tagged w/ Sustainable food
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FoodCycle is a group dedicated to creating lasting collaborations between small organic farms and public schools. Its self-supported riders will cycle from Maine to California this year, stopping at farms and schools along the way, documenting the emerging farm-to-school movement.FoodCycle is a group dedicated to creating lasting collaborations between small... more
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Understanding of the ‘problem’ of agriculture took a giant step forward in 2007 with publication of the UN IAASTD report. This report, which was as important for agriculture as the IPCC reports have been for the climate, pinpointed a move to ecology-based agriculture as the key to meeting many other fundamental needs such as clean water, safe food and sustainability. What the IAASTD didn’t do, at least directly however, was to focus on politics, especially the obstacles to progress in improving agriculture.
A new report, The Wheel of Life: Food, Climate, Human Rights and the Economy (Sept. 2011), released by the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Foundation, usefully complements this deficit. It does this in part by drawing attention explicitly to some common myths on which support for conventional production-oriented solutions for agriculture are based. Among these myths are that hugely enhanced food production will be required in the future, that biotech (GMO) seeds are needed to solve hunger and mitigate climate change, and that traditional agriculture is wasteful and inefficient.
The Wheel then examines how major current crises—hunger, climate change, and ecological degradation—are deeply interlinked. Despite the evident linkages, however, government and international institutions typically address these issues as if they were disconnected from one another. Thus the IPCC, for example, still has not adequately considered agriculture as a contributor to climate change. The consequence of this disconnect, The Wheel of Life points out, is that many policies do not tackle root causes and therefore negative global trends have tended to intensify.
Confronting global hunger is one example identified in the report. Leaders on each end of the political spectrum uniformly assert that economic growth is needed to address hunger and poverty. Yet economic growth is typically conducted via industrial activities that contribute to climate change, which in turn, negatively impacts the ability to grow food.
Similarly, in addition to their effects on climate change, economic and trade policies can spur growth for a few while undermining the ability of small-scale farmers and rural communities to provide food for local populations. The Wheel of Life suggests these complex interactions help explain why, even though economic growth indicators have risen in many countries over the last decade, hunger rates have increased too, especially within the last several years.
To successfully remedy social injustices, climate change, and agriculture, The Wheel of Life argues that political action is needed that incorporates social and ecological needs. And it notes that while governments dither on climate change and agricultural reform, agribusiness is already positioning its products as the preferred solutions. The strategy proposed by The Wheel of Life is to incorporate civil society input into political and economic discussions. Some countries, such as Germany, already have productive dialogues with civil society, but in the US and Britain, for example, interactions are negligible. To encourage cooperation the report also provides a list of civil society organisations with compatible aims in the areas of climate change, agriculture, environment, human rights, women’s rights, and migration.
The Wheel concludes that lasting solutions to hunger and other major crises of our day must, above all, be guided by fundamentals of ecology.
“Policies and practices must begin with the ecological imperative in order to ensure authentic security and stability on all fronts-food, water, livelihoods and jobs, climate, energy, and economic,” writes report author Debbie Barker, international director at the Center for Food Safety. “In turn this engenders equity, social justice, and diverse cultures.”
---Understanding of the ‘problem’ of agriculture took a giant step forward in... more
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Washington, D.C. (September 19, 2011) The highly anticipated report released today by the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) reveals extensive scientific support for the conclusion that organic farming practices are overwhelmingly beneficial for consumers, farmers, the economy, and the environment. Further, it highlights the urgent need for more research to address an expanding market.
“Our data will provide even more impetus for Congress to advance organic farming initiatives in the upcoming 2012 Farm Bill and beyond,” said Maureen Wilmot, OFRF Executive Director. “To date, only modest public resources have been directed toward funding and support of programs for organic farming. We would like to see that change immediately.”
The Organic Farming for Health and Prosperity report is being presented today at the National Press Club at 9 a.m. The report’s executive summary is available at http://ofrf.org/publications/OrganicFarmingforHealthandProsperity.pdf.
Wilmot, and other top industry authorities on organic farming, point to the Organic Trade Association’s 2011 Industry Survey, which shows significant annual industry growth every year since 1997. Today’s organic food and textile market accounts for $29 billion in sales.
In addition, by 2015, a conservative estimate projects the need for 42,000 organic farmers to meet increasing market demand. Today, the industry is serviced by a mere 14,500 certified organic farmers who struggle with extraordinary production, information, and economic barriers.
With help from lawmakers, Wilmot said she hopes to build momentum for policymaking and programs that will fund further research, ensure fair and appropriate risk management tools, provide coverage for product contamination, and create a robust organic transition assistance program for future organic farmers.
