Section » Politics and Labeling
What’s P-Cresol and why is it in my food? “Don’t Eat That” iPhone app will tell you
A simple little iPhone app launched a few days ago that demystifies the ingredient lists of processed food. Called "Don't Eat That" (link to App Store), it's a database of information on
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Tuna or not-tuna: more questions for sushi eaters
When you think about eating endangered species, you might imagine going to Chinatown to some secret restaurant — or to the ones operated by shadowy mobsters like in the 1990 comedy "
Voluntary effort to shift children’s advertising deemed unsuccessful
Ad news bears: Three years ago, a group of large food and beverage companies launched a voluntary initiative to change their advertising during TV programs favored by children. They were supposed to advertise more healthy foods and drinks, and fewer nutritionally deficient ones. Not surprisingly, the
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
Sharon, the bounty!: A review of Astyk’s “Independence Days”
Ever since the idea of going locavore, or eating local on 100-mile diets, tiptoed into the mainstream a couple of years ago, more people have chosen to support their local farmers markets and to eat fresh food in season. The old chorus continues, however: "What can a locavore eat in the winter?" Well,
Open season: Local Roots Markets opens in Wooster, Ohio
Nine months doesn't really seem like a very long time: over the span of a lifetime, just a mere hiccup on a long journey. But when you're in the midst of those nine months (ask any expectant mother), you find yourself amazed at how much goes on in that time frame — and how it can seem to pass so slowly,
Oakland has 1,200 acres of public land
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,
Small-town grocery stores feed a need bigger than stomachs
In the small Nebraska town I now call home, a small grocery store anchors one end of Main Street. Once a farm-implement dealership, it has nine aisles, a dairy cooler, and a fresh meat counter. It employs nine full-time
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
Meet your greens, part 3: Taking the stand against the veggilantes
This is the third in a series about the USDA hearings on an industry proposal for a food-safety marketing agreement for leafy green vegetables. My first post describes what marketing agreements are and do; my second
Meet your greens, part 2: Industry seeks to outfox FDA
This is the second in a series of posts on my week in Monterey, CA, where I attended the first of seven USDA hearings around the country on an industry proposal to create a national
Meet your greens: National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement hearings, Week 1
This is the first in a short series on the National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement hearings held September 22-24 in Monterey, CA. I packed a suit for three days of USDA hearings over an industry-proposed
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
