And make it snappy: USDA puts a new face on food stamps which, if you didn’t know, are actually more like debit cards these days. Hence, it isn’t the Food Stamp Program anymore; it’s the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aka SNAP. (USDA)
Slaughterhouse ills? Scientists find that chickens and cattle, not wild animals, are the biggest […]

In the most recent installment of the San Francisco Chronicle’s excellent Food Conscious series, Janet Fletcher writes about the Farmer-Veteran Coalition, a new Bay Area-based organization that helps veterans in rural areas find employment in farming.

There are very few independent, privately owned companies left in the natural and/or organic foods business and it is worth looking at why. Clif Bar is one of the biggest and most successful, and I believe it is the least compromising. Its philanthropic commitments are significant and myriad, and its ethical standards are high.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled that the USDA has been improperly inserting itself into California electoral politics by planning advertisements that would advocate against Proposition 2, an initiative on the November 4th ballot. Proposition 2, “Standards for Confining Farm Animals,” aims to improve living conditions for veal, egg-laying hens, […]

At the ELP conference at North Carolina State University, I was wooed by ag economists talking about the food crisis. Sounds wonky, I know, but read on.

Fast-growing feedlot salmon are just what the world needs: Not to worry — the agency that oversaw such drug debacles as Vioxx has issued rules on transgenic animals. Thanks, agribiz, for making sure nobody wants to import American food. Hell, we wouldn’t.  (FDA, New York Times)
Sharing the catch: After Elanor’s depressing fish post on Wednesday, […]

In a post about bioplastics a few months ago, I lamented the failure of some bioplastic manufacturers to label their products as biodegradable or compostable: a fork that was supposedly biodegradable had absolutely no markings at all. At the Slow Food Nation Taste Pavilions over Labor Day weekend, I ran across two companies that providing better labels on their products.

When it comes to subsidizing big oil and gas, the Bushies are capable of most anything — including handing over the management of off-shore fish farms to the Minerals Management Service, which is proposing to build them on decommissioned oil rigs. You heard me right.

I finally had the chance to see “The Real Dirt on Farmer John,” and the message of hope in the movie coincided with what I’m learning from my CSA membership this year.

At the TASTE3 conference in Napa, instructor and author Peter Reinhart told a fascinating life-and-death tale about breadmaking. Although a baker with Reinhart’s years of experience might have some tales of Lethal Weapon-style escapes from exploding flour mills or daring bread-delivery runs through a hurricane, he told the audience a much more common life and death story: The transformations of wheat, water and yeast that happen each time a loaf of bread is baked.

Before summer comes to a close, you can find the harvest cycle and local agriculture encapsulated at the local county fair.

The raw milk debate is heating up in California — and pasteurization has nothing to do with it.
California’ raw milk community is continuing the fight to reform a draconian bacteria standard passed last year. They’ve proposed new legislation that would allow raw-milk dairies to develop a custom food safety program — essentially a HACCP plan […]

The Greenhorns doesn’t just celebrate young farmers — it’s helping to make them.

By Debra Eschmeyer, cross-posted with the UEPI News & Commentary blog of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College.

“Hey, USDA, what’s up with three meals a day?”
“Hey, USDA, how can I learn if I can’t eat?”
“Hey, USDA, imagine I’m your kid!”
Watch the full 22 seconds.

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the […]

There’s been a lot going on in the food and ag world these past few weeks (though when isn’t there?). Here are some of the most tasty (and not-so-tasty) morsels:
Penny for your troubles: Following in the footsteps of Yum! Brands, McDonald’s, and Burger King (but not Chipotle — yet), Whole Foods signed an agreement on […]