Growers and Grocers

The House Committee on Agriculture is preparing to draft parts of the Food and Farm Bill next week in the various subcommittee. A post at Gristmill explores the schedule for the bill, explains how citizens can influence Congress, and reveals that four titles will be worked on next week: Conservation (Title II), Credit […]

A few days ago, the Associated Press had an article with some stunning numbers and information about food imports. In U.S. Food Safety Strained by Imports, Justin Pritchard looks at the rapid rise in imported ingredients–items like guar gum, maltodextrin, and casein (a protein in milk)–and lays out the big picture:
While Americans are consuming more […]

Sunday’s news feeds brought two interesting articles about genetically- engineered crops to my RSS reader. The first was a piece entitled How to confine the plants of the future? by biotech expert Denise Caruso (author of Intervention). Caruso’s article focuses on pharmaceuticals derived from genetically-modified plants and the challenge of keeping them separated […]

Before I get into the update, a note on terminology. The traditional term for the omnibus piece of legislation that authorizes agriculture and nutrition programs is the “Farm Bill.” But that term is far too limiting. The “Farm Bill” is one of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation to be considered by […]

This post is about two areas of the food business that don’t receive a lot of coverage, either intentionally or accidentally.
1) Who Owns Organic?
For a long time, the word “organic” was synonymous with “small”: it brought to mind an independent farmer or a small company. These days, however, that association is not always accurate. Some […]

This week’s episode of the PBS program NOW is looking at cotton. Specifically, are government subsidies to U.S. cotton farmers causing starvation in Africa? Activists are concerned that government subsidies artificially lower the market price for cotton, thus undercutting small producers in Africa.
It is an interesting question to consider, but why on a […]

I attended the long anticipated debate/cage match/love fest between author Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods Market (and one of the founders). After a public exchange of letters (links here) following the publication of Pollan’s book, a public face-to-face was set up. Originally planned for a […]

Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are what can happen when efficiency and cost are the only considerations in food production. Cramming multitudes of animals into close quarters, they create vast amounts of waste, an oppressive stench, plumes of air pollution, inhumane conditions, and additional health hazards or nuisances. As an […]

In anticipation of the arrival of the “Year of the Pig” on February 18, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) posted a summary of some of the recent positive changes in the pig industry:
“A revolution is underway in the pig industry,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. “Whether at the […]

Ethanol is all over the news these days because it offers the promise of home-grown, renewable fuel for transportation as a gasoline replacement. At this time, corn is the main source of ethanol in the United States — and will be for some time until the cellulosic ethanol process becomes feasible. According to […]