Section » Food justice
Chicago drugstores begin selling fresh food
Rx for health: Chicago-area Walgreens have begun selling "an expanded selection of food, including fresh fruits and vegetables, at 10 locations selected because they were in food deserts." Turns out that drugstores are one of the few chain businesses operating in the low-income areas that lack access to fresh food. And since they're already there, they
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Baltimore gets food czar
B'more healthy: Baltimore has hired a food policy coordinator, making the city one of the first with a paid "food czar" -- although taxpayers aren't paying her salary, a coalition of nonprofits are, to the tune of just 30 hours a week. Holly Freishtat is charged with "getting more healthy food on the
Bringing everyone to the table: A review of “PolyCultures”
A handful of recent movies - most notably "Food, Inc." and "Fresh" - have undoubtedly boosted the number of people with something to say about national food policy. And just as the local foods movement emphasizes supporting local farms and producers, filmmakers are beginning to take a closer look at
Farm Labor Experts: The Solution is Not For Sale
Friend o' Ethicurean Twilight Greenaway writes about sustainable food for San Francisco's Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA), which nourishes, inspires and educates SF residents and visitors by running the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and other
Farmers, got extra or ugly fruits/veg?
"Maybe they don't know what a peach is": Information about California's Farm to Family program, encouraging California's growers and packers to help reduce hunger, reduce waste, and increase markets for specialty crops by donating (or selling) their excess
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Forget food shortages, worry about overproduction, says ag analyst
We can feed the world: Is a food crisis imminent? In his latest "Policy Pennings" column, Daryll E. Ray, director of the University of Tennessee’s Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, says no, for two reasons. First, the world has plenty of fallow farmland — in Russia, Ukraine, and Byelorussia,
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Rich countries gobbling up poor countries’ farmland at truly alarming rates
A recipe for complete and utter world disaster: Rich countries and international corporations, including automakers, are buying up farmland in developing countries at a rate that ought to set off humanitarian alarm bells worldwide. New reports from the United Nations and others estimate that nearly 20
Food Inc. director on Monsanto, feeding the world, and elitism
Feed the world? How 'bout starting with feeding Americans well: In an interview by Jane Black, "Food Inc." director Robert Kenner answers several key points of criticism. He discusses his efforts to get Monsanto to participate in the film (the chemicals-and-GMO-seed Goliath claims it never said it wouldn't),
Raw deals at New York Green Carts
Make mine fresh: Residents of the South Bronx and other real-food wastelands in New York are snapping up raw fruits and vegetables sold by Green Cart vendors under a special arrangement with the city. The hope is to increase health and reduce obesity among residents without easy access to supermarkets
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In DC, farmers market vouchers will soon aid families on assistance
A few dollars can add up: Needy families are flocking to farmers markets in Massachusetts, California, and Connecticut thanks to an innovative program that doubles the value of food stamps and fruit and vegetable coupons for low-income mothers and senior citizens. The Wholesome Wave Foundation provides
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USDA cancels successful school nutrition program for poor kids in Philly
Trays terrible: As the Philadelphia Inquirer reported the USDA might last week, the agency has just gone through with plans to end a well-regarded Philadelphia school breakfast and lunch program,
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Pixies for the People: A new WIC Local Food Line
Can you hear the chanting? "Pixies for the People!" How about the drums? "Pixies for the People!" Pixie Tangerines, that is, not Tinker Bell. When
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Digest – Blogs: Tomato truths, legislation lies, and the murky waters of sustainable shrimp
The price of tomatoes: Tom Philpott follows up on his trip to Immokalee, Florida with the second of a two-part post, examining how tomato pickers survive on $50 a day. The answer? With much difficulty. (Grist) That's the internet for
After Michelle Obama: a Q&A with Scott Schenkelberg of Miriam’s Kitchen
Mrs. Obama on the line at Miriam's Kitchen; photo courtesy of Choice Photography. Last week, Michelle Obama made news by serving a meal at Miriam’s Kitchen, a DC social service agency. Miriam’s
Serving meals, shedding anger, at a free lunch program in New England
Toward the end of last year, something happened. I still can’t say what, exactly, I just know it happened almost overnight. For two years, I’d been reading and blogging almost exclusively about food. I’d devoured articles about CAFOs and corn, downer cows and diabetes, subsidies and school lunches.
