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Why slaughterhouses should be open to the public
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 HSUS's undercover investigation showed workers
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USDA funding university research on organic
Drop in the bucket: Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan yesterday announced that more than $19 million in grants have been awarded to universities across the country to solve critical organic agriculture issues. The Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative, administered by USDA's
Doctors take a stand on Coca-Cola funding for physicians’ website
Kicking the Coke habit: Nearly 20 doctors have resigned from the American Academy of Family Physicians after it accepted a grant from Coca-Cola to fund nutritional education content on its website. The lead protester pointed out that consumption of soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks has been
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Citrus pest threatens California growing center
Not the kind of greening you want: The Asian citrus psyllid, which has wreaked havoc in Florida as well as overseas, has been found in rural San Diego County. Northern San Diego County has about 2,500 acres of commercial citrus orchards and is home to the largest concentration of organic citrus farmers
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Sam Fromartz takes on anti-locavore contrarian James McWilliams
Swatting flies: We've mostly tried to ignore James McWilliams, hoping he'll just go away, but now that the New York Times has given his locavore-baiting views a regular platform, we may not be able to much longer. Fortunately Sam Fromartz, blogger and author of Organic,
Big Meat has tantrum over Oct 15 Michael Pollan talk at CalPoly
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
Outside culinary advice helps revamp school lunch
Cafeteria consulting: Oak Park Unified School District, 3,800-student district in Southern California (map), has revamped their lunch program
Oklahoma v. poultry companies case gets underway
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
Teaching food and cooking in elementary school
Reading, writing and ratatouille: In the latest edition of the Chronicle's "What I Do" series, Michael Bauce tells about teaching cooking and nutrition to the 400+ students of Thousand Oaks Elementary School in Berkeley, California. Bauce's class — which appears to be funded by an outside grant, not
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Students mix cooking, discussion in food politics class
Food Politics 101: Food and Politics, a two-week short course at Stanford University taught by Rob Reich of the Political Science department, gave a dozen incoming sophomores the chance to explore food from all angles. For each session, a group of students would take responsibility for planning and
San Francisco mayor proposes indirect soda tax
No soda for you: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom — who has shown some sparks of food policy brilliance in the past — is planning on introducing a new fee on stores that sell sugar-laden drinks, with the proceeds going to programs that encourage exercise and discourage soda consumption. Newsom has
Dairy runoff in our tap water
Big dairies, big problems: Reporter Charles Duhigg of the New York Times has been on the rampage these past few weeks with a series of great articles highlighting the need for better government regulation, oversight and enforcement of clean water
Senator plans hearing on dairy crisis
Milking dairy farms for profit: The price that dairy farmers receive for their milk has been in free-fall — from $21.70 per hundred pounds in 2007 to just $12 in recent days — while production costs are holding steady or rising. The hundred pounds of milk that earns about $12 costs a few dollars
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Naked Pizza of New Orleans: Because fast food doesn’t have to suck
A pizza a day…: The New York Times Magazine's Consumed column looks at Naked Pizza (formerly World's Healthiest Pizza), a small operation in New Orleans that's poised to go national, with franchises. Naked Pizza makes crust from 12 whole grains, uses low-fat skim mozzarella, and a tomato sauce with
Two groups show how to share the backyard bounty
Backyards build community. The L.A. Times has profiles of two groups that are collecting food from residential gardens and fruit trees. The Hillside Produce Cooperative is all about strengthening community ties. It's a cooperative in northeastern
