We are getting many questions about President-Elect Biden’s transition priorities. Hygeia has no seat at the pertinent tables, but is in touch with many people that do. What are the most important components of the transition that the Biden-Harris team are focused on now? Easy answer. Combating the pandemic. Bucking up public health science. Getting […]
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On March 6, 2017, Hygeia posted a guest blog by Lynn Clarkson, then President of Clarkson Grain, one of the largest suppliers of U.S. grown organic and non-GMO grain and soybeans in the domestic and global market. His blog was based on a letter Lynn had sent to several newly minted Trump Administration officials, in […]
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Every once in awhile promising news comes along that gives rise to hope. For those struggling to find a reason to believe that meaningful change is possible in American agriculture, look no further than what Adam and Seth Chappell have accomplished on their 8,000 acre Arkansas farm. Their story is told well and in detail […]
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A thoughtful new piece published online by Aeon calls for a reboot of how the nation’s livestock farmers do business. Grassland 2.0 calls for our livestock farmers to also become grass farmers. It is a re-invention of a very old wheel: the idea that animals and pasture can work together as a kind of ecosystem. […]
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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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In a carefully orchestrated exchange during an April 9, 2019 House Appropriations Committee hearing, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Purdue asserted that Europe is an “[ag] technology-free zone” and will pay a big price as agricultural productivity suffers. What prompted this striking assertion? Coverage of the Secretary’s comments in EURACTIV.com identifies what prompted the […]
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In early 2011, Chemical and Engineering News ran a review of the newly published book Merchants of Doubt. A website promoting the book remains on line, and states — “In their new book, Merchants of Doubt, historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway explain how a loose–knit group of high-level scientists, with extensive political connections, ran effective […]
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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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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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By: Rachel Benbrook and Dr. Charles Benbrook Are bees finally going to catch a break? Amidst lots of bad news about the decline of managed honeybees and other wild pollinators, the Seattle Times reports this week on an innovative new approach to boost pollinator health. It involves some out-of-the-box science from Paul Stamets, a mycologist from […]
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