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Pressure Rises to Stop Antibiotics in Agriculture

San Francisco Chronicle By MARGIE MASON AND MARTHA MENDOZA, Associated Press Writers The mystery started the day farmer Russ Kremer got between a jealous boar and a sow in heat. The boar gored Kremer in the knee with a razor-sharp tusk. The burly pig farmer shrugged it off, figuring: “You pour the blood out of […]

EPA Announces Plan to Require Disclosure of Secret Pesticide Ingredients

Environmental Health News By Marla Cone, Editor in Chief Reversing a decade-old decision, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it plans to require pesticide manufacturers to disclose to the public the inert ingredients in their products. An inert ingredient is anything added to a pesticide that does not kill or control a pest. […]

Local Food Movement Thrives Thanks to Entrepreneurship

HispanicBusiness.com (link no longer available) John Tozzi–BusinessWeek Entrepreneurs are flocking to local food, starting businesses devoted to producing and delivering food within their communities. Just as consumers focus new attention on what we eat and where it comes from, farmers, foodmakers, restaurateurs, retailers, distributors, and processors are rethinking the business models behind it. They want to […]

USDA, Penn State University Invest in Training New Farmers

Farm and Dairy by Other News UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With half of all current farmers in the U.S. likely to retire in the next decade, federal and state agriculture officials are looking for ways to encourage and assist the new generation of farmers that will produce the nation’s food and fiber in the future. […]

USDA to Launch High Tunnel Pilot Study to Increase Availability of Locally Grown Foods

www.USDA.gov Release No. 0617.09 Contact: USDA Office of Communications (202) 720-4623 USDA to Launch High Tunnel Pilot Study to Increase Availability of Locally Grown Foods: 3-Year Project To Verify Effectiveness Of High Tunnels In Natural Resource Conservation WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2009 – Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan today announced a new pilot project under the […]

Food Giant’s Power Tactics

Confidential agreements show tough terms for smaller companies Salon.com By CHRISTOPHER LEONARD, Associated Press Confidential contracts detailing Monsanto Co.’s business practices reveal how the world’s biggest seed developer is squeezing competitors, controlling smaller seed companies and protecting its dominance over the multibillion-dollar market for genetically altered crops, an Associated Press investigation has found. With Monsanto’s […]

Nonprofit David Cuts Down Agribusiness Goliaths

Dean Foods, Target Stumble—Being Forced to Correct Deceptive Practices CORNUCOPIA, WIS: An investigation by the USDA’s National Organic Program has determined that Target Corporation wrongly used the image of a certified organic product when promoting the sale of a conventional product to consumers. The investigation was triggered by a complaint filed by The Cornucopia Institute. […]

A Return to Real Food

We have become so disconnected from nature that we have forgotten what real food is. It is time to relearn how to live with the planet. The Mark News (link no longer available) by Alexandra Morton – Professional biologist; Founder of non-profit Salmon Coast Field Station for research. As I stand behind a young mother at […]

Texas Grain Dealer Pleads Guilty in Claiming Sorghum Was Organic

Source: U.S. Department of Justice news release Cattlenetwork.com Basilio Coronado, 45, an owner of Sel-Cor Bean and Pea, Inc., in Brownfield, Texas, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to one count of false statements and documents, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Coronado faces a […]

Urban Farming Yields a Harvest of Hassles

The Kansas City Star By LYNN HORSLEY Steve Mann doesn’t look like an outlaw as he cheerfully harvests giant rutabagas and luscious lettuce bunches from a friend’s garden in Kansas City, North. But technically he is violating Kansas City ordinances as he prepares to sell the produce.

‘Evangelist’ for Organics Going Against the Grain in Iowa

The New York Times By ALLISON WINTER of Greenwire SIOUX CITY, Iowa — In the midst of sprawling corn and soybean fields, industrial animal-processing plants and ethanol refineries, Woodbury County is charting an unusual course. It’s trying to go whole-hog into organic agriculture. “This is a totally new direction for us,” said Debi Durham, president […]