By Catherine J. Frompovich Oh, how prognosticating words about Monsanto apparently have come true! And people say there’s nothing to astrology! Moneywatch published online on June 5, 2018, “As Bayer Monsanto merger closes, a toxic corporate name to be retired” not quite five years after…
By Julie Guthman, University of California, Santa Cruz Agricultural abundance is a pillar of the California dream. In 2016 the state turned out more than US$45 billion worth of meat, milk and crops. Long before nutritionists agreed that fresh fruits and vegetables should be the…
By Colin Todhunter One of the myths perpetuated by the pro-GMO (genetically modified organisms) lobby is that critics of GMOs in agriculture are denying choice to farmers and have an ideological agenda. The narrative is that farmers should have access to a range of tools…
By Michael Carolan, Colorado State University Name all the billion-dollar crops grown in the U.S. Midwest. The answer: Corn, soybeans and cranberries. Wait, what? Roughly 60 percent of the U.S. cranberry crop is produced in Wisconsin, generating close to US$1 billion in revenue and 4,000…
By Karl Zimmerer, Pennsylvania State University One day last March I talked with Juliana and Elisa, a mother and daughter who farmed just outside the city of Huánuco, Peru. Although they had only one acre of land in this mountainous landscape, they grew dozens of…
Can small-scale farming in the modern age really generate enough income for the average family to make an honest living? For Jean-Martin Fortier and his wife, Maude-Hélène Desroches, it does. The Canadian couple grows beets, broccoli, salad greens, carrots, and various other types of produce…
By Alex Pietrowski If one is truly concerned about climate change, and wondering where to begin to reverse the damage being done to our planet, a great place to make changes would be the modern industrial farming and agriculture model. In addition to the harm…
By Lauren Stralo, Lehigh University Coffee represents a multi-hundred-billion dollar industry, consumed almost entirely by industrialized nations while being cultivated, harvested and exported by the world’s poorer nations. And although there has been recent attention to Fair Trade coffee—which brings more economic benefits to growers—Fair…
By Michael Maharrey Maine Gov. Paul LePage has called for a special emergency session of the legislature to roll back a food sovereignty bill he signed into law earlier this year, after the federal government threatened to take over meat and poultry inspection in the…
By Brandon Turbeville While most of the focus has centered on glyphosate in terms of dangerous pesticides, there is another weed killer that is posing a danger to crop growers – dicamba. Although not the only state affected by the growing dicamba controversy, Ohio has been…
By Justin Gardner An exhaustive new study is sounding the alarm over industrial pesticide use and its effect on human health. Pregnant women in California’s San Joaquin Valley have a significantly greater chance of premature birth or birth abnormalities if they live near agricultural fields…
By Alex Pietrowski A growing amount of anger and outrage against Monsanto has culminated in a number class action lawsuits being filed against the agrochemcial giant. At issue now are the devastating effects of dicamba, a potent herbicide formulated for genetically modified seed. The product has…
By Heather Callaghan, Editor States like Oregon, California, Texas, Montana and Iowa just simultaneously nuked the ability to have seed laws. Claws of Big Ag found puppeteering legislators. With little to no fanfare at all, the states passed “seed preemption laws” that essentially shut down public discourse on seeds…
By Tony Cartalucci Urban farmer Curtis Stone who runs a successful urban agriculture business as well as workshops and free online videos to help others join the urban agriculture revolution, has recently put out a very positive message regarding GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in the…
By Brandon Turbeville Over the past few decades, Americans may well have become the most heavily propagandized people on the face of the earth. This propaganda push reached a fever pitch after 9/11 and has intensified with each passing year, with Americans becoming more and more…
By Catherine J. Frompovich Has the ante just been upped on organically-grown food? Why would I ask such a ‘silly’ question, you may be wondering? Well, Jeff Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post, Amazon.com and a host of other entrepreneurial endeavors just bought the…
By Alex Pietrowski Of the many concerns surrounding the dominance of agrichemicals companies and GMO foods, the most frightening dimension is that corporate manufactured seed is wiping out global biodiversity in food crops and creating a punitive legal framework for our total dependence on these…
By Organic and Healthy They started with bear poop. What resulted will astonish you: 1,200 new plants. In a fun new experiment in Rocky Mountain National Park, workers collected bear scat in the park last fall – and then decided to plant the scat in…
Keep Antibiotics Effective Act makes Maryland the second state to restrict agricultural use of antibiotics Annapolis, Md – The Keep Antibiotics Effective Act (SB422/HB602) will become law without a signature from Governor Larry Hogan, making Maryland the second state in the country after California to…
By Catherine J. Frompovich Recently, I had the enormous good fortune to enjoy the screening in my local arts movie theater of a most exciting, beautifully photographed and produced, full-length motion picture titled “Inhabit.” I sat there in awe of the beauty of Nature, plus…
