Sleight of hand: When NATURAL isn’t

Aside from meat products, there are no restrictions for other foods labeled natural. And, according to a new report by the Cornucopia Institute, the term is nothing more than meaningless marketing hype promoted by corporate interests seeking to cash in on the consumer desire for food produced in a genuinely sustainable manner.

Cereal Crimes

Cereal Crimes, a report by Cornucopia Institute, explores the vast differences between organic cereal and granola products and so-called natural products, which contain ingredients grown on conventional farms where the use of toxic pesticides and genetically engineered organisms is widespread. Analysis reveals that “natural” products—using conventional ingredients—often are priced higher than equivalent organic products. This suggests that some companies are taking advantage of consumer confusion.

What We Don’t Eat: Half of All Food Produced Is Wasted

Exactly how much food does the average American waste? While inefficient harvesting, transport, storage and packing can contribute a large portion to that waste, in developed countries like ours there are significant losses – and waste – in food processing, wholesale and retail distribution, and households, restaurants, and food services where food is consumed.

Organic Farming is Good for the Earth

Skeptics have often misrepresented a biologically-based agriculture as if it is nothing but the substitution of purchased organic inputs for purchased chemical inputs. Despite the popular assumption that it sprang full born from the delusions of 60s hippies, it has a more extensive, and scientifically respectable, provenance.

Product Profile: Fresh Asparagus from Inaba Produce Farms

One of the true signs of spring is fresh LOCAL asparagus! We’ve lost touch with the seasonality of food thanks to our ability to buy vegetables like asparagus year ’round in most supermarkets. While not all of us can run out to the garden and snip off a few asparagus shoots as the water is coming to a boil, buying locally grown is as close as we can get.

A New Generation of Farmers – Young, Educated, Energetic

When you were 5, what did you want to be when you grew up? A fireman, a ballet dancer, a doctor? Maybe even a farmer? Over the last several generations, somewhere between the ages 5 and 15, farmer fell off the list of careers for most Americans.