Senior AgriPulse reporter Philip Brasher ran a provocative story in AgriPulse May 15, 2019 entitled “Blocked by GMO Politics, African Scientist Turns to 1950s Technology” (paywall, so no link possible). It reports that Dr. Kingdom Kwapata, a plant breeder trained at Michigan State University, returned to Malawi to work on cowpea genetics. This legume, also […]
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We have posted a summary of an important report from a European think tank — “An agroecological Europe in 2050: multifunctional agriculture for healthy eating. Findings from the Ten Years For Agroecology (TYFA) “. This report that lays out a concrete plan — and path — toward a safer, sustainable agricultural system that promotes human […]
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The European sustainable development think-tank IDDRI has a 10 year plan to get the continent on a track towards sustainable agriculture, while producing ample food to provide a healthy diet to 530 million Europeans. Their fascinating new report is entitled “An agroecological Europe in 2050: multifunctional agriculture for healthy eating. Findings from the Ten Years […]
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It’s not just leaves that have been falling this season, the past months have seen several intense climate change reports drop on us too. First up was the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an exhaustive report on what it will take to keep warming under a critical limit, “Global Warming of 1.5° C.” […]
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Americans enjoy the cheapest food in the world. The American food supply is among the most expensive in the world. Both statements are true. How can that be? America is the richest country in the world, so when the cost of food in the U.S. is measured as a percentage of average per capita income, […]
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Climate change is a looming threat for all farmers, but some crops in particular are “in the crosshairs” of this global environmental crisis. NPR reports in their “The Salt” food and farming series that five crops in particular may face the biggest challenges. They highlight wheat, peaches, coffee, corn, and almonds. See below for a […]
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The seductive, but corrosive impact of mythology will be a recurrent theme as historians explain the rise and fall of first-generation genetically engineered (GE) crop technology in the U.S. Here are just a few of the myths that arose along with the new crops: GE corn will affix its own nitrogen. Herbicide-tolerant crops will reduce […]
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Note: Thanks to Mary-Howell Martens for permission to share with HA readers her reflections from a speaking engagement at a recent Youth Climate Summit. Mary-Howell is an organic grain farmer who also manages an organic feed and seed business in upstate New York, Lakeview Organic Grains. We had an interesting experience this week, speaking to […]
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My good friend Brian Baker joined Urs Niggli, Christian Andres, and Helga Willer of FiBL (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture) in assessing the state of organic farming research around the world. Their paper is entitled “Building a global platform for organic farming research, innovation and technology transfer,” and was published August 16, 2017 in Organic […]
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Timothy Wise has written a chilling account of the genesis of Malawi’s new seed policy in an Op-Ed entitled “Did Monsanto Write Malawi’s Seed Policy?”. The piece appears on the Foodtank website . In short, the answer is basically yes. Dr. Wise directs the Land and Food Rights Program at the Small Planet Institute, and is […]
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