Industrial Ag

Meat Wagon

Oh-oh: Tamiflu-resistant swine flu rears up in the U.S., U.K. 0
Posted 18 hours, 51 minutes ago Ever since evolution of the swine flu virus accelerated in 1998, virologists and veterinary-science have warned that factory hog farms create the ideal conditions for generating novel viruses.
Don't eat the hype

Ecological farms: the only real way to feed an Increasingly hungry world 2
Posted 1 day, 2 hours ago There are those who would like us to believe that industrialized farming is the only way to feed the earth's growing population. It's simply not true.
Plate Tectonics

No to Obama’s agrichemical industry man, yes to Bed-Stuy Farm 1
Posted 1 day, 15 hours ago This post marks the launch of "Plate Tectonics," a new feature that highlights ways that citizen action can move the food system in more sustainable directions. First task: jamming the revolving door between the agrichemical industry and the Obama administration.
Big fish, little fish

A parable on the National School Lunch Program 3
Posted 4 days, 15 hours ago By Ann Cooper, Kate Adamick The National School Lunch program, with all of its intricacies, can seem extremely complicated. But take a step back and look at it with clear eyes, and it's really pretty simple.
Not just a river in Egypt

Michael Specter’s new book ‘Denialism’ misses its targets 49
Posted 2 weeks, 6 days ago A big-time New Yorker writer has come out with a book denouncing scientific "denialism." Tom Philpott can't believe Michael Specter let climate deniers off the hook--and instead goes after proponents of organic agriculture.
Hog-tied

Six months after the outbreak, who’s investigating the CAFO-swine flu link? 16
Posted 3 weeks, 2 days ago A half a year after the novel H1NI outbreak, federal authorities still aren't investigating possible links to hog CAFOs. Tom Philpott ponders why that might be.
Unlocking the Gates

Bill Gates reveals support for GMO ag 44
Posted 1 month ago The Gates Foundation is reshaping African agriculture. So far, it has refrained from declaring patent-protected biotechnology a panacea for African farmers. But if a recent speech by Bill Gates is any indication, that view may be changing.
Ripe tomato

Large Florida grower steps up for farm workers 0
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
After two years of stasis, a breakthrough in the struggle for living wages in Florida tomato country.
The Contrarian's Dilemma

James McWilliams’ over-hyped and undercooked anti-locavore polemic 15
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
In his new book Just Food, the historian James McWilliams lectures local-food activists on why they should learn to love pesticides and food shipped in from across the globe.
Chipotle grilled

Burrito chain’s Food, Inc. sponsorship generates off-screen drama over farm-worker issues 22
Posted 4 months ago
Chipotle Mexican Grill is sponsoring Food, Inc. screenings nationwide. But the film's director and producer--Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser--have publicly called out the burrito giant over farm-worker issues. What gives? Tom Philpott digs in.
Organically grown offsets

A climate policy for agriculture that works 7
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
Not since Earl Butz's famous "hedgerow to hedgerow" comment of the 1970s have America's farmers been at such a turning point. The current climate legislation offers an unprecedented opportunity to rethink the way America farms.
'Recovering from the Green Revolution'

NPR: Organic ag rises in India 0
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
India's a major player on the world stage. How disturbing, then, that its farmers are in severe crisis. A new NPR report brings a dash of hope: Indian farmers are going organic in increasing numbers.
Bread winners

Against the grain of industrial agriculture, truly local bread stages a comeback 1
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago
Most bread sold in the United States relies on pre-fab flour from a few varieties of wheat grown on large Midwestern fields. But a new wave of bakers is seeking out old grain varieties and grinding their own. April McGreger spells out why that's good for our taste buds and the food system alike--and delivers a delicious recipe for quick bread from heirloom grain flour.
The what revolution?

NPR: Industrial ag and India’s ‘cancer train’ 0
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago
Last month, NPR aired two reports on the ecological and economic upshots of industrial agriculture in India. This week, the news outlet focuses on the public-health dimensions.
Green Devolution

NPR: Industrial ag in India on the verge of collapse 3
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago
The so-called "Green Revolution," widely hailed as an agricultural triumph, has tapped groundwater and ruined the soil in India's heartland.
An anti-drug campaign that makes sense

New legislation would make the meat industry ‘just say no’ to antibiotic abuse 0
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago
In industrial-tomato country, workers suffer squalid living conditions and even slavery 0
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago
Popular fumigant found to be a potent greenhouse gas 0
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago
The human cost of industrial tomatoes 0
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago
The FDA sat on evidence of mercury-tainted high-fructose corn syrup 13
Posted 9 months, 4 weeks ago