Archive for June, 2009
Food safety sweep
House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman certainly had his ducks in a row today, as a sweeping food safety bill, H.R. 2749, passed unanimously out of the committee. (CQ Politics and Reuters;
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U.S. and Canada forge organic alliance
Good news, eh? Products meeting the Certified Organic standard in the United States can now be sold as organic in Canada, and vice versa, without additional certification work. Canada is the largest U.S. trade partner and largest estimated export market for U.S. organic products. (USDA
African farms getting hotter, need to start looking across borders for adapted seeds
Sounds like a great project for the Gates Foundation: African farmers are about to face growing seasons hotter than any in their experience. They can look to other regions that already have those hotter climates for ideas of how and what to grow: "A few lucky countries, such as Tanzania, Ethiopia and
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Germany’s list of farm subsidy recipients surprises many
Ich bin ein Parasit: On Tuesday the German Agricultural Ministry posted a list online disclosing the names of German recipients of 5.4 billion euros ($7.5 billion) in annual agricultural subsidies granted by the European Union, under pressure from the EU. (Germany was the last country to do so, and the
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Michelle Obama links WH garden to child nutrition programs and healthcare reform
Give peas a chance: An event for schoolkids in the First Lady's Garden marked a change in tone for Michelle Obama, from fun-filled photo op to homework. "This gorgeous, bountiful garden has given us a chance to not just have some fun…but to shed some light on the important food and nutrition issues
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Growing up is busting out all over
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fertilizer: City people have got the food-growing bug, and aren't deterred by living in apartments. Rooftop gardens are popping up all around New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. Some farmers in the sky, like Civil Eats managing editor (and friend o'Ethicurean) Paula
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New USDA report shows direct-to-consumer food sales way up
A flea on the elephant's back: The USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service has released a new report on sales from direct-to-consumer food marketing (things like farmers markets and CSAs), using data from the last Census of Agriculture. The good news: sales were up 104.7% from 1997 to 2007, compared with
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No revolution possible without available, affordable farmland
This land is your land: American Farmland Trust reps are digging the new documentaries "Food Inc" and "Fresh," but say they "fall short in addressing the key issues of farmland capacity and local food infrastructure needed to support new kinds of food systems." Its press
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Boston-area residents snap up Community Supported Fishery program
Ah, but there's a catch: Taking a cue from Community Supported Agriculture programs, fishing groups in the Northeast are letting consumers buy shares in exchange for weekly allotments of local, fresh catch. Nearly 1,000 Boston-area residents will receive their first batch of wild-caught fish this month
Monsanto needs new argument for opposing GMO labeling
Monsanto is so un-COOL: Rob Smart, aka @jambutter, recently had a Twitter debate with Monsanto representatives about whether labeling products containing geneitcally modified food would do any harm, and, if so, to whom. "Again and again, Monsanto stresses that mandatory labeling for foods continaing
Tobacco companies were hobbled, now Big Food companies need to be
Those who ignore history are doomed to re-eat it: Civil Eats managing editor Paula Crossfield connects the dots that show how America is a slave of Big Food much as it once was to Big Tobacco. The alarm bells are ringing — obesity rates, contaminated food, spiraling healthcare. "It is time to regulate
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You want demand? We got demand!
So much for that elitism crap: According to a new report released by the USDA, the demand for organically produced food in the U.S. continues to outpace supply. Organic food sales have increased more than five-fold since the late 1990s, while organic production has slightly more than doubled in that
Missouri’s Heartland Harvest Garden should inspire edible gardeners everywhere
If the whole "edible landscape" notion has failed to appeal to you, the Heartland Harvest Garden at Powell Gardens in Missouri just might make you reconsider. Officially open as of June 14,
When “no antibiotics” claims may be misleading
This really bugs us: Conventional meat producers routinely feed their animals a steady diet of antibiotics to prevent illness and help them grow fatter faster. But in response to the growing numbers of consumers who hunger for meat and chicken raised naturally, without drugs, more are promoting their
What Monsanto and “Food, Inc” have in common
Close, but don't light those cigars yet, fellas: The blog Monsanto According to Monsanto writes that "Food, Inc.," like all movies, represents the intellectual property of the people who spent their time, effort, and money into the production of the film. Monsanto's patented seeds are the equivalent
