Section » Farming

Fertilizer overuse can acidify soil

By • on February 19, 2010

Another reason to dislike the N-word: Fertilizer overuse creates many problems, like aquatic dead zones, resource depletion and blue-baby syndrome. One impact that has been mostly out of sight is soil acidification.

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What does asthma have to do with farm animals — or food?

By • on January 18, 2010

When government officials hear the words "backyard livestock," they tend to worry about disease outbreaks and sanitation crises. And for good reason, as improperly managed animals — including dogs and cats —

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Grow-hio: Midwestern farmers rely on Eliot Coleman’s advice for cold-weather farming

By • on December 28, 2009

As winter approaches, even the most knowledgeable of local-foods-loving shoppers have wondered what fresh produce they will find over the winter months, and the opening of a year-round market here in Wooster has only increased the frequency of that musing.

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There Be Dragons: Examining the alternatives to unsustainable aquaculture fish feed

By • on November 22, 2009

February 23, 2010 update: I discovered that the credit for the grasshopper photo was incorrect. The photo is actually from tazintosh's Flickr collection and the photo's Flickr page is

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Pets vs. livestock: Cracking open the myths about backyard chickens

By • on November 12, 2009

Last spring I decided that this was the year I was going to finally get some chickens. On a snowy Saturday in March I brought home six tiny cheepers that I bought at my local ranch store in Livingston, Montana. Two of

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It takes a city to save a farm: How the Bay Area food and farming community helped Soul Food Farm recover from a devastating fire

By • on November 9, 2009

I posted previously on Ethicurean (here and here) about the September fire at Soul Food Farm, a relatively new but well-known pillar of the Bay area food scene. The

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Urban farmers confront zoning regulations in, around Kansas City

By • on November 9, 2009

Plowing up zoning restrictions: As urban farming grows, so do conflicts between city zoning laws and farmers. The Kansas City, Mo., City Council is looking to ease some restrictions, while other cities in the area stand firm. The issues — involving where these farmers can farm and sell produce, as

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Oakland has 1,200 acres of public land

By • on November 2, 2009

Ready, set, grow!: A new report released today by UrbanFood.org, with support from the HOPE Collaborative and City Slicker Farms, has identified 1,200 acres of vacant and underutilized public land in Oakland, California, that could potentially be used for food production. If only half of it were cultivated,

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Why slaughterhouses should be open to the public

By • on October 30, 2009

Why slaughterhouses should be open to the public: USDA and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture have suspended operations at the Bushway Packing plant in Grand Isle, VT, a facility that processes veal calves, pending a continuing investigation based on abuses uncovered by the Humane Society. Videotape from

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Dispatch from Germany No. 2: Visiting three small but innovative farm-to-table enterprises

By • on October 20, 2009

By Renee Ciulla As I wrote in my first post for Ethicurean, I’m a graduate student learning about Sustainable Agriculture in Europe who recently spent a semester

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New research on aquaculture industry reveals murky waters surrounding fish-feed issue

By • on October 19, 2009

The products of aquaculture, the farming of sea creatures and plants, are often divided into "bad fish" — piscavores, like salmon, that eat more pounds of protein in the form of other fish than they yield — and "good fish," omnivores like tilapia and carp that can survive on plant matter. A new

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Big Meat has tantrum over Oct 15 Michael Pollan talk at CalPoly

By • on October 8, 2009

Harris Ranch feedlot photo from Mark Bittman's 2008 NY Times article, "Rethinking the Meat Guzzler" RIP, academic freedom: Writer Michael Pollan—aka "elitist," and apparently Agribiz Public Enemy No. 1—will now be part of a panel discussion at Cal Poly on Oct. 15 instead of giving a

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Buckwheat and see: Growing my own grain

By • on September 30, 2009

When it comes to my gardening, I tend to have a lot of big ideas and not nearly enough space in which to implement them. And the more I try to source my food locally, the more I want to try growing things myself to fill in the gaps of what I can't find at the local farmers market. Last fall, when I picked

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Looking your bacon in the eye: Notes from a slaughter class

By • on September 26, 2009

By Jake Lahne I want to describe our unfamiliarity with animal slaughter as "startling," "surprising," or "shocking." After all, in the United States we consume a staggering amount of meat: more

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Oklahoma v. poultry companies case gets underway

By • on September 25, 2009

Taking CAFOs to court: A stretch of the Illinois River in Oklahoma has been under assault by CAFOs for many years, as poultry producers spread waste onto fields, leading to nutrient run-off that can cause algal blooms and other problems. In recent years, the river has been much cleaner, thanks in part

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