Spud-Grower Likes the Organic Challenge
Rochester Post-Bulletin (link no longer available) Associated Press HALSTAD, Minn. — Hugh Dufner hasn’t taken the well-beaten path in life. For the past two decades, he’s been marketing organic potatoes. Jobs such as Dufner’s that minimize the environmental impact of raising food typically are considered part of the green economy.
Minimize Antibiotics
Bangor Daily News By BDN Staff Although major food buyers, including national chain restaurants, have stopped buying meat from farms where antibiotics are routinely used or asked such farms to reduce their use, the routine administration of these drugs remains too widespread. Rather than leaving it up to individual companies, Congress should adopt a national […]
Tom Willey, of T&D Willey Farms, Testifies at Leafy Greens Hearing
TESTIMONY OF TOM WILLEY, OWNER, T & D WILLEY FARMS, Madera, California at the hearing on the proposed National Leafy Green Marketing Agreement, Monterey, California. My wife and I own and operate a 75-acre, certified organic truck farm just outside of Madera in the central San Joaquin Valley. We grow over fifty vegetable crops, including […]
New Big Ag Push to Fight World Hunger Misses What Organic Ag Is Already Doing
Huffington Post Tim LaSalle CEO of the Rodale Institute. The compelling humanitarian goals expressed today at the corporately sponsored Global Harvest Initiative symposium were laudable, as were some of the hunger-relief projects cited. Missing, however, was an honest assessment of the limits of dead-end chemical agriculture to play a leading role in actually feeding people. […]
Victory! Court Finds USDA Violated Federal Law by Allowing Genetically Engineered Sugar Beets on the Market
The Center For Food Safety Posted by Heather Government Failed To Evaluate Environmental and Economic Risks of Monsanto Product In a case brought by Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice representing a coalition of farmers and consumers, a Federal Court ruled yesterday that the Bush USDA’s approval of genetically engineered (GE) “RoundUp Ready” sugar beets […]
Health Ills Abound as Farm Runoff Fouls Wells
New York Times By CHARLES DUHIGG MORRISON, Wis. — All it took was an early thaw for the drinking water here to become unsafe. There are 41,000 dairy cows in Brown County, which includes Morrison, and they produce more than 260 million gallons of manure each year, much of which is spread on nearby grain […]
National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement Could Harm Local, Family-scale and Organic Growers
Corporate Agribusiness Proposes Regulating Itself Instead of Stricter Governmental Food Safety Oversight CORNUCOPIA, WI: USDA hearings begin this week on a proposal that would authorize the development of production and handling regulations for a long list of fresh vegetables, primarily leafy greens. The first of seven national hearings starts Tuesday, September 22 in Monterey, California, […]
(ALERT OVER) Fresh Market Vegetable Growers and Handlers: The USDA needs to hear from you!
A National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement could harm family-scale farmers—disadvantaging some of the safest local and organic growers in the nation The USDA has announced a series of hearing sessions in September and October across the country to allow members of the public—especially fresh vegetable growers and handlers—to comment on a proposed agreement that would […]
New National Organic Program Director Hired
Since founding The Cornucopia Institute in 2004, one of our prime messages has been that the USDA’s National Organic Program needed new competent leadership with deep experience in the organic community. We have been highly critical of the past leadership and its lack of understanding of organics and reluctance to stand for integrity and ethics […]
Hoop Houses Extend Urban Farmers’ Growing Season
Flint Journal By DAVID RUNK (AP) FLINT, Mich. — On the vacant lot in Michigan where her childhood home once stood, Carolyn Meekins grows seedlings for Asian greens, red kale and green beans in a plastic-covered greenhouse known as a hoop house. The structure warms and protects the tender, young plants, allowing Meekins to plant […]
Organic’s Crunch: Once High-Flying Firms Face Three Big Threats to Growth
Once high-flying firms face three big threats to growth. Christian Science Monitor By Margaret Price After posting 22 percent growth on record sales last year, Organic Valley Family of Farms entered 2009 with a thud. The recession played a part. It trimmed demand for premium-priced food. The organic milk market turned from dearth to glut. […]
French Research Gives Boost to Organic Food
Australian Food News Isobel Drake A recent report by the French Agency for Food Safety (AFSSA) has suggested that organic foods are more nutritious just a month after a UK report argued there was currently little evidence to indicate that organic food had additional health benefits compared to conventionally produced food. Shane Heaton, Nutritionist for […]
