Why Does Superior Food Production Generate Inferior Income? [This article was previously published in the fall issue of The Cultivator, Cornucopia’s quarterly newsletter.] by Linley Dixon, PhD Linley Dixon Our diverse, small-acre vegetable farm was in its fourth year of production. Despite what appeared to be a successful venture — a thriving farmer’s market stand,… Read more »
Search Results for: GMO
Whole Foods’ “Responsibly Grown” Produce Ratings — Not “Good” Enough
This spring 17 certified organic farmers signed on to a letter to Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey asking him to withdraw the company’s “Responsibly Grown” produce labeling program, at least temporarily. The farmers, all of whom sell produce to the 400+-store high-end grocery chain, objected to having to pay for the grocer’s marketing program… Read more »
Day Two Report: Will the NOSB Chicken Out in San Diego?
Tuesday was the second day of the four-day National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California. At least twice a year the 15-member expert stakeholder panel meets around the country. The NOSB was created by Congress to represent the interests of the organic community, rather than allowing the… Read more »
Start-Ups Rise to Close a Gap for Farmers
The New York Times by Stephanie Strom Credit: Havilah McGrath, McGrath Farm WELLESLEY, Mass. — In spite of the surging demand for locally and regionally grown foods over the last few years, there is a chasm separating small and midsize farmers from their local markets. But a growing number of small businesses are springing up… Read more »
Kale and Hearty: The Salad Bowl of America Turns Toxic
As nitrates seep into aquifers in California’s Salinas Valley, local scientists are working to improve water quality AlJazeera America by Sara Rubin Source: Julie Falk MOSS LANDING, Calif. — It has just rained, welcome respite from California’s ongoing drought, and puddles have turned a fallow farm field to squelchy mud. Artichokes will be planted here… Read more »
In Florida Tomato Fields, a Penny Buys Progress
The New York Times by Steven Greenhouse IMMOKALEE, Fla. — Not long ago, Angelina Velasquez trudged to a parking lot at 5 each morning so a crew leader’s bus could drop her at the tomato fields by 6. She often waited there, unpaid — while the dew dried — until 10 a.m., when the workers… Read more »
Big Tech Seeks to Stop Nebraska ‘Right to Repair’ Bill
Cornucopia’s Take: Tractors now house high tech software that farmers are not allowed to access, although costly software issues may ground a tractor during the growing season. Farmers and small electronics technicians are backing a bill to allow the public access to software, parts, and repair instructions. John Deere and Apple unsurprisingly maintain that they,… Read more »
Surviving on Wheat, Rice, and Corn
Cornucopia’s Take: Wheat, rice, and corn now make up 43% of the food eaten in the world. Setting aside the political-financial issue of food distribution, this report discusses the homogenization of food eaten, and attendant loss of biodiversity. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), we will need to produce… Read more »
The 14 Best Books About Food That You (Probably) Haven’t Read
Paste by John Burdick Source: Daniel Go From blogs to many popular books, food writing is now among America’s favorite forms of leisure reading. Gaining usage as a term in the early 1990s, food writing is now composed of a range of genres—non-fiction, literature, recipes, journalism, memoir, and travelogues among them—that explore the fundamental relationship… Read more »
Local Food Movement Growing Ranks of Younger Farmers
Nonprofits, government initiatives hope to cultivate demographic shift Chicago Tribune By Naomi Nix Nick Batchelder and his wife moved to Chicago at the start of the economic recession, hoping their years of experience in ecology and construction would land them jobs. After months of scouring the Internet for openings and pumping their contacts for leads,… Read more »
