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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Old MacDonald had a farm bill The good, bad, and ugly in our national five-year agricultural plan	Guest author	04 Jun 2008	Gristmill
This is a guest post from Debra Eschmeyer, marketing and media manager of the National Farm to School Network and the Center for Food & Justice. She works from a fifth-generation family farm in Ohio, where she continues her passion for organic farming by raising heirloom fruits, vegetables, and chickens. ----- We've all noticed higher grocery bills, but did you know Congress passed a $307 billion farm bill in late May that has a much bigger impact on what you ...
Topics: ag policy, agriculture, Department of Agriculture, food, GMOs, sustainable ag (all these topics)

Oysters Like It Moister Despite efforts, Chesapeake Bay oysters still struggling		02 Jun 2008	News
Posted at 1:04 PM on 02 Jun 2008 State and federal officials have spent $58 million since 1994 trying to make Chesapeake Bay a welcoming place for oysters -- and it all seems to have been for naught. There are less bivalves in the bay now than there were in the mid-'90s, and the Maryland and Virginia oyster industries have declined in turn. Officials say they're up against numerous factors, including disease that w ...
Topics: aquaculture, food, Maryland, news, Virginia (all these topics)

Vertical farms and future cities Sustainability a big theme at the World Science Festival	Maywa Montenegro	02 Jun 2008	Gristmill
What do vertical farms, green roofs, soft cars, breathing walls, and Dongtan, China, have in common? They were all subjects of discussion at Friday's Future Cities event in New York City, part of the four-day 2008 World Science Festival. To a packed house, Columbia University microbiologist Dickson Despommier described his vision for feeding the planet's burgeoning, and increasingly urban, population. The vertical farm takes agriculture and stacks it into the tie ...
Topics: food, innovation, local food, placemaking, tech, urban planning (all these topics)

Bean there, done khat Tales from a trek to Ethiopia with a Seattle coffee roaster	Michael Hebberoy	01 Jun 2008	Gristmill
I have spent the past year traveling the globe with Seattle coffee roaster Caffé Vita in their search for coffee, and I have the more enviable and slippery task of seeking out stories. Many Grist readers know that coffee is the second most heavily traded commodity on the planet, but unlike the elephant in the pole position (oil), we hear very little about the realities of the cherry-red fruit on which we are also dependent. As long as Grist lets me, I will throw ...
Topics: agriculture, Ethiopia, food, water crisis (all these topics)

Farm Hands Down To create a truly sustainable food system, we'll have to confront the farm-labor crisis	Tom Philpott	30 May 2008	Victual Reality
When I think about what a truly healthy, vibrant food system would look like, I envision more farms: small farms serving specific communities, and diversified, midsized farms geared to supplying their surrounding regions. Many hands make site work. Of course, there would still be interstate and global trade -- you can't grow olives or coffee in Iowa, or enough wheat ...
Topics: agriculture, food, sustainable ag, Victual Reality (all these topics)

One hundred percent whole-wheat troubles WSJ: 'Fungus strain menaces global wheat crop'	Tom Philpott	30 May 2008	Gristmill
I hate to sound like a broken record, but remember in the winter, when a fertilizer magnate warned that the world faced the threat of famine if any major crop didn't do well? The magnate was William Doyle, CEO of a company that has aptly been dubbed the 'Saudi Arabia of Fertilizer,' Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan. Here's what he said: If you had any major upset where you didn't have a crop in a major growing agricultural region this year, I believe you'd see famine. .. ...
Topics: ag policy, agriculture, Big Ag, food, industrial ag, severe weather (all these topics)

Grass-fed milk: better for you So says U.K. study	Tom Philpott	30 May 2008	Gristmill
Another study has confirmed that organic milk, from cows that feed on pasture, delivers significantly more nutrition than feedlot milk. The U.K. Independent reports that grass-fed cows offer '60 per cent higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA9), which has been linked to a reduced risk of cancer.' Omega-3 fatty acids (39 percent higher) and vitamin E (33 percent higher) are also more abundant in milk from grass-fed cows. Unlike in the U.S., U.K. organic standards ...
Topics: agriculture, Department of Agriculture, food, health, organic food (all these topics)

Farming with smarts and humor An NC farmer makes the radio	Tom Philpott	30 May 2008	Gristmill
One of my favorite things about small-scale farming has been meeting other small-scale farmers. In short, you've got to be a bit of a character to decide to spend your days playing in the dirt while also trying to squeeze a living out of it. Gallows humor is a typical characteristic, as is a certain joie de vivre, at least when the the stress level isn't too high. One of the ...
Topics: agriculture, food, North Carolina, sustainable ag (all these topics)