More at the linkWashington, D.C. (September 19, 2011) The highly anticipated report released today by... more
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At the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting this year, Bob Stallman, the group’s president, lashed out at “self-appointed food elitists” who are “hell-bent on misleading consumers.” His target was the growing movement that calls for sustainable farming practices and questions the basic tenets of large-scale industrial agriculture in America.
The “elitist” epithet is a familiar line of attack. In the decade since my book “Fast Food Nation” was published, I’ve been called not only an elitist, but also a socialist, a communist and un-American. In 2009, the documentary “Food, Inc.,” directed by Robby Kenner, was described as “elitist foodie propaganda” by a prominent corporate lobbyist. Nutritionist Marion Nestle has been called a “food fascist,” while an attempt was recently made to cancel a university appearance by Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” who was accused of being an “anti-agricultural” elitist by a wealthy donor.
This name-calling is a form of misdirection, an attempt to evade a serious debate about U.S. agricultural policies. And it gets the elitism charge precisely backward. America’s current system of food production — overly centralized and industrialized, overly controlled by a handful of companies, overly reliant on monocultures, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, chemical additives, genetically modified organisms, factory farms, government subsidies and fossil fuels — is profoundly undemocratic. It is one more sign of how the few now rule the many. And it’s inflicting tremendous harm on American farmers, workers and consumers.
During the past 40 years, our food system has changed more than in the previous 40,000 years. Genetically modified corn and soybeans, cloned animals, McNuggets — none of these technological marvels existed in 1970. The concentrated economic power now prevalent in U.S. agriculture didn’t exist, either. For example, in 1970 the four largest meatpacking companies slaughtered about 21 percent of America’s cattle; today the four largest companies slaughter about 85 percent. The beef industry is more concentrated now than it was in 1906, when Upton Sinclair published “The Jungle” and criticized the unchecked power of the “Beef Trust.” The markets for pork, poultry, grain, farm chemicals and seeds have also become highly concentrated.
America’s ranchers and farmers are suffering from this lack of competition for their goods. In 1970, farmers received about 32 cents for every consumer dollar spent on food; today they get about 16 cents. The average farm household now earns about 87 percent of its income from non-farm sources.
While small farmers and their families have been forced to take second jobs just to stay on their land, wealthy farmers have received substantial help from the federal government. Between 1995 and 2009, about $250 billion in federal subsidies was given directly to American farmers — and about three-quarters of that money was given to the wealthiest 10 percent. Those are the farmers whom the Farm Bureau represents, the ones attacking “big government” and calling the sustainability movement elitist.
cont.At the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting this year, Bob Stallman,... more
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http://www.gardengirltv.com/
It's that time of year. Great tips on urban gardening.http://www.gardengirltv.com/
It's that time of year. Great tips on urban... more
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Women farmers will be welcoming the next rice cropping season in June by putting up a community seed bank exchange a move that will empower women farmers, promote sustainable agriculture and reduce hunger incidence in rural areas.
Members of the National Coalition of Rural Women will set aside some 16 hectares for organic rice production in the province of Nueva Ecija. This is just a tiny plot compared to the thousands of hectares devoted to rice planting in the province known as the Philippine rice granary. But this step is crucial in pushing most marginalized rural women to have a say in food production.
"It's the women who, by tradition, act as seed keepers in the farm. We just want to give back to the women this traditional role, " Daryl Leyesa, the coalition's secretary general, said in an interview with Xinhua.
Leyesa has worked and researched on rural women concerns for the last ten years. Her latest research, commissioned by the Philippine Center for Rural Development Studies, noted that while women spend 11 hours a day for both farming and household work.
"These women in agriculture spend as much as eight to eleven hours a day in productive and reproductive work-i.e. acquiring capital for farming (usually through credit), carrying out planting activities, marketing the primary crop and backyard produce, and providing for their household's daily survival needs, " according to Leyesa's study entitled "Women in Agriculture".
The study further noted that women farmers spend as much as six hours a day for domestic work. This includes preparing farm tools and food for farm laborers, fetching water, gardening, foraging, wood gathering, raising poultry and livestock, and other livelihood activities. Being seed keepers give rural women more control over production and this won't only promote gender equity but food security as well, said Leyesa.
It's the women, after all, who is responsible for putting food in the table for her family, according to Trinidad Domingo, president of the National Coalition of Rural Women.
"I'm not married but I act as the mother to all my nephews and nieces. Like most mothers, I have to make sure that there's enough food for them," she said.
