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 »

Guidelines encourage farm-to-school programs By Diane Conners Great Lakes Bulletin News Service The Obama administration’s stimulus package has good news for schools that need new kitchen equipment but can’t afford it: They might get some federal money to buy some of that equipment, as long as they are quick on the draw.

New York Times By ANDREW MARTIN Once upon a time, sales of organic and natural products were growing in double digits most years. Enthusiastic grocers and venture capitalists prowled the halls of trade shows looking for the next big thing. Grass-fed beef? Organic baby food? Gluten-free energy bars? But now, shaky consumer spending is dampening… Read more »

New York Times By Susan Saulny CAMPTON TOWNSHIP, Ill. — In an environmentally conscious tweak on the typical way of getting food to the table, growing numbers of people are skipping out on grocery stores and even farmers markets and instead going right to the source by buying shares of farms. On one of the… Read more »

San Francisco Chronicle Carol Ness, Chronicle Staff Writer Fans of eating organic have always believed that organic fruits and vegetables packed a bigger nutritional punch than conventionally grown produce. But until pretty recently, hard scientific evidence has been lacking. Studies that seemed to prove the theory often turned out to be poorly designed – the… Read more »

The Sacramento Bee By Jim Downing In a little town in Kansas, Sacramento’s Ventria Bioscience is about to turn one of the biotechnology industry’s long-held dreams, and one of its critics’ nightmares, into reality. For 14 years, Ventria has inched toward its vision of growing fields of genetically modified rice plants that would serve as… Read more »

San Francisco Chronicle George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer A new food regulation that mandates the pasteurization of California almonds leaves a bad taste in the mouth of Jesse Schwartz, a purveyor of raw organic almond butter and other natural foods in Berkeley. For 25 years, as president of Living Tree Community Foods, he has done… Read more »