GrowCalgary Blog Posts

Jenny’s Food & Ag Update for December 2, 2018

 

  • Unlike a Globalized Food System, Local Food Won’t Destroy the Environment (Turthout) https://bit.ly/2PdX7sT
  • José Andrés is nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, congressman confirms (The Washington Post) https://wapo.st/2reQoFT                                                                      Sometimes the greatest act of peace is to feed another human being.
  • Doria Robinson on how urban agriculture can heal a community’s imagination (Rob Hopkins) https://bit.ly/2P5tYjQ
  • This Veteran Learned the Value of American Wool in the Army. Now He’s Raising His Own Sheep. (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2S8d71r
  • The Gates Foundation’s Ceres2030 Plan Pushes Agenda of Agribusiness (Truthout) https://bit.ly/2SeRwER                                  The new Gates Foundation endeavor aims to infiltrate scientific literature in order to push the agenda of agribusiness.
  • There’s a New Hazelnut Spread in Town and It Wants to Take On Nutella (Munchies) https://bit.ly/2BtO8Ad                                            The Barilla Group is set to launch the palm oil-free Crema Pan di Stelle in January of next year.
  • Dominique Crenn Becomes First Woman In the United States To Earn 3 Michelin Stars (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2BKKORD    The stars, award to Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, mark a milestone for female chefs in America.
  • San Francisco Chef Becomes First Woman in US to Receive 3 Michelin Stars (NBC Bay Area) https://bit.ly/2Q7Rm5q

 

Farmers, Farming, Ranching, Herding, Fishing & Production

  • New CDC Data Shows That Farmers Don’t Have America’s Highest Suicide Rate (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2r5WDeW          But the problem hasn’t gone away.
  • ‘Farming While Black’: A Guide To Finding Power And Dignity Through Food (NPR) https://n.pr/2PB3Ke1
  • The Cow-Milking Robots Keeping Small Farmers in Business (The Atlantic) https://bit.ly/2P4RnGc                                                            Around the country, dairy farms are struggling to stay open, embracing technology may be one way to make them more efficient.
  • Wisconsin dairy farmers barely hanging on as crisis deepens with no end in sight (Journal Sentinel) https://bit.ly/2r5DSs9
  • Illinois Farmers Put Rare Pig Back On Dinner Table To Save It From Extinction (NPR) https://n.pr/2PBU95P
  • Strict Amazon protections made Brazilian farmers more productive, new research shows (The Conversation) https://bit.ly/2PimRtm
  • Are artisanal foodie brands ruining a California national park? (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2yVNutN                                                    Herds of cows provide meat and airy for influential purveyors, but environmentalists’ say they despoil the landscape                                            I grew up not far from these farms on what is now the Point Reyes National Seashore, and watched the transition to the National Seashore.

 

Land and Soil

  • For a New Generation of Farmers, Accessing Land is the First Step Toward Tackling Consolidation (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2S9DTqy
  • Eliot Coleman: Organic is a System of Agriculture That Acknowledges the Pre-Eminence of Soil Life (The Cornucopia Institute) https://bit.ly/2SctESd

 

Climate

  • Global food system is broken, say world’s science academies (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2QrU8BT                                                          Radical overhaul in farming and consumption, with less meat eating, needed to avoid hunger and climate catastrophe
  • If We Want To Transform the Food System, We Must First Transform Ourselves (Eva Perroni) https://bit.ly/2AIMSIb
  • Study suggest meat and dairy industry on track to surpass oil companies as biggest greenhouse gas emitters (PHYS.org) https://bit.ly/2QxZ9Jk
  • Palm Oil Was Supposed to Help Save the Planet. Instead it Unleashed a Catastrophe. (NYT) https://nyti.ms/2Tt2SGx                  A decade ago, the US mandated the use of vegetable oil in biofuels, leading to industrial-scale deforestation – and a huge spike in carbon emissions.
  • Oregon and California crabbers sue fossil fuel companies (Oregon Live) https://bit.ly/2E7xQzN
    • West Coast crab fishers file ‘industry against industry’ climate change lawsuit (Think Progress) https://bit.ly/2OQyKla            The suit opens up a new frontier in climate change litigation.

