Growers and Grocers

The Center for Rural America’s blog is running a “message from the trenches” from young cotton farmer. The author is trying to make it as a small farmer, but he argues that the current state of the farm bill favors the large megafarms that surround him.
Small farms represent a better investment for the farmers, the […]

Jen Maiser, Life Begins at 30’s blogger extraordinaire, posted an announcement that the next Eat Local Challenge will take place in May. For those who don’t know about this movement, the challenge encourages participants to eat food grown and produced within a 100-mile radius of your home. Everyone can set their own parameters: Most people […]

Last year The Meatrix, a cartoon parody of The Matrix that discussed factory farming, spread across the Internet. The producers have released the sequel, so get ready to fire up your email and let all your friends know.
Hopefully part 2 of The Meatrix won’t be as horrible as the movie it spoofs.

The United States agreed to improve the training for workers handling beef bound for Japan, according to this AP story. In 2006, Japan permitted imports of American beef after a four-year ban triggered by a mad cow scare. Shortly after the gates re-opened, U.S. exporters allowed some neural tissue into a shipment, and the Japanese […]

The activists at NoNAIS point to this report [pdf] with the unbiased title “How Agribusiness Has Hijacked the Regulatory Policy at the USDA.” The report gives details about the history of these connections, their effects, and how consumers can combat them. It’s not a short read, but it’s a good reminder that corporate interests + […]

Barbara Quinn decided to play Myth Busters with butter and margarine facts in this article at twincities.com.
I don’t have any reason to doubt her scientific knowledge (and her historical facts are correct), but her article seems needlessly simplistic, which makes me suspect her motives.
In response to the myth “Margarine is but one molecule away from […]

Wal-Mart, the 800-pound gorilla in the retail space, has put some of that weight behind organic products. This article in the Olympian raises a cynic’s eyebrows. Is the shopping giant doing the right thing for the world, or is the organic label so diluted that anyone can use it?
Wal-Mart built a global empire on the […]

Jack from Fork & Bottle sent me this story from the San Jose Mercury News about a genetically modified pig that produces bacon rich with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which you normally get from fish. The researchers seem more interested in understanding heart disease than producing pigs with this genotype, but expect similar results about […]

Vacherin Fribourgeois, a mild cow’s milk cheese, has just been granted a Swiss A.O.C. (Appellation of Controlled Origin), making it the eighth Swiss cheese to be awarded the prestigious label. The Swiss news site Edicom reports that production will consequently increase by 4% in 2006.
The road to the upper echelon of cheese hierarchy was […]

The March/April issue of Stanford Magazine examines the aquaculture industry in a feature entitled “Economy of Scales.” Author Paul Rogers focuses on the work of Stanford professor Rosamond Naylor, who has received a grant to help develop a “green label” for fish farms.
The article explains the environmental problems associated with fish farming and suggests guidelines […]