Hawaiis’ governor David Ige has signed into law a ban on the controversial insecticide chlorpyrifos, which has been linked to “serious health risks,” including developmental impacts in children, lung cancer, and immune disorders in farm workers. (For more on the health impacts of chlorpyrifos, see the Managing Weeds for Healthy Kids project bibliography.) Pruitt’s EPA rejected […]
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FERN, the Food and Environment Reporting Network, is ready for the upcoming farm bill vote, releasing the 7+ minute long video “What is the farm bill and why does it matter?” Congress takes up the farm bill every 5 years or so, and this huge piece of legislation is critically important to American agriculture, providing […]
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The headline in a March 2018 story in the Western Farm Press reads “The alfalfa industry wants more favorable farm policy for its forage crop.” It argues that alfalfa doesn’t get the support and respect it deserves, given that by value, it is the number three field crop grown in the U.S., behind corn and […]
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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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A wonderful, long piece in the April 18, 2018 New York Times Magazine explains how changing land and agricultural management can “sip carbon from the air” and put it back in the soil — improving soil health and a farmer’s profit margin, while mitigating climate change. “Can Dirt Save the Earth?” by Moises Velasquez-Manoff starts with […]
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The Washington State Department of Ecology has once again denied the use of the neonicotinoid pesticide imidacloprid on coastal shellfish beds, as reported in the Seattle Times. A association of oyster growers based out of Willapa Bay in southwest Washington have been fighting since 2015 to be allowed to use imidacloprid to combat an infestation of burrowing shrimp, […]
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Thanks to Peter Melchett for his provocative blog on why, across the EU, the government, farmers, food industry, and consumers are all pulling in the mostly same direction to grow the volume and quality of home-grown organic food. Lessons learned from the efforts of many individuals, companies, and organizations in the EU are worth heeding […]
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[Guest blog by Peter Melchett, the Policy Director of the Soil Association in the U.K.] In the UK, we have just had good news about the growth in organic sales in 2017. The Soil Association’s 2018 Organic Market Report reveals that our organic market is now worth £2.2 billion ($3.1 billion U.S. $), growing by 6% in 2017. […]
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It is now official, the USDA has withdrawn the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices (OLPP) rule, as of May 13, 2018. This action will close one chapter and begin the next in a long-running conflict withing the organic community, and between it and the USDA. The USDA is justifying its actions primarily by pointing to […]
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It is a badly kept secret in Washington, D.C. that the USDA , and the U.S. government as a whole, does more to slow the growth in organic farming than support it. There are several ways that the USDA, other government agencies, and the Congress bring about this unfortunate outcome. #1 Denial of Consumer Health […]
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