Section » CAFOs
Apocalypse Cowabunga! The Simpsons on factory farming
I'm close to finishing "Uncertain Peril: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds," a new book by the fearsomely qualified Claire Hope Cummings. It's excellent, but it paints such an enraging and
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The CAFO one-two punch
I am sitting in a swanky conference center on the outskirts of Phoenix, a city that may be one of our country's least sustainable, where the water is as scarce as the SUVs and air conditioners are numerous. But for all the shortcomings of developers who thought it would be a great idea to build a sprawling
Bucking the CAFO tax: A plea for conscientious objection
Here's a number to knock you out of that mid-day stupor: every year, taxpayers shell out between $7.1 billion and $8.2 billion to subsidize or clean up after our nation's 9,900 confined animal feeding operations. That's
Mini-Digest: New transgenic pigs, Wendy’s bird burgers, sodas with gas
The digest was contributed by Ethicurean buddy Barry Foy. Stop busting my chops: Researchers at Texas A&M have introduced a genetically modified hog that has a pair of succulent jowls at each end. Targeted at
Smells like a free ride: EPA wants to let CAFOs off on emissions reporting
In an excellent 2000 report titled "The Price We Pay for Corporate Hogs," researcher Marlene Halverson of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy recounts the following
Digest – Commentary: Fixing the eco*nomy, the whack-a-mole Averys
Tom Philpott for President!: …cuz that's the *only* way we're ever going to see any of these far-too-sensible policies about biofuels, grain reserves, and local-food production infrastructure enacted. (Grist) Eat a Whopper, save the
Digest – News: EPA rolls over and smells the ammonia, corn contamination, Farm Bill stalled
We're slowly getting back up to speed, Digest-wise — many thanks to Leslie, on loan from the Eat Well Guide, for her help. This move stinks: Under pressure from factory-farming lobbyists and ag-state pols, the EPA is considering dropping
Non-total recall: The USDA’s lack of authority
A line of 7,500 trucks stretching 85 miles. That's what it would take to haul the nearly 300 million pounds of meat and poultry products that were recalled between January 1, 1994, and November 30, 2007, in 773 separate incidents. These eye-popping numbers come from the appendix of a Congressional
Bringing your work home: Poultry workers carry drug-resistant E. coli into the community
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been in the news a lot lately. Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle had a front page story about the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. One of the causes
Digest – News: EU ponders Bt corn, California raw-milk battle, USDA shills for Monsanto
To Bt or not Bt: A look at what's at stake as the European Union comes under pressure from the U.S. and the WTO to open its markets to genetically modified, herbicide rsistant Bt corn. There, so far, the precautionary principle has applied, and politicians have listened to those who urge caution, noting
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John Edwards knows the way to this Ethicurean’s heart
…is through my stomach. Seriously, as obsessed as we are with food politics, we do care about other kinds as well. Yes, the Farm Bill was a disaster, but so was the Energy Bill. And let's not even talk about Iraq or healthcare and education in this country. We're not endorsing anyone based on
Digest – Blogs: Pork-barrel politicking, “drive-by” libertarianism, civil disobedience
A big CAFO-nie: Days after appointing the former president of the National Pork Producers Coalition to co-chair her "Rural Americans for Hillary" campaign, Clinton says she would support giving states and counties control over
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The blame frame, part one: On corn, meat, and farmers
In a recent post on Grist, Tom Philpott ran down the list of problems that this year’s Farm Bill debaters have blamed, loudly and repeatedly, on subsidies: “everything from the obesity epidemic to the explosion in CAFOs
Digest – News: Farm Bill “compromise,” mystery spray clouds, John Edwards gets rural
Not bloody likely: What's up with the Farm Bill? Carolyn Lochhead has a clear, concise summary of all the back-room wheeling and dealing that's been going on. The story's (mis) lead says there's been a "breakthrough," thanks to a couple billion "found" for California fruit and vegetable
Digest – Commentary: Gray Lady trusts in Bush, some advice for Iowa and Africa
Bush to the country's rescue: The Senate hasn't improved on the House version of the Food and Farm Bill, and unless something huge changes when the bill arrives on the floor, then the Gray Lady actually hopes President Bush, "who has generally been on the right side of the farm issue," will
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