 

Plants, Seeds & Cultivars

 

Water & Our Oceans

  • Is a New Toxic Danger Threatening California? (Capital and Main) https://bit.ly/2Tuxho8                                                                                        PFAS compounds are found in clothing, carpeting, furniture, food packaging, non-stick cooking products and fire-fighting foams. They’ve been lined in humans to cancers and hormonal disruptions, as well ad developmental, reproductive, and immune system problems.
  • History and Use of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) (Interstate Technology Regulatory Council) https://bit.ly/2DQjCSN
  • Page 8 has a list of consumer products containing PFAS, it is everywhere, that said the fact that is also found in food packaging, medical products, and personal care products is unbelievable.
  • Too soon for Hudson River (PCB) dredging to be deemed complete, Dutchess (County) Exec Molinaro says (Daily Freeman) https://bit.ly/2r5Wnws

Food Culture & History

  • Why Most of America Is Terrible at Making Biscuits (The Atlantic) https://bit.ly/2DSf4w8                                                                                  There’s a scientific reason that no one outside the South can nail the iconic baked good.
  • The Thanksgiving Tale We Tell Is a Harmful Lie. As a Native American, I’ve Found a Better Way to Celebrate the Holiday (Time) https://bit.ly/2zn8IRy

 

Hunger, Food Access & Security, Obesity, Malnutrition & Nutrition

  • Hidden Hunger: A Bay Area Paradox (San Francisco Chronicle) https://bit.ly/2BD2DBQ                                                                                  While the Bay Area booms, more than 870,000 people remain food insecure. That’s more than the entire population of San Francisco. How did this happen?
  • Overview: How families slip through https://bit.ly/2ArDk3R    On in 10 Bay Area residents earns too little to cover the cost of living; of those, 62 percent earn too much to qualify for food stamps
  • The Mother: Two meals a day https://bit.ly/2E3R8pr                       A San Francisco family tries to get by on two meals a day, and a higher paying job might make the problem even worse
  • The Pastor: Tending the hungry https://bit.ly/2RjOZsL                     In San Jose, a pastor feeds an immigrant community that avoids food banks
  • The retired teacher: Dire straits in Marin https://bit.ly/2E4IQxM                                                                                        A former Mill Valley teacher who never thought she’d need the food bank faces a hardscrabble retirement
  • The Seniors: In Facebook’s shadow https://bit.ly/2TW4I3c        Low-income seniors in East Palo Alto support each other through meals and laughter
  • The Doctor: The quest to provide healthy solutions https://bit.ly/2FLVWBv                                                                                  Meet the UC San Francisco professor who is fighting food insecurity and drawing attention to the links between poor health and a poor diet
  • In Trump’s America, Immigrants Are Afraid to Apply for Food Stamps (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2DJR5OU                                        A new study shows SNAP participation rates dropped 10 percent this year – after a decade of steady increase.

 

Gleaning, Foraging, Reuse, Recycling, Composting & Waste

  • Enormous amounts of food are wasted during manufacturing – here’s where it occurs (The Conversation) https://bit.ly/2oNeRke
  • One in six points of milk thrown away each year, study shows (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2QmoqWQ                                            Analysis suggests 116 million tonnes of dairy products are wasted globally, with almost half lost before they ever reach a store

 

Healthy Food & Food Safety

  • It’s still not safe to eat romaine lettuce (Vox) https://bit.ly/2P3yLCk                                                                                            But investigators are getting closer to the source of the outbreak. Keep holding off on those Caesar salads.
  • Avoid all romaine lettuce, CDC warns amid E. coli outbreak (Dallas News) https://bit.ly/2DR3Yat                                                          Here we go again, this is the second outbreak in 2018
  • What To Know About The Romaine E. coli Outbreak Ahead of Thanksgiving (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2R0ZpgY
  • In Throes of Turkey Salmonella Outbreak, Don’t Invite Illness to Your Table (Truthout) https://bit.ly/2P21wzm

