Posts by Katherine Gustafson
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WTF Obama! Get Big Ag Players Out of Government
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World Summit on Food Security Set to Disappoint
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Why Women's Rights Matter to Our Food
More GE Crops, More Pesticides
Published November 20, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
A new report by Charles Benbrook, chief scientist at the Organic Center, says that genetically engineered crops are forcing use of pesticides rapidly upwards.
The report, titled "Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use: The First Thirteen Years" and principally informed by data from the USDA, finds that GE crops have caused an increase in the use of herbicide in the US of 383 million pounds over the 13 years GE crops have been used commercially.
But what about all that talk of GE corn and cotton driving the use of insecticides to celebrated lows? According to the report, the emergence of herbicide-resistant weeds is responsible for the dramatic herbicide upswing, a phenomenon that will not be news to farmers.
"Weed control is now widely acknowledged as a serious management problem within GE cropping systems," the report's preface states. "But skyrocketing herbicide use is news to the public at large, which still harbors the illusion, fed by misleading industry claims and advertising, that biotechnology crops are reducing pesticide use."
Ag in Africa: Foreign 'Feudal Lords' and 'Diabolical' Seed Companies
Published November 18, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
In looking at the world leaders gathered at this week's World Summit on Food Security in Rome, one does not except to see the eccentric Muammar Gaddafi as a beacon of logic in the storm. The unusual ruler, after all, spent part of his weekend in Italy's capital trying to convert 500 women he hired from an escort service to Islam — after, that is, he arrived in a white limo to speak to them, reports the UK's Mail Online.
He might not have persuaded very many of his female quarry to convert — "I thought we were going to a party - we didn't even get a glass of water or some salty snack," one woman reportedly said — but on the issue of global agriculture he was entirely convincing. He warned the other assembled leaders that foreign companies that are procuring massive tracts of farmland in Africa are becoming the continent's “new feudal lords," reports Reuters.
“In Africa, foreign investors buy farmland, transforming themselves into new feudal lords against whom we must fight,” Gaddafi said at the summit. Indeed many are calling the ominous development a massive "land grab," and the UK's Times Online went so far as to dub it "modern imperialism."
Kellogg Foundation Funds Local Food
Published November 17, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
When you think of local food, Kellogg is not the first name that springs to mind. No, instead it's sugary cereals (okay, and some non-sugary ones), which are some of the most iconic products of our industrial, processed food system.
So it may come as somewhat of a surprise to hear that the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, a foundation started by cereal maven Will Keith Kellogg in 1930 and still funded by an endowment formed by his money in 1934, has announced $32.5 million in grants to support local food systems, according to the Washington Post.
This news points to the fact that the conversation on local and sustainable foods is starting to make headway. If a foundation that enjoys a close relationship with a mainstream industry player is putting its money on local food -- urban agriculture and local-produce-heavy school lunches no less -- then we know the ground is shifting.
Meals on Wheels: the Future of Sustainable, Ethical Meat
Published November 14, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
Coming soon to a highway near you: the mobile slaughterhouse.
Here's the scoop: alert reader Kristen Ridley tells me that when she went to research humane slaughterhouse options, she couldn't find any. She said that there is "the occasional (very occasional) small processor out there that doesn't exploit their workers and abuse the animals," but they are few and far between. Most slaughterhouses are big, industrial, churn-em-out operations, and if you've seen "Food, Inc.," you'll know what those are like.
Welcome to the scene the Mobile Slaughter Unit! In 2002, farmers in San Juan County, Washington, set out to find a way for small farmers to work with the USDA regulations and still slaughter their own meat. The result: "the first mobile USDA Inspected field slaughter unit." The truck can slaughter 10 cows, 24 hogs or 40 sheep per day and contains a cooler that can hold up to 6,000 pounds of hanging carcasses to allow it to operate for a couple days continuously.
Two GMO Questions, One Big Muddle
Published November 13, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
We've been discussing genetically modified foods like it's going out of style here on change.org's sustainable food blog.
There is, indeed, much to discuss; there are many threads to the conversation, which, when not teased apart, can lead to a muddled confusion about what we are all actually discussing.
Critics of GM foods tend to focus on two important concerns: the uncertain safety of the crops and the intellectual property (IP) rights of the companies creating them. So these are the big questions: (1) are GM foods safe? And (2) will companies maintain a financial stranglehold over the users and would-be researchers of GM seeds?
How You Can Help Women Get Land Rights
Published November 12, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
Earlier this week I wrote about how women grow the majority of the world's food but own a tiny fraction of the world's land. This major imbalance makes women — and thus families — more insecure and effectively leaves a major segment of daily natural resource users out of our global conversations on issues such as global warming, sustainable agriculture and food crises.
Alert reader David Mastroianni asked what we can all do to help fix this situation. Here are some ideas.
Vote for Your Local Food Heroes
Published November 11, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
Edible Communities Publications, which publishes a range of free magazines on local and sustainable food and eating in communities across the nation, is calling all food enthusiasts to vote on their own favorite local heroes.
You have until December 11 to have your say in the fourth annual Local Hero Awards. Visit the Edible Communities Website to cast your ballot for your favorites in the following categories:
- Farm/Farmer
- Chef/Restaurant
- Food Artisan
- Beverage Artisan
- Non-profit Organization
I particularly like the term "beverage artisan." I wonder if my top-notch gin-and-tonic mixing skills might qualify me for that particular title. Hey, I'm local. To my house.
The winners of this year's contest will be announced in January at the annual Edible Communities publishers' dinner in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Then each community publication will announce its own local heroes in its spring 2010 issue.
Celebrating our local food heroes and activists is a great way to support the future of sustainable, community-oriented food production. Cast your vote today to let them know you care.
