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Author |
Published |
Section |
Take Your Chertoff
Federal officials claim ethanol, border fence green as can be |
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02 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 2:11 PM on 02 Oct 2007 Well, phew. Ethanol's not to blame for high food prices and a fence on the U.S.-Mexico border will actually benefit the environment. If we can't believe the top federal farm official and the top federal security official, whom can we believe? From the Archives McCormick and Quits. President of Nature Conservancy resigns. Happy Decouple. States adopt decoupl ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Department of Homeland Security, energy, ethanol, food, lying liars, national security, news (all these topics) |
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Business as usual?
Why we shouldn't forget the Farm Bill |
Aimee Witteman |
02 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Once again, a prime example of our misguided farm policies hits like a ton of factory-farm manure sludge -- or in this case, a massive sack of federally insured, genetically modified corn. Last Wednesday, Monsanto announced that the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) approved a pilot program that will give farmers a 20 percent discount on insurance premiums if they plant a majority of their corn acres with seeds featuring Monsanto's trademarked YieldG ... |
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| Topics: ag policy, agriculture, business, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
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All's Fair and We Love More
Fair-trade market boosted by consumer demand |
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02 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 10:24 AM on 02 Oct 2007 An ever-greener and ever-more-caffeinated world is boosting the fair-trade market -- not just for coffee, but for products such as cocoa, cotton, tea, pineapples, and flowers. The certification, which holds growers to strict standards per child labor, pesticide use, recycling, and more, is not a phenomenon specific to hippie shops: all Dunkin' Donuts in the U.S. and all McDonald's in Englan ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, business, food, greenish companies, news, sustainable ag (all these topics) |
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DDT, Yeah You Know Me
Study suggests link between DDT exposure and breast cancer |
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01 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 1:04 PM on 01 Oct 2007 Women exposed to the pesticide DDT as children are five times as likely to develop breast cancer, according to a study published in Environmental Health Perspectives. Draw your own conclusions. source: Los Angeles Times From the Archives Veg Out. Today is World Vegetarian Day. Lejeune Bugged. U.S. Navy must notify N.C.-based Marines of exposure to contamin ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, health, news, scientific research, toxics (all these topics) |
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Welcome to the Fuel World
U.S. ethanol boom slowing due to market glut |
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01 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 6:16 AM on 01 Oct 2007 The ethanol boom in the United States, the political darling of presidential candidates, farm-state lawmakers, and others, has recently been showing signs of slowing due to a market glut that's exacerbated by infrastructure troubles. It seems everyone and their farmer have been constructing ethanol refineries to turn corn into fuel, but the means to get that fuel to gas stations hasn't been k ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, ethanol, news, United States (all these topics) |
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On not rearing pigs
A little weekend humor |
Erik Hoffner |
29 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| In case you missed this hilarious letter that made the email rounds early this year poking fun at bizarre agricultural subsidies ... it gets to carbon credits midway through, naturally: Secretary of State Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Smith Square London Dear Secretary of State, My friend, who is in farming at the moment, recently received a cheque for £3,000 from the Rural Payments Agency for not rearing pigs. I would now like to joi ... |
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| Topics: ag subsidies, agriculture, funnies, politics, United Kingdom (all these topics) |
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Iodide and Gone to Heaven
EPA delays approval of nasty pesticide |
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28 Sep 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 3:06 PM on 28 Sep 2007 Delightfully defying our dire predictions, the U.S. EPA will (again) delay approval of nasty pesticide methyl iodide, after 54 scientists wrote a letter expressing shock that the agency was even considering giving such a toxic chemical the thumbs-up for agricultural use. source: Associated Press From the Archives Dimmockery. British citizen sues government over distributi ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, news, progress, toxics, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Live green, go yellow
U.S. conservation land may soon end up in your gas tank |
David Roberts |
27 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Well isn't this delightful (sub rqd): The Agriculture Department may allow farmers to plow up land in conservation agreements to plant row crops, despite a record corn crop this year, fueled by the ethanol industry's thirst for the feedstock. Acting Secretary Chuck Conner told reporters this week that USDA is considering releasing some land currently enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers to idle nearly 34 million acres of land for wildl ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, biofuels, energy, ethanol (all these topics) |
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Smokin' greens
The eco-depredations of the tobacco industry |
David Roberts |
26 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Brad Plumer points to what is no doubt going to be a fascinating story on the environmental evils of the tobacco industry. Clicking the link reveals that the story itself won't be available until Oct. 1, but using his prodigious powers of precognition, Brad excerpts this bit: Without even factoring in the paper wrapping, packaging, and print advertisements--which require as much paper by weight as the tobacco being grown--nearly 600 million trees are felled each yea ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, climate, deforestation, food, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics) |
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Spare the Ozone and Despoil the Riled
EPA may soon approve toxic alternative to ozone-depleting pesticide, despite criticism |
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26 Sep 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 7:11 AM on 26 Sep 2007 To replace the toxic, ozone-depleting pesticide methyl bromide -- a favorite of stubborn U.S. berry growers -- the U.S. EPA is reportedly set to soon approve an alternative that doesn't deplete ozone but is "one of the more toxic chemicals used in manufacturing" according to opponents, including six Nobel Prize-winning chemists. ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, news, toxics, United States, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Suffer the little children -- from carbon offsets?
