Good Food is Everybody's Business
Clearly written, well-illustrated, and without unnecessary technical jargon, Holdrege describes through fascinating examples how living organisms develop and exist within the context of their environment, and asserts that genes alone cannot determine organisms because their effects are always qualified by the contexts within which the organisms live.
Maria Rodale, CEO and Chairman of Rodale Inc., sheds new light on the state of 21st-century farming. She examines the unholy alliances that have formed between the chemical companies that produce fertilizer and genetically altered seeds, the agricultural educational system that is virtually subsidized by those same companies, and the government agencies in thrall to powerful lobbyists, all of which perpetuate dangerous farming practices and deliberate misconceptions about organic farming and foods.
Small-scale alternative food production such as gardens and urban farms are making it possible for families and small farming groups to grow their own food and to sell to local markets. Urban farmers around the world have taken control of food production and distribution to populations that cannot or choose not to buy their food through the conventional system.
For those unable to join the Worldwatch Institute’s 15th Annual State of the World Symposium, hosted at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC on January 19th, 2011, we have the full live stream coverage.
Most people who care about good food are at least somewhat aware that the (mostly small) farms which grow good food scrape by financially while farm bill subsidies go to large commodity farms. In this second of three pieces on food prices, our local food systems economist, Viki Sonntag, explores how these subsidies shape market prices and in turn our product choices.
Michael Freeston, Quality Inspector for Organically Grown Company, tells how he tests – and tastes – for quality.
In the last month three genetically modified crops were partially or completely deregulated: alfalfa, sugar beets, and a type of corn used for ethanol production. GE salmon are awaiting a decision by the FDA because they are animals and not crops and the modification is considered a “new animal drug.” Here are a few things you can do.
Rising global food prices has pushed an estimated 44 million more people into extreme poverty in developing countries over the past eight months, the World Bank reports. The poverty-fighting institution said its food price index increased by 15 per cent between October, 2010, and January, 2011, and is just 3 per cent below its 2008 peak during the last food price crisis.
