Civil Eats
By Stacy Miller of the Farmers Market Coalition

On October 15th, the trade publication The Packer reported on an issue of growing concern for farmers market vendors and shoppers: grocery chains are copy-catting farmers markets by using “farmers market” signs outside of their stores. The Wall Street Journal had previously reported on the issue, including retailers that use the term “farmers market” in their name, like Sprouts Farmers Market and Sunflower Farmers Market. Farmers in Washington State interviewed about the phenomenon seemed dismayed that retail chains “want to attract people and give the illusion that there are all these small farmers there.” Read Full Article »

Posted in Opinion/Editorial

The Atlantic
By Joe Fassler

In Iowa, the race for Secretary of Agriculture has started attracting national attention. Two starkly different candidates are in a dead heat for the traditionally low-profile post, and the winner will be a bellwether of our national attitudes towards food and agricultural policy.

The incumbent is Bill Northey, an establishment candidate who receives donations from Big-Ag corporations like Monsanto, Sygenta, Walmart, and DuPont. He’s been challenged by Francis Thicke (pronounced TICK-ee), the owner of a grass-based organic dairy who’s running for political office for the first time. “For the food movement, [this race] is the most important this election,” sustainable-food guru Michael Pollan told me by email. “If Thicke can pull this off—and he’s in range—it will send an important message nationally that even Iowa, the heart of corn and hog country, is eager for reform, and that the ‘Farm block’ is not as monolithic as people in Congress assume.” Read Full Article »

Posted in Media/News

The Des Moines Register
Posted By Philip Brasher

Monsanto Co. is paying farmers to increase the number of herbicides they’re using. The rebate program is designed to prevent more acreage from getting infested with weeds that are resistant to one particularly popular herbicide, Roundup.

Monsanto announced today that it’s offering herbicide rebates for the first time for soybeans and increasing rebates for use on cotton fields, where the resistant problem is the worst. Read Full Article »

Posted in Media/News

The Chicago Tribune
By Monica Eng, Tribune reporter

Critics of factory farms say we pay a high price for low-cost food

If you adjust for inflation and income, Americans have never spent less on food than they have in recent years. And yet many feel we’ve also never paid such a high price.

U.S. Department of Agriculture figures show the average American spent just 9.5 percent of his or her disposable income on food last year, a lower percentage than in any country in the world.

And although meat consumption has risen slightly over the past 40 years, its impact on the pocketbook is less than half of what it was in 1970, falling from 4.1 percent to 1.6 percent in 2008.

The majority of this cheap protein is delivered by “factory farms” that house thousands of animals in confinement. These concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, produce mass quantities of food at low cost. Read Full Article »

Posted in Media/News

Separating factory farm egg production from authentic organic agriculture. A report by The Cornucopia Institute.

Posted in Video Gallery