[This Action Alert is Over] Despite the risks, the USDA has now made it clear that they are not interested in regulating Monsanto’s GE Alfalfa. They approved it January 27th for planting this spring by farmers with no restrictions. Tell President Obama that you don’t want organic and conventional agriculture contaminated by GE Alfalfa, and… Read more »
Northeast Producer Spotlight
National Farmers Organization Ray Scheesley Nestled in the rolling foothills of Allegany County on the outskirts of the two-college town of Alfred, NY, lays a small but quaint 50 cow Certified Organic dairy farm named Sunny Cove. Jerry and Dottie Snyder, along with their 8 children, operate a not so typical “raw milk permitted” Organic… Read more »
BREAKING NEWS: USDA to Fully Deregulate Monsanto’s Genetically Engineer Alfalfa — Gene Contamination of Feed, Milk, Meat and Other Products to Follow…
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced this afternoon that the agency will fully deregulate Monsanto’s controversial genetically engineered alfalfa. The choice was favored by the biotech industry and one of three options identified in the USDA’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) released last month. USDA could have maintained regulatory status over the perennial crop that is… Read more »
Federal Government Spends Millions on Hoop Houses
The Daily Caller By STEVE KARNOWSKI – AP MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The federal government has spent millions of dollars to help farmers nationwide buy greenhouse-like structures called high tunnels that can add valuable weeks and even months to their growing seasons by protecting produce from chilly temperatures. About $13 million has gone to more than… Read more »
GOP Farm Cuts Target Organic, Avoids Big Ag Subsidies
The Des Moines Register by Philip Brasher The grain and cotton growers that dominate U.S. farm subsidies came out unscathed in the first proposal from some of the most conservative House Republicans to cut spending. Instead, the Republican Study Committee targeted spending for organic farmers, sugar growers and an export promotion program that is popular… Read more »
Deadly Superbugs Are Spread Miles From Farms By House Flies
MailOnline By David Derbyshire Potentially deadly superbugs can be spread by flies from farms to people living miles away, scientists warned last night. Researchers have found disturbing evidence that houseflies and cockroaches carry antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria normally found in the guts of livestock. In tests, the same strains living in the intestines of pigs… Read more »
Group Presents Plan to Boost State’s Farm and Food Economy
Burlington Free Press By Lisa Rathke, The Associated Press MONTPELIER — A new report predicts that 1,500 jobs could be created in Vermont over the next decade if residents double their consumption of locally produced food. The Farm to Plate Strategic Plan presented to lawmakers and the governor Wednesday outlines 33 goals and 60 strategies… Read more »
5 Years After Katrina, Teacher Tills Soil of Lower 9th Ward
The New York Times By CHARLES WILSON NEW ORLEANS — For an embattled former New York public school teacher and six young African-American men, a wrecked grocery store here has become a place of second chances. Five years after the levees broke in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Lower Ninth Ward remains largely a… Read more »
Movement Brings N.H. Investors to Small-Scale Food Enterprises
New Hampshire Business Review (link no longer available) By Kathleen Callahan A new investment model that steers loans to small-scale, local food enterprises is gaining traction in New Hampshire, encouraging Granite State investors to essentially put their money where their mouths are. The movement is called Slow Money, and it’s an outgrowth of the Slow Food… Read more »
The Monsanto Rag
From one of the centers of organics in the United States, the Kickapoo River Valley of Southwest Wisconsin, comes a catchy little musical indictment of Monsanto. After listening please visit the Action Alerts section and then send president Obama a message saying we don’t want Monsanto’s genetics to contaminate organic all the organic alfalfa in… Read more »
