Climate Food and Agriculture
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Amid Monsanto’s antitrust troubles, another study questions the health effects of GMOs
Better living through biotechnology? Pity executives at genetically modified seed giant Monsanto. Not only are they having to knock heads with Department of Justice lawyers over the company’s business practices, but some of their most-cherished PR talking points are being obliterated by researchers. In the past few months, we’ve learned that its much-vaunted technologies don’t […]
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Seed behemoth Monsanto stumbles into antitrust trouble
Even as it bombards the airwaves and magazine ad pages to tout its commitment to “sustainable agriculture,” GMO seed giant Monsanto has been having a rough go on the PR front of late. First came a report (PDF) from the Organic Center showing that the company’s core Round Up Ready products have sparked a veritable […]
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Chipotle Challenge: time to back up ‘food with integrity’
Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Editor’s note: Trace the history of the food on your plate, and you’re likely to find worker abuse. Creating a truly fair food system will be a massive challenge–and not without conflicts. In the spirit of airing those conflicts with the hope of moving forward, we present a […]
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Antibiotic-resistant salmonella, school lunches, and Cargill’s dodgy California beef plant
In Meat Wagon, we round up the latest outrages from the meat and livestock industries. ——— Oh, dear. This case of salmonella poisoning seems to be resisting treatments. • The USDA reports that a notorious California beef-packing plant run by agribusiness giant Cargill has yet again had to recall ground beef tainted with antibiotic-resistant salmonella–or, […]
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Can delicious crepes create a buckwheat revival?
Just add Paris: buckwheat crepes in their glory.April McGregerMy love for buckwheat first blossomed in the Soba-ya shops of Japan. Years later, that love was rekindled on the sidewalks of Paris eating Galletes de Sarrasin, or Breton-style savory buckwheat crepes, washed down with hard apple cider in stoneware cups. I found the deep, pleasantly bitter, […]
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In a Minnesota project, free-range chickens spell broad-based economic development
Ecomomic splendor in the grass. I just completed a profile of one of the most exciting food production ideas I have seen in a long time. Hillside Farmers Co-op. in Northfield, Minnesota, initiated by Latino immigrants, raises free-range chickens on scattered small, one-quarter acre sites. This makes it a great model for urban farmers as […]
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Are the oceans the future of food?
If the the future of food is hazy right now due to overconsumption, globalization, and climate change, the future of seafood is even murkier. The global fish catch topped out sometime in the 1990s, leaving many fish populations more or less permanently overstressed. Aquaculture has grown to satisfy rising global demand – but fish farms […]
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A quarter-century later, lessons from the world’s deadliest agrichemical disaster
Today is the 25th anniversary of the Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) leak at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. The number of people affected, injured, and killed has been the subject of debate. But it seems clear that a half a million were exposed to some degree to MIC and other chemicals released and approximately […]
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The localization of agriculture
In the United States, there has been a surge of interest in eating fresh local foods, corresponding with mounting concerns about the climate effects of consuming food from distant places and about the obesity and other health problems associated with junk food diets. This is reflected in the rise in urban gardening, school gardening, and […]
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Do diesel-based farmers dream of electric tractors?
Writer George Monbiot’s recent Peak Oil article entitled “If Nothing Else, Save Farming” included this comment: There are no obvious barriers to the mass production of electric tractors and combine harvesters: the weight of the batteries and an electric vehicle’s low-end torque are both advantages for tractors. I read this and immediately tweeted the question […]