A clean tech firm accuses a carbon credit nonprofit of forcing kids to do fieldwork |
Elsa Mary |
25 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| You might blame a leading carbon-offset provider of forcing poor kids to work, according to The Times of London. Or not. Carbon credit firm Climate Care pays families in India to use human-powered treadle pumps to get water out of the ground for drinking and farming. As a result, half a million foot pumps have replaced diesel ones, which pollute and cost a lot to fuel. Unfortunately, Climate Care doesn't ensure the diesel pumps are retired instead of finding new lif ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, carbon offsets, climate, energy, India (all these topics) |
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ADM's man at the USDA
USDA secretary resigns; industrial-corn man takes charge |
Tom Philpott |
21 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Big doings at the USDA yesterday: Mike Johanns, the reliably pro-agribiz former governor of Nebraska, resigned from his post as USDA chair -- right in the middle of Farm Bill negotiations, now in the Senate. He says he's going to run for the Senate seat that Chuck Hagel is vacating. Chuck Conner, currently the USDA's no. 2 man, will be the agency's acting secretary. Conner joined the Bush administration in 2001 as the president's "special assistant" on ag i ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Big Ag, business, Department of Agriculture, industrial ag, politics (all these topics) |
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Pick Your Poison
Pesticides up to no good, says new research |
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18 Sep 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 5:08 PM on 18 Sep 2007 A decrease in pesticide availability led to an associated decrease in suicide rates in Sri Lanka, researchers publishing in the International Journal of Epidemiology have concluded. In 1995 and 1998, restrictions were put into place on importation and sales of highly toxic pesticides in Sri Lanka; in 2005, the country's suicide rate was half what it had been in 1995. "Changes in the availability o ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, health, news, Sri Lanka, toxics (all these topics) |
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Nuggets and Hummers and fish sticks, oh my!
PETA VP argues vegetarianism is the best way to help the planet |
Grist |
18 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| This is a guest essay from Bruce Friedrich, vice president for campaigns at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). It was written in response to Alex Roth's essay "PETA's dogma is all bark and no bite." Friedrich has been an environmental activist for more than 20 years. In 1987, I read Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé and -- primarily for human rights and environmental reasons -- went vegan. Two decades later, I still believe ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, animal welfare, aquaculture, climate, deforestation, fishing, food, health, sustainable ag, vegetarianism and veganism, waste ... (all these topics) |
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Smithfield hogs the China market
Looking at an industrial-meat giant's China deal |
Tom Philpott |
18 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| While PETA roils Gristmill and other greenie sites by brandishing climate change to promote vegetarianism, Smithfield Foods just keeps cranking out industrial meat. As I noted in last week's Victual Reality, the company recently announced a deal to sell 60 million pounds of pork to China. Since then, Smithfield has revealed details about how it will fill that order: by ramping up production at a slaughter facility in Sioux City, Iowa, hometown of one of the nation's ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, animal welfare, business, China, food (all these topics) |
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Not So Fast
On meat eating and global warming |
Umbra Fisk |
17 Sep 2007 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I see that PETA's latest campaign says that meat eating is the No. 1 cause of global warming, not SUVs. This statement may be manipulative and political, but -- is it true? J. Helena, Mont. Dearest J., I'll bite. Shallow digging on one People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals site quickly uncovered their excitement at a 2006 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, "Livestoc ... |
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| Topics: advice, agriculture, Ask Umbra, food, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics) |
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Trouble Cropping Up
Climate change will cause agricultural output to decline significantly, says study |
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13 Sep 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 4:43 PM on 13 Sep 2007 Attention, people who eat: Climate change could cause global agriculture output to decline by up to 16 percent by 2080, according to a new study from the Center for Global Development and the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Like life itself, the allocation won't be fair: productivity is likely to generally decline in developing countries -- Indi ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, climate, climate change impacts, food, news (all these topics) |
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Treadles are not the devil, after all
Human-powered irrigation can increase harvests for farmers |
Gar Lipow |
