New York Times Op-Ed Contributor By MICHAEL POLLAN Berkeley, Calif. — To listen to President Obama’s speech on Wednesday night, or to just about anyone else in the health care debate, you would think that the biggest problem with health care in America is the system itself — perverse incentives, inefficiencies, unnecessary tests and procedures,… Read more »
Why Small Farms Are Safer
The Atlantic by Josh Viertel In 2006 I was–among other things–a vegetable farmer. In New Haven, Connecticut, using Ivy League labor, we grew and sold over 300 varieties of vegetables. Today I am struck with memories of one in particular: a gorgeous crop of spinach we couldn’t sell. During the summer of 2006, an intelligent,… Read more »
Food for the Soul
The New York Times Op-Ed Columnist, NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF YAMHILL, Ore. — On a summer visit back to the farm here where I grew up, I think I figured out the central problem with modern industrial agriculture. It’s not just that it produces unhealthy food,mishandles waste and overuses antibiotics in ways that harm us all…. Read more »
Do Seed Companies Control GM Crop Research?
Scientists must ask corporations for permission before publishing independent research on genetically modified crops. That restriction must end. Scientific American By The Editors Advances in agricultural technology, including, but not limited to, the genetic modification of food crops, have made fields more productive than ever. Farmers grow more crops and feed more people using less… Read more »
No More Bailouts for Factory Farms
lavidalocavore.org by: desmoinesdem If your widget factory produces too many widgets, you will be stuck with extra inventory, affecting your bottom line. In contrast, if your factory farm contributes to excess production of pork, high-level elected officials will ask the federal government to bail you out. I learned from Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement today… Read more »
Non-Organic Organic Food
CommonDreams.org by Jim Hightower When it comes to a healthy diet, I am not a purist. Too late for that because I grew up eating such culinary concoctions as toasted sandwiches constructed of Spam, white bread and that oddly orange, oddly spongy cheeselike stuff known as Velveeta. As an adult, I even have been irresponsible… Read more »
Organic Food Is All That, and More. Just Eat It.
Huffington Post Timothy LaSalle, CEO of the Rodale Institute Good news! You can rest assured that the organic food you bought today is every bit as beneficial for you and the planet as it was three days ago. Advantages for health and ecological soundness are still there, despite a review released this week claiming that… Read more »
NAIS Should be Fixed or Forgotten
FarmandDairy.com By Alan Guebert Four days before the seventh and final “listening session” June 1 to gather producer comments on NAIS, the National Animal Identification System, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced USDA would host six additional meetings for the public “to voice their concerns about the current NAIS system and offer potential solutions.”… Read more »
Genetically Modified Foods Pose Huge Health Risk
By Institute for Responsible Technology LOS ANGELES — This week, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) called on “Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM (genetically modified) foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks.” They called for a moratorium on GM… Read more »
Thicke Forms Exploratory Committee for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture
As a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity The Cornucopia Institute is stridently nonpartisan and does not take positions in electoral races. However, we wanted to make this announcement public because of a high regard we hold Dr. Thicke in. Francis Thicke is widely regarded in the organic dairy community is an expert in grass-based livestock production… Read more »
