PEW Charitable Trusts Much of the pollution in U.S. rivers and streams today comes from improperly handled manure generated by CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations), which confine thousands of animals on a single site. But unlike many other industries, CAFOs do not regularly disclose facility-specific information to the EPA—and the powerful interests behind CAFOs want… Read more »
Oregon Man Pleads Guilty to Selling Corn Falsely Labeled as Organic
U.S. Department of Justice Defendant Sold 4.2 Million Pounds of Conventional Corn Falsely Labeled As Organic Eugene, Ore. – Harold Chase, 54, of Springfield, Oregon, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud for selling more than 4.2 million pounds of corn falsely labeled as organically grown. By falsely labeling the corn as organic, defendant doubled his… Read more »
USDA Appoints New Members to the National Organic Standards Board
Agricultural Marketing Service – USDA Soo Kim WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2011 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture appointed five new members to the National Organic Standards Board today, adding significant depth of experience and a wide range of perspectives to the advisory organization. “As the board serves a critical role in the direction of the… Read more »
Monsanto’s Caribbean experiment
El Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (Puerto Rico) (link no longer available) Written by Eliván Martínez The largest producer of transgenic seeds in the world is leasing some of the best agricultural lands on the Island with a pattern of questionable legality, while receiving incentives from the Fortuño administration. When environmentalist Juan Rosario traveled to an… Read more »
Pesticides Are Good for You
Big Food’s Co-optation of Nutrition Professionals Food Safety News by Michele Simon, Opinion For years now, I have been hearing about the food industry’s influence on the annual conference of the American Dietetic Association — the nation’s largest gathering of nutrition professionals–with some 7,000 registered dietitians in attendance. Last month, I witnessed it for myself… Read more »
Farmers, Consumers Rally to Support Man’s Selling of ‘Raw Milk’
Bangor Daily News (Maine) By Kevin Miller, BDN Staff BLUE HILL, Maine — Small-scale farmers and Mainers who buy directly from them held a boisterous rally Friday to support a Hancock County man sparring with agriculture officials over his right to sell “raw milk” and other products from his farm without a license. Farmer Dan… Read more »
What Drugs Was Your Thanksgiving Turkey On?
Antibiotics and other drugs are common in the turkey that thousands of Americans eat every day. AlterNet / By Martha Rosenberg So far, 2011 has not been a great year for turkey producers. In May, an article in Clinical Infectious Diseases reported that half of U.S. meat from major grocery chains–turkey, beef, chicken and pork–harbors… Read more »
Research Proves Equal Yields, Higher Profits From Organic Farming
FreshPlaza.com Organic crop systems can provide similar yields and much higher economic returns than a conventional corn-soybean rotation, according to thirteen years of data from a side-by-side comparison at Iowa State University’s Neely-Kinyon Research and Demonstration Farm. The University’s Long-Term Agroecological Research Experiment (LTAR) began in 1998 with support from the Leopold Center for Sustainable… Read more »
Future of Organic Food and Agriculture at Risk
Use of Synthetic Preservatives, Genetically Mutated Ingredients and Weak Animal Welfare Standards Headed for Vote by USDA Panel Cornucopia, WI—The Cornucopia Institute, one of the nation’s leading organic industry watchdogs, is urging members of the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), in formal testimony, to vote to preserve the integrity of organic food and farming… Read more »
Food Sleuth Radio
KOPN 89.5 FM Melinda Hemmelgam conducts two terrific interviews on Food Sleuth Radio. Greg Judy, a Missouri farmer and internationally know rotational grazing expert, describes the benefits of feeding livestock grass both for the environment and human nutrition. Click here to listen. Melinda Hemmelgam also interviews Iowa farmer George Naylor. The former President of the… Read more »
