EcoWatch by John W. Roulac John W. Roulac [Editor’s note: This article is part two of a two-part series. Read part one.] We now know that 20-30 percent of manmade greenhouse gases in the atmosphere comes from industrial agriculture. Petrochemicals are for cars, not for the soil. By dumping ag chemicals onto our soils, we disrupt nature’s delicate… Read more »
Industrial Poultry and Dairy Operations Slide Under Organic Regulations
Center for Rural Affairs by John Crabtree Aurora Dairy in Dublin, TX Federal organic regulations require that organic poultry and livestock be provided regular access to the outdoors. Dairy cattle and other ruminants must also be provided access to pasture. Increasingly, massive industrial poultry and dairy facilities are obtaining organic certification. And there’s the rub…. Read more »
U.S Organic Dairy Politics: Animals, Pasture, People and Agribusiness
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan– a division of St. Martin’s Press (in the US) A review by James Goodman Bruce Scholten’s in-depth and thoughtful analysis of U.S. organic dairy politics begins with his own memories of growing up on a Washington State dairy farm. From what was common in his childhood, small dairy farms operated by multi-generational… Read more »
Can GMOs Save the World?
Aljazeera America by Anna Lappé Source: Peter Blanchard In October in Istanbul, farmers, agricultural researchers and advocates from around the world gathered for the Organic World Congress, organized by the 42-year-old International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM). With 800 affiliates in 124 countries, IFOAM comes together every three years to gauge its global efforts to promote… Read more »
Better Dying Through GMOs
The Daily Call
Actually, Raising Beef Is Good for the Planet
Despite environmentalists’ worries, cattle don’t guzzle water or cause hunger—and can help fight climate change Wall Street Journal by Nicolette Hahn Niman Source: AgriLife Today People who advocate eating less beef often argue that producing it hurts the environment. Cattle, we are told, have an outsize ecological footprint: They guzzle water, trample plants and soils,… Read more »
Scientists Need to Rethink Their Beliefs About GMOs
Francis Thicke is a Cornucopia member and Policy Advisor. Des Moines Register by John Ikerd, Fred Kirschenmann and Francis Thicke Francis Thicke Belief systems and narratives matter, as was pointed out in a Nov. 23 opinion piece defending genetically modified organisms (GMOs) against growing public concerns (“Americans need to rethink our views of GMO vs… Read more »
The Wheels of Local Government Get Very Slippery, Especially with Manure Spills
[Editor’s Note: Massive manure spills and their impact, such as described below, are happening all over the country. This particular account comes from Wisconsin.] By John Bobbe Cave Point in Door County Source: Elvis Kennedy My wife and I have lived on the Door Peninsula in the same neighborhood for 36 years. It is the… Read more »
The Fat Lady (Monsanto) Hasn’t Sung Yet
by Rick North Source: Amancay Maahs What a difference a week makes. Late-counted ballots from all over Oregon have now reduced the vote deficit to only 6,371 on the GMO food labeling initiative. This is: 50.22% No 49.78% Yes At this point, a difference of around 2,900 votes or less would be enough to trigger an… Read more »
How a National Food Policy Could Save Millions of American Lives
Washington Post by Mark Bittman, Michael Pollan, Ricardo Salvador and Olivier De Schutter Source: Charlie Barker Mark Bittman, an opinion columnist and food writer for the New York Times, is the author of “How to Cook Everything Fast.” Michael Pollan, who teaches journalism at the University of California at Berkeley, is the author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.”… Read more »
