Section » Biofuels
Agrofuels are not the answer for CA’s low-carbon energy needs
This guest post has been unpublished at the request of the contributor due to timing issues. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Agrofuels are not the answer for CA’s low-carbon energy needs", url: "http://www.ethicurean.com/2009/04/22/agrofuels-are-not-the-answer-for-cas-low-carbon-energy-needs/" });
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Down (and out) on the farm: When even the good years don’t look so good
In late 2006, I was driving by corn fields in eastern Iowa when Tom Ashbrook's NPR show "On Point" came on the radio. The topic was ethanol. Among the commentators was an ag economist from Iowa State -- which seems to produce ag economists at a rate close to that at which Iowa produces corn -- who
Déjà chew: The food price crisis in context
We are pleased to be able to share this piece by Daryll E. Ray, who holds the Blasingame Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Policy at the University of Tennessee and directs UT’s Agricultural Policy Analysis Center (APAC). He is perhaps best known for lead-authoring “Rethinking
Digest - Rural: Farm Bill bloc, cattle prodding, H2O dear
The Digest editor is annoyingly still crippled, but our nice friends at the Center for Rural Affairs have contributed this round-up of important news regarding farm and rural issues. 153 just say no: Farm Bill negotiations are bumping and grinding along with no clear
The origins of some “market signals” in agriculture and food
At a meeting of the South Dakota Corn Growers Association on January 5, 2008, Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner had much to say about the current state of corn and renewable fuels. After
The blame frame, part 2: Who wins, and who whines, when corn prices rise
In my last post, I took a lengthy look at the role that farmers play in the livestock production system. In case you didn't make it that far, here's my conclusion: In their role as feed-growers and animal-raisers, farmers
YERT goes to Iowa: All-corn, many-corn, and no-corn challenges
2007 is shaping up to be the Year of the Ear. Check out this corny segment from our acquaintances on Your Environmental Road Trip (YERT), who took a highly entertaining detour into Iowa's maze of maize. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "YERT goes to
Digest - News: Beef recall blossoms, Monsanto farmers to get cheaper crop insurance, bird flu in Canada
Stop the Topps: Topps Meat has expanded its recall to include 21.7 million pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli. The beef has a "sell by date" or "best if used by date" between September 25, 2007, and September 25, 2008. All recalled products will have
Digest - News: Biofuel savior, Organic Pastures cream recalled, organic food more nutritious
The Holy Grail of fuel plants?: The poisonous black seeds of a seemingly worthless weed may be a potentially ideal source of biofuel. Developing nations are in a mad race to plant jatropha, which can grow in marginal soil or beside food crops, does not require a lot of fertilizer, and yields many times
Digest - News & Commentary: Irradiation, more cracks in China, the Arcadian philosophy
NEWS Are you listening, FDA?: The Produce Marketing Association says it supports the irradiation of produce, but believes it should be labeled and that changing the label to "cold pasteurized" will only "confuse the public and could even be perceived as misleading.” (Press
Defending their corn: meatpackers, soft drink makers and food companies go after ethanol
The ethanol boom is inspiring some surprising behavior in the food and farming community. Philip Brasher, the Des Moines Register's Washington Correspondent, wrote about pushback from the food and
Digest: Industry, test thyself; biofuel polluters, genocide v. sodas
NEWS Test and ye shall find: Reporting for NPR, Sam Fromartz goes inside Natural Selection Foods, the mega-grower at the center of last year's spinach E. coli scare, which has started an ambitious testing program for all its
Digest: Fetal exposure worries, monkfish might be toxic, Farm Bill play-by-plays
NEWS Not the dose, but the timing: About 200 environmental scientists from five continents issued a grim warning that exposure to common chemicals makes babies more likely to develop an array of health problems later in life, including diabetes, attention deficit disorders, prostate cancer, fertility
Digest: More China troubles, save the fish, Ohio farmland dropping
NEWS Mission impossible: Mission Foods Corp. and Tyson Foods have quietly told their suppliers they want no more ingredients from China — but complying is next to impossible. A look at China's role as the world's leading supplier of many food flavorings, vitamins and preservatives. (Los
Digest: FDA clears chicken and fish for melamine, GM rice to be planted in Kansas, lots lots more
NEWS Chickens, fish greenlighted for food supply: Some 80,000 chickens being held on Indiana farms are safe to eat despite being fed rations of recalled pet food that contained tiny amounts of the chemical melamine, Reuters
