Agriculture
Water flow to California cities, San Joaquin farmers further reduced to protect endangered delta smelt, avert ecological collapse of water crossroads. Contamination, invasive species, power plant operations, climate all damaging Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, says water director. Agriculture interests want new reservoirs, homeowners urged to conserve.
By Bettina Boxall
Los Angeles Times 2008-12-15 (entry)
If Tom Vilsack confirmed as USDA secretary, Iowa (No. 1 in corn, hogs, ethanol) will have one of its own heading agency that dispenses federal crop subsidies, controls nearly two million acres of Iowa land, regulates state's many slaughterhouses. He's sympathetic to agribusiness giants, supports biofuels, agricultural biotechnology. And: Former governor will oversee $95 billion budget, with bulk going to nutrition - food stamps, school lunches (click 'See also').
By Philip Brasher
The Des Moines Register 2008-12-16 (entry)
See also
New website offers access to information about public health, agriculture, and connects the two fields. Johns Hopkins University site, a project of its Center for a Livable Future (click 'See also') links communities, organizations, individuals. Site allows search of databases, vetted collection of reports, journal articles.
By Karla Cook
The Food Times 2008-12-14 (entry)
See also
Obama needs secretary of food, not USDA - to address health care, climate change, energy independence. 'Department of Food' would give primacy to America's 300 million eaters, cut influence of industrial farm lobby, which inflicts unhealthy food on children through school lunches and exacerbates crisis of obesity, diabetes. And: Petition lists terrific reformist candidates (click 'See also').
By Nicholas D. Kristof
The New York Times 2008-12-11 (entry)
See also
Palm oil production surges with population; one in 10 processed food items contains it and it's a source of biodiesel. Plantations planned in Brazil; S. Korea owns rights to half the available farmland of Madagascar, much of it rainforest, and plans corn, palm plantations. Slash-and-burn expansion of Cargill crop spews carbon, replaces tribal homelands, displaces orangutans, destroys rainforests - and raises farmers' living standards. And: 'Our Hungry Planet' series (click 'See also).
By Matt McKinney
Star-Tribune (MN) (may require registration) 2008-11-30 (entry)
See also
Personal connection to food must be added to calculus of investing, since air, water, soil are new currencies, says investor. Approach, he says in new book, could change current societal systems that accelerate climate change or mortgage-related debt crisis and also could link back to Main Street from Wall Street.
By Carleen Hawn
Ode magazine 2008-11-01 (entry)
To progress on health care crisis, energy independence and climate change, new president must wean food system from fossil fuel and return it to diet of sunshine. Next, new policy must strive for healthful diet for all; improve reliance, safety and security of food supply; promote regional food economies; and reframe agriculture as part of solution to environmental problems.
By Michael Pollan
The New York Times 2008-10-12 (entry)
Steady, heavy rains increase woes of Florida's $9 billion citrus industry; juice prices go up at the supermarket. Soggy trees vulnerable to spread of citrus canker, which causes premature fruit drop. Another threat is invasive sap-sucking insect, already detected in all 32 citrus-producing counties in Florida, plus Louisiana and Texas.
By Hector Florin
Time magazine 2008-08-28 (entry)
After protests from industry, environmental groups, Senate committee urges that USDA restore funding for surveying pesticide, fertilizer application on U.S. farms. But official says that without additional funding, $8 million program won't return. Higher standard would be implementing California's exacting reporting requirements nationally, says researcher.
By Erika Engelhaupt
American Chemical Society 2008-07-30 (entry)
California farmers use poisons, traps, fences to keep frogs, tadpoles, squirrels and other wildlife out of fields, as directed by fresh-produce processors and food retailers. Wildlife ban is reaction to e.coli spinach contamination from 2006, but not all measures are justified by science. Critics say measures are draconian and are bad for human health and bad for wildlife.
By Jane Zhang
The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2008-05-02 (entry)
See also
As salmon die by the millions off the coast of Chile, workers are laid off. Critics blame contaminated water, crowded pens and excessive use of drugs, some of which are prohibited in U.S. Largest producer of farm-raised salmon says as long as all were making lots of money and it went well, there was no reason to tighten standards. In 2006, FDA inspected 1.93 percent of all seafood imported.
