Robbie Blake
@robbbla.bsky.social
Comms for @ipes-food.org (but these posts are mine). Climate, food, eco, politics, EU, & other ramblings. Previously @foeeurope.bsky.social. 🇧🇪 from 🇬🇧. He/him🇪🇺🏳️🌈
😡Reason #38367 to hate fossil fuel companies… They are bankrolling the anti-trans movement.
80% of anti-trans organisations receive funding from fossil fuel companies or their billionaires.
Whipping up hatred is a tactic to distract the public from action on climate change.
80% of anti-trans organisations receive funding from fossil fuel companies or their billionaires.
Whipping up hatred is a tactic to distract the public from action on climate change.
Fossil fuel billionaires are bankrolling the anti-trans movement
An investigation shared exclusively with Atmos and HEATED finds that 80% of anti-trans organizations receive fossil fuel funding.
heated.world
June 11, 2025 at 7:33 AM
😡Reason #38367 to hate fossil fuel companies… They are bankrolling the anti-trans movement.
80% of anti-trans organisations receive funding from fossil fuel companies or their billionaires.
Whipping up hatred is a tactic to distract the public from action on climate change.
80% of anti-trans organisations receive funding from fossil fuel companies or their billionaires.
Whipping up hatred is a tactic to distract the public from action on climate change.
Lady Gaga - Abracadabra (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by LadyGagaVEVO
youtu.be
February 3, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Makes me proud to see @peopleandplanet.bsky.social publishing another University League - still one of the most impactful campaign actions I ever did when I created the first one back in 2007.
Still going strong holding UK universities to account for their eco performance & ratcheting up standards.
Still going strong holding UK universities to account for their eco performance & ratcheting up standards.
💥 The 2024/25 People & Planet University League is out now! 💥
149 universities were ranked by sustainability and ethics criteria. 📈
How sustainable is your university? 🌏✊🤔
Find out NOW! 👇
peopleandplanet.org/university-l...
149 universities were ranked by sustainability and ethics criteria. 📈
How sustainable is your university? 🌏✊🤔
Find out NOW! 👇
peopleandplanet.org/university-l...
December 20, 2024 at 2:40 PM
Makes me proud to see @peopleandplanet.bsky.social publishing another University League - still one of the most impactful campaign actions I ever did when I created the first one back in 2007.
Still going strong holding UK universities to account for their eco performance & ratcheting up standards.
Still going strong holding UK universities to account for their eco performance & ratcheting up standards.
Reposted by Robbie Blake
Industrial agriculture & ultra processed food is responsible for mass disease, 1/3 of global warming emissions, & mass destruction of nature. All while starving 2.8 billion people of access to a healthy diet.
The idea that we need more of the same (but better) is deeply troubling.
#Agroecology
The idea that we need more of the same (but better) is deeply troubling.
#Agroecology
There has been...interest...in my NYT essay about industrial agriculture. I've seen a lot of thoughtful commentary, not all of it about the depth of my evil. Thanks! Here's a gift link, then a quick thread responding to the most common critiques. 1
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/o...
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/o...
Opinion | Sorry, but This Is the Future of Food (Gift Article)
Every farm, even the scenic ones with red barns and rolling hills, is a kind of environmental crime scene, an echo of whatever wilderness it once replaced.
www.nytimes.com
December 17, 2024 at 4:38 PM
Industrial agriculture & ultra processed food is responsible for mass disease, 1/3 of global warming emissions, & mass destruction of nature. All while starving 2.8 billion people of access to a healthy diet.
The idea that we need more of the same (but better) is deeply troubling.
#Agroecology
The idea that we need more of the same (but better) is deeply troubling.
#Agroecology
Reposted by Robbie Blake
Evidence is abundant that #agroecology can produce resilient, healthy, abundant food while protecting biodiversity, carbon, livelihoods & soil.
Overcoming #hunger must be about providing access to food - not further industrialising the countryside (while BigAg profits).
Overcoming #hunger must be about providing access to food - not further industrialising the countryside (while BigAg profits).
Industrial agriculture & ultra processed food is responsible for mass disease, 1/3 of global warming emissions, & mass destruction of nature. All while starving 2.8 billion people of access to a healthy diet.
The idea that we need more of the same (but better) is deeply troubling.
#Agroecology
The idea that we need more of the same (but better) is deeply troubling.
#Agroecology
There has been...interest...in my NYT essay about industrial agriculture. I've seen a lot of thoughtful commentary, not all of it about the depth of my evil. Thanks! Here's a gift link, then a quick thread responding to the most common critiques. 1
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/o...
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/o...
December 17, 2024 at 5:02 PM
Evidence is abundant that #agroecology can produce resilient, healthy, abundant food while protecting biodiversity, carbon, livelihoods & soil.
