Seeking economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Through research, advocacy, and economic development our goal is to empower farmers - partnered with consumers - in support of ecologically produced local, organic and authentic food.
University of Wisconsin researchers’ study confirms chlorpyrifos levels far below “toxic” threshold can impair learning, change brain function and alter thyroid levels into adulthood for tested mice.
http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/20091110/porter_chlorpyrifos_tiny_dose_pregnancy_impact_daughters Read Full Article »
Mark Kastel of the Cornucopia Institute, speaking at the Wedge Community Co-op’s 2009 member owner meeting.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK48CZWnQw8
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewctwJQhpsw
Fort Worth STAR-TELEGRAM
By Barry Shlachter, barry@star-telegram.com
Organic-food shoppers are making a rude discovery at their grocers’ refrigerated display case.
“White Wave Silk Vanilla Soymilk is no longer Organic,” declares a hand-lettered sign at the two Sunflower Shoppes in Tarrant County.
Silk has more than 70 percent of the market. Until this month, Sunflower routinely re-ordered it, thinking it was certified organic.
But its maker, Dallas-based Dean Foods, quietly removed the word “organic” from the familiar blue cartons Jan. 15 and switched to cheaper beans — not genetically modified but likely grown with chemical fertilizer and possibly pesticide — then called it “all natural” soy milk. Read Full Article »
Agreement Helps Organic Dairy Farmers in Northeast and Midwest
LA FARGE, WI – CROPP Cooperative and Stonyfield Farm today announced a new phase in their partnership, a creative measure designed to sustain organic family dairy farmers and preserve consumer choice.
Beginning January 1, 2010, CROPP will manage the organic milk supply for Stonyfield fluid milk products and invite the farmers producing that milk into CROPP Cooperative. It also will license the Stonyfield fluid milk brand and oversee its sales and retail distribution.
For more than 11 years, CROPP has supplied the organic milk for all other Stonyfield products. The addition of the fluid milk business builds on this partnership. Read Full Article »
New York Times
By KEVIN GRANVILLE
Of all the changes coming to Francisco Baez’s cramped corner grocery store in Newark’s North Ward, he is most excited about the new scanner system at the two checkouts.
But Newark officials, who are paying for the new equipment, are most interested in the new refrigeration units that will be installed near the front of the store. Those new refrigerators, to be filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, are part of a new effort by Newark — with variations in other cities across the country — to improve the diets of low-income residents.
Until recently, small corner grocery stores were seen by public health officials as part of the obesity problem.
The stores, predominantly family-owned, offered convenience, but the accent was on snack chips, canned goods and sugary drinks. Now, because they are often the sole source of groceries in areas with no full-size supermarket, the stores are becoming linchpins in public health campaigns. Read Full Article »