 

Food Fraud, Scandals, Weird & Funny

  • The Great Virginia Grape Heist (The Atlantic) https://bit.ly/2Ua4t4C                                                                                          And other tales of agricultural banditry
  • Jell-O Is Jumping in o the Internet’s Weird Slime Obsession with Its Edible Ooze (Munchies) https://bit.ly/2FF20Mg                  Personally not that interested in eating muck that’s been kneaded with craon particles and carpet fibers, but maybe you are!
  • Pet Peacock Runs Away from Home And Takes Up With Wild Turkeys (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2Bu9n4U                                     A Vermont couple is trying to recapture Pea, who has been on the run for around 6 weeks.

 

Children & School Food

  • A Local Foundation Seeks to Revolutionize School Lunch Programs Across the County (303 Magazine) https://bit.ly/2PZb4An

 

Labor, Unions & Coops

  • US retail workers face long hours, poor pay and ‘anxiety through the roof’ on Black Friday (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2BsuQeG
  • There’s a (UK) Christmas crisis going on: no one wants to kill your dinner (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2TJYgvO                                    People don’t want to work in abattoirs (slaughterhouse) any more.
  • Population Growth Doesn’t Equal Wage Growth in These Cities (Pew Charitable Trusts) https://bit.ly/2PRHP2l
  • Workers Battle Trump Appointees on the National Labor Relations Board (The Progressive) https://bit.ly/2QM0FUX  Rather than encouraging collective bargaining and protecting workers’ freedom of association, the new leadership is making racial changes to Board policies, paving the way for corporate interests to dismantle unions.
  • The Gender Wage Gap Is Even Worse Than You Thought (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2TTAfCR
    • Report: Still a Man’s Labor Market: The Slowly Narrowing Gender Pay Gap (Institute For Women’s Policy Research) https://bit.ly/2P9oiFw
  • America’s wealthiest family owns Walmart. They can afford to pay workers $15 an hour. (USA Today) https://bit.ly/2Aokf2O
  • One Restaurant’s Simple, Remarkably Effective Way to Shield Servers from Sexual Harassment (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2KAWdX3                                                                                        “No one starts by reaching their hand down someone’s shirt.”
  • Many California Farmworkers Forced to Stay Behind During the Wildfires (NPR) https://n.pr/2DLTett
    • California’s farmworkers are still working despite deadly wildfires (Think Progress) https://bit.ly/2DYO9Pk                      Some of the state’s most vulnerable communities are bearing the brunt of climate change.
  • During California wildfires, farmworkers say they felt pressure to keep working or lose their jobs (The Wall Street Journal) https://wapo.st/2Dz5Zam
  • Months After Hurricane Florence, Undocumented Farmworkers Still Struggle to Recover (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2S2tj4g
  • One of America’s Poorest Cities Has A Radical Plan To Remake Itself (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2TMPmhn                                  “We’re creating pathways into the economy for people who’ve been shut out,” says Cleveland’s evergreen Cooperative.

 

Pollinators

  • Mexico’s Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba (NPR) https://n.pr/2RVIaO5                              A combination of hurricanes, pesticides and logging is leading to the decline of these unique bees, called Melipona beecheii…. The native peoples of the Yucatan practiced bee husbandry for thousands of years…
  • Cuba’s organic revolution (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2FHjJ5S                                                                                      The collapse of the Soviet Union forced Cuba to become self reliant in its agricultural production…
  • Scientist unveils blueprint to save bees and enrich farmers (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2QgjToN                                                              Urgent planting of wildflowers will attract pollinators and boost farmers’ food crop, expert to tell UN. It is not just bees that are disappearing, but all of our insects.
  • The Insect Apocalypse Is Here (NYT) https://nyti.ms/2rcwNGe                                                                            What does it mean for the rest of life on Earth?

