Section » Organic vs. industrial
An artisanal plea from a fed-up foodie
When you find me behind bars, locked up for a fit of lexical rage, please know that it was granola that pushed me over the edge. Not just any granola: "artisan granola." Presumably its makers meant artisanal granola, made in limited quantities using traditional methods, rather than crunchy-buttery-nutty
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Bean there, done that: A tour of Hodo Soy
Farmers markets are far more than a source of good food from small farmers and a place to build connections among the community. They can also serve as incubators for food businesses, places where new entrepreneurs can try selling prepared foods on a small scale or where experienced market participants
Industrial ag can’t get enough federal bucks?
Snow us the money! David Goldstein, Washington correspondent for McClatchy newspapers, reports that three senators are standing up for the poor, neglected industrial agriculture industry against the wicked Know
Buyer beware this butcher’s bullshit
It's a sad and telling sign of the SOLE food movement's popularity, when people use the movement's principles to market their beef and hide the bullshit behind the counter. As Matthew Richter writes in "Mystery
Goldman Prize winners fight against CAFO pollution, shark finning and monocultures
The Goldman Environmental Prize was awarded to six grassroots environmental heroes from around the world in San Francisco last Monday night. Three of the six 2010 winners are working directly in food-related areas. Lynn
Saul’s got SOLE: The Jewish deli in Berkeley evolves
When it comes to comfort food — especially comfort food that is wrapped in "tradition" like the Jewish deli — change can cause a lot of discomfort. People want what they think will make them feel better. They want
Sustainable food movement has a class problem
The flavor of fairness: When a recent UC Santa Cruz study asked grocery shoppers on California's Central Coast to rank their concerns about the food system, respondents prioritized animal welfare above the treatment of human workers on the farms. This is but one example, says Bay Guardian reporter Caitlin
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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Do I dare to eat a peach? Not a conventional one, says Tribune study
Another day, another facet to the debate over whether organic produce is worth the extra moolah. Unless you've been living on a remote mountaintop with no wireless, you've probably witnessed the recent frenzy over a UK
Checking in on the agricultural check-off programs
Standing in front of a 50-foot tall display of potatoes, mushrooms, beef jerky, and other agricultural products at the 2009 All-American Farm Expo in Modesto, CA recently, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recalled his recent trip to Idaho — America's land of potatoes — and his shock at hearing
A roundup of pesticide drift coverage: Who should pay for unruly spray?
Chemical standoff: Farm country residents mostly "grin and bear it" when pesticides from neighboring farms drift onto their property, but some are speaking out. In Illinois, a vineyard owner tires of watching clouds of 2,4-D engulf (and kill) his grapes when a nearby farm sprays. A retired minister gives
‘Natural’ soy’s sins listed in new report
Soy vey!: Soy products market pioneer Silk doesn't look so smooth in a new report by the Cornucopia Institute. Not only does it get a zero-bean rating in the scorecard,
If biotechnology won’t feed the world, what will? Knowledge, says GE expert Doug Gurian-Sherman
Earlier this week, I asked plant pathologist and molecular biologist Doug Gurian-Sherman to explain some of the science behind genetically engineered crops and their potential — or lack thereof — to feed a more populous, climate-changing
Sam Fromartz on the WaPo’s organic standards article
"Don’t make a fucking shelf-stable organic English muffin!": We've been holding off on Digesting the Washington Post's much-talked-about and hands-wrung-over story, “Purity of Organic Label is Questioned,”
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Dispatch from Germany: An agroecology student dives deep into organic
By Renee Ciulla Although many days I would prefer to just pick up a shovel and start farming, I am forging ahead with a Master of Science degree in Agroecology. I am currently studying for a year in Germany, and the
