Know thy enemy: Fascinating financial story about how Monsanto went from "Mutanto" to its current billion-dollar biotech behemoth status, thanks to a new CEO, his business-to-business strategy (tabling GMO foods for consumers, and selling only ones destined for animal feed and processing), and eager farmers in Brazil, China, and India. (Business Week; thanks Naomi)
We’d like to know more about this town: The town of Magnaville, Louisiana, was built to house Katrina evacuees from New Orleans — and to transform low-income city dwellers into enterprising organic farmers on 800 acres of sugarcane land. This experiment in social engineering is the brainchild of Frank Stronach, a Canadian auto-parts magnate. It sounds really cool to us, but to the people in the comments section, not so much. (Times-Picayune)
Don’t go fish, please: A study published in Science says commercial fishermen can make more money by fishing less — if they are in a cooperative fishery, like those operating in New Zealand and Australia, where fishermen own a share of the total harvest. (Washington Post)
What’s the bigot rate?: Storm Lake, Iowa, would not seem to be a hotbed for the immigration debate. But boasting processing plants for hogs and for turkeys, it also has among the state’s highest minority resident rate, 40%. (New York Times)
Hands off our farmers-market spinach: Large handlers of leafy green vegetables want the government’s OK to self-regulate the safety of salad crops. Small growers and consumer groups both oppose the move, for different reasons. We side with the small farmers, natch. (Washington Post)
Seeds of health: Rey Salazar, a member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, has translated his concern for tribal members’ diabetes and obesity rates into several thriving community food gardens. (Caller-Times)
They make gift cards for charitable donations?: Figuring out which food-related charity to support can be daunting, writes Kim Severson. And if you’re giving a donation in lieu of a holiday gift, be sure to match the charity to the recipient’s values — "someone who is adamant about eating only organic, sustainably raised local food might not appreciate a gift donation to America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, which is sponsored by food manufacturers including ConAgra and Kraft." (New York Times)
Forget organic cotton and hemp — the "greenest" clothes are the ones you already own (New York Times)
Food, Farming, & Food Politics events calendar
