USA Today By Duane Marsteller and Josh Brown, The Tennessean Owner, Jeff Poppen, widely known from dozens of appearances on public television, is concerned over possible contamination from a neighboring corporate chicken farm. NASHVILLE, Tenn. — One of the state’s oldest and largest organic farms — operated by Tennessee’s famed “Barefoot Farmer” — is shutting… Read more »
Search Results for: GMO
ACTION ALERT– Protect Family Farms and Ranches from New Burdensome Animal ID Regulation
[This Action Alert is Over] The USDA is about to finalize a rule that will cause significant problems for independent ranchers, small farmers, and even backyard poultry owners. Please help protect our farms by telling your Representative to put a stop to this! The USDA is on track to issue a final rule on Animal… Read more »
Iowa Approves Nation’s First ‘Ag-Gag’ Law
Food Safety News by Dan Flynn Four years ago, undercover video recorded workers on forklifts forcing “downer” cows into slaughter at the Hallmark and Westland meat plant in Chino, CA, which at the time was a top supplier to the National School Lunch program. The sting, by the Humane Society of the United States, put… Read more »
Organic Milk Low as Demand Up and Farmers Struggle
By MICHAEL HILL, Associated Press WESTVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — “Got milk?” is getting to be a difficult question when it comes to organic. Because even as more consumers are willing to pay premium prices for organic milk, supermarkets are having trouble keeping it on the shelves as high feed and fuel prices have left some… Read more »
Resistant Weeds Leave Farmers Desperate
As effectiveness of herbicides wanes, some try mixtures of older, more toxic chemicals, others pay itinerant workers to weed by hand. St. Louis Dispatch BY GEORGINA GUSTIN Farmers in the state’s south are resorting to some old-fashioned tactics. Weeds in cotton fields have gotten so tenacious — some with stems 4-inches around — that farmers… Read more »
Berks Cows Find Grass Really is Greener
Dairy farmer, partnering with Rodale, is transitioning his herd to an organic operation. THE MORNING CALL By Arlene Martínez James Burkholder’s dairy cows had never spent much time outside, shuffling mostly from the barn to the milking parlor in the morning, and then repeating the short trip at night. Their food was brought to them,… Read more »
Farmers Markets: Transparency is Our Model
Civil Eats By Stacy Miller of the Farmers Market Coalition On October 15th, the trade publication The Packer reported on an issue of growing concern for farmers market vendors and shoppers: grocery chains are copy-catting farmers markets by using “farmers market” signs outside of their stores. The Wall Street Journal had previously reported on the… Read more »
Not Crying over Spilt Soymilk
Organic Farmers Celebrating Victory over Corporate Agribusiness CORNUCOPIA, WI — It’s not often that family-scale farmers can go toe-to-toe with a $12 billion agribusiness and come out victors. But organic soybean producers, and a modestly scaled but powerful ally, The Cornucopia Institute, are claiming victory over Dean Foods in the organic marketplace. Dean Foods, the… Read more »
Organic Farming Can Cool the World that Chemical Farming Overheated
SustainableBusiness.com A report from GRAIN discusses how agriculture can put back much of the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into the soil. Soils contain enormous amounts of carbon, mostly in the form of organic matter. The report shows that industrial agriculture, and thus the global food system, has spewed large amounts of this carbon… Read more »
Organic Foods: Big Companies Swoop In to Capitalize on Lucrative Market
chicagotribune.com By Steve Mills Buying organic doesn’t always mean food is from local, sustainable producer For years, Michael Potter has gotten regular offers to buy his organic foods company near Ann Arbor, Mich., although now, he said, he gets three or four every week. “Every food company you have ever heard of has tried to… Read more »