 

Animals, Fish & Seafood

  • In a rate wildlife success story, the wild turkey population is exploding in California (Salon) https://bit.ly/2R6smrS                      They are everywhere, I first had them come into my front garden back in Oakland, CA 2007
  • Why the biggest Thanksgiving lie may be the turkey on your table (AlterNet) https://bit.ly/2znjvee
    • Moneyball for Turkeys (The Atlantic) https://bit.ly/2DVEUiO      After decades of making turkeys bigger, breeders are hoping new technologies can make them better.
  • Tossing a Bird That Does Not Fly Out of Plane (The Atlantic) https://bit.ly/2zheRi4                                                                                                  A Thanksgiving story about the limits of human empathy
  • ‘We’ve bred them to their limit’: death rates surge for female pigs in the US (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2DHdqyc                            With sows producing 23 piglets a year on average, intensive farming is called into question over rise in animals suffering prolapse
  • Abuse of animals rife on farms across Europe, auditors warn (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2QLLGdT                                                              Europe-side investigation says intensive farming systems increase the risks of poor animal welfare
  • Activists condemn ‘disgusting attacks’ on pigs as two men convicted of cruelty (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2DIJ78p        Prosecution based on secret footage obtained by rights charity Animal Equality at Fir Tree farm in Lincolnshire
  • ‘Desperate need’ for better farm antibiotic use data (BBC) https://bbc.in/2PZY0e6                                                                                    Sheep and cattle farmers in Wales have been urged to record what antibiotics they are using on their animals.
  • The return of the giant cutthroat trout (Al Jazeera) https://bit.ly/2zrJHV8                                                                                        Anglers and conservationists celebrate as Nevada’s state fish returns to ancients spawning ground

 

Business, Social Enterprise & Our Economy

  • Tesco and WWF bid to ‘halve environmental impact’ of UK groceries (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2RROuGe                            UK’s largest retailer falls short of removing palm oil from own brand foods in sustainability drive
  • New Archive Reveals How the Food Industry Mimics Big Tobacco to Suppress Science, Shape Public Opinion (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2Au5hrW
  • Marion Nestle: Superfoods Are a Marketing Ploy (The Atlantic) https://bit.ly/2yyywcU                                                                            Blueberries and macadamia nuts aren’t that good for you.
  • The Organic Food Industry Forges Its Own Path to Expand Growth (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2qZm3uv                                          Should organic farmers and processors pool their money to create their own “checkoff” program used for industry-wide research and marketing match like other food industries do?
  • Bison bars were supposed to restore Native communities and grass-based ranches. Then came Epic Provisions (The New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2BGiKyB
  • A New Economic Model for the South: Ditch Corporate Welfare and Fund Agricultural Co-ops (In These Times) https://bit.ly/2FxhtxJ
    • Report: Agricultural Cooperatives: Opportunities and Challenges for African American Women in the South (Institute for Policy Studies) https://bit.ly/2KuI65q
  • America’s monopoly problem, in one chart (Vox) https://bit.ly/2SgToNm                                                                                      From cell phone providers to beer to cat food, consumers have a lot fewer choices when it comes to buying – even if they don’t know it.
  • Report: American’s Concentration Crisis (Open Markets Institute) https://bit.ly/2ShvykF
  • More and more companies have monopoly power over workers’ wages. That’s killing the economy (Vox) https://bit.ly/2qdVWzp    The trend can explain slow growth, “missing” workers, and stagnant salaries.
  • The Supreme Court just quietly gutted antitrust law (Vox) https://bit.ly/2wppcXE                                                                                              A decision in favor of American Express will make it easier for big tech to pressure workers, suppliers, and customers.
  • Farm bankruptcies have doubled under Trump – and the worst is yet to come (AlterNet) https://bit.ly/2Sje3Ap                                          We all knew this was coming.