Domingo is worried that the looming global food crisis will hurt rural women more as they are the ones who need to find a way, including scrimping on their own food, just so that their family can eat even during lean times.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecast a spike in food prices this year following a huge reduction in global rice and wheat stocks. Extreme weather condition, combined with rising population, urbanization and increased usage of grains for fuel and feed slashed grains production.
The Manila-based lender estimates a 10 percent rise in domestic food prices in developing Asia, home to 3.3 billion people, could push an additional 64 million people into extreme poverty.
"For poor families in developing Asia, who already spend more than 60 percent of their income on food, higher food prices further reduce their ability to pay for medical care and their children's education," ADB Chief Economist Changyong Rhee said in a statement.
Filipino rural women are among those who will be driven further into poverty. Leyesa recalled that in 2008, at the height of a rice crisis that sent food prices soaring, rural women didn't only scrimp on food and other expenses but also borrowed heavily to feed their family.
But women leaders like Domingo know they can do something to improve their plight.
Putting up a community seed bank is a significant step towards that direction.
Advocates of sustainable agriculture believe in the importance of seed keeping. This is about taking seed production out of the hands of giant corporations, returning to them to the hands of farmers and encouraging them to be more self-reliant and lessen their dependence on commercial seeds.
And with climate change also threatening food production, seed keeping has become more imperative. Farmers who save and breed seeds can develop specific varieties of seeds that are more suited to their specific province and climate.Women farmers will be welcoming the next rice cropping season in June by putting up a... more
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Jon Bon Jovi has received the go-ahead to convert an auto repair shop into a restaurant that would serve people whether they can pay or not.
The singer's foundation is opening Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, N.J. The restaurant will serve healthy foods prepared with local ingredients from New Jersey farms. The difference is that there will be no prices on the menu.
The restaurant will be run on a "pay-what-you-can" basis. The suggested meal donation is $10. If you can afford to pay more, the money will go to help feed someone. If you can't afford to pay, you can volunteer time in the restaurant. In short, no one is turned away from a meal. Diners can also donate money to pay for the meals of others.
Red Bank's planning board on Monday signed off on the plan, which is based on concepts used in Denver and Salt Lake City. The community restaurant could be open as soon as July 4.Jon Bon Jovi has received the go-ahead to convert an auto repair shop into a... more
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On the day of the release of annual industry-sponsored figures, a new report from Friends of the Earth International reveals that the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops across Europe continues to decline – with an increasing number of national bans, and decreasing numbers of hectares dedicated to GMOs [1].
The report, 'Who Benefits from GM Crops?', reveals that less than 0.06% of European fields are planted with GM crops – a decline of 23% since 2008. Seven member states uphold bans on Monsanto's GM maize due to growing evidence of its negative environmental impacts. Three countries have banned BASFs GM potato due to health concerns, immediately after its authorisation in spring 2010, and for the first time five member states have sued the European Commission over the authorisation of a GM crop [2]. Public opposition to GM food and feed has increased to 61% Europe wide [3].
Mute Schimpf, food campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe said: "The widespread opposition to genetically modified crops and foods in Europe continues to rise because consumers and farmers can see that they offer no added value and only additional environmental and health risks.
GM crops will hinder not help our challenge of ensuring we can feed our global population with safe and healthy food."
Globally, the research highlights how even pro-GM Governments in South America have been forced to take steps to mitigate the negative impacts of GMOs on famers, citizens and the environment.
The Brazilian Government has launched a GMO free soy programme to help farmers' access non-GMO soy seeds. In Argentina new research has exposed how the herbicide Glyphosate, used on the majority of GMOs grown worldwide, could have severe negative impacts on human health [4]. This has led to bans on spraying of the herbicide near people's homes. In Uruguay, local areas are declaring themselves GM-free.
Martin Drago, food sovereignty coordinator for Friends of the Earth International said: “Farmers and citizens in South America are bearing the burden of ten years of GM crops with widespread health disasters and rising costs. The myths on which the biotech industry is built are crumbling.
The havoc wreaked across South America shows that this technology is not fit for purpose. It is a wake up call for the rest of the world to move towards more ecological methods of farming.”
'Who Benefits from GM crops? An industry built on myths' also finds that:
- A new generation of GM crops designed to promote the use of hazardous pesticides Dicamba and 2,4 D are set for release in the US. Biotech companies are promoting these as a solution to the failure of existing GM crops to control weeds and reduce pesticide use.