By Alexei Barrionuevo
The New York Times 2008-03-27 (entry)
See also
Contrary to anti-biotech group's position, environmental impact from cross-pollination on seed and forage fields of Roundup Ready alfalfa is no different from that which exists conventionally. Anti-biotech movement goes past money lost to feeding and caring for people, and to the unavailability of biotech Golden Rice, with its high Vitamin A content that could prevent blindness in children.
By Harry Cline
Western Farm Press 2008-03-17 (entry)
See also
Mysterious, mass die-off of hibernating bats in New York and Vermont is matter of extraordinary concern to scientists. Bats are major crop pollinators and pest control service - they eat crop pests, midges and mosquitoes. Crop yields could fall. Spelunkers say they're willing to stop caving in case humans are spreading the disease, which sometimes is marked by white, flaky fungus around nose.
By Beth Daley
The Boston Globe 2008-02-07 (entry)
See also
More than 10 years after vowing to force farmers to help clean the air, California cracks down on poisonous fumigants, which may idle thousands of acres in Ventura County. In those years, both acreage and pesticide use have grown. One quarter of the nation's strawberries, worth about $366 million, are grown there; in 2004, fumigants there created 4.8 tons of emissions a day.
By Marla Cone and Gregory W. Griggs
Los Angeles Times 2008-01-25 (entry)
Adult pink salmon (Alaska Department of Fish & Game)
In challenge to common fish farming practice, Canadian researchers link parasites that breed in underwater cages to deaths of countless wild pink salmon and possible extinction of fish populations in some rivers and streams in eight years. But government agency wants further study and cites climate change, fishing practices and logging.
By Cornelia Dean
The New York Times 2007-12-13 (entry)
See also
In our warming climate, some regions, including Canada, will produce more food, and others, at the mercy of droughts and floods (India and Africa), will produce less. Those areas will become dependent on major food exporters, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, Brazil and Argentina.
by Dan Charles
National Public Radio 2007-10-29 (entry)
Slashing commodities subsidies addresses only a symptom, not the problem of the farm/food bill. Real reform in federal farm policy will come from changing the message to farmers, which, since the early '70s has increasingly been: Produce as much as you can."
By Tom Philpott
Grist 2007-11-08 (entry)
Ozone from burning of fossil fuels stands to damage crops, possibly reducing food production by 10 percent this century, MIT study shows. The study looked at temperature, carbon dioxide, and ozone, all of which are rising, and found that the net effect is especially harmful to heavily fertilized plants.
By Nancy Stauffer
MIT Energy Initiative 2007-10-26 (entry)
PBS "Nature" report examines perils facing world's most popular pollinator, including mysterious colony collapse disorder, pesticide toxicity, and stresses connected to performing as traveling pollinators for fruit and vegetable growers.
By Susan Stewart
The New York Times 2007-10-27 (entry)
Erythrina gall wasp, an accidental import from Africa, devastates groves of wiliwili trees used as wind shields for crops in Hawaii; desperate officials consider importing a Tanzanian wasp they hope might prey on it, but after mongoose import eschewed pesky rats for native birds, others are wary.
By Tomas Alex Tizon
Los Angeles Times 2007-10-15 (entry)
Pineapple farms paired with certified organic practices and local exporters are becoming the ticket out of poverty for rural Ugandans; country's export share of organic products, including passionfruit, dried mangoes, vanilla and sesame, now leads Africa.
By Evelyn Lirri
Daily Monitor (Uganda) 2007-05-28 (entry)
Uganda's robust coffee market, mostly the domain of family businesses, might be approaching bubble phase, considering damage from coffee wilt, advanced age of trees, and poorly managed soils.
By Tucungwirwe Rwamutega
Daily Monitor (Uganda) 2007-10-02 (entry)
After farm advocacy group files two complaints against Aurora Dairy and USDA threatens to revoke its organic certification, company agrees to remove organic label from some milk and to add pasture for cows.