Overcoming #hunger must be about providing access to food - not further industrialising the countryside (while BigAg profits).
Overcoming #hunger must be about providing access to food - not further industrialising the countryside (while BigAg profits).
Reposted by Robbie Blake
OK folks. Day 2 of our @bsky.app adventure. We really want to grow and be part of a community of #foodsystems transformation thinkers, doers and supporters.
Are there some good starter packs to recommend?
#agroecology #food #hunger #farming #soil #climate #health
Are there some good starter packs to recommend?
#agroecology #food #hunger #farming #soil #climate #health
December 10, 2024 at 8:32 AM
OK folks. Day 2 of our @bsky.app adventure. We really want to grow and be part of a community of #foodsystems transformation thinkers, doers and supporters.
Are there some good starter packs to recommend?
#agroecology #food #hunger #farming #soil #climate #health
Are there some good starter packs to recommend?
#agroecology #food #hunger #farming #soil #climate #health
OK friends. Please go follow @ipes-food.org : it's where the real content is at
#foodsystems #climate
bsky.app/profile/ipes...
#foodsystems #climate
bsky.app/profile/ipes...
bsky.app
December 9, 2024 at 4:00 PM
OK friends. Please go follow @ipes-food.org : it's where the real content is at
#foodsystems #climate
bsky.app/profile/ipes...
#foodsystems #climate
bsky.app/profile/ipes...
Reposted by Robbie Blake
The FT misses the mark here. Tackling the harms of UPFs is not just about helping consumers exercise willpower to resist them. It requires government willpower to pursue stronger regulations on Big Food corporations and to counter corporate lobby power.
www.ft.com/content/cf42...
Tackling the harms of ultra-processed foods
Consumers need clear information to make healthier choices about what they eat
www.ft.com
December 9, 2024 at 12:49 PM
The FT misses the mark here. Tackling the harms of UPFs is not just about helping consumers exercise willpower to resist them. It requires government willpower to pursue stronger regulations on Big Food corporations and to counter corporate lobby power.
www.ft.com/content/cf42...
Reposted by Robbie Blake
And for my second ever [not tweet] let me heartily recommend this 7 part podcast series I've been working on:
#FuelToFork. Exposing the hidden ingredient in our food – #FossilFuels – at every step of the food chain.
Spoiler alert: #Foodsystem transformation is urgent.
ipes-food.org/fuel-to-fork/
#FuelToFork. Exposing the hidden ingredient in our food – #FossilFuels – at every step of the food chain.
Spoiler alert: #Foodsystem transformation is urgent.
ipes-food.org/fuel-to-fork/
Fuel to Fork podcast
A new podcast exposing the fossil fuels in our food. Fossil fuels are the lifeblood of our food system. What are the options to phase them out? Subscribe to find out. Brought to you by IPES-Food, TABL...
ipes-food.org
December 4, 2024 at 6:11 PM
And for my second ever [not tweet] let me heartily recommend this 7 part podcast series I've been working on:
#FuelToFork. Exposing the hidden ingredient in our food – #FossilFuels – at every step of the food chain.
Spoiler alert: #Foodsystem transformation is urgent.
ipes-food.org/fuel-to-fork/
#FuelToFork. Exposing the hidden ingredient in our food – #FossilFuels – at every step of the food chain.
Spoiler alert: #Foodsystem transformation is urgent.
ipes-food.org/fuel-to-fork/
Reposted by Robbie Blake
Were you part of the team that made this? If so, you guys knocked it out of the park.
December 9, 2024 at 9:54 AM
Were you part of the team that made this? If so, you guys knocked it out of the park.
Reposted by Robbie Blake
Nobody ever planted a tree in this photo. It was a working gravel pit 30 years ago.
We need to get over our obsession with planting trees and let nature do the job. The results are just SO much better.
It's also about realising we are not, in fact, central to everything. 🌍
We need to get over our obsession with planting trees and let nature do the job. The results are just SO much better.
It's also about realising we are not, in fact, central to everything. 🌍
December 9, 2024 at 8:09 AM
Nobody ever planted a tree in this photo. It was a working gravel pit 30 years ago.
We need to get over our obsession with planting trees and let nature do the job. The results are just SO much better.
It's also about realising we are not, in fact, central to everything. 🌍
We need to get over our obsession with planting trees and let nature do the job. The results are just SO much better.
It's also about realising we are not, in fact, central to everything. 🌍
Reposted by Robbie Blake
Stand with Georgia!
December 8, 2024 at 10:05 PM
Stand with Georgia!
