New York Times by Mark Bittman “Fed Up” is probably the most important movie to be made since “An Inconvenient Truth,” to which it’s related in a couple of ways. One of its producers is Laurie David, who also produced “An Inconvenient Truth.” Climate change, diet and agriculture are inexorably intertwined; we can’t tackle climate… Read more »
Search Results for: GMO
Peak Soil: Unless We Act Now the Very Ground Beneath Us Will Die
Protecting and improving the health of soil is even more important today than it ever has been, says the Soil Association’s Helen Browning, especially coupled with the challenges that climate change will bring in the future. Forked By Helen Browning As a farmer, my foremost responsibility is to protect and enhance the soil in my… Read more »
Canada Declares Farm Use of Neonicotinoids “Unsustainable”
Beyond Pesticides Last Friday, Health Canada released new measures the agency claims are intended to protect bees from exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides. As with recent regulations proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), beekeepers and environmental groups are criticizing the measures as inadequate, not going far enough to protect domesticated honey bees that both… Read more »
What’s Ailing America’s Cattle?
Scientists Suspect Livestock-Feed Additives Are Behind Distress Wall Street Journal By Jesse Newman and Kelsey Gee A growing number of cattle arriving for slaughter at U.S. meatpacking plants have recently shown unusual signs of distress. Some walked stiffly, while others had trouble moving or simply lay down, their tongues hanging from their mouths. A few… Read more »
Organic Industry Watchdog Asks DOJ to Block Merger
France’s Groupe Danone’s purchase of WhiteWave would combine Stonyfield, Horizon and Wallaby to Dominate the Organic Dairy Market The French dairy giant, Groupe Danone (Dannon in the U.S.) has announced the proposed acquisition of WhiteWave Foods for approximately $10 billion. The deal would combine the world’s largest organic yogurt brand, Stonyfield, with Wallaby, a rapidly… 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 »
More Women Planting Roots in Agriculture, Finding Home on Range
The Seattle Times by Elizabeth Zach Pam Schreiber, organic farmer Source: USDA According to the USDA, the women who identify themselves as farmers or ranchers run the gamut from those who raise cattle, sheep, poultry, pigs and goats in the West and Midwest to viticulturists who nurture malbec and pinot noir grapes in California, Washington… Read more »
Return of the Dust Bowl
The parched prairies of the Midwest are facing a natural disaster not seen since the ‘dusters’ of the 1930s The Independent By David Usborne Keyes, OK — The jam jar sitting on John Vannatta’s kitchen table appears to be filled with coffee, until he shows you the label on the lid. The preserve inside is… Read more »
National Organic Standards Board Adopts Pasture Guidance But USDA Staff Rejects Changes and Asks for Further Review
The Cornucopia Institute’s Senior Farm Policy Analyst Mark Kastel journeyed to Washington, D.C. for the August 15-17 meeting of the National Organic Standards Board. He was there to push for final adoption of the proposed pasture guidance for dairy cows and ruminants that would close loopholes being used by several large industrial confinement dairy farms… Read more »
Appropriations Committee Members
The House and Senate Appropriations Committee members are listed below, alphabetized by the state they represent. Click on the names of your congressional representatives to go to their individual contact pages; send them an email with your input (sample text here). Alabama Rep. Martha Roby (AL-2) Rep. Robert Aderholt (AL-4) Sen. Richard Shelby Alaska Sen…. Read more »