Together at the Table Toward a civil, inclusive national conversation on food -- over a savory tart	Kurt Michael Friese	29 May 2008	Chef's Diary
As the date for Slow Food Nation -- the big sustainable-food conference scheduled in San Francisco this coming August -- draws near, I've been thinking about attitudes toward food in the erstwhile Fast Food Nation. Like a big pot of water that's been on high heat seemingly forever, our national conversation on food seems to be reaching a boil at long last. Slow F ...
Topics: Chef's Diary, food, green living, recipes (all these topics)

The Future's Coming Fast U.N. report forecasts continued high food prices for the next decade		29 May 2008	News
Posted at 1:12 PM on 29 May 2008 Food prices worldwide are likely to remain relatively high for at least the next decade, according to an analysis by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Biofuel demand, high energy costs, and commodity speculation will continue to keep food prices high in the long term, despite periodic dips in price. Climate change is also expected to increase food pr ...
Topics: agriculture, business, food, news, United Nations (all these topics)

Link dump	Gar Lipow	29 May 2008	Gristmill
Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen has an article in The NYT, 'The Rich Get Hungrier,' which is a good short summary of various causes of higher food prices and increased world hunger, and why they are related even though not the same thing. An article on carbon traders and carbon lobbying further illustrates the point I've made before, that instituting GHG trading is a way of growing a whole new carbon lobby to join with the existing fossil fuel one. Last ...
Topics: carbon offsets, carbon trading, climate, food (all these topics)

Michigan WIC whacks organic Evidently, women, infants, and children in need don't deserve organic	Tom Philpott	28 May 2008	Gristmill
The Women, Infants, and Children program provides food aid to 'low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk,' according to the USDA website. The federal government funds the program through grants to states, which then decide how to allocate the cash. Evidently, in Michigan -- a state undergoing severe economic strain -- some bureaucrats have bought into ...
Topics: environmental justice, food, green living, health, Michigan, organic food, parenting, shopping (all these topics)

Coffee, Mate McDonald's Australia will sell certified-sustainable coffee		27 May 2008	News
Posted at 5:16 PM on 27 May 2008 Starting next year, all coffee sold at McDonald's in Australia will be certified sustainable by the Rainforest Alliance. The country's 484 so-called McCafés make 5,000 cups of joe per hour; Mickey D's pockets 20 percent of the more than $1 billion that Aussies spend on away-from-home coffee. The Rainforest Alliance certifies coffee farms that reduce pesticide use and treat farmers decently. ...
Topics: agriculture, Australia, business, food, news, sustainable ag (all these topics)

Confirmed it through the grapevine Brangelina drink to life on an organic vineyard	Sarah van Schagen	27 May 2008	Gristmill
Back in August, we hinted at the possibility that Brad and Ange were looking to sample some eco-friendly wineries. But now we've heard official word (through the grapevine) that they've chosen a lovely organic variety in the south of France. The Jolie-Pitts have purchased Château Miraval, a 1,000-acre property featuring two swimming pools, two gyms, 20 fountains, a lake, a moat, and a lush organic vineyard. The $60 million estate also includes 35 bedrooms -- ...
Topics: celebrity, food, France, gossip, green living, organic food (all these topics)

The new normal When will the American public get snobby already?	David Roberts	27 May 2008	Gristmill
Sigh. The long weekend is over and it's time to work again. I don't really feel like it, though, so let me tell you a story. For reasons too boring to get into, yesterday I ended up in a grocery store -- a QFC, part of Kroger's empire -- for a few things. I haven't been to what I'd guess you call an 'ordinary' grocery store for quite a while. It started when I couldn't find organic grapes. Then no organic green beans. Then I tried to find some shampoo for my kids an ...
Topics: food, green products, health, organic food, shopping (all these topics)

The best thing I've had all month	David Roberts	25 May 2008	Gristmill
Odwalla strawberry lemonade. Mmm ...
Topics: food, shopping (all these topics)

Downer and out? The USDA's new ban won't keep sick cows out of the food supply	Tom Philpott	23 May 2008	Gristmill
Months after the downer-cow scandal of last winter, USDA chief Ed Schafer announced plans to ban all downer cows from the food supply. The rule involves cows that get sick after an initial inspection by veterinarians before slaughter. Under old rules, such cows could be reinspected by vets and then cleared for slaughter if the vet decided they posed no threat. In the press release announcing the proposed new rules, Shafer had this to say: Last year, of the nea ...
Topics: ag policy, agriculture, Department of Agriculture, food, health, industrial ag (all these topics)