 

 

Government, Regulation, Policy & Farm Bill

  • South Korea closes dog slaughterhouse amid activist pressure (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2Q1wmgR                                                Animal rights groups hope closure of complex will lead to ban on dog meat consumption
  • French Government Starts Phase-Out of Glyphosate With Online Farmer Platform and Herbicide Tax (Sustainable Pulse) https://bit.ly/2QsAmq6
  • Hemp Is Finally About To Go Fully Legit In The US (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2AGClwT                                                                                  For almost 50 years, hemp has been considered a schedule I substance alongside more potent strains of marijuana. Congress is finally set to change that.
  • The First-Ever National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Was Just Unveiled – And It’s a Game Changer (In These Times) https://bit.ly/2Q83R12
  • GIPSA is Dead; the Fight for Producer Protections Continues (Organization for Competitive Markets) https://bit.ly/2E5zP7D      In a move designed to take a thorn out of the side of the world’s largest meatpackers, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue put the final nail in the coffin of the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA)…
  • A New EPA Rule Would Allow Factory Farms to Avoid Reporting Air Pollution (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2DBZ806
    • Trump’s EPA concludes communities don’t have the right to know about potentially toxic emissions (Think Progress) https://bit.ly/2P2NamR                                                                        Industry supporters describe potentially toxic emissions as “normal odors” from animal waste.
  • Trump farm bailout checks coming to Wisconsin vary from thousands to a few dollars (Journal Sentinel) https://bit.ly/2DS5Ija
    • Dozens of Iowa farmers get lass than $25 from Trump tariff assistance, data show (Des Moines Register) https://bit.ly/2QlNU6t
    • A $12 Billion Program to Help Farmers Stung by Trump’s Trade War Has Aided Few (NYT) https://nyti.ms/2AnlfUL
    • Lost jobs, shrinking growth, and rotting crops – here are the ways Trump’s trade war is hurting America (Business Insider) https://read.bi/2KIj4Qv
  • US trade deal would flood Britain with ‘cheap, inhumanely produced’ bacon (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2Kudm4s            Trade deal would open door to meat containing banned growth promoters, from pigs kept in conditions banned in UK, industry leaders warn
  • City Not for Sale: Baltimore Voters Push Back on Privatization (Bloomberg) https://bloom.bg/2AHckxE                                           Measure to keep water works public passing by wide margin
  • Huge (Sacramento – San Joaquin River) Delta water deal backed by Dianne Feinstein, Jerry Brown, Kevin McCarthy (Sacramento Bee) https://bit.ly/2SllxTt                                                                                    The politics of water in California have been debated and fought over since before California became a state in 1850.                  Understanding that the California Central Valley consisted of approximately 5 million acres of permanent, seasonal and tidal wetlands, these wetlands have now been reduced by 90%. These wetlands were primarily fed by the Delta and (US Fish & Service) https://bit.ly/2PeiyKD                                                                            Additionally, approximately 1/3 of the San Francisco Bay and estuary has been filled in between 1850 and 1980, when the City of Berkeley was stopped from filling in a large portion of their shoreline. The SF Bay is currently 550 square miles. (Save the Bay) https://bit.ly/2RnSn5P

What does this have to do with the Delta? The Delta is what feeds the remaining wetlands of the northern Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay. (Save the Bay) https://bit.ly/2fCxkZy

All of this before we even talk about saving the salmon (at least 3 species), Delta Smelt (at least 3 species,) sturgeon, and 48 other species, some of which are non-native, like Stripped Bass. (UC Davis) https://bit.ly/2Qt7Moo

  • California Governor Jerry Brown Signs Bill to End Use of Drift Gillnets (PEW Charitable Trusts) https://bit.ly/2Pgr1hi            Congress should take similar action to protect marine life
  • (MI) Senate Republicans vote to scale back Michigan minimum wage, paid sick leave laws (The Detroit News) https://bit.ly/2r9FIs1
    • Background: Michigan GOP lawmakers adopt minimum wage, sick leave plans with aim to amend (The Detroit News) https://bit.ly/2BEOrbq                                                                          Michigan’s Republican-led Legislature on Wednesday approved citizen-initiated legislation raising the state’s minimum wage to $12 per hour and requiring paid sick leave, a move designed to make the proposals easier to change.
  • Mind The Junk Food: London To Ban Ads For Unhealthy Eats On Public Transportation (NPR) https://n.pr/2DNFDSb
  • After years of debate, LA legalizes sidewalk vending: ‘This means freedom’ (LA Times) https://lat.ms/2E3M9oJ