- Biotech companies, aided by the US Government are now looking to new markets in Africa in an attempt to rescue their business. The Gates foundation, which funds billions of dollars worth of agriculture projects in Africa has bought shares in Monsanto, giving it a direct interest in maximising the profits of GM companies rather than protecting the interests of small holders in Africa.
NOTES:
[1] http://www.foeeurope.org/GMOs/download/who-benefits-from-gm-crops-2011.pdf
[2] http://www.foeeurope.org/GMOs/download/FoEE_Who_benefits_fact_sheet.pdfOn the day of the release of annual industry-sponsored figures, a new report from... more
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When Michelle Obama first announced her Let's Move program to end childhood obesity "within a generation" last year, I tried to remain open-minded. Like many others, I was happy to have the first lady bring attention to this important problem. And there's no doubt that her leadership has helped, for example, to get Congress to make improvements to school meals. But I remained concerned that the White House was reluctant to take on the food industry in any meaningful way. It seems that things are worse than I thought.
Last week, Walmart executives announced what Michelle Obama hailed as a new "nutrition charter," a number of promises to sell healthier food. While the media reported the news with much fanfare -- serving up the positive spin that Walmart hoped the first lady would help provide -- there was little critique to be found.
I am less interested in the specifics of the proposal than I am in the fact that the White House endorsed it. This secretly brokered deal raises numerous troubling questions about the respective roles of industry and government as it relates to setting food and nutrition policy for the nation. For starters:
1) What was the first lady's staff doing in secret talks with Walmart for over a year? How did such an approach even get started? Here's an alternative scenario: Congress holds hearings (you know, in public) on how the entire food industry should be changing its ways with enforceable, meaningful laws that apply to everyone, not just Walmart.
2) Why not wait until Walmart has actually accomplished something to give them credit? Any company can promise something. And we have plenty of examples of other food companies making promises that weren't kept. (Shameless plug: My book is chock-full of them; can someone please send a copy to Mrs. Obama? No really, please.)
Does anyone remember how McDonald's promised to stop using trans fats, but oops, didn't? Or how about the time Ruby Tuesday's promised to list nutrition facts on its menus until they decided that wasn't working out so well. And then there's the soda industry, which has made so many broken promises, it's hard to keep up. The biggest one was in 2006 when Bill Clinton announced a deal (also secretly brokered) in which soda companies promised to change the beverages they sold in schools. While industry claims mission accomplished, recent research suggests otherwise. But all that was before Michelle Obama's time, I guess.
3) What has the White House traded in exchange for Walmart's pledges? In most negotiations, each party gives up something to gain something. While the White House may not admit it, Walmart does reap valuable rewards besides just good PR. As I also describe in my book, the goal here is for companies to avoid actual government regulation by claiming that voluntary self-regulation is the way to go. This is obviously what Walmart intends with its pledge to develop "strong criteria for a simple front-of-package" label despite the fact that the Food and Drug Administration has announced its intention to address this issue. But who needs scientific government agencies telling food companies what belongs on food packages when the first lady has that covered in her secret meetings?
4) Why would the White House endorse a plan with a five-year timetable? How will it be monitored? And how will Walmart be held accountable? Is there some sort of contract between and White House and Walmart? If these were legal negotiations, both parties would sign a legally binding written agreement. So what happens in five years? Will Walmart host another press conference with the first lady to announce how well they did with their list of promises? Don't count on it. If history is any guide, no one will even remember Thursday's PR stunt. Sure, it's possible that some progress will be made by 2016, fewer salt grams here, a little less sugar there. But that will hardly make a dent in the public health crisis that faces our nation.
cont.When Michelle Obama first announced her Let's Move program to end childhood... more
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'The measure of a society can be how well its people treat its animals"
Mohandas Gandhi
A shameful legacy for this country. CAFOS are more than just a representation of the globalization that is destroying our environment. They are a reflection of our collective moral compass. We need to end this. This book is on my list and I hope you place it on yours to discover the ways we can stop this abuse, this environmental destruction, this insanity. A sustainable food system that respects life and the ecosystems of our planet is a system that reflects the true values of a civilized society.'The measure of a society can be how well its people treat its animals"... more
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Sustainable seafood purchases have surged in the UK after being encouraged by a new Channel 4 Fish Fight campaign. According to leading UK supermarkets, people have started preferring species such as coley, dab, mussels, squid and sardines over salmon, cod and tunaSustainable seafood purchases have surged in the UK after being encouraged by a new... more
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In this edition of Building the Green Economy, we look at the challenges facing our agriculture industry and highlight the opportunities and innovation occurring at the local level to build a more sustainable food system.In this edition of Building the Green Economy, we look at the challenges facing our... more
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We're excited to announce that the 2011 Sustainable Foods Summit will be held this January 18th and 19th at the Ritz Carlton San Francisco. OrganicNation.tv is a proud media sponsor of the Summit and we plan to bring you the best moments via our filming, photography and live-tweeting of the events.