By Andrew Martin
The New York Times (may require subscription) 2007-08-30 (entry)
Keeping the organic label pure may be tough to do as Wal-Mart and other behemoths are ramping up; already the industry is split between true ideals (localism and sustainability, in addition to no pesticides) and those willing to sacrifice for growth.
By Jake Whitney
San Francisco Chronicle 2007-01-28 (entry)
The farm/food bill, now in Senate, covers land conservation, food stamps, school snacks and foreign aid, but it's really about politics and money; House agriculture chair declares that advocates for change were pushing too hard, but Bush likely would veto its version.
By Stephen J. Hedges
Chicago Tribune 2007-08-13 (entry)
Running an organic garden is easy with a large staff, but techniques, detailed in "The Elements of Organic Gardening," by Prince Charles, are simple - good soil, black plastic, and keeping the chickens out.
By Charles Elliott
The New York Times (may require subscription) 0000-00-00 (entry)
See also
Seattle's Lettuce Link, which teaches gardening, nutrition and cooking to low-income population, helps fill coffers of food pantries and hot meal food banks whose regular donors are on summer vacation.
By Ann Lovejoy
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) 2007-08-17 (entry)
See also
Whether in miniscule back yards or near abandoned houses, urban farmers find every sunny spot and put it to use in effort to connect to their food; backyard chicken and egg trend in Salt Lake City is nothing short of coop d'etat.
By Chris Adamson
Salt Lake City Weekly 2007-08-23 (entry)
See also
Genetically modified sugar beet seed designed to resist Monsanto herbicide is gaining popularity among growers and processors, including American Crystal Sugar Co.; Wyoming Sugar Co., and Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative; farmers must pay $60 premium per acre, and GMO sugar won't carry special label.
Associated Press; CNN 2007-08-22 (entry)
Oklahoma wheat seed crop damaged by untimely rains, which likely will force farmers to pay premium for next season's planting, but even distant sources are running low on supply and quality because of increased demand.
By Veronica Scoggin
The Enid News (OK) 2007-08-20 (entry)
Bane and benefit both, blackberries cover the Oregon landscape with a thorny thicket but are high in antioxidants, show promise in tumor reduction, are a high cash crop, a primary food source for honeybees and other pollinators - and they're tasty as well.
By Joe Mosley
The Register-Guard (OR) 2007-08-11 (entry)
Three books, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life," "Plenty: One Man, One Woman and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally," and "Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future," explore the omnivore's dilemma, but only Bill McKibben, in "Deep Economy," looks at global problem.
By Laird Harrison
The News & Observer (NC) 2007-08-19 (entry)
After scramble to plant more acreage in corn and cash in on ethanol craze, deepening drought and scorching temperatures shrivel farmers' dreams of record corn harvest in South and Southeastern states.
By Jim Nesbitt
The Sun-News (SC); McClatchy Newspapers 0000-00-00 (entry)
Though customers spend more than $14 billion a year on organics and depend on USDA label even for imports, USDA infrastructure, with nine staffers and a $1.5 million budget, languishes; other departments spend about $28 million a year on organic research, data collection and farmer assistance, but the department spent $37 million subsidizing farmers who grew dry peas, an $83 million crop, in 2005.
By Andrew Martin
The New York Times (may require subscription) 0000-00-00 (entry)
Judging from plastic bottles clogging the landfills and SUVs clogging the highways, the news that we're killing ourselves and our world hasn't kicked in, so that makes "The 11th Hour," an unnerving, surprisingly affecting documentary, essential viewing.
By Manohla Dargis
The New York Times 2007-08-17 (entry)
Vermont school, working with local farmers and agricultural experts, plants garden designed to feed its 200 students homegrown vegetables at lunchtime, teaching a way of life, not only nutrition or fitness.
By Nicole Orne
Brattleboro Reformer (VT) (entry)
Despite higher profits and rising demand for organic corn and soybeans, few farmers switching over, forcing food companies to import organic soybeans from China and pay nearly double what they paid for organic corn last fall.
By Paula Lavigne
Des Moines Register 2007-08-12 (entry)
Taking cue from Cuba, Vancouver gardener and agricultural scientist sows seeds of what he hopes will be an urban gardening movement that provides a locally grown alternative to modern and usually distant agribusiness.
