Appetite for Change

On Friday I was couch-ridden with the flu (I would say bed-ridden, but found the couch more comfortable for some reason). I spent the day alternating between watching cooking shows on tv and falling asleep - it was the type of illness where I couldn't stand for more than 30 seconds before almost passing out.

Anyway, one stage when I woke up there was a show on that had something to do with farming. I vaguely watched it for a few minutes before I heard the words 'climate change'. I instantly woke up completely and focused my full attention on what was happening. The presenter was talking with a farmer from somewhere in Aus (I didn't catch where), and they were discussing how climate change will impact on his permaculture farming practices. For him and his wife, the scariest aspect is that they will lose their pistachio crop - these trees need a long, cold winter, and they are already seeing shorter, warmer winters occurring. They said the impact on them emotionally and financially would be extremely hard to cope with, if they have to remove their pistachio crop and replace it with something else.

We then move on to a dairy farm in NSW. This farm has been with the same family for generations, and they have kept a record of temperatures and rainfall for over a century. The farmer described how they have seen a definite increase in higher temperatures when they look at the records. This may not seem like a big problem for a dairy farm, but she described how the cows are healthiest and perform the best in cooler, dryer conditions. Already they have installed fans and irrigation systems to keep the cows cooler while they're inside being milked. She said if the temperatures continue to rise, they may have to resort to something drastic like air-conditioning for the cows, just to ensure they continue to produce milk. Of course, this would increase the price of the milk to a point where many won't be able to afford it.

I was very surprised by the fact that such a show was on air - I get the strong impression that the current government here in Aus is perhaps a bit anti-climate change. I did a quick Google search and the show is called Appetite for Change - it seems to be a short series where the presenter, an ex-Master Chef contestant, is going around talking to Australian farmers about how climate change is or will affect them. I think it is brilliant! I will definitely be getting copies so I can use them in the classroom at appropriate times - we are always trying to make science more 'real', and I feel like this is a good way to bring home how inter-related everything is, and how climate change is having a impact already on our society.