The Sustainable Foods Summit focuses on the leading issues the food industry faces and aims to explore new horizons in sustainability for eco-labels. Issues to be addressed include: How do organic, fair trade and other eco-labels contribute to sustainability? What role should they play in a food industry that is increasingly looking at the triple bottom line? Do they address the sustainability needs of consumers and food companies?
This special North American Summit will hone in on some of the major eco-labeling issues in the food industry, including offsetting carbon emissions, water footprints, buying local and biodiversity. For example, one session will be devoted to ethical sourcing and sustainable ingredients, assessing the ecological and social impacts of raw materials in the food industry. Another session called "The Organic Plus" will provide case studies of organic food companies who are going beyond organic agricultural practices and pioneering sustainability initiatives.
Like previous events organized by Organic Monitor, the Summit will bring together key stake-holders in the food industry and debate these major issues in a high-level forum. We hope to see you there.
Twitter users: We will be using the hashtag #SFS2011 when tweeting about the Summit.
For more info visit: http://www.sustainablefoodssummit.com/We're excited to announce that the 2011 Sustainable Foods Summit will be held... more
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The choice of healthy food and to grow food as you see fit is a human right. Access to food is a human right. I am a firm believer in food sovereignty and the right to farm sustainably and am appalled to see how it is slipping away in America, a land that claims to be about freedom. FOOD RAIDS? When we have bankers and government agencies robbing us blind daily in collusion with companies like Monsanto that toxify this planet with disease and death going scott free?
As you celebrate your Thanksgiving this year in whatever way you do, not only be thankful for your food, but aware that the freedom to grow, process, distribute, and eat what you want is being sacrificed to industrial agriculture and factory farms in collusion with food chains looking to make big money from eroding the very principles that made this country what it once was.
Farmageddon is hopefully going to be released next year. It is a 90 minute documentary on the dwindling food sovereignty we see in America and the extreme measures being implemented to attack farmers who are growing healthy food. All I can say about this is: What the hell happened to our country?The choice of healthy food and to grow food as you see fit is a human right. Access to... more
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by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger
Last week, environmentalists and food advocates warily welcomed the news that Walmart plans to expand its local, sustainable food program. The company announced it would double its sales of locally grown food by 2015 and, in new markets, would source from small and midsized producers. Given Walmart’s market share, this announcement is generally understood to be a positive development for the sustainable food movement.
Sustainable food, however, has grown beyond the dictum to eat simply locally and organically grown food. Farms have sprung up on rooftops, home canning of fruits and vegetables has taken off, and composting is de rigueur. A common thread runs through this movement, one with a long tradition in American life—a preference for self-reliance.
“Independence is for Neanderthals”
In her new book, The Resilient Gardener, Chelsea Green author Carol Deppe writes about her garden not just as a local, sustainable source of food, but as a tool for building a sustainable community.
“The resilient gardener knows we have our ups and downs, as individuals, families, societies, and as a species,” she says. “The resilient garden is designed and managed so that when things go wrong, they have less impact.”
Deppe argues that growing staple crops like potatoes, corn, beans, and squash, and learning how to store vegetables and save seeds will help communities thrive, even in times of erratic climates.
“I aim for appropriate self-reliance, not for independence,” she says. “Independence is for Neanderthals.”
Communal eating
Yes! Magazine’s Vicki Robin has been feeding herself only with produce from a friend’s farm and a handful of other necessities sourced within a 10-mile radius of her home—which is on an island in Washington State. She’s been documenting her “10-mile diet” since the beginning of September, and as it came to a close in early October, she wrote: “The overall news is that we are actually on our way to at least partial food self sufficiency on the island, and could get closer with some changes—if we eat what we can grow here and not insist on what cannot grow here….”
From the farm to the city
For Robin, eating locally often meant eating food grown by neighbors. For city-dwellers, “local” is much more flexible. In New York City, for instance, local food at the city’s Greenmarkets can come from more than two hundred miles away, as farmers make weekly drives from upstate New York, Vermont, or southern New Jersey.
Although urban farms have drawn attention as a innovative solution for localizing food production, no one is arguing that a city could feed itself entirely from its rooftops or empty lots. It may not even be wise to dedicate large chunks of city space to agriculture, as Daniel Nairn argues at Grist: Cities need to be dense to promote energy efficiency. Jason Mark, editor of the Earth Island Journal, also writes at Change.org that most urban farms, so far, are not supporting themselves financially.
