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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
GMO: genetically modified organics?
Farmers and processors organize against genetic contamination |
Tom Philpott |
13 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Here in the United States, upwards of 70 percent of corn and 90 percent of soy are genetically modified. Given that corn and soy end up in just about everything -- livestock rations (and thus meat, milk, and eggs), nearly all processed foods, and even our gas tanks, avoiding genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is tricky. One way is to shun all processed food and animal products, and simply eat fruit, non-soy veggies, and non-corn grains. (I assume U.S. fruits and v ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, food, GMOs, organic food (all these topics) |
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Got chemical and pesticide residues in your milk?
Conventional milk contains toxics, says the USDA |
Tom Philpott |
13 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The Organic Center acts as a kind of shadow USDA, digesting the latest peer-reviewed research on organic food, translating it into English, and issuing summary reports. Consumers won't want to miss the center's newest one on pesticide residues [PDF]. It contains one of those handy guides on which conventional fruits and veggies convey the most toxic traces to eaters (here's a handy two-pager [PDF] for the fridge), as well as a blunt and important discussion of the pl ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, food, health, organic food, toxics (all these topics) |
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Organic milk: survival of the biggest?
Thoughts on the NODPA/Stonyfield debate over organic dairy |
Tom Philpott |
12 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| About four years ago, I attended a workshop by Jonathan White, the maverick New York State cheese maker/baker/dairy farmer of Bobolink Dairy. Photo: iStockphoto Like a Southern Baptist preacher thundering from the pulpit -- only with a Northeastern accent and lots of good humor -- White had a message to deliver. He exhorted conventional dairy farmers to sell half of their herds, invest the proceeds in cheese-making equipment, and turn their remaining cows ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, business, economy, food, organic food (all these topics) |
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Conditions sour for organic dairy farms
Dairy producers' alliance responds to Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm |
Guest author |
10 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following guest essay is the latest installment in a debate between Ed Maltby, executive director of the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, and Gary Hirshberg, CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm. Maltby opened the debate with this post; Hirshberg responded here; Maltby's response follows below. We are airing the debate at length because we think our readers should know that our organic dairy farmers have reached a crisis point -- squeezed by production costs that are ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, business, economy, food, organic food (all these topics) |
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U. of North Carolina students say no to Smithfield pork
Pushing for 'fair food' on campus in the land of hog factories |
Tom Philpott |
08 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Last year, a bunch of students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill got tired of the industrial dreck served up in the cafeteria. They discovered that the landscape around them was producing some amazing, chemical-free meat and produce and set about figuring out how to get some in school dining halls. Photo: iStockphoto Led by seniors Sally Lee and David Hamilton, they declared themselves FLO Food (FLO = fair, local, organic), and began negot ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, campus activism, education, food, industrial ag, local food, North Carolina, organic food, sustainable ag (all these topics) |
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Stonyfield Farm responds
Gary Hirshberg argues that his company is doing a lot to support organic dairy farmers |
Guest author |
07 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following is a guest post from Stonyfield Farm President and CE-Yo Gary Hirshberg, written in response to a post by Ed Maltby, executive director of the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance. ----- Gary Hirshberg Londonderry, N.H.: These are difficult times for the organic dairy industry, and as we have demonstrated consistently for over a decade, we are deeply engaged in the effort to find solutions that balance escalating supply costs wi ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, business, food, organic food (all these topics) |
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How now, organic cow?
As energy, healthcare, and feed costs skyrocket, organic dairy farmers get squeezed |
Guest author |
07 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following is a guest post by Ed Maltby, executive director of the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance. ----- Deerfield, Mass.: What is more important to Stonyfield Farm and HP Hood, market share or the health and welfare of their organic family farmers? Photo: iStockphoto If you ask 24-year-old Mark Ouellette Jr., who supplies organic milk to HP Hood that is sold under the Stonyfield label, his answer is very clear: market share. 'I'm losi ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, business, economy, food, organic food (all these topics) |
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The Bees' Needs
On organic honey |
Umbra Fisk |
05 Mar 2008 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I was looking for a nice, local, organic honey to use in reworking some recipes so that they didn't use sugar. So I headed to Whole Foods, and was stuck looking at a honey in a plastic container labeled organic from Brazil, and a local product in a glass container but not labeled organic. And I started wondering -- what makes honey organic? I mean, bees fly. How do you know what plants they ate or pollinated unless you've cag ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, food, green living, organic food, shopping (all these topics) |
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The Ripe Stuff
On organic bananas |
Umbra Fisk |
27 Feb 2008 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, Why are organic bananas always smaller and almost always greener than non-organic? BG Tallahassee, Fla. Dearest BG, Hmm. Fresh organic fruits and vegetables often differ in appearance from their conventionally grown kin. They're the hippies of the produce world: unwaxed, expressing their individualism, coming to the produce stand as they are, lumps and all. Although I notice this has changed some over the past couple decade ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, food, green living, organic food, shopping (all these topics) |
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I know why the caged hen squawks
U.K. government says organic, free-range eggs have 'significantly' less salmonella |
Tom Philpott |
21 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The case for sustainably grown food as a healthier and safer alternative to industrial dreck is gaining force.Here's the latest, from Natural Choices UK:A recent [U.K.] government survey shows that organic laying hen farms have a significantly lower level of Salmonella. Salmonella is a bacterium that causes one of the commonest forms of food poisoning worldwide. The study showed that 23.4 per cent of farms with caged hens tested positive for salmonella compared to 4.4 p ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, food, health, organic food, United Kingdom (all these topics) |
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Monsanto U.
