Section » Farm Bill
Digest – News: Atrazine contamination widespread, testing hogs for MRSA, raw milk sickness in Kansas
Dr. Fox, how is our Patient Chicken doing?: Atrazine, the second most widely used weedkiller in the country — which happens to cause sexual mutations in frogs, among other delightful side effects — is showing up in some streams and rivers at levels high enough to potentially harm their ecosystems, and by extension, ours. How do we know?
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Digest – News: Farm Bill moving again, pork brain illness, WIC gets healthier
All we want for Christmas is a new Farm Bill: The Senate finally moved forward on the Farm Bill today after agreeing to limit the amendments debated to 20 each for Democrats and Republicans. But a new law could still be months away. (Brownfield
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Is Ken Cook moonlighting as a DC real-estate agent?
This ad appeared in yesterday's Congressional newspaper Roll Call: Hat tip to Gristmill
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 – Blogs: Let’s scrap the Farm Bill, winter marketing, the golden age of apples
Just plow it under: Annie Myers reports on an event at NYU, “The Farm Bill 2007," with Marion Nestle, Dan Barber, Christina Grace, and the absent yet omnipresent omnivores-dilemma-in-chief — and makes an awesomely radical suggestion. "Maybe we should consider "scrapping the
Digest – Commentary: Leafy greens agreement not good for small farmers
Regulate producers, not produce: The CEO of Bon Appetit Managment Company, a leader in institutional farm-to-fork sourcing, has an op-ed arguing why the Leafy Green Marketing Agreement, which is supposed to protect against future E. coli outbreaks in produce, should apply only to large industrial producers,
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Digest – Rural: Time looks at how we got here, water wars, Kansas has a plan
A rural-centric news round-up contributed by our friends at the Center for Rural Affairs, who have this to say: "I hope you weren't counting on us to do anything about the farm bill :). It was quite refreshing to do this about all NON-farm bill related items."
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Digest – News: USDA loophole allows E. coli-positive beef to be sold, lots more news
Shit happens…to be legally sellable for consumption: "One federal inspector calls it the 'E. coli loophole.' Another says, 'Nobody would buy it if they knew.'" What are these officials talking about? A little-known fact that the USDA allows companies to sell meat that has tested positive
Digest – Commentary: Journalists protest NAIS secrecy, Farm Bill reformers split
Sneaky sneaky, not NAIS at all: We're not fans of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), which would force small farmers and hobbyists as well as giganto agribusiness to tag and track every animal in the U.S., but we're agog at
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Subsidy brouhaha brewing over at Grist
I have much to say on the topic of subsidies, the favorite whipping boy of farm policy reform advocates far and wide (and my personal favorite topic to bring up at parties, only slightly ahead of slaughter. Yep, I'm quite popular!). But with several work deadlines looming, I'll have to hold off until
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Digest – News: AgSec threatens Farm Bill veto, farmworkers win pesticide lawsuit
Farm Bill follies: Continuing her outstanding Farm Bill coverage, Carolyn Lochhead reports on how Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is calling the bill a "historic reform," even as critics denounce it as obscene. (San
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Attention all Farm Bill nuts! PBS wants you
PBS Marketplace is looking for people engaged in the Farm Bill debate to share their experiences in attempting to shape the new legislation. They also want to hear
Digest – News: Another day, another million pounds of beef recalled
Gazillionth recall + question for readers: Cargill is recalling more than 1 million pounds of ground beef after a USDA test found E. coli. The meat was distributed to retailers across the country, including Giant, ShopRite, Wegmans and Weis. Now a reader poll: How many of you buy factory ground beef
Digest – Commentary: Farm Bill fur flying, humane groups proposing Cal. initiative
Read it and weep: In case you missed our earlier post about it, here's Michael Pollan on the current Senate version of the Farm Bill. (New York Times) Farm
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“Weed It and Reap”: Michael Pollan shreds current Farm Bill in the New York Times
Michael Pollan has an op-ed in today's New York Times that explains, in his trademark clear, wry style, why the current version of the Farm Bill the Senate is preparing to pass is "very much a farm bill in the traditional let-them-eat-high-fructose-corn-syrup
