Farm/Garden Politics

Detroit Wants To Save Itself By Turning Urban Areas Back To Farmland

March 11, 2010 Farm/Garden Politics

The Associated Press reports,
Detroit, the very symbol of American industrial might for most of the 20th century, is drawing up a radical renewal plan that calls for turning large swaths of this now-blighted, rusted-out city back into the fields and farmland that existed before the automobile.
Operating on a scale never before attempted in this country, [...]

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Monsanto’s U.S. Supreme Court Appeal: Could The Fix Already Be In?

March 10, 2010 Environment

We saw what good corporate citizens the US Supreme Court were a few weeks ago when they ruled 5-4 in favor of corporations, giving them the rights of free speech and personhood by allowing them to throw unlimited amounts of money into political campaigns and buy their own personal Congressional Representative or Senator.
Now the Supremes [...]

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Wine May Not Be Friendly To Vegetarians

March 10, 2010 Farm/Garden Politics

Steven Kolpan writes on Salon.com,
One of the biggest problems with the old red-with-meat, white-with-fish wine pairing advice is that it entirely misses the boat on vegetables, and of course wines work beautifully with even vegetarian meals. But before we talk about pairing Syrah with seitan or Albariño with avocados, there’s something you may want to [...]

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In A Few Short Years, Organic Has Become The Norm

March 10, 2010 Compost

It was just a few short years ago that organic gardeners and growers were looked upon as freaks of nature in the gardening world. Miracle-Gro, Roundup and Peters were the norm on the shelves of garden sheds in most places. Now, those products are kept out of sight and usually shunned at the garden center. [...]

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The Ten Most Inspiring People In Sustainable Food

March 9, 2010 Farm/Garden Politics

Fast Company magazine lists and describes their The Ten Most Inspiring People in Sustainable Food, many of which I have mentioned in posts the past year.  I am sure everyone has their own local list of inspiring people but these are the national ones that Fast Company recognizes.

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PR And Propaganda

March 9, 2010 Farm/Garden Politics

“Those who manipulate the unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested largely by men we have never heard of. In almost every act of our lives, whether in the sphere of politics or [...]

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What Does Sustainable Agriculture Look Like?

March 9, 2010 Environment

Here are some comments from traditional, conventional farmers who say sustainable farming has been “co-opted” or taken over by the organic movement. Some of their points are valid (such as the packaging one) but if they are still dumping hundreds of pounds of chemicals on their soil, I am sorry, I can’t classify you as [...]

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European Union Approves GMO Potato

March 9, 2010 Farm/Garden Politics

The European Union has traditionally rejected approval of GMO vegetables but in a surprising reversal, the EU has approved a GMO potato, which critics fear the plant could spread antibiotic-resistant diseases to humans, as Martin Hickman and Genevieve Roberts write in The Independent,
The introduction of a genetically modified potato in Europe risks the development of [...]

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The Wealthy Are Buying Up Farms And Water Rights In Africa While The Locals Go Hungry

March 8, 2010 Farm/Garden Politics

I have commented before on posts related to this; the world grows enough food, it is the agri-biz industrial food distribution system, and the abject poverty around the world that is the cause of world hunger. Now the wealthy countries are buying up farm land and water rights in Africa and other parts of the [...]

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Court Case Over GMO Sugar Beets Continues

March 7, 2010 Environment

The Growing Edge reported almost a year ago on the initial court battle of Frank Morton’s seed company, Wild Garden Seeds, against Monsanto and its Round Up Ready sugar beets. His lawsuit is ongoing in the Ninth Circuit Federal Court in San Francisco as Jeff Barnard writes for the Associated Press,
Organic farmers fear that this [...]

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