Do you know where your food comes from? Are you dedicated to buying local and organic from authentic family farms? Are you thankful for the farmers that get up early and stay up late in the heat of the summer and cold of the winter to produce nutritious food grown...
Dear Cornucopia members and supporters, Pat Slattery of Middle Ridge, Wisconsin is the self-professed Brussels Sprout King of the Midwest. Pat has long been dedicated to high-quality wholesale and retail organics, as the photo indicates, and supportive of the community of farmers. We have been friends for over two...
Cornucopia’s Take: We often see stories in the news claiming that organic is no better than conventional agriculture. One of these propaganda pieces recently ran in AgDaily. The author, Michelle Miller, styles herself as a homey Iowan farmer, but a look at her work suggests otherwise. For example, she...
Cornucopia’s Take: Pioneering organic farmer Eliot Coleman of Four Season Farm in Maine has shared his knowledge of the soil and growing food with growers from around the world. He has also been a vocal critic of the USDA National Organic Program. Read his latest commentary on the NOP and...
Cornucopia’s Take: Two critics of dicamba use on the Arkansas Plant Board have been replaced by appointees who favor the use of dicamba later into the growing season. Even so, agreement has been hard to reach. While the board has decided that dicamba will be allowed for use through...
Cornucopia’s Take: As a national farm policy group, we don’t universally track state and local political issues. But in the prime organic agricultural production states, like California and Wisconsin, we do pay attention. As an example, the green-light for “organic” factory dairies in Texas has just six operations in...
Cornucopia’s Take: Conventional pork producers pen their hogs in overcrowded barns, spray them with pesticides, provide the cheapest feed available, and store their considerable manure in giant anaerobic lagoons where it is open to the environment and frequently pollutes local watersheds. These cut corners make conventional pork a very...
Cornucopia’s Take: Cornucopia was among the 213 farm, food, rural, faith and consumer advocacy organizations to seek Congressional support for a temporary halt to agribusiness mergers as the focus of legislation introduced by Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Mark Pocan. The proposed legislation would set up a commission to determine...
Acres USA publishes one of the most authoritative magazines, and sponsors an annual conference, addressing the educational needs of ecologically sound agricultural practitioners. They present tools for both agronomic and economic success. Many of this year’s eminently qualified speakers are long-time Cornucopia members. Acres U.S.A. The goal for the...
Cornucopia’s Take: After consideration, Judge Bolanos opted not to grant Monsanto a new trial regarding DeWayne Johnson’s allegations that their product, Roundup, caused his cancer. However, she lowered the amount of punitive damages awarded to Johnson. Bayer, which now owns Monsanto, is expected to file another appeal. Monsanto trial:...
Cornucopia’s Take: The USDA has determined that no regulation is needed for food genetically engineered using new technologies like CRISPR. Even after the proposed GMO labeling law goes into effect, slated for 2019, companies using these new technologies are exempted from labeling their products as genetically modified (see Cornucopia’s...
Cornucopia’s Take: Conventional and GMO crop farming and concentrated animal feeding operations create runoff of excess pesticides and fertilizers into watersheds and, ultimately, wells in rural America. The runoff contains nitrates from manure, bacteria from sick animals, and a host of toxic chemicals and antibiotics. Learn more about the...
The Cornucopia Institute, through research and investigations on agriculture and food issues, provides needed information to family farmers, consumers and other stakeholders in the good food movement and to the media.
