Lettuce and the Big Food Nightmare
August 18, 2026
Cornucopia’s Take: Cornucopia, along with 14 other stakeholders, has filed suit against the USDA challenging the unilateral changes made by the agency to the “Sunset” process. The lawsuit argues that the changes made to the review of synthetic materials allowed for use in organics were consequential, arbitrary, and failed to ...
[This action alert is over.] Public Can Comment Until Midnight Monday, September 12 Source: Jerald Jackson The USDA is nearing approval of a third genetically engineered apple from Okanagan Specialty Fruits. The company’s Fuji GMO apple is designed not to brown when sliced or exposed to air. Any apple eater ...
The Fall 2016 Cultivator, Cornucopia’s quarterly newsletter, is now available online. Download the PDF here. In it you’ll find: Cover story: Toothless GMO Food Labeling Bill Becomes Law Commentary: A REAL Apple a Day Feature: Cornucopia Asks Regulators to Block Merger Beneficial Wildlife Preserving Organic History Local Food Relations Farmer ...
Cornucopia’s Take: Beekeepers in North Dakota and Minnesota claim that farmers’ move towards corn and soy, along with a decrease in conservation land, leaves bees without pollen. Cornucopia supports organic and sustainable farms, recognizing the far-reaching benefits of working with nature. Dakotas’ honeybee habitat shrinking with changing environment The Bismarck ...
Cornucopia’s Take: Organics are firmly rooted in attention to and care for the environment, animals and humanity. Farm labor is fraught with complex issues in need of our attention. True sustainability will ensure all farm workers a safer, more well-paid living. Phantoms in the fields: Mexican workers drawn to harvest ...
Cornucopia’s Take: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba’s food systems by necessity became local and sustainable. Growing practices were pioneered for the specific circumstances of environment and economics, and grassroots organizations and co-ops proved critical to the new path. Although circumstances in the U.S. prevent exact duplication of ...
Cornucopia’s Take: Certifiers and organic wholesalers are, so far, the major beneficiaries of India’s efforts to shift agricultural practices to organic in Sikkim. As in the U.S., certification is expensive (farmers in the U.S. are eligible for cost sharing from the USDA), although it is mandatory in Sikkim. India’s First ...
Cornucopia’s Take: Nutrition is crucial to health. However, few doctors can advise you about how to eat well as most never benefited from studying nutrition even though their patron saint Hippocrates is known to have said “Let thy food be thy medicine.” But this may be changing as some schools ...
Cornucopia’s Take: Minnesota is a major producer of soybeans, a conventional crop known for being farmed with bee-killing neonicotinoids. Governor Dayton’s executive order aims to limit farmers’ use of these harmful chemicals. Minnesota sets broadest U.S. limits on chemicals blamed for bee declines Reuters by Tom Polansek Source: Distant Hill ...
[This article was previously published in the summer issue of The Cultivator, Cornucopia’s quarterly newsletter.] by Rachel Zegerius, Communications and Development Associate at The Cornucopia Institute New Morning Farm A warm spring morning finds Pennsylvania organic farmer Jim Crawford where any farmer might be this time of year….on a bicycle ...
Cornucopia’s Take: Pesticides have had their turn at trying to keep the corn rootworm at bay, resulting in their eventual development of resistance to the chemicals. Scientists and some farmers are now inviting predators into their fields to finish the job. Bugs, fungi, and nematodes deployed to battle corn rootworm ...
Cornucopia’s Take: Increasing consumer awareness is clearly encouraging stores to consider pollinators as they procure garden plants for sale. Voting with our forks as well as our gardens is changing what is available in the marketplace. Big drop found in neonicotinoid content of home stores’ ‘bee-friendly’ flowers MinnPost by Ron ...