 

GMOs, CRISPR, Cloning & Synthetic Biology

  • Tanzania orders destruction of Monsanto/Gates’ GM trials due to illegal use for pro-GM propaganda (African Centre For Biodiversity) https://bit.ly/2PPkONn

 

Food Science, Technology & Nanotechnology

 

GrowCalgary Blog Posts

Jenny’s Food & Ag Update November 20, 2018

 

  • Alexandria Oasio-Cortez Learned Her Most Important Lessons from Restaurants (Bon Appétit) https://bit.ly/2AWnxvn
  • ‘Farming saved my life.’ Veteran turns to the land for PTSD therapy and a new beginning. (The News and Observer) https://bit.ly/2zVYE1a
  • Taquero Drives Out To Wildfire Evacuation Camp, Feeds Hundreds Left Homeless By Blaze (Latin Live) https://bit.ly/2TnWnEQ
  • How A Ragtag Group Of Oregon Locals Took On The Biggest Chemical Companies In The World – And Won (The Intercept) https://bit.ly/2OelaM4
  • Catch me if you can: How the paiche plague in Bolivia’s Amazon is making its way onto menus (Independent) https://ind.pn/2RVwHhw
  • China Plows Ahead With Modern Farming as American Tariffs Drive Up crop Costs (Wall Street Journal) https://on.wsj.com/2qUnqdW                                                                         The trade fight gives Beijing fresh incentive to beef up a sector dominated by small farms with low crop yields

 

Farmers, Farming, Ranching, Herding, Fishing & Production

  • What’s Behind the Crippling Dairy Crisis? Family Farmers Speak Out. (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2Ddcfog                                                          In the Northeast, the dairy crisis is shuttering generations-old diaries. Can the crisis become a rallying political issue?
  • What’s the Big Problem With Paper Pots? (Modern Farmer) https://bit.ly/2FvHyx8                                                                                           An efficient Japanese potting system has come under minor fire in the past year. What’s the deal?

 

Land and Soil

  • Rare microbes lead scientists to discover new branch on the tree of life (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) https://bit.ly/2Pzzj7Q                                                                Hemimastigotes are more different from all other living things than animals are from fungi

 

Climate

  • Natural Climate Solutions Could Cancel Out a Fifth of US Emissions, Study Finds (Inside Climate News) https://bit.ly/2qQhfHY                                                                                      Low-tech, time-tested forest, farm and land management techniques are effective, cheap and carry benefits well beyond tackling climate change.
  • Crab Fishers Sue Fossil Fuel Industry Over Climate Change Damage (Inside Climate News) https://bit.ly/2PBnuy3                   The lawsuit by the largest West Coast commercial fishing association seeks to hold 30 companies accountable for harming shellfish and livelihoods as the ocean warms.

 

Plants, Seeds & Cultivars

  • The Last Tree Standing (Modern Farmer) https://bit.ly/2DMYI7L  For thousands of years, breadfruit grew in the Pacific Islands, where it was a staple in locals’ diets. It’s time to give it another look.

 

Food Culture & History

  • Decolonizing Cuisine with Mak-‘amham (KCET) https://bit.ly/2KblG93                                                                                              … two Ohlone chefs are revitalizing Ohlone language, food practices and adapting them for a modernist palate.
  • Young Women are Reviving Indigenous Food Traditions Online (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2PkBJXS                                                                     A new generation of Native Americans is celebrating its food culture and promoting food health – with the help of social media and YouTube-friendly videos.
  • Black Migrants: Photographs of California’s Forgotten agricultural Past (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2BcxDIS
  • A Bronze Age tomb in Israel reveals the earliest known use of vanilla (Science News) https://bit.ly/2Q7ODYW                               Jugs that date to about 3,600 years ago hold traces of the aromatic substance

 

