Climate Food and Agriculture

Seriously, isn’t it just gross?

Having adopted a quasi-vegetarian lifestyle, I can finally join in: man, you meat eaters suck! Ahem. Speaking of my quasi-vegetarianism … what’s the deal with soy sauce? I’ve found that eating vegetarian in practice means eating lots and lots of Mexican (rice and beans) and Chinese (rice and veggies) food. When it comes to the […]

Carry On My Wayward Gene

Kansas could see first commercial crop of human-gene-containing rice A California company is one step closer to growing rice that contains human genes on a commercial scale. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has given a preliminary OK to a plan to sow 450 Kansas acres with the stuff this spring, with 2,750 more acres to […]

Reviving a much-cited, little-read sustainable-ag masterpiece

The real Arsenal of Democracy is a fertile soil, the fresh produce of which is the birthright of nations.— Sir Albert Howard, The Soil and Health Sir Albert Howard. Around 1900, a 27-year-old British scientist named Albert Howard, a specialist in plant diseases, arrived in Barbados, then a province of the British Empire. His charge […]

Could you do it?

Could you limit your food and bev choices to all organic or all fair trade? Or both? What would be left on your plate and (eek!) in your wallet? Two men (one a Seattle-based reporter and one a U.K.-based nonprofit organizer) recently took on food-related challenges to answer those very questions and bring attention to […]

Please?

Edible Media takes an occasional look at interesting or deplorable food journalism on the web. Of mites and men (and bees) [Insert perfunctory “buzz” reference into lead:] Buzz about the collapse of domesticated honeybee populations hit the front page of the New York Times yesterday. The steep drop in bee numbers is alarming: A bee […]

A message from Kenya and Biopact

Over on the Biopact website -- probably the best website for up-to-date international news on bio-energy science and markets -- they have posted an interesting commentary, based on a BBC interview, on how small Kenyan farmers, Mr. Peter Ndivo and Mr. Samuel Mauthike, are affected by the confusion engendered by concepts such as "carbon footprints," "fair trade," and "food miles."

Biopact's message? Buy your vegetables and fruits locally, if you must, but please allow developing countries to supply your biofuels.

How Archer Daniels Midland cashes in on Mexico’s tortilla woes

Much has been made in the U.S. press about Mexico’s “tortilla crisis” — the recent spike in the price of its definitive corn-based flatbread. Media reports tend to focus blame on U.S. ethanol production, which has surged over the past year, causing the global price of corn to double. The situation stoked the food vs. […]

Kenya Screw Me Now?

African farmers fear impact of U.K. supermarkets buying local Last month, British supermarket giant Tesco announced a few changes it’s making with the climate in mind, including limiting flown-in food. Which is all well and good, unless you’re a farmer in Africa wondering what the hell is going on. Some fear that moves in the […]

The Way to a Manchester’s Stomach

New study says some organic food no better for the environment In case you weren’t confused enough about your grocery shopping, a government-sponsored study in the U.K. has added a possible twist. It suggests that some organic foods may not be better for the environment than their conventional counterparts. While the 200-page study by the […]

How a cookbook renaissance heated up the sustainable-food movement

In the postmodern United States, a cultural critic laments, “The pleasures of the table are rarely appreciated at face value.”      Speak truth to flour. A near-hysterical concern with health has replaced common sense, he continues, leading to all manner of dubious decisions: “Americans blithely drink sodas filled with artificial flavors and sweeteners, yet paste warning […]