Is “Peak Fertilizer” Nearer Than We Think? New Report Fuels Concern
By: Sami Grover Earlier this week John was musing about how “peak fertilizer” could make manure a valuable commodity once more, and if Gene Logsdon’s guide to managing manure is to be believed, some mega-farmers are getting back into livestock precisely because it gives them access to poop. Now a new report adds fuel to this fire—suggesting […]
California Black Farmers ~ Obstruction of Justice ~ 2004 Report
During the Congressional Black Caucus Weekend, September 2004 Arianee Callendar spoke during a Black Farmer Session, Chair Congressman Bennie Thompson, Mississippi. Evironmental Working Group may be instramental in restoring Black Agriculture in the State of California. Clearly, the #1 Agriculture State may embrace Black Farmers in the lucrative Sacramento/San Joaquin Valley markets. Allies outside the […]
Food Bank demand doubles in four years
Some wait in line overnight for a movie premiere or a sporting event. Some have to wait in line overnight for a meal. By: Roger Phillips, Stockton Record STOCKTON – At 9:30 a.m. Monday, Rudy Rodriguez emerged from the Emergency Food Bank of Stockton/San Joaquin carrying a cardboard box containing canned goods, cookies, juice and […]
More S.J. residents turn to food benefits program
By: Zachary K. Johnson, Stockton Record STOCKTON – The number of people in San Joaquin County receiving food stamps keeps growing, with the percentage of those receiving the benefit growing by 17 percent for the second year in a row. Here are the startling figures: » From September 2008 to September 2010, the number of […]
Treasure trove of information for new farmers
Beginning Farmers has developed a website that is “… a compilation of resources related to urban agriculture and farming”. The page has three parts: 1) a list of resources for learning more about a broad range of urban farming and gardening issues, ideas, activities, events, organizations, and networks; 2) a list of local resources which provide […]
Growing Healthy Lunches With School Gardens
By: Jennifer Kongs Parents, teachers and nutritionists alike have long advocated for healthier school lunches. While providing fresh vegetables for the school lunch program, school gardens are also part of a growing green school trend focused on making more sustainable schools. The Green School Initiative notes, “Many schools around the world have planted edible gardens […]
The meat industry feels the heat as the sustainable-food movement gains force
BY Tom Philpott, Grist.org Once, the meat industry acted with impunity, confident that its lobbying clout in Washington could deflect any challenges to its practices. But now, it finds itself on the defensive. In northwest Iowa, the EPA has taken the brazen, virtually unheard-of step of actually enforcing the Clean Water Act for CAFOs, or […]
The inevitable has happened: GMO’s growing in the wild!
GM crop escapes into the American wild Transgenic canola found growing freely in North Dakota. Natasha Gilbert, Nature.com A genetically modified (GM) crop has been found thriving in the wild for the first time in the United States. Transgenic canola is growing freely in parts of North Dakota, researchers told the Ecological Society of America […]
Improving the lives of Farm Workers: Worldwatch Interviews Eric Nickolson
Eric Nickolson has dedicated his career to working with United Farm Workers to improve the lives of food workers. Click on the link below to read a fascinating interview with him by Worldwatch Institute: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6485
“Rurbalization”: Re-thinking food security in urban communities
RURBALIZATION? Greening—and feeding—the city with a ‘garden block’ By: Daniel Nairn, Grist.org It looks like one of the main take-aways from the Congress for the New Urbanism 18 conference is something being labeled “agrarian urbanism.” Fast Company is calling it the “new new urbanism” and Treehugger has described the notion as the next phase in […]