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“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” Dickens was talking about London and Paris in his novel published more than 150 years ago, but he might have been describing 21st century farming. We’ve recently taken a clear look at two farms serving Puget Sound, Nash’s Organic Produce and Jubilee Biodynamic Farm, and now it’s time to ask, What’s next? 
This is an important presentation I think most for its honesty. And because it is being delivered by an authentic Iowa farmer, not some fabrication on contract hauled out to speak the corporate line because of the special interest of the parties involved. GoodFood World Position Statement on Genetically Engineered or Modified Organisms (GMOs) in the Food System From the beginning of time, food has been the foundation of culture throughout the world and often the seat of wealth and prosperity. However, food system dynamics are characteristically influenced by external conditions such as 
In a region that once supported 480 dairy farms and a rural agricultural landscape, now fragmented by 40 years of residential development, Nash Huber has pieced together 450 acres of rich farmland, almost all of it leased. Through the use of land trusts, restrictive zoning, conservation easements, and leasehold agreements, it has been protected from future development. 
Liberia is one of Africa’s poorest nations steeped in a domestic food crisis. This is how one man aims to increase food safety and food security without raising the price. 
Make no mistake about it; good food does not require genetic engineering! Stumbling Goat Bistro’s Executive Chef Josh Theilen, Sous Chef Gunnar Erickson, and Pastry Chef Jens Melin proved it Monday night, September 16, at an intimate fund-raiser. All ingredients used were produced and harvested locally or regionally and, while most were organic, all were GMO-free! 
Before Liberia’s civil war, Augustine Tamba’s farm had a water pump, a sprinkler system, and a reliable well. Neighbors worked for Tamba to grow rice, cassava, corn and vegetables in the lowland farm outside of the town of Johnsonville in Montserrado County, Liberia. Tamba had market outlets in Paynesville—20 kilometers away—as well as Monrovia, the country’s capital. Before starting the farm in 1982, Tamba worked as a bank manager in a small town nearby. After a brief stint, he returned to agriculture, “the soil is Liberia’s only bank…the bank of life,” as he explains. During the war, Tamba’s farm laborers either migrated to other countries or became entangled in the bloody conflict. In addition, the market for Tamaba’s produce disappeared when Liberia’s entire economic and social system came to a halt. 
It’s clear we are now having a serious problem identifying honest players among aid givers in the 3rd World. Africa is a prime example. So how do we differentiate; how do we separate the honest helpers from the “carpetbaggers?” The trouble is, industrializing nations like China and India, and already industrialized nations like the US and Russia are going full out after the last big reservoir of remaining resources and indigenous peoples already made poor by exploitation (the Green Revolution, etc.) have no defense. 
What began in 1930 as a restrained attempt to reward horticultural inventors like Luther Burbank (the self-educated, self-styled, plant genius of his day), has become a kind of free-for-none piñata hunt entrancing corporations and university IP offices for a decade. Everyone with an IP portfolio is blindly swinging over their heads, hoping they will get their reward when the prizes come raining down. 
Quinoa, a pseudo-grain closely related to a North American weedy plant, Lamb’s quarters (Chenopodium album), was first domesticated about 5000 years ago on the high plains surrounding Lake Titicaca. August 12-14, 3102, researchers, seed breeders, and growers from 22 countries, the US, and Canada participated in International Quinoa Research Symposium, a platform for debate over access to seeds and seed genetics and an information exchange about research projects around the world. |
Montana Organic Association Annual Conference
Click for more information here. Bill Moyers Interviews Wendell Berry
Wendell Berry warns, “People who own the world outright for profit will have to be stopped; by influence, by power, by us.” Bonus Video:Dr. Jill Clapperton on Soil Health
Dr. Jill Clapperton, soil scientist, says that farmers need to focus on building diversity of organisms within soils. Poor soil biology produces poor crops in terms of both crop yields and nutrient content. Click here to see more videos. |
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