Sustained by subsidies
For American agriculture across the board, subsidies are a key to financial sustainability. The USDA has funded the growth of corn and soy megafarms in the Midwest, and earnings from outside jobs supplement the incomes of many small or midsized farmers. So far, outside support for urban agriculture has come primarily from private foundations, although earlier this year Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) introduced a bill that would create an Office of Urban Agriculture within the federal agriculture department.
Still, increasing outside funding for urban agriculture may not be the key to sustaining it. “The question of whether farms can become self-sufficient has major implications for the larger drive to create a green economy,” Mark writes. For the green economy to work, it has to be self-reliant.
Mark highlights Dig Deep Farm in the suburbs of San Francisco, CA, as an example.
“To reach profitability, we have to reach a lot of people,” Hank Herrera, one of the farm’s owners, told Mark. “Our goal is to have enough productivity to reach scale, to have the poundage to really feed people.”
To that end, Herrera and his partner, Abeni Ramsey, are looking for more corners of land in the vicinity of their farm to convert into growing space.
Farm ecosystems
Communities sustained by good food practices extend beyond humans to the natural ecosystem of worms and insects that lives in the dirt, helping to enrich and clean it. As Sara Rubin writes at Campus Progress, “A farmer attentive to natural systems will often rejoice over a handful of soil packed with the tiny squirmers, but mostly because it’s packed with microscopic critters, too. An entire ecosystem of beneficial fungi and bacteria and tiny insects can be active below the soil surface.”
That community of underground wrigglers contributes to the resilience of human communities, too. Healthy bugs and bacteria crowd out dangerous pathogens that have led to food-related outbreaks of salmonella, for instance, in the past few years.
Environmentalists should welcome Walmart’s new-found dedication to local foods. It shows that the first battle for a sustainable food system has been won, freeing up time and energy to develop new, exciting projects that will ultimately strengthen communities, not corporations.
This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the environment by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Mulch for a complete list of articles on environmental issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, health care and immigration issues, check out The Audit, The Pulse, and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger
Last week, environmentalists and food... more
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by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger
Last week, environmentalists and food advocates warily welcomed the news that Walmart plans to expand its local, sustainable food program. The company announced it would double its sales of locally grown food by 2015 and, in new markets, would source from small and midsized producers. Given Walmart’s market share, this announcement is generally understood to be a positive development for the sustainable food movement.
Sustainable food, however, has grown beyond the dictum to eat simply locally and organically grown food. Farms have sprung up on rooftops, home canning of fruits and vegetables has taken off, and composting is de rigueur. A common thread runs through this movement, one with a long tradition in American life—a preference for self-reliance.
“Independence is for Neanderthals”
In her new book, The Resilient Gardener, Chelsea Green author Carol Deppe writes about her garden not just as a local, sustainable source of food, but as a tool for building a sustainable community.
“The resilient gardener knows we have our ups and downs, as individuals, families, societies, and as a species,” she says. “The resilient garden is designed and managed so that when things go wrong, they have less impact.”
Deppe argues that growing staple crops like potatoes, corn, beans, and squash, and learning how to store vegetables and save seeds will help communities thrive, even in times of erratic climates.
“I aim for appropriate self-reliance, not for independence,” she says. “Independence is for Neanderthals.”
Communal eating
Yes! Magazine’s Vicki Robin has been feeding herself only with produce from a friend’s farm and a handful of other necessities sourced within a 10-mile radius of her home—which is on an island in Washington State. She’s been documenting her “10-mile diet” since the beginning of September, and as it came to a close in early October, she wrote: “The overall news is that we are actually on our way to at least partial food self sufficiency on the island, and could get closer with some changes—if we eat what we can grow here and not insist on what cannot grow here….”
From the farm to the city
For Robin, eating locally often meant eating food grown by neighbors. For city-dwellers, “local” is much more flexible. In New York City, for instance, local food at the city’s Greenmarkets can come from more than two hundred miles away, as farmers make weekly drives from upstate New York, Vermont, or southern New Jersey.
Although urban farms have drawn attention as a innovative solution for localizing food production, no one is arguing that a city could feed itself entirely from its rooftops or empty lots. It may not even be wise to dedicate large chunks of city space to agriculture, as Daniel Nairn argues at Grist: Cities need to be dense to promote energy efficiency. Jason Mark, editor of the Earth Island Journal, also writes at Change.org that most urban farms, so far, are not supporting themselves financially.
