Category:Media/News

Cornucopia’s Take: Farm Bill conferees met this week regarding the impending Farm Bill. You may have already heard that deep cuts to SNAP have been proposed. A lesser-known section of the House’s version of the Farm Bill would remove local communities’ ability to prohibit toxic pesticide spraying around their children. This is a crucial time… Read more »

Cornucopia’s Take: If you find yourself in South Jersey, take a trip to the pick-your-own blueberry farms selling heirloom varieties you’ve never conceived of if you’ve only eaten blueberries from the store. Large producers increasingly grow them hydroponically, although Driscoll’s uses the misleading euphemism “container growing.” They grow varieties that can be easily harvested, packed,… Read more »

Cornucopia’s Take: Current nutritional guidelines suggest limiting high fat dairy in our diets, but more research has been released encouraging the inclusion of full-fat cheese and yogurt in a healthy diet. To avoid pesticide and antibiotic residues, Cornucopia recommends only organic dairy foods. Use our Organic Dairy Scorecard to determine which brand is best for… Read more »

Cornucopia’s Take: With the mergers of the last two years, three companies now control almost two-thirds of the commodity crop seeds and nearly 70% of the agricultural chemicals and pesticides in the world. Four companies now control 85% of the U.S. corn seed market. Senator Booker’s bill, which Cornucopia gladly supports, would put large mergers… Read more »

Cornucopia’s Take: Young farmers’ difficulties in breaking into agriculture are well documented in the news, including the article below. The good news is that eaters can help! Although it may be faster to buy all of your groceries at the Big Box stores, joining a CSA or buying from local organic producers helps the community… Read more »

Cornucopia’s Take: A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Nestlé for allegedly misleading consumers with a “No GMO Ingredients” label of its own creation. Lawyers contend the company’s label has no meaning, since products bearing the label contain dairy from GMO-fed cows. Several experts contend the suit has a difficult road forward, particularly since the… Read more »

Cornucopia’s Take: Although certified organic baby food certainly contains less pesticide contamination than conventional, heavy metals are still an issue, according to recent testing by Consumer Reports. This is no surprise, since arsenic and lead have been used in the past as pesticides, and heavy metals persist in soil until they are taken up by… Read more »

Cornucopia’s Take: Conventional grocery items made with oats, wheat, and legumes are very likely to contain glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s (now Bayer’s) Roundup. Conventional farmers frequently use Roundup as a desiccant on crops, killing the entire field at once and allowing for speedy drying and efficient processing. Glyphosate lingers on the crop and… Read more »

Cornucopia’s Take: Over 8,000 people have now filed lawsuits regarding cancer risks associated with Monsanto’s glyphosate, recently acquired by Bayer. Bayer continues to fight the jury damage award of $289 million in the first of these cases. The company claims to have planned for litigation in its purchase of Monsanto and notes that glyphosate continues to… Read more »

Cornucopia’s Take: As a string of about 5,000 court cases commence, alleging Monsanto’s Roundup caused plaintiff’s cancers, new documents detailing communications between government agencies and Monsanto have been made public. Bayer acquired Monsanto in June, and integration of the companies has begun. Monsanto was recently ordered by a jury to pay DeWayne Johnson $289 million… Read more »