Public-university researchers get cash for studying GMOs -- and the shaft for studying organic ag |
Guest author |
20 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following is a guest essay by Nancy Scola, a Brooklyn-based writer. Her essay, which first appeared on Alternet, is a lucid, detailed look at what has become of public-university agriculture research in an age of budget austerity. ----- I've startled a bug scientist. 'Yeah, now I'm nervous,' said Mike Hoffmann, a Cornell University entomologist and crop specialist who spends his days with cucumber beetles and small wasps. But he's also in charge of keeping the ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, education, food, GMOs, industrial ag, organic food, scientific research (all these topics) |
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Hot Chocolates
A review of six eco-chocolate brands, for your Valentine's pleasure |
Tom Philpott |
12 Feb 2008 |
The Bottom Line |
| The connection between chocolate and Eros runs deep. How do I love thee? Let me taste the ways. Photo: iStockphoto In southern Mexico -- where chocolate cultivation probably originated -- the treat figured among the wedding rituals of the ancient Maya. By the time it became popular in Europe in the 18th century, a Venetian named Casanova was crediting chocolate with boosting his romanti ... |
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| Topics: advice, agriculture, food, green living, organic food, shopping, The Bottom Line (all these topics) |
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Call it
The quest for the Perfect Late-Evening Repast is over; I win |
David Roberts |
02 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| You only have so many peak experiences in one lifetime, so it seems worth sharing the good news that I have found the perfect late evening repast. As with all the best snacks, this one begins at Trader Joe's. In the North Seattle branch, they are featuring, and I quote, "dark chocolate almonds, made with Belgian chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt and turbinado sugar." OMFG. I've been eating these things like crack-coated Scooby Snacks for weeks now. I j ... |
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| Topics: organic food, food (all these topics) |
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Now Eat Your Organic Brussels Sprouts
Organic produce reduces kids' exposure to pesticides, says study |
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01 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 2:58 PM on 01 Feb 2008 Pesticide-free produce leads to pesticide-free kids, says a new study published in Environmental Health Perspectives. Young research subjects who ate conventional produce were found to have organophosphate residue in their bodily fluids, while kids who ate organic produce did not. Will wonders never cease. source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer see also, in Gristm ... |
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| Topics: food, news, organic food, parenting, scientific research, toxics (all these topics) |
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Pesticide-free produce, pesticide-free kids
Organic food reduces organophosphate exposure in children |
Clark Williams-Derry |
31 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| By now, I think most people understand that organic food is supposed to be healthier for you. But I think there are still some people who feel that the health benefits are a just a bunch of marketing hype. Well, this new study suggests that it ain't just hype -- organic produce really does reduce kids' exposure to some potentially risky pesticides. From the Seattle P-I: The peer-reviewed study found that the urine and saliva of children eating a variety o ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, food, health, organic food, toxics (all these topics) |
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Eco-Farm: Eric Schlosser on Florida pickers and fair wages
Fast Food Nation author regales organic-farmer audience |
Tom Philpott |
25 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Note: For the next few days I'll be reporting from Eco-Farm, the annual conference held by the Ecological Farming Association of California. At Eco-Farm, some 1,400-1,500 organic farmers, Big Organic marketers, and sundry sustainable-ag enthusiasts pack into a rustic, beautiful seaside conference hall an hour-and-a-half south of San Francisco to talk farming amid the dunes.The ever-excellent investigative writer Eric Schlosser kicked off Eco-Farm with a hard-hitting key ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, food, industrial ag, organic food (all these topics) |
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Venti Your Frustration
Starbucks will no longer offer organic milk |
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15 Jan 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:11 PM on 15 Jan 2008 Photo: gisarah Starbucks will cease offering organic milk to its coffee-quaffing customers at the end of February. The company has offered organic cow juice since 2001 at an extra charge, but "orders of drinks made with organic milk have consistently been a small percentage of total orders," according to a spokesperson. The chain has stopped using milk from cows shot up with artificial ... |
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| Topics: business, food, green living, news, organic food (all these topics) |
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Countdown to the 2008 Farm Bill: Part III
Organic production and research |
Aimee Witteman |
15 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is the third in a series of five farm bill fact sheets from the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. For more information on the status of all sustainable agriculture provisions in the Senate and House versions of the farm bill, please visit SAC's farm bill legislative tracking center. Despite the fact that organic agriculture is one of the fastest growing sectors of American agriculture, the U.S. is currently experiencing a domestic shortfall of organically pro ... |
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| Topics: ag policy, agriculture, food, legislation, organic food, politics (all these topics) |
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What a Serve!