Sustained by subsidies
For American agriculture across the board, subsidies are a key to financial sustainability. The USDA has funded the growth of corn and soy megafarms in the Midwest, and earnings from outside jobs supplement the incomes of many small or midsized farmers. So far, outside support for urban agriculture has come primarily from private foundations, although earlier this year Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) introduced a bill that would create an Office of Urban Agriculture within the federal agriculture department.
Still, increasing outside funding for urban agriculture may not be the key to sustaining it. “The question of whether farms can become self-sufficient has major implications for the larger drive to create a green economy,” Mark writes. For the green economy to work, it has to be self-reliant.
Mark highlights Dig Deep Farm in the suburbs of San Francisco, CA, as an example.
“To reach profitability, we have to reach a lot of people,” Hank Herrera, one of the farm’s owners, told Mark. “Our goal is to have enough productivity to reach scale, to have the poundage to really feed people.”
To that end, Herrera and his partner, Abeni Ramsey, are looking for more corners of land in the vicinity of their farm to convert into growing space.
Farm ecosystems
Communities sustained by good food practices extend beyond humans to the natural ecosystem of worms and insects that lives in the dirt, helping to enrich and clean it. As Sara Rubin writes at Campus Progress, “A farmer attentive to natural systems will often rejoice over a handful of soil packed with the tiny squirmers, but mostly because it’s packed with microscopic critters, too. An entire ecosystem of beneficial fungi and bacteria and tiny insects can be active below the soil surface.”
That community of underground wrigglers contributes to the resilience of human communities, too. Healthy bugs and bacteria crowd out dangerous pathogens that have led to food-related outbreaks of salmonella, for instance, in the past few years.
Environmentalists should welcome Walmart’s new-found dedication to local foods. It shows that the first battle for a sustainable food system has been won, freeing up time and energy to develop new, exciting projects that will ultimately strengthen communities, not corporations.
This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the environment by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Mulch for a complete list of articles on environmental issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, health care and immigration issues, check out The Audit, The Pulse, and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger
Last week, environmentalists and food... more
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Do you ever stop to think about where your food comes from? This World Food Day, FairFood International's new video campaign ‘Face Your Food’ brings together a global online community to fight for a more sustainable food industry. Be sure to visit the campaign on Facebook and share info on Twitter using the hashtag: #FaceYourFood.Do you ever stop to think about where your food comes from? This World Food Day,... more
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This October, more than 580 natural food stores nationwide will take part in the first ever Non‐GMO Month, celebrating consumers' right to choose food and products that do not contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Organized by the non‐profit Non‐GMO Project, the event coincides with the launch of the "Non‐GMO Project Verified" seal on retail products.
The process of genetic modification, which takes place in a laboratory, typically merges DNA from different species, creating combinations of plant, animal, bacteria and viral genes that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding. Virtually all commercial GMOs are bred to withstand direct application of herbicide and/or to produce an insecticide. None of the GMO traits currently on the market offer increase yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition, or any other consumer benefit.
Studies, meanwhile, increasingly show a correlation between consumption of GMOs and an array of health risks. With U.S. consumer confidence shaken by ongoing food safety failures, distrust of GMOs is growing. As a result, more and more consumers are seeking non‐GMO choices, and Nielson reported in February of this year that "GMO‐free" is now the fastest growing store brand label claim.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association estimates that GMOs currently are in approximately 80% of conventional processed foods in the United States, but they are not labeled. This is in sharp contrast to most other developed nations around the world, where there are significant restrictions or outright bans on GMOs because they're not considered proven safe.
To fill the information gap, a "Non‐GMO Project Verified" seal has been created. Manufacturers earn the seal through compliance with rigorous GMO avoidance standards, including ingredient testing, as part of the nation's first third party non‐GMO verification program. Nearly 900 products have been verified to date, with thousands more in the process of becoming verified and new products joining the program every day. Non‐GMO Month celebrations will draw consumer attention to Non‐ GMO Project products, as well as educate them about the GMO issue.
"The Non‐GMO Project stays true to our mission to offer food in its most natural and unadulterated state, " said Michael Besancon, Whole Foods Market senior global vice president of purchasing, distribution and marketing. "We're committed to offering non‐GMO food and products and to educating consumers so they can make informed choices." Whole Foods Market stores nationwide will be participating in Non‐GMO Month, and Whole Foods also in the process of having its entire 365 private label brand verified to the Non‐GMO Project Standard.
