¡Join the fight!
Walmart's gettin' serious about hitting the high-end, fresh supermarket market. Via Lee Zukor on Twitter comes this Atlantic article by Corby Kummer, The Great Grocery Smackdown.
Do read it. The article has that breathless, omgomgomg tone of a man having his circuits blown. In this case, it's Walmart selling local, sustainable, and organic produce that's rearranging Cummer's brain:
[F]riends started telling me I needed to look seriously at Walmart’s efforts to sell sustainably raised food... Read more...
By John Mesko, Lighthouse Farm
Over the past several years, people in the food producing industry have been faced with new challenges brought on by new technology. One of the most visible challenges to the food industry has been the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO). Read more...
Katie Couric took down big livestock farming last night on CBS, with that simple, explain-it-to-me cheeriness with which she took down Sarah Palin last year. In the first of a two part series on antibiotic-use in American agriculture, Couric repeatedly linked routine livestock antibiotics to the rise of drug-resistant staph (MRSA): Read more...
First US marijuana cafe opens in Portland.
AMA reverses stance on medical marijuana.
Marijuana moves into the open in ski town.
Cut the Cheech and Chong jokes for a minute, and let's take the issue of legalizing marijuana seriously as a matter of economics for a moment. Imagine what this would do for small farmers: Read more...
I'll give Big Ag its due: Big Soy and friends are pushing hard to end the ridiculous US embargo of Cuba. From Hoosier Ag Today:
The American Soybean Association reports that legislation to expand agricultural trade to Cuba will be introduced by Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, Representative Jerry Moran, Agriculture Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro, and Representative Jo Ann Emerson. Read more...
I've been looking into "Issue 2" in Ohio and there's some pretty fascinating political maneuvering going on. If you live in an ag state, I advise you to familiarize yourself with the fight surrounding this issue, since, chances are, it's coming to your legislature, too.
What is it? Issue 2 is an initiative seeking to change that state's constitution to create a 13-member Livestock Board, which would be appointed by the governor and would oversee all matters concerning livestock management practices in the state of Ohio. Read more...
From a press release from the Cornucopia Institute:
Off Target - Major Retailer Accused of Organic Improprieties State and Federal Complaints Allege Mislabeling
MINNEAPOLIS, MN: A public interest group that focuses on food and agriculture, The Cornucopia Institute, announced this week that it had filed formal complaints with the USDA's organic program, and Wisconsin and Minnesota officials, alleging that Target Corporation has misled consumers into thinking some conventional food items it sells are organic. Read more...
I want to flag a very weird little piece in Feedstuffs, a weekly Big Ag trade mag, that caught my eye this weekend: "Farmers unite in response to Pollan appearance at University of Wisconsin this week." Read more...
Big Ag's pushback against Food Inc, organics, and Michael Pollan's drumbeat to eat local is more gentle than I originally thought, not as coordinated or loud as it could be, but it continues apace. Here are some tidbits from Food Inc Wars: Read more...
Duped in The Grocery Store? or Not? (imagine a deep, echoing voice announcing this game)
I bought the following items:
1. Murray's chicken - free roaming, certified humane, etc. - Tracking # 2109
2. Muir Glen Organic Tomato Sauce
3. Organic Valley 2 % Milk
4. Eggland's Best Organic, Cage Free, blah blah blah Read more...
