Section » Politics
Pork prevention: What’s behind the NPPC bailout, or how the government keeps filling up Big Meat’s trough
During the Iowa flood disaster in the summer of 2008, I proposed that there are winners and losers in moments of human tragedy — those who pay the costs of dealing with an unsavory situation, and those who are on the receiving end of those payments. When it comes to the obesity epidemic,
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NPR utters the phrase “big milk”
Consolidation station: NPR's John Burnett shines a spotlight on agribusiness consolidation, the control of the food system by an ever-smaller group of mega-companies. Independent farmers and ranchers are pushing the Obama Administration to take a good, long look at the factors that brought us to where
School lunch reform: A pipe dream or a deluge?
The kids will have their... whole wheat roll?: The momentum is building for big changes to the national school lunch program, reports Kim Severson in the New York Times. Ann Cooper, the chef who famously transformed lunches in the Berkeley school system and has since moved on to Boulder, Colorado, is
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NYT mag on obesity: Don’t punish, politicize
Who paves the road for the responsibility bandwagon?: Were it up to him, Cleveland Clinic heart surgeon Delos Cosgrove would amend the clinic's wellness policy--which already bans the hiring of smokers--to include a ban on the hiring of obese people. His is a hard-line approach linking obesity to personal
Family farmers: No NAIS in our name
NPPC doesn't speak for me: Rhonda Perry, a Missouri farmer and director of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, is tired of Big Meat purporting to represent her interests in Washington. NAIS, a controversial animal tracking program [that we've covered numerous
Feds to hold workshops on ‘competition issues’ in agriculture
We're not the only skeptics. The same day that Ethicurean Marc gave his skeptical analysis of a General Accounting Office report finding no harm from the growing (ha-ha) power of a very few agribiz companies, the U.S. Departments of
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Senate basically kind of halves funding for National Animal ID
Say it again, with feeling: Senators John Tester (D-MT) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) flexed some legislative and moral muscle earlier this week with an amendment to the agriculture spending bill that halves funding for the USDA's controversial National Animal Identification System (NAIS). The amended bill
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GAO report questions selection of Kansas lab site
Darn those GAO bean-counters! Analysts in the Government Accountability Office are questioning the selection process of a site in Kansas for the planned new National Bio and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF), which will study some of the most virulent animal and plant diseases known to man. We're sincerely
House debates whether we should sacrifice human antibiotics for meat industry gain
Sharfstein socks one to Big Meat: In a hearing held today in the House Rules Committee, Deputy FDA Commissioner Josh Sharfstein threw the administration's weight behind a ban on feeding antibiotics meant for humans to healthy animals. The practice is common on industrial livestock operations, where low
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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
Can biotechnology ‘feed the world’? Not likely, says genetic engineering expert Doug Gurian-Sherman
With food shortages provoking riots in recent years, and the world’s population increasing exponentially, Congress will soon be debating the next big U.S. aid package for developing countries. America currently
Critiquing the Obamas’ first harvest: symbols vs. policy
Seeds of change at White House still germinating: Thoughtful piece asking food movement heavyweights (Ferd Hofner of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and yes, the ubiquitous Mr. P) whether the Obama Administration has been more talk than action over healthy food policy, with the White House
Special Digest, rumor version: Mike Taylor to Join FDA
Another round for the revolving door: Rumor has it that Mike Taylor, currently a professor at George Washington University but better known for his work as Monsanto’s Vice President for Public Policy, will start on Monday
Grow for it: A message about food from the president
In 1945, during the fourth year of America's direct involvement in World War II, President Harry Truman issued a proclamation about food. He called for those on the home front to plant larger victory gardens, to preserve more food,
Time to get tray serious: Get involved with a Child Nutrition Act campaign now
School’s out for the summer, but there’s a food fight going on in the cafeteria. In Washington, Congress is turning up the heat on the policies that determine what 30 million children will eat once the lunch
