When I look back through photos of my childhood, the momentous occasions, including my baptism, birthday parties, riding a two-wheeler or the triumph of successfully completing kindergarten, it’s hard not to notice the pictures are all of food. Food? Where are the photos of me, or of my friends and family, beaming with pride? My…
Preparation Underway for Second Annual Food Day
For the second year running, chefs, authors, filmmakers, consumer groups, animal welfare advocates, policymakers and other proponents of the food movement are gearing up to celebrate Food Day, a national occasion to raise awareness surrounding food issues – from hunger to sustainability to nutrition.
Food Day, launched for the first time last year by the…
US and China Sign 5 Year Ag Agreement on Food Safety, Security
The United States and China signed a five year agreement on food security, sustainable agriculture, and food safety at an agricultural symposium in Iowa Thursday.
“We are the world’s two largest agricultural producers and strong collaborators in agricultural research and education,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the event. “Our great trade relationship benefits the …
Book Review: The Local Ag Rebellion
“Today, people are persuaded more than ever that they have perfect freedom, yet they have brought their freedom to us and laid it humbly at our feet … And we alone shall feed them … Oh, never, never can they feed themselves without us! No science will give them bread so long as they remain …
On Bears and Food Security Part V: The Solution
The solution:
“Lasting success requires both HUMANS and BEARS to change their behaviors otherwise bears will continually get into trouble.” –Southwest Alberta Bear Management Program
I began this series because of a discussion the British Columbia Food Security Network was having about how to make bears and fruit trees get along. Members in Powell River,…
Bears and Food Security Part III
False belief #3: We can live in harmony with wildlife
This belief is held by people who are insulated from the essential biological condition of all animals, including the human one. The commonalities are: people refuse to hear facts from local people who know, preferring instead to will their own believed reality into existence; people…
What’s Wrong with the Tester Amendments
On April 14, 2010, Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) announced that he is introducing two amendments to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, S. 510. The aim of the amendments is to ease the burden that small farmers believe the bill will impose on them if passed. The amendments, if adopted, will exclude facilities with adjusted…
On Civic Agriculture: Why Backyard Chickens Matter
“She had no way of knowing it, but that plain country woman, whose name I have long forgotten, taught me one of the most important lessons of my life: food could be much more than mere sustenance.” –Jacques Pépin[1]
I do not recall exactly what prompted me to ponder the resurgence of interest in small-scale
…
NC Farmers Take S. 510 Concerns to Consumers
Small, sustainable, and organic farmers in North Carolina are taking their fight against the pending food safety bill to the farmers market. In an action alert last week, the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) urged farmers to share their concerns about the legislation, which they believe is a threat to the burgeoning local food movement, …
Heritage Agriculture…at Wal-Mart?
Can a company focused on being America’s “one-stop-shop” help support the local and sustainable farming movement? That’s the idea behind the launch of Wal-Mart’s new Heritage Agriculture Program earlier this year.
The goals of the program (pdf) include supporting local farms, women & minority-owned suppliers, and buying ethnic items. In a release about the company’s strategy, Wal-Mart …