Certified organic, fair-trade free riders If you support the standards but not the certifiers, then what?	JMG	22 May 2008	Gristmill
At my local Saturday farmers market, I stopped to buy some coffee at the local roaster's booth. I was eying the wares when I noticed that the spendy bags of coffee ($9 for 12 oz.) labeled 'Fair Trade' didn't have the any independent certification of that fact. I asked the guy behind the booth, and he said, 'Well, it is fair trade coffee, and the owners pay the fair trade price, but they don't want to pay for the label mark because it just pays people here in the U.S. -- ...
Topics: agriculture, farmers markets, food, green living, organic food, shopping (all these topics)

Fishing for Answers Lessons from a sustainable-food conference at the Monterey Bay Aquarium	Roz Cummins	22 May 2008	'Tis the Season
Information you can eat. Photo: Monterey Bay Aquarium/Randy Wilder A couple of months ago, I wrote about how the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California comes up with its wallet-sized cards -- the ones that tell us what seafood choices are sustainable. I got so interested in the topic that when I got an invitation to attend the aquarium's annual Cooking for Solutions conference, ...
Topics: food, green living, oceans, recipes, Tis the Season (all these topics)

The Onion on GM tomatoes	Tom Philpott	22 May 2008	Gristmill
From The Onion: PASADENA, CA--Geneticists at the California Institute of Technology announced Monday that they have developed a tomato with a 31 percent larger price tag than a typical specimen of the vine-ripened fruit. 'By utilizing an exciting new breakthrough in gene-splicing technology, we've been able to manipulate this new tomato with recombinant DNA in such a manner as to make it nearly as pricey as a similarly sized tangelo,' said Dr. Lee Nolan, who headed u ...
Topics: agriculture, food, funnies, GMOs (all these topics)

Da yoots take over Maverick Farms A new generation pilots the farm's operations as it transitions to training others	Tom Philpott	21 May 2008	Gristmill
Some Grist readers may have noticed that I've been writing on the blog nearly every day, while keeping up the Victual Reality column. How can I do all of that and farm, too? The truth is, I went full-time at Grist last November, when I took on the position of food editor. And to maintain my sanity, I've moved into a much less active role on Maverick Farms. We're in the process of turning Maverick into a farm incubator -- a program designed to train our area's next gene ...
Topics: agriculture, CSAs, food (all these topics)

Fertile for problems South America's industrial-ag powerhouse eyes rainforest potash deposits	Tom Philpott	21 May 2008	Gristmill
I've been writing for a while about industrial agriculture's fertilizer problem -- about how mass-scale food (and biofuel) production relies on finite, geopolitically problematic, and environmentally destructive resources to maintain soil fertility. (See posts here, here, and here.) Well, that story is heating up down in Brazil, an increasingly important hub in the global industrial food system. Brazil ranks as the world's second-largest soy producer (soon to overtak ...
Topics: agriculture, biofuels, Brazil, food, industrial ag (all these topics)

No farmers? No food Much depends on finding a new generation to put dinner on the table	Zoe Bradbury	20 May 2008	Gristmill
Every time I come in from my farm fields and tune into the news these days, the headline is about food: food prices, food scares, food shortages, food riots. Food has America's attention these days, but folks are overlooking a critical piece of the brewing crisis: a national shortage of farmers. We farmers make up a mere 1.6 percent of the U.S. population right now. Picture an inverted pyramid balanced precariously on its nose: that's our national food supply, with ...
Topics: agriculture, food, ag policy (all these topics)

Not-so-organic salmon USDA considers first-ever organic standards for farmed fish	Andrew Sharpless	20 May 2008	Gristmill
You may have seen 'organic salmon' on the menu in your favorite seafood restaurant or counter. Guess what? It's not organic, according to the USDA. It turns out that some fishmongers have been promoting their fish as organic with definitions of their own. This week, a USDA advisory panel will consider a key element of the country's first-ever standards for 'organic' farmed fish, including salmon. The surprising news is that this standard -- if adopted -- could ...
Topics: aquaculture, Department of Agriculture, food, oceans, organic food, salmon (all these topics)

Mark Bittman What's wrong with what we eat	David Roberts	20 May 2008	Gristmill
Powerful stuff.
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, food, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

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