House of Representatives' food service goes sustainable |
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17 Dec 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 10:23 AM on 17 Dec 2007 Cafeterias in the House of Representatives are getting a makeover today: out with the high-fructose corn syrup, in with the free-roaming hens. (Well, there won't actually be hens roaming in the cafeterias -- you get what we mean.) Under Speaker Nancy Pelosi's ambitious Greening the Capitol initiative, the privately owned House food service -- which provides more than 2.5 million meals a year - ... |
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| Topics: food, local food, Nancy Pelosi, news, organic food, politics, US House of Representatives (all these topics) |
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How will we feed ourselves?
What a fossil-fuel free agriculture might look like |
Jon Rynn |
06 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| At some point in the future, humanity will have to produce its food without the help of fossil fuels and without destroying the soil. In a well-researched and succinct new essay, 'What will we eat as the oil runs out?', Richard Heinberg analyzes the main problems with the global agricultural system, and proposes a solution: a global organic food system. Heinberg lays out four major dilemmas of the current system: The direct impacts on agriculture of higher oil pric ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, energy, food, fossil fuels, local food, organic food (all these topics) |
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Organic bourbon
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David Roberts |
30 Nov 2007 |
Gristmill |
| The New York Times says that bourbon is having its day in the sun, with small-batch, high-end distillers popping up all over the place. They're shooting for the young connoisseur crowd, the same folks buying specialty cheeses, specialty breads, specialty coffee, specialty chocolates, etc. You know what would really attract that hip young crowd? An organic bourbon! You know what would be a great way to market that bourbon? Send a sample bottle to a green-minded, Tenn ... |
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| Topics: food, organic food (all these topics) |
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Gobble Head
Have an organic, free-range, local Thanksgiving |
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21 Nov 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 11:29 AM on 21 Nov 2007 If you've waited 'til the last minute to buy ingredients for your Thanksgiving feast, allow us to suggest that you seek out turkeys of the organic, grass-fed, free-range, local, and/or heritage variety. Because no one's thankful for pesticides in their gristle (or for butylated hydroxytoluene, for that matter). Apples, celery, and potatoes are all high on the best-to-gobble-organic list. And don't forge ... |
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| Topics: food, holiday, news, organic food (all these topics) |
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What Price Thanksgiving?
In which we attempt to calculate how much an organic feast would cost |
Roz Cummins |
16 Nov 2007 |
Grist Feature |
| There's something about Thanksgiving that seems to prompt people to think about where their food comes from. Maybe it's all the cornucopias and sheaves of wheat depicted in supermarket circulars, or maybe it's the focus on the harvest. Visions of farmers bringing in the crops may lead people to think about how food gets to their table, and whether it would make sense, or even ... |
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| Topics: food, green living, holiday, organic food, shopping (all these topics) |
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Can industrial agriculture feed the world?
Another study shows organic ag outpacing conventional |
Tom Philpott |
14 Nov 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Apologists for industrial food production often level what they see as a devastating charge against organic agriculture: that it could never "feed the world." The claim goes like this: industrial ag produces higher yields, and as global population grows, we're going to have to squeeze as much food as possible out of the earth, by any means necessary, to produce enough sustenance. Not so long ago Norman Borlaug, that aging lion of industrial ag, growled: ... |
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| Topics: food, organic food, industrial ag, agriculture (all these topics) |
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Organic whiskey?
My search for organic amber spirits turned up only Scotch |
David Roberts |
12 Nov 2007 |
Gristmill |
| On Grist, we've written about organic beer, organic wine, and organic vodka. But what about those of us whose heritage has left them with a deep and abiding love of the amber spirits? Are there eco versions of Irish, scotch, and bourbon whiskey available to us green-minded drunkards? I decided to investigate a bit, and by that I mean type words into Google. Strangely, I was able to find several brands of organic scotch, but no organic Irish or bourbon. What's up with ... |
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| Topics: organic food, food (all these topics) |
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