Forbes: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has just announced a new $150 million initiative, called Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), intended to “dramatically increase the productivity of small farms, moving tens of millions of people out of extreme poverty and significantly reducing hunger.” Al Krebs over at Counterpunch thinks Bill’s plan is as bad as the original Green Revolution.
The Star Press: Supporters of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are trying to link CAFO opponents to terrorists, declaring opposition to be “war on modern food and agriculture.” They’re also distributing brochures asserting that “research” shows “sheltered” animals live a less stressful and healthier life than livestock that live outside.
Grist: Grist writer David Roberts highlights an ongoing discussion at Grist about the philosophical differences between environmentalism and animal rights, and points to an area of action — ending support for CAFOs.
Consumer Reports: Consumer Reports examines E85, a mixture of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. The emissions from burning E85 include a probable carcinogen not detected by current emissions equipment. E85 results in poorer mileage and is hard to find. (Via Grist.)
New York Times*: Google.org, the search engine company’s new for-profit philanthropic foundation, plans to develop an ultra-fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid car engine that runs on ethanol, electricity and gasoline.
Grist: For this week’s homage to Tom Philpott, we urge you to read his fascinating investigation into what Mexico’s dying tortilla-making tradition means for … Ah heck, he says it best: “how crony-inflected neoliberalism destroyed the quality of that iconic traditional staple, the tortilla — and how, in the process, local-food infrastructure, public health, and rural economies suffered while corporate profits fattened.”
Food, Farming, & Food Politics events calendar
Humor:
September 15th, 2006 at 8:47 am
“Anti-agriculture” is the label they’re using for people who are against CAFOs. Brilliant.
The assertion that animals who are pastured experience more stress than CAFO animals is just ridiculous. “Weather and predators” are minimally stressful in a Polyface-model farm. Jesus, they make it sound like tornadoes and coyotes are an everyday occurence. Signs of animal stress are: self-mutilation, biting bars or cages, chickens pecking each other to death, etc. It must also be noted that the handling practices at CAFOs are in themselves stress-inducing, such as forced molting, tail-docking and de-beaking. Read more about animal welfare at the Sustainable Table.
Chickenman told me that people often ask what “pastured” means. He and his daughter, Elsa, were playing hide and seek while he was gathering eggs. While he wasn’t looking, she would hide behind a tree and when he found her, she would scream and laugh. The chickens would cluck and run away from her. “Elsa screaming was the most stress those chickens have ever felt in their lives. That’s what pastured means.”