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 »
Search Results for: GMO
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 »
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 »
Organic Agriculture May Be Outgrowing Its Ideals
The New York Times By Elisabeth Rosenthal (David Agren contributed reporting) TODOS SANTOS, Mexico — Clamshell containers on supermarket shelves in the United States may depict verdant fields, tangles of vines and ruby red tomatoes. But at this time of year, the tomatoes, peppers and basil certified as organic by the Agriculture Department often hail… Read more »
(ALERT OVER) Big Ag/USDA Could Run Organic Leafy Green Growers out of Business!
National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement Comments: Due July 28 Action Alert Corporate agribusiness wants to tell the rest of us how to farm, and shut anyone out of the market who does not follow their one-size-fits-all “food safety” standards for leafy green vegetables. The USDA is supporting their plan, which, if accepted, will allow a… Read more »
New Food-Safety Rules Threaten Small, Organic Farms
San Jose Mercury News By Jane Palmer Tom Willey is so concerned about food safety he is willing to bet the farm on it. Literally. Willey and his wife, Densesse, own an organic farm just outside of Madera in the central San Joaquin Valley, where they grow lettuce, carrots, cabbage and nearly 50 other hand-harvested… Read more »
Farmers Cope With Roundup-Resistant Weeds
New York Times By WILLIAM NEUMAN and ANDREW POLLACK DYERSBURG, Tenn. — For 15 years, Eddie Anderson, a farmer, has been a strict adherent of no-till agriculture, an environmentally friendly technique that all but eliminates plowing to curb erosion and the harmful runoff of fertilizers and pesticides. But not this year. On a recent afternoon… Read more »
Good Food Nation: MIT Researchers Think America’s Obesity Epidemic Can Be Reversed Via ‘Foodsheds’
MIT researchers think America’s obesity epidemic can be reversed via ‘foodsheds,’ in which healthier, more affordable food is produced and consumed regionally. Peter Dizikes, MIT News Office In the last three decades, childhood obesity in the United States has become a massive public-health problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control, between 1980 and 2006… Read more »
Organic Dairy Farmers’ Rally — USDA Secretary Asked to Vigorously Enforce Organic Laws
Vilsack: Changes Being Made at National Organic Program West Salem, WI: An estimated 150-200 organic dairy farmers, and their supporters, from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa held a “demonstration” at the La Crosse County Fair on Thursday. Their goal was to convince Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to take immediate and aggressive enforcement action against a… Read more »