The language of stakeholders “reduces the relationships between people & place to financial or economic transactions that ignore the cultural & spiritual significance of the land & the non-human species to which people are inherently connected… legitimis[ing] extractive policies”
You may find this interesting and useful. I did! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reimagining the language of engagement in a post-stakeholder world - Sustainability Science
Language matters in shaping perceptions and guiding behaviour. The term stakeholder is widely used, yet little attention is paid to the possibility that its use may inadvertently perpetuate colonial n...
link.springer.com
December 8, 2024 at 10:20 PM
The language of stakeholders “reduces the relationships between people & place to financial or economic transactions that ignore the cultural & spiritual significance of the land & the non-human species to which people are inherently connected… legitimis[ing] extractive policies”
Love this! Using everyday vocabulary over specialist specific wording is not unintelligent!
“Never underestimate your audience’s intelligence, always underestimate their vocabulary” is a rule I teach in my workshops.
And part of this is tone. Don’t act like your audience (family or not) is stupid for not knowing 15-syllable science words.
And part of this is tone. Don’t act like your audience (family or not) is stupid for not knowing 15-syllable science words.
December 8, 2024 at 4:55 PM
Love this! Using everyday vocabulary over specialist specific wording is not unintelligent!
“Stakeholder” always felt a fishy.
An awful piece of jargon to make top-down exclusionary processes sound democratic.
Now I know why. The term has colonial roots: denoting a person who drove a stake into the (indigenous) land they were claiming as their own.
An awful piece of jargon to make top-down exclusionary processes sound democratic.
Now I know why. The term has colonial roots: denoting a person who drove a stake into the (indigenous) land they were claiming as their own.
December 8, 2024 at 11:08 AM
“Stakeholder” always felt a fishy.
An awful piece of jargon to make top-down exclusionary processes sound democratic.
Now I know why. The term has colonial roots: denoting a person who drove a stake into the (indigenous) land they were claiming as their own.
An awful piece of jargon to make top-down exclusionary processes sound democratic.
Now I know why. The term has colonial roots: denoting a person who drove a stake into the (indigenous) land they were claiming as their own.
Reposted by Robbie Blake
it's a bad day for the international network of dictators who live in similar palaces
🇸🇾👀 Syrian rebels have entered Assad's palace in Damascus. What Russia has been building in this country for almost 10 years has been destroyed.
‼️ This morning, the rebels announced the beginning of a new era. People in Syria are celebrating in the streets.
‼️ This morning, the rebels announced the beginning of a new era. People in Syria are celebrating in the streets.
December 8, 2024 at 7:05 AM
it's a bad day for the international network of dictators who live in similar palaces
Reposted by Robbie Blake
October 24, 2024 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Robbie Blake
Look at this terrifying scene: happy, healthy animals running through co-located wind and solar energy farm cranking out clean energy in a grassy field.
I can see now why people would rather have a field of oil pumps and pipelines instead 🤦♂️
#energysky #🔋 #⚡️job
I can see now why people would rather have a field of oil pumps and pipelines instead 🤦♂️
#energysky #🔋 #⚡️job
December 7, 2024 at 4:23 PM
Look at this terrifying scene: happy, healthy animals running through co-located wind and solar energy farm cranking out clean energy in a grassy field.
I can see now why people would rather have a field of oil pumps and pipelines instead 🤦♂️
#energysky #🔋 #⚡️job
I can see now why people would rather have a field of oil pumps and pipelines instead 🤦♂️
#energysky #🔋 #⚡️job
Reposted by Robbie Blake
Economists have written tons of papers about how Walmart achieved retail dominance through superior efficiency. They don’t even mention this let alone address it.
1. The conventional explanation for food deserts—that these places are too poor or too rural to generate enough spending on groceries, or too Black to overcome racist corporate redlining — fail to grapple with a key fact: food deserts didn’t used to exist. My new piece in The Atlantic.
The Mystery of Food Deserts
They didn’t materialize around the country for no reason. Something happened.
www.theatlantic.com
December 2, 2024 at 1:05 PM
Economists have written tons of papers about how Walmart achieved retail dominance through superior efficiency. They don’t even mention this let alone address it.
"Net" zero is the most self harming Pandora's box. Open by a slit and the lid gets blown off - just another excuse for more carbon "whataboutery" and foot dragging. Terrible for real #climateaction. And for human rights & communities' land rights too. #realzero
Extremely important!!!!
At least 10 billion tons of CO2e per year now are absorbed by the land (e.g., forest) carbon sink. A lot of that is due to CO2 fertilization (i.e., climate change itself).
Such "passive CO2 uptake" *cannot* be netted against human-caused GHG emissions to claim "net zero." 🧪
At least 10 billion tons of CO2e per year now are absorbed by the land (e.g., forest) carbon sink. A lot of that is due to CO2 fertilization (i.e., climate change itself).
