Spur by Eli Zigas Heirloom tomatoes at Slow Food Nation Credit: mercedesfromtheeighties On July 29, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance that created California’s first urban agriculture incentive zone. The new law allows a tax break for SF property owners who dedicate their land to agricultural use for at least five years. For more… Read more »
Search Results for: GMO
Mobile slaughterhouses feed local food movement
Farmers can have just a few animals killed, then sell the meat nearby Chicago Tribune By Steve Mills, Tribune reporter BONFIELD, Ill.– Kim Snyder built her farm in this small community west of Kankakee on the principles of organic farming and local food. But bringing her livestock to slaughter in a way that helps her… Read more »
Weed Killer Glyphosate Found in Human Urine Across Europe
Digital Journal By Anne Sewell Friends of the Earth Europe (FoE) commissioned a series of urine tests on people in 18 countries across Europe. The results were released on Thursday and FoE is asking, “Why is there weed killer in our bodies?” The findings from these tests raise serious concerns about the increasing levels of… Read more »
Bees Are Dying Off — But There’s a Surprisingly Simple, Completely Uncontroversial Way to Save Them
Salon by Lindsay Abrams The only thing stopping us from protecting pollinators is greed, Dave Goulson tells Salon Source: USDA The world’s bees are in trouble, and progress in addressing the underlying problems contributing to their demise, from the use of dangerous pesticides to the destruction of their habitat, is painfully slow. But it still isn’t… Read more »
Natural Prairie Dairy and Texas Department of Agriculture Continue to Act with Impunity
The National Organic Program (NOP) has closed The Cornucopia Institute’s formal complaint regarding alleged violations of the organic standards by Natural Prairie Dairy and their organic certifier, Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA). Cornucopia submitted the complaint in response to egregious animal welfare abuses and violations of the organic standards observed by the Animal Recovery Mission… Read more »
Bumblebees Getting Stung Bad by Honeybee Sickness
ABC News By Seth Borenstein AP Science Writer Wild bumblebees worldwide are in trouble, likely contracting deadly diseases from their commercialized honeybee cousins, a new study shows. That’s a problem even though bumblebees aren’t trucked from farm to farm like honeybees. They provide a significant chunk of the world’s pollination of flowers and food, especially… Read more »
(ALERT OVER) Factory Farm Vegetable Lobbyists Go After Organic/Local Growers in Food Safety Debate — One Last Phone Call to Your Senators Could Make a Difference
Agribusiness Shows Its True Colors! Even though an agreement was reached on the Tester-Hagan amendment last week, by the leadership in the Senate, this issue in the food safety bill is still not over! The Tester-Hagan amendment would exempt smaller, organic and local growers from expensive regulatory burdens.
Why The Stink Over China’s Organic Food
Critics Claim China’s Fledgling Organic Industry Is Plagued By Lax Standards CBS4, Miami Liv Davalos MIAMI (CBS4) — It used to be that you could only find organc food in specialty health food stores. But that has changed as the organic industry is proving to be big business. Now, China is getting in on the… Read more »
Can Reforming the Farm Bill Help Change U.S. Agriculture?
Yale Environment 360 by Jim Robbins For decades, farm bills in the U.S. Congress have supported large-scale agriculture. But with the 2012 Farm Bill now up for debate, advocates say seismic shifts in the way the nation views food production may lead to new policies that tilt more toward local, sustainable agriculture. More than ever,… Read more »
Genetically Engineered Chestnut Forests Proposed
After the American chestnut was essentially wiped out by a fungus and other diseases, researchers have created a genetically engineered (GE) chestnut that they claim is resistant to the fungus in question. They hope to release this GE tree into the wild to restore “native” chestnut populations to help the forests, wildlife, and local economies… Read more »
