Organic Consumers Know Better: Collin Peterson is Not the OCA's Darling
Sustainable Food News published a bizarre article last week concerning a letter sent to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack from 75 members of Congress asking for farmers to be allowed to plant genetically engineered alfalfa this fall.
Whole Foods Market, in Wake of OCA Campaign, Moving Away from Silk "Natural" Soymilk to Organic Brands
Fourteen years ago, a burgeoning Boulder company -- White Wave Inc. -- was responsible for launching Silk soymilk, a brand that is now the category leader. So when Whole Foods Market wanted to boost its organic soymilk options a year after Dean Foods' WhiteWave Foods shifted most of its Silk products away from certified organic soybeans, the Austin, Texas, grocer turned to a burgeoning Boulder County firm -- one stocked with former White Wave employees.
Seeds of Life: Consolidation in the Seed Industry
Frank Morton, an organic seed breeder from Philomath, Oregon, explains the current structure of the global commercial seed industry, as part of our ongoing series, Seeds of Life.
What Connects Your Carrot to the Climate Crisis?
A new online film from WhyHunger, "The Food and Climate Connection: From Heating the Planet to Healing It," highlights the impact of today's global food system on the climate and how a community-based food movement around the world is bringing to life a way of farming and eating that's better for our bodies and the planet. Featuring interviews with farmers, community leaders, and sustainability advocates, the film highlights how the industrial food system is among the greatest contributors to global warming and how sustainable farming practices can pose a powerful solution to the crisis.
The Time is Ripe For 'Food Forward' TV Show
San Francisco-based food journalist Stett Holbrook and documentary filmmakers Todd Dayton and Greg Roden are in the middle of raising the money to shoot a pilot episode of "Food Forward," which will focus on "people who are changing how we eat in America." Instead of the dire, depressing images of the Oscar-nominated documentary Food, Inc., they're looking at the people who've rejected the industrial model in favor of small-scale, sustainable food production.
Exploring Genetically Engineered Algae as Fuel
Dozens of companies, as well as many academic laboratories, are pursuing the same goal - to produce algae as a source of, literally, green energy. And many of them are using genetic engineering or other biological techniques, like chemically induced mutations, to improve how algae functions.
Report: Children's Exposure to Toxic Chemicals Costs Billions
Lansing -- Michigan could save billions annually by protecting children from exposure to environmental hazards, according to a study released today.
Crews Rush to Contain Massive Oil Spill in Michigan
At least 16 miles of the Kalamazoo River system have been touched by crude oil in what could rank as the Midwest's worst spill.
Brazilian Court Suspends Release of Bayer’s GM Maize
In a landmark ruling published yesterday, the Paraná Federal Court revokes authorization for the commercial release of Bayer's Liberty Link maize and censures CTNBio's actions
San Francisco Still Trying to Justify Growing Food with Toxic Sewage Sludge
Sewage-based compost given out by San Francisco is laced with contaminants such as heavy metals, which exist in comparable levels in commercially available soil amendments, The City found.
Greenpeace Activists Close Down BP Stations in London
BP filling stations across London have been shut down by activists. Environmental group Greenpeace said it had cut fuel supplies to all 50 BP stations in the city. The oil firm said 35 had been shut but 18 have now re-opened.
Herbicide-Resistant Weeds Now Found in At Least 22 States
Farmers in the South started noticing the problem before anyone else. When they sprayed their fields with Roundup weed killer, weeds kept growing anyway. In some areas, fields became so choked with weeds that farmers abandoned them.
Bill Gates and the Mad Scientists: An Evil Atmosphere Is Forming Around Geoengineering
IN 1892 Edvard Munch witnessed a blood-red sunset over Oslo, Norway. Shaken by it, he wrote in his diary that he felt "a great, unending scream piercing through nature". The incident inspired him to create his most famous painting, The Scream. The striking sunset was probably caused by the eruption of Krakatoa, which sent a massive plume of ash and gas into the upper atmosphere, turning sunsets red around the globe and cooling the Earth by more than a degree. Now a powerful group of scientists, venture capitalists and conservative think tanks is coalescing around the idea of reproducing this cooling effect by injecting sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere to counter climate change. Despite the enormity of what is being proposed - nothing less than seizing control of the climate - the public has been almost entirely excluded from the planning.
Financial-Reform Bill Limits the Speculation in Ag Commodity Markets that Sparked Food Crisis
While we lament the final death rattle of climate legislation, it's worth noting that something non-hideous emerged from the ignominious halls of Congress last week. Buried within the financial reform bill signed into law by President Obama, there's a set of provisions that evidently limit excessive speculation in agricultural commodity markets.
Why Am I Here? Our Struggle for Meaning - by Robert Jensen
This is an edited version of a sermon delivered July 25, 2010, at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, TX. Let's approach the question "Why am I here?" at two different levels. The first is the question of the ages, which we all have asked at some point: Why is any one of us here? Why are we humans here, with this vexing consciousness and frustrating capacity for self-reflection? Are we the product of some larger plan beyond our understanding? Do humans have a purpose? Are we special?
U.S. Farmers May Face Crackdown on Pesticide Use
WASHINGTON - The nation's farmers could face severe restrictions on the use of pesticides as environmentalists, spurred by a favorable ruling from a judge in Washington state, want the courts to force federal regulators to protect endangered species from the ill effects of agricultural chemicals.
Herbicide Spray Raises Concerns in Shirley Area
A controversial herbicide is being sprayed along logging roads near Shirley and residents fear it could wash into nearby salmon-bearing streams -- especially since the area has been heavily logged.
Gee Whiz: Human Urine Is Shown to Be an Effective Agricultural Fertilizer
The beets Surendra Pradhan and Helvi Heinonen-Tanski grew were perfectly lovely: round and hefty; with their skin a rich burgundy; their flavor sweet and faintly earthy, like the dirt from which they came. Unless someone told you, you'd never know the beets were fertilized with human urine.
The Race to Make Fuel Out of Algae Poses Risks as Well as Benefits
One day, Big Algae may be competitive with Big Oil, but as researchers search for the ideal oil-producing algae strain to grow in commercial quantities, there are still a host of uncertainties standing in the way.
Info on S510 - The Food Safety Modernization Act
The U.S. Senate is considering a bill, S. 510, to reform the food safety system. Although reform of the industrial food supply is clearly needed, this bill threatens to create more problems than it will solve. S. 510 would undermine the rapidly growing local foods movement by imposing unnecessary, burdensome regulations on small farms and food processors - everyone from your local CSA to the small bakers, jam makers, and people making fermented vegetables to sell at the local farmers market.
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