The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
Glenn is a multidisciplinarian with a background in geography. Besides being a published author, he also edited "A Patented World? The Privatisation of Life and Knowledge," published by Jacana in South Africa. He currently is on the editorial board of the SA Journal of Natural Medicine.
Additionally, Glenn has written many commentaries and analyses of wide ranging issues including waste management, water use, food security, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, health, agricultural fuels, marine resources, climate and many other environmental and socially relevant issues.
He has also presented many papers and talks to a wide range of audiences. He specialises in communicating complex scientific issues in an accessible manner. He is a freelance writer and researcher.
Glenn Ashton -
The Case to Include GM Labelling in the Consumer Protection Bill.
The Consumer Protection Bill, an act of Parliament devised to protect the rights of consumers, as its name suggests, has come before the National Council of Provinces, usually the final step before ratification. Interestingly the NCOP has asked for comment on the bill before it is ratified. One issue that has elicited much debate is the matter of foods derived from crops that have been genetically modified (GM).
Some of the...
Glenn Ashton -
Our government is well known for making bizarre decisions. Lets not even go into Eskom, ARVs, the HIV and AIDS ‘debate’, or the arms deals for that matter. Even the small things like why a perfectly good policy on plastic bags was undermined by vested interests, how market related interests constantly trump social interests in seemingly obscure ways all are actions that force us to ask just what was behind that decision?
One of the major swings of policy by our new government was...
Glenn Ashton -
How to restore the soil - crop - animal - waste nutrient cycle (and save the world.)
The rather unsavoury issue of how we deal with the end products of our sewage has again reared its ugly head in Cape Town. The agricultural smallholding areas of Philadelphia, to the north of the city, are affected by a serious fly outbreak caused by the spreading of raw sewage sludge on nearby agricultural fields.
Sewage sludge is the semi-solid remnant that remains after the rest of the sewage has been...
Glenn Ashton -
Although South Africa has adequate environmental legislation governing how we deal with our waste, cities and towns across the nation face a crisis. I recently visited the picturesque town of Swellendam and was brought face to face with the consequences of this mismanagement.
At mid morning on a glorious autumn day the entire town was smothered by a toxic swathe of smoke emanating from the town dump. The smell of burned plastic and all sorts of noxious by-products were not only visible but...
Glenn Ashton -
Global food prices are rising at unprecedented levels and speed, sparking food riots and unrest. Some commentators suggest that this crisis could trigger social rebellion or even war. This is a direct result of the increasing industrialisation of our food production and processing.
Food production has, for the first time in human history, fallen almost entirely into the hands of private interests whose priorities are aligned solely with profitability and which have nothing to do with...