Hunger, Food Access & Security, Obesity, Malnutrition & Nutrition

  • This misinterpreted Bible verse is behind Republican efforts to deny food to poor people (Raw Story) https://bit.ly/2A2LKP8
  • This Community is Addressing Food Insecurity, One Grocery Store at a Time (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2SKEDmX
  • How Nutritious Is That Fish? To Find Out, Ask Its Relatives (EcoWatch) https://bit.ly/2Pw1wfR                                                            Eels and anchovies don’t look or act much alike. One is sinuous and shy, the other is a bright flash of silver in a school of thousands…

 

Gleaning, Foraging, Reuse, Recycling, Composting & Waste

  • France’s war on waste makes it the world’s most sustainable country (World Economic Forum) https://bit.ly/2ydEcc2
  • The Biggest Source of Plastic Trash You’ve Never Heard of (ensia) https://bit.ly/2PGxKoU                                                                                    From acres of sheeting to miles of twine, farms use billions of pounds of plastic each year. What can we do to reduce the impact?
  • The Problems With Bioplastics (Eastbay Express) https://bit.ly/2Qb1VUN                                                                               People mistakenly try to recycle them, thereby contaminating the waste stream. Plus, they’re not really compostable.

 

Healthy Food & Food Safety

  • India is awash in palm oil, and health takes a hit (Food & Environmental Reporting Network) https://bit.ly/2B0pIyl        From traditional snacks to fast food, the cheap oil is everywhere. Rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease – already high – are rising.
  • Watch The Iceland Christmas Ad Which Will Never Be Shown After Authorities Banned It (LBC UK) https://bit.ly/2Pq8KlD
  • Food Stamps For Soda: Time To End Billion-Dollar Subsidy For Sugary Drinks? (NPR) https://n.pr/2OEDTg3

 

Food Fraud, Scandals, Weird & Funny

  • Australian Police Arrest 50 Year Old Woman After Needles Found In Strawberries (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2PPzzz6   Police have said that the accused worked as a supervisor at a strawberry farm in Queensland.

 

Children & School Food

  • France’s Crisis Epidemic of Limbless Babies (Daily Beast) https://thebea.st/2QJWOru                                                                    Doctors are confounded on why kids from two rural French towns were born without parts of their arms and hands between 2012 and 2013.
  • What School Lunches Have to Do With Fixing Wealth Inequality (Yes!) https://bit.ly/2QE3TKg                                                        Dismantling a capitalist food system could begin with schools, which nationwide spend about $3 billion on food contracts.

 

Labor, Unions & Coops

  • Your Halloween Candy’s Hidden Ingredient: Child Slave Labor (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2DdIjYS                                          Chocolate makers say they’re tackling the problem, but progress is scant.
  • Arkansas and Missouri Approve Minimum Wage Increases (Truthout) https://bit.ly/2SX5vA7
    • The Fairness Project https://bit.ly/2RJ3QwB                              Also: Massachusetts Passed $15 minimum wage            Michigan passed Paid Sick Leave                                                            San Antonio, TX passed Paid Sick Leave
  • Dozens of Farmers Continue to Harvest Despite Proximity of (California) Fires (NBC Los Angeles) https://bit.ly/2Q0xkZH
  • New Department of Labor Numbers Show Farmers Are Increasingly Turning to this Controversial Visa Program (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2zChOJm                                                             Positions certified for the H-2A visa are up 21 percent over last year.

 

Pollinators

  • Hemp fields offer a late-season pollen source for stressed bees (Science News) https://bit.ly/2A8iuGA                                                   Low-THC cannabis attracts a wide range of bee species collecting for larvae

 

Animals

  • Meet Winston: America’s First Certified Therapeutic Rooster (Modern Farmer) https://bit.ly/2FtHRsg                                               From the moment he dons his red bandana, he’s ready to comfort people in pain. Just how good is Winston? Good Enough to have earned a testimonial letter from the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic.
  • Three month after jury awarded millions in hog-waste lawsuit, trial begins in another case (The News and Observer) https://bit.ly/2PuDS3m
    • Odor, flies and noise. Hog farming goes on trial again with high-stakes federal lawsuit. (The News and Observer) https://bit.ly/2PWwe1a                                                                                    A high-stakes, month-long trail against the world’s largest pork producer () began in Raleigh…
  • As cruel industrial pig farming persists in the EU, one million citizens demand change (Euractiv) https://bit.ly/2zQygH8

