The Waldorf class teacher has the unique opportunity to build on this relationship throughout multiple years of a child's schooling. She is the "first among equals" in the child's constellation of teachers (others include: a foreign language teacher, a games teacher, a music teacher, a strings teacher, a handwork teacher and a woodworking teacher). (Thursday October 15th, 2015 — Conway Daily Sun - North Conway, New Hampshire USA)

Last week, two federal agencies decided that sustainability concerns didn�t have a place in the government�s determination of what makes a healthy diet, rejecting an advisory panel�s recommendation that the government consider the environmental cost of agriculture in nutrition programs and limit the consumption of meat. But if environmentalists want to sell a plant-based diet to the masses, they may be better off talking about grocery bills instead of animal agriculture�s contribution to climate change: A new study published in the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition found that eating a vegetarian diet is cheaper. (Monday October 12th, 2015 — TakeApart.com)

In 2011, the tiny mountain nation of Bhutan announced a lofty goal: make the country�s agricultural system 100 percent organic by the year 2020. If it succeeded, it would be the first country in the world to achieve the feat. (Sunday October 11th, 2015 — Think Progress- USA)

Earlier today, the Nobel committee awarded its renowned prize for medicine to the discoverers [Satoshi Omura, William Campbell] of two anti-parasitic drugs � one that fights malaria and one that treats two lesser-known devastating diseases. ... Since 1987, the Mectizan Donation Program has given out more than a billion treatments for onchoceriasis and lymphatic filariasis to people in 33 countries (in the late '90s GlaxoSmithKline contributed another drug for lymphatic filariasis to the program). (Monday October 5th, 2015 — Mother Jones online -)

A few years ago, I stood on a hillside overlooking two adjacent vineyards � biodynamic on the left, nonbiodynamic on the right. It was like being at a drive-in movie theater with two huge screens. On the left was a high-definition film, bursting with lush color. On the right was a sepia-toned still photograph. This, of course, proves nothing except that, in that case, biodynamic farming resulted in healthier-looking crops. But several studies have backed up the actual health of the land and the plants. (Wednesday September 30th, 2015 — Chicago Tribune - Chicago, Illinois USA)

Commercial GM crop cultivation has never been allowed in Lithuania, and the majority of previous Biotech company requests for trials for GM maize, GM oilseed rape and GM potatoes in the country were not given permits by the Environment Ministry, however the official opt-out has strengthened Lithuania�s position on this issue even further. (Wednesday September 30th, 2015 — Sustainable Pulse )

As developed by Moyer and colleagues, there are four basic steps to organic no-till: 1. Protect the soil and keep down the weeds in a farm field by planting a winter-hardy cover crop in the fall, such as vetch, barley, wheat, rye, or oats. 2. When the cover crop reaches maturity in the spring, the farmer knocks it down with a roller-crimper. 3. The farmer plants a cash crop into the crimped cover crop with a no-till drill, usually at the same time as crimping (crimper in front of the tractor, drill pulled behind), and then the cash crop grows up through the crimped cover crop. 4. After harvest in the fall, the organic residue of both crops can be disked into the soil, if the farmer wants, as next year�s cover crop is planted. All together, the use of a cover crop and a roller-crimper creates a dense mat of organic material on the soil surface that smothers weeds while providing nutrients, shade, and moisture to the cash crop. (Wednesday September 30th, 2015 — Utne Reader )

A school in Saratoga Springs says it�s seeing the impact of a later start time. The Waldorf School moved its start time from 7:50 a.m. to 8:20 a.m. last year. The results, administrators say, are obvious. Tardiness is down 35% from the 2013-2014 school year to the 2014-2015 school year. Teachers say the students are more likely to be prepared to learn. They�re more awake and more of them come to school having eaten breakfast, which educators say makes a huge difference. (Wednesday September 30th, 2015 — WNYT - Albany, New York USA)

Having fresh, home-grown salad leaves to hand through the winter requires foresight. But with a little planning at the beginning of autumn, you can ensure a steady supply of cut-and-come-again salad leaves that will become good companions through the colder months. (Wednesday September 30th, 2015 — The Guardian - UK)

As the unofficial Oct. 1 deadline approaches, more countries are submitting their intended nationally developed contributions (INDCs) to the United Nations, showing how they will contribute to carbon emission reductions. This week, Brazil, South Africa, and Indonesia all added their plans to the list, offering two different pathways for developing nations. (Tuesday September 29th, 2015 — Think Progress- USA)

Sam and his wife Carly Malfroy got a Canberra Organic Growers Society plot at O'Connor in March this year. They had been part of the Mitchell community garden for the past three years but were moving to O'Connor and wanted to garden close by. The couple believe in organic and biodynamic produce and have always enjoyed producing their own vegetables in an allotment in a way that is as natural as possible. (Tuesday September 22nd, 2015 — Good Food - Australia)

As other schools race toward technology, the Waldorf School is about hands on, one-one learning, without technology including computers and iPads. (Tuesday September 22nd, 2015 — WKBW-TV - Buffalo, New York USA)

Northern Ireland has joined Scotland, France, Greece and Latvia in announcing a full ban on GM crops under the new EU opt-out regulations. Environment Minister, Mark H Durkan announced Monday that he is prohibiting the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops in Northern Ireland. The Minister�s announcement follows an EU decision earlier in 2015 to permit Member States to opt out of growing approved GM crops within their territories. (Monday September 21st, 2015 — Organic Consumers Association)

There is now an enormous cache of evidence on both scientific and legal grounds that Monsanto in fact conducted numerous studies in the 1970s and 1980s on glyphosate�s toxicity and health risks and intentionally sealed this research from independent and public review and scrutiny. As with Big Tobacco�s proprietary claims that prevented the FDA from publicly warning Americans about the dangers of smoking, the EPA has sat on Monsanto�s own deleterious data for decades. (Monday September 14th, 2015 — Organic Consumers Association)

New Hampshire Dunkin� Donuts franchisees awarded numerous local high school students with $2,000 scholarships this week. (Wednesday June 24th, 2015 — Concord Patch: by Tony Schinella (Patch Staff) June 24, 2015)

The sale of the Benziger brand to the makers of Franzia could give impetus to biodynamic wines. ... After this transaction, you might hear a lot more about biodynamics. A number of high-end Napa wineries practice biodynamics because they think it gives them healthier vines, but have downplayed that aspect because they don't think the Cabernet market is looking for biodynamic wines. This might be a good time to invest in cow horns. (Thursday June 18th, 2015 — Wine-Searcher - )

The children who had more vegetation around their schools showed more progress in working memory and attention over the course of a year, a finding that held true even after the authors controlled for socioeconomic status. (Thursday June 18th, 2015 — The Atlantic - Washington DC USA)

Online education is set to be a $100bn industry, but if it really is the future, why are so many IT moguls choosing traditional schooling for their own children, asks Andrew Keen (Wednesday June 17th, 2015 — The Sunday Times - UK)

The new solar capacity will be nearly split between residential and large-scale solar projects, with some 40 GW expected to be generated from rooftop installations and the remaining 60 GW coming from larger, grid-connected projects, such as solar farms. �With this ambitious target, India will become one of the largest green energy producers in the world, surpassing several developed countries,� reads the announcement. (Wednesday June 17th, 2015 — ThinkProgress -USA)

Almost 80% of crop pollination by wild bees is provided by just 2% of the most common species, say scientists. (Wednesday June 17th, 2015 — BBC online - UK)