A Way to Sprout New Farmers

The Chronicle Herald – Nova Scotia, Canada By BILL SPURR Features Writer Program offers apprentices a chance to try their hand at growing organic Quickly dispelling any romantic notions in a room of university students considering becoming a farmer’s apprentice, Rowena Hopkins warned of the necessity of being open minded. “One of the farms I […]

Farmers Face Tough Choice On Ways To Fight New Strains Of Weeds

NPR by Dan Charles Listen to the audio story. OK, so this story is about weeds and weedkillers, neither of which is ever the hero of a story, but stay with me for a second: It’s also about plants with superpowers. Unless you grow cotton, corn or soybeans for a living, it’s hard to appreciate […]

Organic Group Challenged to Remove Former Board President/Speaker

Celebrity Doctor, Alan Greene, Accused of Unethical Conduct ANAHEIM, CA:  On the heels of an emerging corporate influence peddling scandal that has undermined the integrity of the federal organic rulemaking process, The Cornucopia Institute, an industry watchdog, has requested that a speech by Alan Greene, a well-known pediatrician, be canceled at the Natural Foods Expo, […]

Monsanto Is a Lobbying Powerhouse

Food Safety News by Dan Flynn Monsanto was not on mailing list used by U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter to ask food businesses about their policies on antibiotics in food, presumably because the St. Louis company does not have anything to do with antibiotic use in meat and poultry. But out of sheer curiosity, Food Safety […]

USDA Reports Shifts in Land Use

Nation’s cropland is becoming more concentrated in five Midwestern states. Farm Futures Compiled by staff A report from USDA’s Agriculture Economic Research Service confirms that from 1945 to 2007 the amount of cropland decreased in the United States. Cynthia Nickerson says the reasons vary by region. In some regions of the country where you have […]

Vegetables As a Way of Life

The Esalen Institute is known for personal growth and social change. Its Farm and Garden advances those goals through connection to food and the soil. Los Angeles Times By Caitlin Keller Special to the Los Angeles Times Reporting from Big Sur—— Morning fog weaves its way through colorful rows of vegetables, herbs and flowers as […]

Iowa Approves Nation’s First ‘Ag-Gag’ Law

Food Safety News by Dan Flynn Four years ago, undercover video recorded workers on forklifts forcing “downer” cows into slaughter at the Hallmark and Westland meat plant in Chino, CA, which at the time was a top supplier to the National School Lunch program. The sting, by the Humane Society of the United States, put […]