

However, if you are curious to know how some people managed to actually make a best-selling wine and UNESCO Heritage in the worst environmental conditions possible for crop cultivation, here you will find out.

Vine needs the sun…but who said it needs the rain?

The agricultural impact of what you wear

Have you ever been “cloth-shamed” by someone? I recently had the experience thanks to a close friend, but not because I was “improperly” dressed for a fancy event, but for a completely different reason (and a way more important one). Although it was a quite eye-opening moment, the acknowledgement that my friend’s disappointment in my clothing choices had strong environmental foundations, made my shopping mistake particularly stinging to me.

But why have I been cloth-shamed, or to be more precise, “shirt-shamed”? The reason is very simple: the brand new shirt I had so proudly found to be perfectly fitting me…

How this agronomic technique shaped the future of agriculture

If you have been thinking your whole life that potatoes could only be produced by potato plants….well you are right! But then, how is it possible that we have tomato plants that can produce potatoes as well? Is there some weird genetic modification going on, that allows for such a “wonderplant”? Not at all: potato plants still produce only potatoes and tomato plants only tomatoes….but the TomTato has both crops on same plant! Confusing right? Let’s see how a TomTato works!

What is grafting, how does it work and why do we do it?

From UNESCO World Heritage to cause of health concerns

Are you looking for a sparkling wine which is low in calories, easy to drink and affordable at a fraction of the price of Champagne? If so, Italian Prosecco is what you are looking for! But you already know that, right? If you are from the U.S. or the U.K. you probably do. In fact, in the first half of 2020 Italy exported this well-known sparkling wine to the United States for a value of 126.0 million euros, and to the United Kingdom for a value of 114.9 million euros.

Six months deep in the pandemic and Prosecco sparkling wine…

It’s time for some agro-justice in our fields

If you follow updates on environmental news, chances are you are familiar with the term monocropping in agriculture and the related debatable consequences it causes both at the field and the landscape level.

Or…was maybe monoculture the term you heard? Now, you may be wondering if there is even a difference between the two? Are they both equally impacting and, if so, what are the possible alternatives that could be implemented in our fields?

Monoculture or monocropping?!

Mattia Bradley

Agronomist and traveller. Passionate about sustainability and philosophy. Admin of blog https://agrisustainia.wordpress.com/

Get the Medium app