13 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Recently, I wrote about treadle pumps that let human power replace diesel power for irrigation. As a one-to-one replacement it sounded pretty oppressive. But it turns out that it is not a one-to-one replacement. Poor farmers who only earn a dollar or so, per person per day, can afford to do a lot more irrigation with treadles than they can renting diesel pumps from rich farmers and buying diesel fuel to run it. So they multiply the size of their harvests by two or thr ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, energy (all these topics) |
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The USDA goes all lukewarm on cellulosic ethanol
In related news, the '07 corn harvest will break records |
Tom Philpott |
13 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| For decades now, the USDA has been dumping cash into cellulosic ethanol research (most recently through a joint venture with the DOE). So the USDA's analysts should know something about the prospects for mass production of cellulosic ethanol, hailed by its boosters as a panacea that can wean us not only from oil, but also from corn as an ethanol feedstock. So what's the latest from USDA analysts on this miracle fuel? From a report released last week: Althou ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, Department of Agriculture, energy, ethanol (all these topics) |
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Swap Meat
Study says eating less red meat improves health, helps fight climate change |
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13 Sep 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 11:49 AM on 13 Sep 2007 The British medical journal The Lancet published a study this week that advises people in rich countries to eat less red meat in order to help mitigate climate change and boost their health. Far from advocating citizens of the world entirely eschew meat, the study advised a climate-friendly cut in red-meat consumption of 10 percent of the world average by 2050; the average is c ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, climate change mitigation, food, news (all these topics) |
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Guest movie review: King Corn
Children of the corn armed with movie cameras |
Tom Philpott |
13 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| This is a guest post by Nicole de Beaufort, a long-time advocate for local, sustainable, and accessible food systems. She is principal of Fourth Sector Consulting in North Oaks, Minn., which employs strategic communications to work with food system advocates and funders to mobilize the growing food movement. The film King Corn is set to open in theaters nationwide starting Oct. 12 in New York. ----- In 1977, Stephen King published a short story in Penthouse about some ... |
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| Topics: ag policy, agriculture, food, Iowa, movies (all these topics) |
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Is eating local the best choice?
Strengthening community is an important benefit of eating locally |
David Morris |
12 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| The following is a guest essay originally posted at AlterNet by David Morris, vice president of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Some 30 years ago NASA came up with another big idea: assemble vast solar electric arrays in space and beam the energy to earth. The environmental community did not dismiss NASA's vision out of hand. After all, the sun shines 24 hours a day in space. A solar cell on earth harnesses only about four hours equivalent of full sunshin ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, food, local food, placemaking (all these topics) |
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'OECD warns against biofuels subsidies'
Biofuels subsidies will only lead to increased food costs and habitat destruction |
Jason D Scorse |
11 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| This, courtesy of the Financial Times, is a welcome development. Hopefully, the Doha Round of the GATT will get restarted, and this can be addressed in addition to the more general discussion of agricultural subsidies. |
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| Topics: ag subsidies, agriculture, biofuels, energy, food, habitat loss (all these topics) |
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Post-Labor Day link dump, the second
Exploring the tubes so you don't have to |
David Roberts |
04 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Mo' links! Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland Ohio recently passed a renewable portfolio standard that falls prey to the worst pitfalls of that particular policy mechanism: Gov. Ted Strickland wants to require that 25 percent of the electricity sold in Ohio by 2025 come from alternative energies, such as fuel cells, solar panels, windmills, nuclear and hydroplants. Half of that would have to come from renewable energy while the other half would come from n ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, climate, energy, placemaking, politics (all these topics) |
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Edible media: Local yokel
'Extreme localism' in the New Yorker |
Tom Philpott |
03 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Edible Media takes an occasional look at interesting or deplorable food journalism. Whatever else it has accomplished, the local-food movement has certainly conquered the appetites of New York's influential food-media editors. Following the lead of Gourmet, glossy mags like Food & Wine and Bon Appetit now offer regular paeans to place-based eating. The New York Times Wednesday food section sometimes seems like the house organ of the city's burgeoning eat-l ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, food, local food (all these topics) |
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