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News archives

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

U.S. Department of Agriculture Liberalizes Implementation of the Lacey Act Amendments
The enactment of amendments to the Lacey Act, which were included in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (also known as the Farm Bill), became effective as of May 22, 2008. They give rise to potential proactive enforcement against violators participating in illegal timber trade. However, ... Continued...

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Historic Shareholder Agreement Reached With McDonald’s On Pesticide Use Reduction
Washington, DC -- Responding to shareholder concerns, McDonald’s Corporation has agreed to formally survey and promote best practices in pesticide use reduction within its American potato supply chain. As the largest buyer of potatoes in the US, McDonald’s commitment will support progress on this i... Continued...

Farm Leader Merle Hansen Died on March 27, 2009
Merle Elwin Hansen, 89, of Newman Grove died Friday, March 27, 2009 at the Mid Nebraska Lutheran Home in Newman Grove. He was born November 26, 1919 on his family’s farmstead 11 miles northwest of Newman Grove, Nebraska. He was a nationally known advocate for family farm agriculture, conservation ... Continued...

Residents grow own food, buy locally
Until recently, Nancy Montgomery had gone through life without ever cooking collards. But now that she is growing them in the backyard of her Colclough Hills home, Montgomery has gone collards crazy. And don't get her started on the tomatoes. "The tomatoes are just mouth-watering. They taste s... Continued...

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Local-Food Maven Alice Waters
When Michelle Obama broke ground on the new White House vegetable garden, there was probably no one in America more elated than Alice Waters. For months, Waters had been engaged in a very public lobbying effort to get the First Family to take this step in the name of healthy, sustainable eating. The... Continued...

U.S. Soy Acreage to Increase, Survey Shows; Corn, Wheat to Fall
March 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. farmers may sow record soybean acreage this year because of higher costs to plant corn, wheat and other crops, analysts and traders said. About 79.11 million acres will be planted with soybeans, up 4.5 percent from 75.72 million in 2008, according to the average estim... Continued...

Farmers Want Obama to Make Carbon a Cash Crop Under Climate Law
March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Rex Woollen grows corn and soybeans. In 2007, the Wilcox, Nebraska, farmer started cultivating a new commodity: carbon. By not tilling his 800 acres, Woollen by some estimates keeps 470 tons of carbon per year in the ground and out of the atmosphere. Because of that, Wooll... Continued...

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Where Policy Grows
Dave Murphy is the founder of a food advocacy group. But he wants you to know, "in no uncertain terms," that he is not a foodie. Foodies are people who obsess about the perfect apple tart. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But for Murphy, the fight for good food isn't about pleasure or aest... Continued...

Why the White House garden matters
Has one vegetable garden ever generated so much excitement or debate? A few details about the new White House vegetable garden caught my attention. It is 1,100 square feet. This is a garden sized for a family. In my experience of removing front lawns and planting Edible Estate prototype gardens ... Continued...

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

'Low carbon diet' a healthy option for Earth
SAN FRANCISCO — A hungry student at the University of San Francisco last week couldn't find a few college staples at the campus eatery — a juicy hamburger and a cheesy slice of pizza. It was "Low Carbon Diet Day" on Tuesday, and beef and cheese were off the menu. With 18 percent of the world's... Continued...

Monday, March 23, 2009

Produce local, sell local, buy local, feel good
Just look at the news: The economy is in the dumps, and obesity is on the rise. Perhaps they're unrelated trends, but a new Minneapolis initiative wants to single-handedly battle both. Called Homegrown Minneapolis, the project is analyzing what impacts a locally grown economy could have. In other... Continued...

Obama strengthens federal meat safety law
In light of the permanent federal ban on the slaughter of cows too sick or weak to stand, the Humane Society of the United States hopes to appeal a judge's decision blocking a state ban on meat from downer cattle. Wayne Pacelle, president of the HSUS, is disappointed with a judge's recent grantin... Continued...

Russia to halt poultry imports from three sites; Cumming plant on list; drugs in chicken blamed
Russia plans to stop accepting poultry from a plant in Cumming and others in Mississippi and Louisiana after officials said they found antibiotics and anti-parasitic drugs in chicken shipped from producers in those states. Government officials in Russia —- the largest U.S. export market for chic... Continued...

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Is a Food Revolution Now in Season?
AS tens of thousands of people recently strolled among booths of the nation’s largest organic and natural foods show here, munching on fair-trade chocolate and sipping organic wine, a few dozen pioneers of the industry sneaked off to an out-of-the-way conference room. Although unit sales of organ... Continued...

Friday, March 20, 2009

U.S. farm group backs world grain reserve proposal
ROME, March 19 - Setting up a world grain reserve is a realistic option that would reduce the risk of food shortages and shield farmers from big price shocks, a senior official with the U.S. National Farmers Union said on Thursday. The proposal to create global cereal stocks topped the agenda of ... Continued...

Obamas to Plant Vegetable Garden at White House
WASHINGTON — Michelle Obama will begin digging up a patch of the South Lawn on Friday to plant a vegetable garden, the first at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in World War II. There will be no beets — the president does not like them — but arugula will make the cut. Whil... Continued...

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Corn Farmers Coalition
When corn prices spiked last year, big food manufacturers and oil companies claimed there wasn t enough corn to feed everyone and make ethanol. Now we know that was not true. There was always plenty of corn to make ethanol, not to mention corn to export and to feed ourselves and the cattle, chick... Continued...

Food safety a top priority: U.S. lawmaker
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Food safety is a top priority and U.S. Congress is poised to give greater authority to the Food and Drug Administration which has been roiled by a series of food recalls and consumer deaths, an influential House lawmaker said on Wednesday. "There is an urgency that we move ... Continued...

China’s Rural Subsidies Aid GM’s Sales More Than U.S. Bailout
March 19 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. can thank U.S. taxpayers for $13.4 billion in loans that have kept it running. The carmaker can also thank China’s government, which is kicking in subsidies of as much as $1,170 to help it sell vans. The automaker’s China minivan venture boosted sales ... Continued...

Bipartisan Senate bill seeks lower tariffs on ethanol imports
A bipartisan group of senators is seeking to lower U.S. tariffs on ethanol imports to achieve "parity" with the blender's credit, which was reduced in last year's farm bill. The farm bill knocked the blender's credit from 51 cents per gallon to 45 cents per gallon. A new Senate measure (pdf) is a... Continued...