News regarding the dangers of GMOs and biotech, and the advantages of organic sustainable agriculture.
Wisconsin Fight over 5,000 Cow Factory Farm Moves to Court
By LISA BUCHMEIER
Courthouse News Service
MADISON, Wisc. (CN) – Family Farm Defenders sued Wisconsin to try to stop a commercial dairy whose planned 6,270 “animal units” would produce 55.3 million gallons of manure and wastewater a year.
Fifty-five million gallons of wastewater would cover 1 acre 169 feet deep.
Family Farm Defenders and three landowners sued the […]
Monsanto GMO Corn Plant Losing Bug Resistance
By SCOTT KILMAN
Wall Street Journal
Widely grown corn plants that Monsanto Co. genetically modified to thwart a voracious bug are falling prey to that very pest in a few Iowa fields, the first time a major Midwest scourge has developed resistance to a genetically modified crop.
The discovery raises concerns that the way some farmers are […]
Fears grow over GM corn fuel
by Suzanne Goldenberg, Washington
smh.com.au
US FARMERS are growing the first corn genetically modified specifically to put more ethanol in petrol tanks rather than producing more food.
Aid organisations warn that the corn could worsen a global food crisis – exposed by the Somalia famine – diverting more corn into energy production.
The food industry also opposes the corn […]
Why GMOs Won’t Feed the World (Despite What You Read in The New York Times)
By Anna Lappé
Civil Eats
With all due respect, Nina Federoff’s New York Times op-ed reads like it was written two decades ago when the jury was still out about the potential of the biotech industry to reduce hunger, increase nutritional quality in foods, and decrease agriculture’s reliance on toxic chemicals and other expensive inputs that […]
Slow Food USA voices support for organic farmers vs. Monsanto
slowfoodusa.org
In June we shared an interview with farmer (and Slow Food leader) Tom Willey (click here to read). Tom is one of many plaintiffs in a landmark case against Monsanto.
Monsanto has a history of taking farmers to court if they’re found to be in possession of patented plant material without permission, even if the […]
Genetic Engineering in Agriculture Does Not Solve Food Insecurity in the Philippines
by Gilbert Sape
Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific
A reaction to the article, “DENR exec pushes for genetically modified organisms in food production” posted last 20 July 2011. (Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/26543/denr-exec-pushes-for-genetically-modified-organisms-in-food-production) to the points raised by director Marcial Amaro, Jr. of Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (DENR-ERDB) that “biotechnology, including […]
The Freedom to Eat Food: Going local in uncertain economic times
By Deborah Adams
Food Freedom
When I decided to live the locavore diet for a month, it hardly seemed worth the bother. I have a garden, my chickens provide eggs, my pantry is stocked with beans, peas, potatoes, apples, peaches, and other goodies that I preserved last year. A plethora of small farms […]
What the USDA Doesn’t Want You to Know About Antibiotics and Factory Farms
By Tom Philpott
MotherJones
Here is a document the USDA doesn’t want you to see. It’s what the agency calls a “technical review”—nothing more than a USDA-contracted researcher’s simple, blunt summary of recent academic findings on the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant infections and their link with factory animal farms. The topic is a serious one. […]
Advocates for Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food Announce 2 Week ‘Right2Know’ March from NYC to White House in October
by PR Newswire
WASHINGTON /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A coalition of organizations, businesses and individuals announced today a bold mobilization plan to raise awareness and pressure the government about the lack of labeling of Genetically Engineered foods people unknowingly consume. Such foods are also termed “Genetically Modified Organisms” or “GMOs.” The GMO Right2Know March will feature daily events […]
Court: Pesticide drift could be trespassing violation
by David Unze
sctimes.com
The state Court of Appeals ruled Monday that pesticide drifting from its intended farm onto an adjacent Stearns County organic farm could be considered a trespassing violation by the company that sprayed the pesticide.
The appellate court ruling reinstates a lawsuit filed by organic farmers Oluf and Debra Johnson against Paynesville Farmers Union […]
In U.S., genetically modified wheat is not the answer
by HELEN WALLER
greatfallstribune.com
About a decade ago Monsanto was on a mission to develop and commercialize a genetically modified strain of dark northern spring wheat.
Farmers’ interest in the seed hit bottom because of a lack of acceptance of GM wheat by our valued customers around the world. Buyers for foreign markets purchase […]
Resistant weeds leave farmers desperate
As effectiveness of herbicides wanes, some try mixtures of older, more toxic chemicals, others pay itinerant workers to weed by hand.
BY GEORGINA GUSTIN
stltoday.com
Farmers in the state’s south are resorting to some old-fashioned tactics.
Weeds in cotton fields have gotten so tenacious — some with stems 4-inches around — that farmers are paying itinerant […]
USDA: Yes, GMOs cause harm; no, we don’t plan to do anything about it.
by Tom Philpott
Mother Jones
As I reported last week, the USDA’s recent surprise decision not to regulate genetically modified bluegrass poked yet more holes in an already-porous regime for overseeing GM crops—essentially to the point of regulatory collapse.
There were a few important strands I wasn’t able to wrestle into the story. The main one is an odd […]
New Green Farming Vital to End Global Hunger: U.N.
African Farmer – Bigstock photos
By Robert Evans
Reuters
A solid shift to green technologies in world farming is vital if endemic food crises are to be overcome and production boosted to support the global population, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
And as a first step, governments and international agencies should focus on boosting small-scale agriculture in […]
Did the USDA Just Deregulate All New Genetically Modified Crops?
By Tom Philpott
Mother Jones
It’s a hoary bureaucratic trick, making a controversial announcement on the Friday afternoon before a long weekend, when most people are daydreaming about what beer to buy on the way home from work, or are checking movie times online. But that’s precisely what the US Department of […]
North Dakota: Feeding the hungry in a land of plenty
By Paul Adams BBC News, Bismarck, North Dakota
North Dakotans like to think they feed the world. But right now they are being encouraged to feed themselves.
Aided by its recent oil boom, North Dakota has weathered the recession better than many other states. But government officials say one in 11 of the […]
The Strength to Feed the World: Organic Sustainable vs. Big Ag
The strength to feed the world
Growing more food faster requires sacrificing our future and produces only an illusion of abundance.
By Amanda Kimble-Evans
Rodale Institute
Organic farmers and gardeners already witness every year the bountiful harvests possible when growing food in concert with nature. And anyone who supports their local organic growers at farmers’ markets can see […]
Adventures in Backyard Agriculture: Building the Pico-farm
by Southern Fried Scientist
Several months ago, I began a new personal challenge to live more sustainably. I wanted to do something more substantial and larger in scale than the conventional methods of reducing your environmental impacts, which involve changes in habit, not changes in lifestyle. After many discussions, Bluegrass Blue Crab and myself decided it was time to […]
The Unseen War on American Farms
Health Impact News Editor Comments: I saw the screening to this film this past weekend in L.A. It is definitely worth seeing if you want to be educated on the issues related to food freedom in the U.S., and the current attacks against family farms. Check here for screenings: http://farmageddonmovie.com/screenings/ Below is an interview with Kristin […]
Joel Salatin on Today’s Food Issues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVwItGutqyg
You would not be wrong thinking of Joel Salatin as a kind of food evangelist.
After all, he travels the country preaching common sense and real food with
all the energetic fervor of a true believer.
Recently, Mr. Salatin spoke to a sell-out audience (co-sponsored by The
Woodstock Land Conservancy and the Woodstock Farm Festival), where he
had plenty […]