Blog articles published by

Colin Tudge

Why is the ORFC so successful?

One of the co-founders of the annual Oxford Real Farming Conference, Colin Tudge, reflects on its phenomenal growth and impact since its tentative launch in January 2010. Does the obvious success of the ORFC reflect a global mindshift? Is this a much-needed “green shoot”? Even if the ORFC folded tomorrow (which heaven forfend!) it will … Read more

What is “biodiversity? – and what price BNG, aka “biodiversity net gain”?

The launch of a new series to explore the ramifications of a huge and very tricky concept that has become a buzz word and is the subject of new laws.  By Colin Tudge  Developers or anyone else who aspires to change Britain’s landscape significantly is required these days to demonstrate that their project will achieve … Read more

1. Biodiversity: a necessary concept but not sufficient

An introduction to the first of four sections of an intended series on the infinitely complex issue of biodiversity. By Colin Tudge What, first of all, do we mean by “biodiversity”? Most obviously it is taken to mean the number of species in a given habitat. But this immediately raises a whole raft of issues. … Read more

The fork in the road

We could still aspire to the Sunlit Uplands, says Colin Tudge – but the world’s leaders are taking us and our fellow creatures in the opposite direction. The “People-led Renaissance” is necessary and urgent  Truly, humanity has reached a fork in the road; and, influential creatures that we are, whichever way we go we will … Read more

The real cost of junk food: why we need to re-think food strategy from first principles

A new report from economist Tim Jackson at the University of Surrey tells us that our “addiction” to junk food is costing Britain £268 billion per year —  which far exceeds the total budget of the NHS. Professor Jackson calls for “bold, ambitious leadership aligned across government” to provide a more propitious “legal, fiscal and … Read more

Donald Trump, Elon Musk, God, and the American Declaration of Independence

Colin Tudge questions the wisdom of one of America’s seminal texts How can we explain the rise and now the resurrection of Donald Trump – who didn’t simply seize power in some coup as so many autocrats have, but was actually chosen by the people in an apparently unrigged election?  The commonest explanation is that … Read more

Agriculture is by far the most important thing that human beings do – the thing we absolutely have to get right. So why won’t the powers-that-be take it seriously? By Colin Tudge

,
Small farms and farmers are disappearing at an alarming rate – and yet they are vital. Colin Tudge suggests that a prime task for humanity (among a host of others) is to re-establish agriculture as the focus of all our endeavours and to raise the status of farmers   The only people who are truly treasured … Read more

How might the world be different

In three recent blogs – The Biology of Compassion; Life is a Master-class in Cooperativeness; and The Battle for Darwin’s Soul – I have argued that a capacity for Compassion (kindness; love) is deeply embedded in our psyche. We should have far more faith in ourselves, and in “human nature” in general.  Here and in … Read more

Technology – and especially farming – for a kinder world

If we really care about humanity, and our fellow creatures, and the future, then all our technologies, like everything else, must be rooted in the “bedrock principles” of Morality and Ecology. Colin Tudge asks what this might imply in practice There’s a very wide spectrum of technologies, from the humblest of crafts to “high-tech”.  Crafts … Read more

The battle for Darwin’s soul

,
Darwin was much influenced first by the gloomy T R Malthus and then championed by the pugnacious T H Huxley. Colin Tudge suggests that if only Darwin had known the Russian naturalist and activist Peter Kropotkin the world might now be a very different place Two of the most influential books published in the 19th … Read more