Close to 300 independent retailers and co‐ops also are participating in Non‐GMO Month. "Retailers started the Non‐GMO Project because of consumer concern and requests for non‐GMO foods," said Corinne Shindelar, CEO of the Independent Natural Food Retailers Association (INFRA). "We have a responsibility to consumers to ensure the integrity of our food system, and among shoppers who value safe, healthy food, there is a strong desire to avoid GMOs. Non‐GMO Month is a fantastic opportunity to give people the information and non‐GMO choices they are looking for."This October, more than 580 natural food stores nationwide will take part in the first... more
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In the article linked below, author Michael Pollan reviews five books that address the heart of the food movement:
•Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front, by Joel Salatin
•All You Can Eat: How Hungry Is America?, by Joel Berg
•Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer
•Terra Madre: Forging a New Global Network of Sustainable Food Communities, by Carlo Petrini
•The Taste for Civilization: Food, Politics, and Civil Society, by Janet A. Flammang
Food in America has been more or less invisible, politically speaking, until very recently. However, according to Pollan, writing in AlterNet, these books show that:
"... Food is invisible no longer and, in light of the mounting costs we've incurred by ignoring it, it is likely to demand much more of our attention in the future, as eaters, parents, and citizens. It is only a matter of time before politicians seize on the power of the food issue, which besides being increasingly urgent is also almost primal, indeed is in some deep sense proto-political."
Sources: AlterNet July 29, 2010
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
The food system in the United States is in desperate need of an overhaul, and with resources like Michael Pollan, Joel Salatin and others -- who are either getting the word out through books and the media or are working right in the field to grow food according to the laws of nature -- the tide may finally begin to turn.
At the forefront of any revolution is knowledge, and that is the stage many are at right now with regard to the food system. Finally, many are realizing that the bulk of the packaged, processed foods found in supermarkets are not real "food" at all, but conglomerations of excessive subsidized farm crops and chemicals manipulated to taste and look edible.
In many parts of the United States, the small farmers who once prided themselves on supplying wholesome foods to neighboring towns have long since closed their doors, replaced by giant CAFOs -- Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations -- and expansive fields of genetically modified corn, soy, cotton and canola.
Why are these crops making up the majority of U.S. farmland? U.S. food subsidies are grossly skewed, creating a diet excessively high in factory-farmed "corn-fed" meats, grains and sugars, with very little fresh fruits and vegetables or healthful fats from nuts and seeds.
U.S. Government Subsidizes Junk Food
The food crops currently subsidized are corn, soy, wheat and rice. With these crops making up the bulk of the harvest, what do you end up with?
A fast food diet!
If growers of subsidized fresh vegetables were in a clear majority, you might start to see some fine advertising campaigns promoting the consumption of those veggies …
Unfortunately, the Department of Agriculture is deeply entrenched with agribusiness, and current legislations protect the profits of these large industries at the expense of public health.
In fact, the agriculture lobby is more powerful than even the pharmaceutical industry! You don't hear about it as often, but the ramifications of their political influence are just as hazardous to your health as that of Big Pharma.
As this recent New York Times article states, "Thanks to lobbying, Congress chooses to subsidize foods that we're supposed to eat less of."
continuedIn the article linked below, author Michael Pollan reviews five books that address the... more
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http://cookingupastory.com/growing-interest-in-farmers-market
Have you noticed the growing interest in farmers markets? Well, the official stats have just been released, and their numbers are growing, robustly. In the Portland area alone, there are 5 new farmers markets this year, 37 in total!
Last year, while filming at the Earthen Path Organic Farm, in Oak Center, MN, I spoke with organic farmer Rebecca Schwen. She was about to head out to one of the farmer markets they sell to, and I asked her if she had seen a change in numbers in farmer markets over the last few years. Here’s what she shared:
August 1st through the 7th marks National Farmers Market week. The USDA has just released the new number of farmers markets in the U.S. and (drum roll) it’s climbed up to 6,132 – up 16% over last year’s number of 5,274!
Number of Operating Farmers Markets in 2010; Source, USDA, AMS
Top 10 states with the most farmers markets:
1.California (580)
2.New York (461)
3.Illinois (286)
4.Michigan (271)
5.Iowa (229)
6.Massachusetts (227)
7.Ohio (213)
8.Wisconsin (204)
9.Pennsylvania (203)
10.North Carolina (182)
If you haven’t been to a farmers market yet, this would be a great week to go! To find a farmers market in your area, check out the National Farmers Market Directory. Or, look into starting a farmers market for your area! Or, go check out this cool interactive map to find out what’s in season and where the nearest farmers market is (in U.S.)!http://cookingupastory.com/growing-interest-in-farmers-market
Have you noticed... more
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