The Potato Underground: How the ‘outlaw’ Cariboo spud, once blacklisted by agribiz advocates, was saved

By Joanne Will
The Tyee

When Jerry LeBourdais learned that big agribusiness couldn’t handle the Cariboo potato, he knew he’d found a variety that he wanted to support. The name didn’t hurt either. If there was a potato out there named “Cariboo,” it had a natural home on the back-to-the-land commune near Williams Lake that LeBourdais had founded.

All he needed was some seed. It sounded simple enough.

The Raw Milk Revolution Book Review

By OldRoses

There is a revolution going on. At first it was a quiet revolution. The initial skirmishes were fought on the fringes of society. Over the past few years, the revolution has become more vocal, more powerful. It has moved from the fringes to the very center of our culture. People are becoming more conscious of the food they eat. And not just what kinds of food. They also want to know where it came from and how it was produced.

The food issue has become so central that the government, normally oblivious to anything that happens outside of the Beltway, has become aware of and is even co-opting the terms and principles of the movement.  

Risk Reloaded: Risk analysis of genetically engineered plants within the European Union

A report by Testbiotech e.V.
Institute for Independent Impact Assessment in Biotechnology
Christoph Then, Christoph Potthof
October 2009

SUMMARY

This is a report on the risk assessment procedure for genetically engineered plants in the EU. It reveals substantial flaws and loopholes in the procedure and practice of the institutions concerned. Many of the flaws have their origin in the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) own main concept of risk assessment. 

GE Not the Answer – Straight from the Farmer’s Mouth

By Greenpeace

Oct. 15, 2009  Brussels, Belgium — From the paddy fields of Thailand, 62-year old rice farmer Samnieng Huadlim joined Spanish and Swedish farmers in Brussels to present the EU Commissioner for Health Androulla Vassiliou with our 180,000-signature-strong petition against potential legislation authorising the introduction of GE rice; along with a selection of delicious organic tapas.

United against NAIS and the 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill

R-Calf Letter to the US Senate

Re: 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill and the National Animal Identification System

To the Honorable Members of the U.S. Senate:

The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) is deeply disappointed that the Agriculture Appropriations Conference Committee (conference committee) has granted the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) $5.3 million to continue carrying out the ill-conceived National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

Largest Farmers Market in South Florida to open Sun., Nov. 8

Photo by Paul Burg

See Oct. 3, 2010 update, the grand opening.

By Rady Ananda
October 26, 2009

UPDATE: The market has not been opened due to city code inspection problems. See contact info at bottom.

The much-anticipated 100,000-square foot Yellow Green Farmers Market opens soon in Hollywood, Florida, promising fresh, local produce, meat and goods.

South Florida’s largest farmers market opens Sunday, Nov. 8

Photo by Paul Burg

See Oct. 3, 2010 update, the grand opening.

By Rady Ananda
October 26, 2009

UPDATE: The market has not been opened due to city code inspection problems. See contact info at bottom.

The much-anticipated 100,000-square foot Yellow Green Farmers Market opens soon in Hollywood, Florida, promising fresh, local produce, meat and goods.

Peanut Alert: Mars Snackfood US ISSUES ALLERGY ALERT ON UNDECLARED PEANUTS in Dove Caramel Pecan Perfection Ice Cream

Company Contact:
Jessica Graves
908-619-0782

October 26, 2009 – Today, Mars Snackfood US announced a voluntary recall of its Dove Caramel Pecan Perfection ice cream with the lot number 931AB5YN07 because it may contain undeclared peanuts. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to peanuts run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products. No related illnesses have been reported to date. For consumers who do not suffer from a peanut allergy or sensitivity, this product is safe to eat. The lot number is found on the bottom of the containers.

Nebraska’s Meatpackers Speak Out: ‘The Speed Kills You’

The floor of a meatpacking factory in Nebraska. Photo, Nebraska Appleseed

By Diane Novak and Jeremy Gantz
Working In These Times

They give you ice, they give you hot water, they sell you pills and tell you that you have to learn to live with pain. —Anonymous Nebraska meatpacking worker describing an employer.

More than one-hundred years after The Jungle—Upton Sinclair’s seminal expose of America’s slaughterhouses— was published, meatpacking remains one of the country’s most dangerous lines of work. Injury rates in the industry are more than double that of U.S. manufacturing overall, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in 2005 that official data on worker injuries probably undercounts the real number of injuries.

CAFOs to Seize Ohio thru Issue 2

NO on Issue 2

By Rady Ananda

A radical reach for power, Issue 2 grants a politically appointed Livestock Care Standards Board autonomous authority over the Ohio Dept of Agriculture, the Ohio EPA, other state agencies and the state legislature. Ohioans are now voting on the Issue through Nov. 3rd.

Spending millions of ad dollars on bolstering support for Issue 2, industry giants are confident they’ll win. The initiative thwarts a growing national movement to enforce more humane, and fewer, CAFOs – concentrated animal feeding operations. 

Oppose Ohio Issue #2

Dear Equine and Farming Friends,

It is time to tell you that Tom and I are opposed to Ohio Issue 2. We urge you to vote against it, not because we are anti-farming, but because the Ohio Farm Bureau, the Ohio Pork Producers Council, and the Ohio Livestock Commission, have unduly influenced your state legislators to put before you the prospect of an AMENDMENT to the Ohio Constitution which cannot and will not be permitted to be changed if Issue 2 passes.