Climate Food and Agriculture

All Stories

  • Distributing industrial-ag commodities vs. reviving local-food economies

    Across the globe in various ways, people are observing the U.N.’s "World Food Day." (Over on the Washington Post, Kim O’Donnel has a pointed "by the numbers" take on the event.) I’d like to compare two World Food day ceremonies, one in Des Moines, the other in Mozambique. In Des Moines, former U.S. Senators Bob […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Green groups to release sustainable sushi guides

    Three conservation groups will release their guides to sustainable sushi next week in an effort to inspire sushi consumers to take ocean and species health into consideration when deciding what to eat. “Every sushi restaurant serves some sustainable items. We’ve created the tools so people can find those good choices — and enjoy them!” said […]

    Grist staff Food

  • Roni Neff explains how the media miss the story on food’s connection to climate change

    In 2006, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization published a 390-page report called “Livestock’s Long Shadow.” The dense document came to a startling conclusion: Livestock production — including land-use changes for pasture and crop production — contributes more to global warming than every single car, train, and plane on the planet. Rajendra Pachauri, chair of […]

    Anna Lappe Food

  • Non-GM seed and feed make a comeback

    I recently met with members of Japan’s Seikatsu Club Consumers’ Cooperative (SCCC) in my office in San Francisco to discuss how to overcome the difficulties of obtaining certain non-GM products for its 1 million members. The 14-person delegation — comprised of pig, chicken, cattle, and dairy producers for the co-op — came to the U.S. […]

    Lisa J. Bunin Food

  • TV queen shows 10 million viewers the dark side of Chicken McNuggets

    The chicken industry has had a rough year, its wings clipped by pricey feed, reduced demand, and financial trouble. Even after a recent rally, Pilgrim’s Pride — which slaughters and packs 24 percent of U.S. chicken — has seen its share price plunge nearly 90 percent. As if the industry didn’t have enough to squawk […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Old breeds, new ideas are helping small farms

    I just returned from a 10 day photo assignment covering the efforts of Heifer Project — Poland to return heritage/locally-adapted breeds of chickens, geese, cattle, and pigs to small farmers struggling to keep a foothold in this changing country. These breeds in many cases are already making a difference. One of these, the Polish Red […]

    Erik Hoffner Food

  • NYT Magazine features Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Maverick Farms, Anna Lappé, and more

    You know the Sunday New York Times Magazine issue I blogged about a few days ago, the "food issue" featuring a major essay by Michael Pollan? It also highlighted the farm I help run, Maverick Farms, in a section on "food fighters." We’re extremely flattered and delighted to be included in the same list as […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Most ubiquitous fish in American diet 50 percent below last year’s levels

    Here’s a guest post from Jennifer Jacquet of the Sea Around Us project at the University of British Columbia, and blogger-in-chief of the Shifting Baselines Blog. —– Ask a scientist to give a good example of a well-managed fishery, and they often will cite the Alaska pollock fishery. But John Hocevar of Greenpeace-USA prefers to […]

    Erik Hoffner Food

  • With little oversight, BP, Chevron, ADM, and Cargill cook up next-gen biofuels

    Synthetic biologists, a brave new breed of science entrepreneurs who engineer life-forms from scratch, are holding their largest-ever global gathering in Hong Kong this week, known as “Synthetic Biology 4.0.” Although most people have never heard of synthetic biology, it’s moving full speed ahead fueled by giant agribusiness, energy and chemical corporations with little debate […]

    Hope Shand Food

  • Michael Pollan lays out a national food agenda

    Food policy hasn’t exactly been a hot-button issue in the presidential election. And it’s not going to be. We’re sure to hear more about a vague acquaintance of Barack Obama, or a bush-league politician’s fantasy-world twaddle about energy independence, than farm subsidies or school-lunch policy. Knowing that full well, Michael Pollan has published a serious […]

    Tom Philpott Food