By Nicholas Read
Vancouver Sun 2007-08-13 (entry)
Overfishing, poaching and pollution have depleted worldwide fish stocks to 10 percent of normal; for every pound of shrimp harvested, 10 pounds are discarded, along with turtles and dolphins, conservationists report.
By Eviana Hartman
Washington Post (entry)
See also
For Toronto, Tokyo and other urban sites, Columbia University professor conceives of vertical farming in tall buildings, with each floor hosting hydroponically grown crops, including grains, as well as small livestock such as pigs.
By Eviana Hartman
Washington Post (entry)
See also
To irrigate crops, farmers have pumped billions of gallons annually from the Ogallala Aquifer, a lake under parts of Great Plains states, but now, water table has dropped steeply, forcing new "dryland" methods of farming for conservation.
By Debbie Elliott
National Public Radio (entry)
"The Zen of Fish," and "The Sushi Economy," offer lessons in how global economy works, dangers of over-fishing and how it thrives on demand, and why trout might not be the best choice for eating raw (think tapeworms).
By Stuart Biggs
bloomberg.com 2007-08-08 (entry)
Ethanol craze blamed for high prices across the supermarket, but other factors include surge in global food demand, high oil prices, uncooperative weather, and the slide of the dollar against other world currencies.
By Barrett Sheridan
Newsweek magazine (entry)
Local food advocates trumpet food miles, but the Life Cycle Assessment, with comprehensive accounting of all resources that go into food network, from fertilizer to electricity, offers clearer picture; meanwhile, air shipping is the most fuel-intensive, and the fastest growing sector of food transport.
By Drake Bennett
The Boston Globe (entry)
With ethanol craze and escalating corn prices taking all the attention, worldwide drought has gone almost unnoticed, but it is driving wheat prices up; breadmakers are paying more for flour and weak dollar makes U.S. wheat attractive.
By Jeff Cox
CNNMoney.com (entry)
New interactive map allows users to tract proliferation of factory farms by state and county - even number of animals - and it raises questions of whether we pursue the logic of industrialism to its limits, and how badly will it harm the landscape, the people who live in it and democracy itself?
The editors
The New York Times (may require subscription) (entry)
See also
In northeastern Brazil, farmers use simple technologies and great persistence to harvest, pick, raise and slaughter, despite high temperatures, little rain and unfertile soil; they begin with a mud-patch, to hold rainwater to create oases of production.
By Isaura Daniel; translated by Mark Ament
Brazil-Arab News Agency (entry)
Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Läckeby Water Group join other food, drink producers in UN agreement to use water more efficiently; lack of access to clean water and sanitation undermines humanitarian, social, environmental, and economic goals.
By Ahmed ElAmin
foodproductiondaily.com (entry)
Current agricultural policies distort food costs, waste billions of taxpayer dollars, and subsidize a handful of large farming operations that raise a few selected crops - and subvert subsistence farmers across the globe by dumping cheap surplus goods at below-market prices.
By Senator Richard Lugar and Representative Ron Kind
The Modesto Bee (CA) 2007-07-15 (entry)
On the 25th anniversary of its release, Victor Schonfeld recalls the events that led to his creation of "The Animals Film," a British documentary using evocative, exploratory cinematography techniques to illuminate factory farming.
By Victor Schonfeld
The Guardian (UK) 2007-07-05 (entry)
It's a $70 billion annual bill, and before, only agribusiness cared, but a tsunami of activists now believes that its subsidies for corn and soy encourage diet-related disease and climate change; instead, they advocate money for sustainable and organic food production, agricultural conservation and for a priority on fresh, local fruits and vegetables.
By Carol Ness
San Francisco Chronicle (entry)
Despite activists' efforts to bamboozle public, price-conscious customers appear happy buying milk containing synthetic hormone, and squeezing more milk from cows via drugs saves natural resources, reduces corn prices, greenhouse gas emissions and manure production; in a more rational world, customers would choose milk so labeled.
By Henry I. Miller
The New York Times (may require subscription) 2007-06-29 (entry)
