by Sam Bloch | August 30th, 2018 The New Jersey Senator has introduced a bill to halt the mergers and acquisitions that have hamstrung small-scale producers for decades. On Wednesday, Cory Booker, the Democratic Senator from New Jersey, introduced a bill that would impose a temporary moratorium on mergers and acquisitions between large farm, food,…
by Rachel Rabkin Peachman | August 29, 2018 How did they get into food? What’s known about the risks? And what can be done to keep these drugs off your plate? Ketamine, a hallucinogenic party drug and experimental antidepressant. Phenylbutazone, an anti-inflammatory deemed too risky for human use. Chloramphenicol, a powerful antibiotic linked to potentially…
by Viet Nam News | 29 August 18 Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange have once again had their hopes for justice rekindled. But despite the recent landmark ruling against Monsanto in a San Francisco court, major obstacles remain on the path towards justice. On August 11, the US court ruled that the multinational agrochemical corporation…
August 28, 2018 From The Hill (Sandra Postel, Lesli Allison): In recent weeks, federal officials have warned residents of the southwestern United States that their two major lifelines — the Colorado River and the Rio Grande — will deliver alarmingly low water supplies in the coming months. This summer, the Rio Grande may actually run…
Did someone forward you this newsletter? Get your own copy by subscribing here. Will Big Booze succeed in becoming Big Buzz? Earlier this month, Constellation Brands, maker of Corona, Svedka, and Robert Mondavi wines, invested $4 billion in the largest pot corporation in the world, by market cap. The deal expands Constellation’s ownership stake in…
Aug 27, 2018 The tiny central Kansas town of Pretty Prairie has gained national attention for the wrong reason: As documented by Harper’s Magazine earlier this year, this dwindling community of 600 has a tap water crisis caused by decades of farm runoff. Its problem is particularly severe, with drinking water nitrate levels at twice…
by Nicole Rasul | August 29, 2018 American shoppers face yet another dilemma in the grocery store aisle. According to a petition submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) by the Organization for Competitive Markets and the American Grassfed Association, not all meat labeled “Product of U.S.A.” is actually…
by H. Claire Brown | August 27th, 2018 A new study shows this nutrient decline will mean that, by 2050, an additional 175 million people worldwide will be deficient in zinc, and 122 million more won’t be eating enough protein. It’s been almost exactly one year since Hurricane Harvey wrought havoc in Texas and Louisiana,…
by Candace Krebs, Contributing Writer | Aug 22, 2018 Ranchers from Colorado and surrounding states are in Rapid City, S.D., this weekend for R-CALF USA’s 19th annual convention, buoyed by success intervening in beef check-off collections in Montana and by a presidential administration that wants to put America first in international trade negotiations. “This is…
by Julene Bair | Aug 23, 2018 “This farming has gotten so industrialized and out of hand,” Gabe Brown said. We were sitting in the shade on his North Dakota regenerative farm, watching several hundred chickens scratching in a field of mixed cover crops. They provided ready contrast to the ills Gabe was describing. Most…