Month: February 2019

INSIDIOUS: How synthetic biology threatens your natural ingredient supply chain

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NPR: The Chicken Is Local, But Was It Happy? GPS Now Tells The Life Story Of Your Poultry

by Martha Ann Overland – Heard on Weekend Edition Sunday | February 24, 2019 Shoppers are willing to pay a premium for ingredients that are cage-free, organic or wild caught. But how do you really know if the chicken you are eating spent its life happily pecking for corn or if your blackberries were grown…



Journal Sentinel: Dairy farmers are in crisis — and it could change Wisconsin forever

by Rick Barrett | February 21, 2019 There was a time when the soft glow of barn lights dotted Wisconsin’s rural landscape like stars in a constellation, connecting families who labored into the night milking cows, feeding calves and finishing chores. Hundreds of those barns are dark now, the cows gone, the hum of milking…



Food & Environment Reporting Network: One counselor’s lonely struggle against farm country’s mental health crisis

by Leah Douglas In Minnesota, one of the country’s top farming states, just one man is responsible for dealing with farmers’ mental health needs. As low crop prices and farm closures weigh heavily on farming families, he is joining state legislators and advocates to push for allocating more resources to the pressing issue. “With farming,…



John Ikerd: The Corporatization of Animal Agriculture

by johnikerd1 | February 21, 2019 We are now seeing a corporate takeover of dairy production, which is the last bastion of full-time, independent family farms in animal agriculture. Poultry was the first to come under corporate control, the second was beef, then pork, and now dairy. The corporatization of each sector has been a…



Eco-Business: Our dying soils: The invisible crisis under our feet

by Vaidehi Shah | March 19, 2018 The world relies on healthy soils for food, water, and a liveable climate. But soils are rapidly losing the ability to support life thanks to unsustainable development and industrial agriculture. Is enough being done to address this crisis? Ana Maria dos Santos Suares, a farmer in Timor Leste’s…



The Revelator: Build a Border Wall? Here’s an Idea That’s Better for Communities and the Climate

What border communities really need are solutions to address economic, health and climate problems — and the mesquite tree can help. by Gary Paul Nabhan | February 20, 2019 President Trump has declared a national emergency to fund a wall along our nation’s southern border. The border wall issue has bitterly divided people across the…



Raising Meat: A New Food Economy Summit

Raising Meat: A New Food Economy Summit by The New Food Economy and Karen Karp & Partners $125 Description What should meat production look like in the 21st century? At The New Food Economy, we’ve learned that questions about meat production and consumption tend to have the same answer: “It’s complicated.” And yet, as journalists,…



The Hill: The Green New Deal would benefit independent family farmers

by The Green New Deal would benefit independent family farmers BY RANDY DUGGER, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 02/18/19 12:05 PM EST 226 THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL This video will resume in 3 seconds Too many times when an idea or proposal comes along that carries…



Norfolk Daily News: Nebraska’s economy is expected to grow, but low farm incomes dampen prospects

2.17.19 Norfolk Daily News Nebraska’s economy is expected to grow, but low farm incomes dampen prospects · Jeffrey Robb, World-Herald Service The U.S. farm economy is suffering, with no quick rebound expected. Economists with the Nebraska Business Forecast Council last week warned that Nebraska’s annual farm income for 2018 is expected to drop below $2…