Big Ag
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Haiti, U.S. ag policy reform, and Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton speaks at the UN. What lessons has he learned about agriculture? Photo: United Nations Development ProgrammeWhat have Haiti’s recent calamities taught U.S. decision makers about foreign policy with regard to agriculture? Haiti imports nearly half of the food consumed there–and 80 percent of its rice, the national staple. In the past two years, […]
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How export-focused agriculture has failed everyone it was meant to help
A recent Washington Post article documented the stark reality of Haiti’s non-existent agricultural infrastructure: Decades of inexpensive imports –especially rice from the U.S. — punctuated with abundant aid in various crises have destroyed local agriculture and left impoverished countries such as Haiti unable to feed themselves. …Today Haiti depends on the outside world for nearly […]
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Silicon Valley investors place bets on sustainable ag
I attended an agriculture conference this week at the Four Seasons in Palo Alto. There were no pickup trucks in the BMW-packed parking lot, and few farmers with dirt under their fingernails could be found milling about the sleek hotel lobby. But the place was swarming with venture capitalists from some of Silicon Valley’s marquee […]
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Food, Inc Director says "It's not just about food, it's about our right to know" (VIDEO)
Robert Kenner’s documentary about the industrialization of food got a plug from Oprah, was nominated for “Best Documentary” in this year’s Academy Awards and has its PBS premier on April 21st. He came to the Planet Forward studios to respond to questions posed by our members, including a fifth generation family farmer who’s intimately aware […]
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What can the health-care act teach the food movement?
President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton celebrate healthcare reform. Will food reformers ever get to celebrate a wide-ranging policy victory? Photo: White HouseWhat follows is the first of a two-post series. “This is what change looks like,” declared a triumphant President Obama after the House had narrowly passed an historic healthcare-reform bill. What would […]
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Researchers: HFCS is much worse than table sugar
The long-running, contentious debate over the dangers of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) may be approaching a conclusive end — one not likely to please those sensitive souls over at the Corn Refiners Association. While there has been extensive evidence that fructose is harmful to human health and associated with metabolic diseases like diabetes and […]
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Seedy tactics in Iowa and Norway in the news this week
Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soybean seedPhoto: MonsantoThe first in a series of daylong federally sponsored workshops kicked off today in Ankeny, Iowa, to debate whether consolidation in agriculture — in particular in the seed industry — has stifled competition and harmed farmers. While it may be much more convenient for farmers to do their one-stop seed […]
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Farm lobby’s lawyer appointed as Ag Committee’s counsel
Here’s object lesson No. 452 in the ongoing corrosive handover of government power to corporate interests. And no, I don’t think I’m exaggerating. Over at Mother Jones, Kate Sheppard details the high-speed revolving door permanently located between the offices of Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and several top energy lobbying […]
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Blowin’ in the wind: The true meaning of ‘ag unity’
Of the 50 or so food and farm conferences I’ve attended in the last several years, the Drake Forum for America’s New Farmers: Policy Innovations & Opportunities held March 4-5 in Washington, D.C., rises to the top. Actual farmers — not just commodity crop growers but innovative “agripreneurs” like Xe Susane Moua from Minnesota and […]
