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Big Ag

  • South America’s industrial-ag powerhouse eyes rainforest potash deposits

    I’ve been writing for a while about industrial agriculture’s fertilizer problem — about how mass-scale food (and biofuel) production relies on finite, geopolitically problematic, and environmentally destructive resources to maintain soil fertility. (See posts here, here, and here.) Well, that story is heating up down in Brazil, an increasingly important hub in the global industrial […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • An alternative to global industrial agriculture

    At the conclusion to an article on the global food crisis, Walden Bello discusses an idea put forward by an international farmer's group, Via Campesina:

    Jon Rynn Food

  • More hidden costs of our love affair with cheap imported goods

    Remember a couple of weeks ago, when a Brazilian soy magnate turned a voracious eye on the Amazon rainforest, marveling at how awesome it would be to raze more of it to plant soy? Blairo Maggi, known as Brazil’s “soy king,” said this: With the worsening of the global food crisis, the time is coming […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • A review of Claire Hope Cummings’ Uncertain Peril

    In October 1996, a spokesman for Monsanto told Farm Journal why his company was buying up seed companies left and right: "What you're seeing is not just a consolidation of seed companies, it's really a consolidation of the entire food chain."

    Uncertain PerilToday, Monsanto is the world's largest seed company -- and makes more money selling seeds than chemicals. The company's biotech seeds and traits accounted for 88 percent of the worldwide area devoted to genetically modified seeds in 2006 -- and Monsanto earns royalties on every single one. No one needed to tell Monsanto: Whoever controls the first link in the food chain -- the seeds -- controls the food supply.

    What better way to understand the perilous state of industrial food and farming than by starting with the seed? Claire Hope Cummings' new book, Uncertain Peril: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds is a sharp and elegant analysis of the biotech seed debate.

    Hope Shand Food

  • Let’s raze more Amazon rainforest!

    Blairo Maggi is a powerful man in Brazil. He owns a company called Grupo Andre Maggi that runs vast soybean plantations in the state of Matto Grasso, which straddles the Amazon rainforest and what the Nature Conservancy calls “the world’s most biologically rich savanna.” The New York Times has called Maggi “the largest soybean grower […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Contact your legislators and take action on the sorry state of the industrial food system

    Everyone should take some interest in what they eat and how it is grown. Mostly people think about the price of food, and that is important (unless they make plenty of money, and then it doesn't really matter; they can buy whatever they want). The poor often have little choice: they buy what is available and what they can afford -- and lately they can't afford to buy much. Studies show that given the choice, low-income people would choose to buy fresh, locally grown food, but they seldom have that choice.

    Jim Goodman Food

  • Study: transgenic soy brings lower yields than conventional

    Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) came to dominate U.S. grain agriculture over the last 12 with very little real public debate. Sure, people like me have complained loudly, and groups like Center for Food Safety have mounted forceful lobbying and public education efforts. But U.S. policymakers have ignored these criticisms and chosen to wave these epoch-making […]

    Tom Philpott Food

  • Monsanto CEO applies for sainthood

    I’m watching the CEO of Monsanto, Hugh Grant, talk about how his company is a boon to sustainability. They’re focused on reducing the footprint of agriculture and feeding the world’s hungry — especially poor African women. Oh, and also they’re dedicated to reducing water use. All the farmers that use their seeds love them, and […]

    David Roberts Food

  • Worldwide resistance to GMOs dwindle as food bills rise

    For a while now, I’ve been cautioning people that surging prices for industrial food don’t necessarily “level the playing field” for sustainably produced fare. In fact, the few giant companies that dominate the global food system are fattening themselves on higher prices, consolidating their grip over the world’s palate. Last week, new Gristmill blogger Anna […]

    Tom Philpott Climate & Energy