Climate Food and Agriculture

All Stories

  • Why are (some) farmers afraid of Michael Pollan?

    Author Michael Pollan is no stranger to controversy. He has broadened the discussion of what we eat, where and how it is grown, big vs. small, organic farming vs. conventional. When he speaks some in the audience will love him, some will not. Advocates of large scale agriculture see Pollan as the enemy, they believe […]

    Jim Goodman Food

  • Two takes on school lunches, plus other tasty morsels from around the web

    When my info-larder gets too packed, it’s time to serve up some choice nuggets from around the Web. —————- Get ’em while they’re hot.  • In today’s New York Times, Kim Severson’s got a wonderful report on one New York City school cafeteria’s quest to cook as much as possible from scratch. The piece has […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Under the Clinton Global Initiative, Growing Power takes its grassroots-agriculture model to Africa

    Will Allen: Growing power–and gaining influence in development circles, too. At the Clinton Global Initiative wrap-up on Friday, ex-President Clinton made waves in the sustainable-ag world by declaring Will Allen of Milwaukee/Chicago-based based Growing Power his “hero.” The real news was buried in the press release, though. Toward the bottom of a listing of verbal “commitments” […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Big Ag places a foot soldier at the U.S. Trade Office–but loses a GMO court battle

    Agribiz: flying high … or coming down? If you run a globe-spanning, U.S.-centered agribusiness firm, you’re probably not sure whether to cry in your Krug or toast with it this week.* The bad news for the GMO/fertilizer/pesticide set: A federal court in San Francisco rebuked the USDA for greenlighting genetically modified sugar beets without rigorous […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • ‘Nation’ misses golden opportunity to highlight workers’ voices

    The food movement is slowly waking up to the fact that it has long treated the workers who plant and pick our food as if they were invisible. So it was with great anticipation that I read The Nation’s food issue, sure that a magazine with such a solid commitment to worker dignity would drive […]

    Sean Sellers Food

  • To change your tuna, consider the sardine

    In Checkout Line, Lou Bendrick cooks up answers to reader questions about how to green their food choices and other diet-related quandaries. Lettuce know what food worries keep you up at night. Hi there, I am desperate for a tuna melt with some chips on the side, but am living in fear for my insides […]

    Lou Bendrick Food

  • Home pickles made easy–and delicious

    Yes, you can (preserve your own peppers). All photos by April McGreger Judging from the first canning-equipment display I’ve ever seen at my local health-food store, home canning is undergoing a revival. Let us not forget, though, that long before Ball and Kerr were churning out jars, food preservation was a common practice.  Traditional cultures […]

    April McGreger Food

  • JBS: industrial meat’s new heavyweight champ

    In Meat Wagon, we round up the latest outrages from the meat and livestock industries. —— • Remember two weeks ago, when I warned that if JBS snapped up Pilgrim’s Pride, four transnational giants would dominate the U.S. meat market? (I hope you noted the fancy graphic. What, you didn’t? I’m reprinting it to the […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Soylent Green is … toxic algae?, and other not-so-tasty morsels from around the web

    When my info-larder gets too packed, it’s time to serve up some choice nuggets from around the Web. —————- Get ’em while they’re hot.  • One of the most potent–and disturbing–aspects of industrial agriculture is its ability to stamp out culinary difference. You don’t turn a restaurant into a national juggernaut by catering to a […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • USDA’s $65 million drop in the bucket

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture is so fired up about local food economies that it’s coughing up $65 million for a new program called “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food.” My first reaction: $65 million?!  That’s all?! At 3:45 central time a top USDA official is speaking at the event I’m at in Chicago. I […]

    Tom Philpott Food