Such "passive CO2 uptake" *cannot* be netted against human-caused GHG emissions to claim "net zero." 🧪
An All-Star roster of climate scientists cleared their throats recently and it was something to behold.
Their message to Net-Zero experts in every sector?
You're Doing It Wrong 🧪
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Their message to Net-Zero experts in every sector?
You're Doing It Wrong 🧪
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
December 6, 2024 at 6:44 PM
"Net" zero is the most self harming Pandora's box. Open by a slit and the lid gets blown off - just another excuse for more carbon "whataboutery" and foot dragging. Terrible for real #climateaction. And for human rights & communities' land rights too. #realzero
🚜🇪🇺Farmers protest demanding fair pay & an end to unfair competition.
EU: slashes green standards
Also EU: signs pact to import cheaper low-standard beef from Central-South America with lower standards
You see the pattern?
EU: slashes green standards
Also EU: signs pact to import cheaper low-standard beef from Central-South America with lower standards
You see the pattern?
December 6, 2024 at 3:42 PM
🚜🇪🇺Farmers protest demanding fair pay & an end to unfair competition.
EU: slashes green standards
Also EU: signs pact to import cheaper low-standard beef from Central-South America with lower standards
You see the pattern?
EU: slashes green standards
Also EU: signs pact to import cheaper low-standard beef from Central-South America with lower standards
You see the pattern?
@BEUC.bsky.social, representing 43 consumer organisations across the EU, says the #Mercosur trade deal will stimulate imports of food products from Central-South America that do not meet high EU standards 🥩
President @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu just announced a deal on the Mercosur Trade agreement. It will boost trade in products that fail to meet EU standards and undermines efforts to reduce the EU’s climate footprint. Consumers expect their food to meet the same high standards as EU-produced food.
December 6, 2024 at 3:29 PM
@BEUC.bsky.social, representing 43 consumer organisations across the EU, says the #Mercosur trade deal will stimulate imports of food products from Central-South America that do not meet high EU standards 🥩
-Secret talks
-Sidelining of public concerns
-Undercutting European farmers & consumer standards
-More trade in damaging beef, toxic (& banned!) pesticides & animal feed
-Disaster for the Amazon, climate, human rights
❌This deal will be rejected by Euroepans
#Mercosur
-Sidelining of public concerns
-Undercutting European farmers & consumer standards
-More trade in damaging beef, toxic (& banned!) pesticides & animal feed
-Disaster for the Amazon, climate, human rights
❌This deal will be rejected by Euroepans
#Mercosur
This is a good day for the EU and our partners in Latin America.
The historic EU-Mercosur agreement will create the world's biggest trade zone – leading to more jobs, more choices and more opportunities for Europeans.
The historic EU-Mercosur agreement will create the world's biggest trade zone – leading to more jobs, more choices and more opportunities for Europeans.
December 6, 2024 at 3:12 PM
-Secret talks
-Sidelining of public concerns
-Undercutting European farmers & consumer standards
-More trade in damaging beef, toxic (& banned!) pesticides & animal feed
-Disaster for the Amazon, climate, human rights
❌This deal will be rejected by Euroepans
#Mercosur
-Sidelining of public concerns
-Undercutting European farmers & consumer standards
-More trade in damaging beef, toxic (& banned!) pesticides & animal feed
-Disaster for the Amazon, climate, human rights
❌This deal will be rejected by Euroepans
#Mercosur
Reposted by Robbie Blake
The brilliant @libertyhq.bsky.social who have spent this week in court #DefendingDemocracy have now arrived on BlueSky. If you are not yet following them & the vital & important work they do please do so
www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/libert...
www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/libert...
Liberty back in court against Government’s unlawful protest legislation - Liberty
www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk
December 6, 2024 at 2:54 PM
The brilliant @libertyhq.bsky.social who have spent this week in court #DefendingDemocracy have now arrived on BlueSky. If you are not yet following them & the vital & important work they do please do so
www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/libert...
www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/libert...
Reposted by Robbie Blake
Excellent lobby #transparency news: the EU Commission has decided to expand disclosure of meetings between Commission officials and #lobbyists 👏
Since 2014 the top-400 Commission officials have disclosed lists of their #lobbying meetings - this will now be expanded to the top-1500 officials!
Since 2014 the top-400 Commission officials have disclosed lists of their #lobbying meetings - this will now be expanded to the top-1500 officials!
December 6, 2024 at 8:04 AM
Excellent lobby #transparency news: the EU Commission has decided to expand disclosure of meetings between Commission officials and #lobbyists 👏
Since 2014 the top-400 Commission officials have disclosed lists of their #lobbying meetings - this will now be expanded to the top-1500 officials!
Since 2014 the top-400 Commission officials have disclosed lists of their #lobbying meetings - this will now be expanded to the top-1500 officials!