Posts Tagged ‘usda’

Leading Plant Scientist Sounds Alarm—USDA GM Alfalfa Decision Under Possible Review

February 24, 2011. “For the past 40 years, I have been a scientist in the professional and military agencies that evaluate and prepare for natural and manmade biological threats, including germ warfare and disease outbreaks. Based on this experience, I believe the threat we are facing from this pathogen is unique and of a high [...]

Food Supply Chain Competition

December 10, 2010 The final Agriculture and Antitrust Enforcement Issues in Our 21st Century Economy workshop put on by the USDA and the Department of Justice was held December 08, 2010, in Washington, DC. This last workshop, entitled Margins, was to “look at the discrepancies between the prices received by farmers and the prices paid [...]

While Warning About Fat, U.S. Pushes Cheese Sales

November 14, 2010 Healthier for Domino’s maybe, but not for you – Domino’s increases the amount of cheese used on a pie by 40% and sales go up. Underlying the new campaign: Dairy Management – “…a marketing creation of the United States Department of Agriculture…”. Complete article via NYTimes.

Growing Interest in Farmers Market (video)

Have you noticed the growing interest in farmers markets? Well, the official stats have just been released, and their numbers are growing, robustly. In the Portland area alone, there are 5 new farmers markets this year, 37 in total! Last year, while filming at the Earthen Path Organic Farm, in Oak Center, MN, I spoke [...]

Farmers Look for Justice in the Poultry Industry: Met with Fear, Threats, Intimidation and Hope in Alabama

[Editor's Note: The Department of Justice and the USDA are jointly conducting five public workshops in different regions of the country, to investigate anti-competitive business practices throughout the entire agriculture sector. Food activist Dave Murphy, drove 1800 miles round-trip to this second workshop, that focuses on alleged monopolistic practices by the large poultry producers. What [...]

The Waste Land: Organic Agriculture during the Bush Years

Part 7: My previous post outlined the improbable circumstances under which the organic community found itself the belle of the ball at the tail end of the Clinton Administration. The combination of vibrant market growth and a national constituency learning how to make its voice heard commanded the attention of the powers that be in [...]

California Judge Allows 2010 Genetically Engineered Beet Harvest

March 16, 2010. Despite the successful outcome in September 2009 of a Federal lawsuit brought by The Center For Food Safety, Earth Justice, and other environmental groups against the USDA to require an environmental statement before allowing GM sugar beets to be grown, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White ruled yesterday to allow the 2009 [...]

Attorney General Eric Holder Calls for Historic Era of Antitrust Enforcement

March 16, 2010 Once again rural America stands on the Edge of Hope. Ankeny, Iowa. There are moments in a nation’s history that define it. For America’s remaining 2 million farmers (less than 1% of the population) and the more than 300 million eaters, the recent joint Department of Justice and Department of Agriculture workshop [...]