EcoWatch by Cole Mellino Danish Organic Label Danish consumers are the most pro-organic consumers in the world, according to Organic Denmark, an association of companies, organic farmers and consumers. Nearly 8 percent of all food sold in Denmark is organic, the highest percentage in Europe. And Danish organic export has risen by more than 200 percent since 2007. The Danish government… Read more »
Foods Presidential Candidates Love the Most: Scrambled Eggs, Mexican Food, and More
Yahoo! Food by Rachel Tepper Paley Source: Sharon Sperry Bloom In an election year, the public is endlessly curious about the personal details of the men and women running for president, and we’re no exception to the rule. As candidates stuff their faces at campaign stops across the country in diners, delis, and barbecue joints, we… Read more »
EPA Mulls Ban on Nation’s Most Heavily Used Insecticide
Salon by Paul Koberstein Source: UNDP Numerous studies show Chlorpyrifos causes serious harm to children, but some farmworkers consider it indispensable Scott Krogstad grows soybeans and sugar beets in the heart of the Red River Valley near Grand Forks, North Dakota. Like most sugar beet farmers in the Midwest, he wages a difficult war with… Read more »
With Zika Virus, Widespread Pesticide Spraying Not the Long-Term Solution, says Entomologist
Beyond Pesticides Aedes aegypti Source: James Gathany Speaking to The Guardian, a leading Kenyan entomologist warns that spraying pesticides will fail to deal with the Zika virus. Just recently the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the virus a public health emergency over growing concerns that the virus is linked with microcephaly. Aerial and ground applications… Read more »
FDA Bans Imports of Genetically Engineered Salmon — For Now
The Washington Post by Brady Dennis AquaBounty Salmon Source: Prachatai Genetically engineered salmon won’t be hitting U.S. dinner tables anytime soon. Two months after federal regulators approved the nation’s first genetically engineered salmon for human consumption, the Food and Drug Administration on Friday issued a ban on the import and sale of the fish until the agency… Read more »
Following an Email Trail: How a Public University Professor Collaborated on a Corporate PR Campaign
U.S. Right to Know by Carey Gillam Bruce Chassy Source: University of Illinois Former University of Illinois food science professor Bruce Chassy is known for his academic gravitas. Now retired nearly four years, Chassy still writes and speaks often about food safety issues, identifying himself with the full weight of the decades of experience earned… Read more »
Sikkim is India’s First Organic State
Organic-Market.info Traditional Meal in Sikkim, India Source: ButForTheSky.com All of Sikkim’s farmland has been certified organic under the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) regulations by the end of 2015. “Sikkim has already achieved that feat of living in harmony with nature, and is therefore a model of development which also protects nature,” Prime Minister… Read more »
Activists Demand A Bill Of Rights For California Farm Workers
NPR – The Salt by Tracie McMillan Source: USDA Farm workers in two of the nation’s most important agricultural counties joined other low-wage food sector workers on Wednesday, demanding better wages with a new Bill of Rights. The thrust of the bill, which is aimed at workers in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties in California,… Read more »
Upper Midwest Farmers Transitioning to Organic Can Get Aid
AP by Blake Nicholson Source: 401kcalculator.org BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota and Minnesota are helping farmers with the three-year transition from traditional crops to organic production, an effort that the industry’s main trade group says could boost the acreage of organically grown crops in the U.S. if it takes root beyond the upper Midwest…. Read more »
Garden How-To: Blend Your Own Seed-Starting Mix
Rodale’s Organic Life by Doug Hall Source: Susy Morris Get better results + save money by learning how to make your own potting soil. April Johnson, landscape and greenhouse coordinator at the Rodale Institute near Kutztown, Pennsylvania, grows literally thousands of organic vegetable, flower, and herb transplants every year. (It’s a great way to get the… Read more »
