The Way Food Should Be

The Wire (this link no longer available) by Matt Kanner Mainers are leading a national push to restore family farming It was 20 degrees below zero when farmer Jim Gerritsen got up on the early morning of Feb. 13. Gerritson operates Wood Prairie Farm in rural Bridgewater, Maine, near the Canadian border in Aroostook County, the… Read more »

Science Codex Organic farms produce strawberries with fewer malformations and a higher proportion of fully pollinated berries relative to conventional forms, according to a Feb. 15 report in the open access journal PLoS ONE. The study, led by Georg Andersson of Lund University in Sweden, investigated the effect of organic farming compared to conventional.

RT.com A French court ruled that a controversial US biotech company Monsanto is guilty of unintentional chemical poisoning of a French farmer. The verdict sets a French precedent for pesticide-poisoning and more cases are expected to follow. ­Grain farmer Paul Francois, says he suffered a number of neurological problems, including memory loss, stammering and headaches,… Read more »

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy By Andrew Ranallo MINNEAPOLIS – New peer-reviewed research published January 19 found methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in pork samples collected from retail stores at a higher rate than previously identified. The study, by researchers from the University of Iowa College of Public Health and the Institute for Agriculture and… Read more »

The Atlantic By Marion Nestle Eggs are boiled and sterile, but contamination must have occurred after they were peeled or while they were sitting in buckets of salt water. A company called Michael Foods has recalled more than one million hard-boiled eggs because of possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. These especially nasty bacteria grow happily… Read more »

Union of Concerned Scientists Monsanto Company is the dominant player in commercial genetically engineered (GE) crops, the biggest seed company in the world, and—to hear them tell it—a leader and innovator in sustainable agriculture. Monsanto aggressively touts its technology as vital to achieving laudable goals such as ensuring adequate food production, responding to the challenge… Read more »

Chem World by Rebecca Trager An online movement has erupted urging President Obama to cease ties between the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and agricultural biotech company Monsanto. The petition specifically mentions Michael Taylor as a former vice president and lobbyist with the firm, and suggests that he should be removed from his position… Read more »

by ClickGreen staff (UK) An impact assessment of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in England has found the pioneering farming schemes are providing huge benefits not only to thousands of members, but also their communities, local economies and the environment. CSA offers an innovative approach to reconnecting people with their food, and helps to build strong… Read more »

The New York Times By JULIA MOSKIN SILENT in flannel shirts and ponytails, farmers from Saskatchewan and South Dakota, Mississippi and Massachusetts lined the walls of a packed federal courtroom in Manhattan last week, as their lawyers told a judge that they were no longer able to keep genetically modified crops from their fields. The… Read more »

Syngenta’s PR Team Investigated the Press and Paid “Experts” to Shape the News and Counter Scientific Claims of Potential Endocrine Disruption Center for Media and Democracy Madison – The Center for Media and Democracy has posted more than 200 emails, invoices and other documents unsealed as part of a major lawsuit against Syngenta Crop Protection,… Read more »