 

Business, Social Enterprise & Our Economy

  • From field to city: Are direct deliveries a viable business model for farmers? (Euractiv) https://bit.ly/2QDD3C3
  • The Beverage Industry Has Figured Out a Legal End Run Around Soda Taxes (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2qAaz0B                                 It worked in the state o Washington on Tuesday.
  • Chocolate giant Cadbury ‘still pushing orangutans towards extinction by wrecking habitat for palm oil’ (Independent) https://ind.pn/2zRhAOI
    • These everyday household products all contain unsustainable palm oil (Hastings & St. Leonards Observer) https://bit.ly/2qRJmq6
  • Why Co-ops and Community Farms Can’t Close the Racial Wealth Gap (Yes!) https://bit.ly/2DeV31w                              Circulating local dollars can’t create wealth when there’s not enough to begin with.
  • Trump’s tax cuts will help the Walton family more than Walmart workers (Market Watch) https://on.mktw.net/2PtdHdq                     A study suggests there’s a world of difference between the tax benefits enjoy by these workers and their employers
  • Walton Wealth: An Analysis of the Last 16 Years of Corporate Dividend Tax Breaks for the Riches Family in the US (Making Change At Walmart, UFCW) https://bit.ly/2PqrjGl
  • 1,100 economists warn that Trump is repeating one of the biggest mistakes of the Great Depression (Business Insider) https://read.bi/2Kgk79W

 

Water & Our Oceans

  • Fifty Towns in Connecticut Have Now Banned Fracking Waste (Food and Water Watch) https://bit.ly/2JZORvM                           More wins for an inspiring grassroots movement to protect community health
  • US shale firms offer $100 million to aid Texas, New Mexico (Reuters) https://reut.rs/2Dvviub                                                               And what of the environmental damage?
  • Hormone-Disrupting Weed Killer Taints Tap Water for Millions in Corn Belt (Environmental Working Group) https://bit.ly/2KhRVn0
    • A Valuable Reputation (The New Yorker) https://bit.ly/2QWq7aj                                                                              After Tyrone Hayes said that a chemical was harmful, its marker pursued him.
  • Breathing Toxins For My Birthday (Food and Water Watch) https://bit.ly/2DABgKZ                                                                                       Red tide has been impacting the Western coast of Florida or months in horrifying ways

 

 

 

 

Government, Regulation, Policy & Farm Bill

  • Trump has only distributed a fraction of promised bailout funds for farmers hurt by tariffs (Think Progress) https://bit.ly/2Bk8bBm                                                                                      Less than $900 million of $12 billion bailout program has actually been given to US producers.
  • Chinese – owned pork producer to get money from (US tariff) bailout program spurred by China’s tariffs (The Washington Post) https://wapo.st/2AVhCGT
  • Scientists warned this weed killer (Dicamba) would destroy crops. EPA approved it anyway (Reveal News) https://bit.ly/2Q1Vq6q
  • EPA Plans to Allow Unlimited Dumping of Fracking Wastewater in the Gulf of Mexico (Truthout) https://bit.ly/2QQCd4j
  • USDA won’t name turkey plants, despite 164 illnesses and 1 death (Food Safety News) https://bit.ly/2DCV00J                                 It appears that the USDA has finally released the source organizations…
  • Almost 46 tons of raw ground turkey recalled for link to Salmonella Reading outbreak (Food Safety News) https://bit.ly/2DJBX4H
  • Report: EPA Unable to Assess the Impact of Hundreds of Unregulated Pollutants in Land Applied Biosolids on Human Health and the Environment (EPA) https://bit.ly/2QdwMA4
    • EPA Watchdog Questions Safety of Sewage Used as Fertilizer (Bloomberg) https://bit.ly/2zjko7Q                                                     This issue is still not settled after the San Francisco Organic Biosolids fiasco in 2010?
  • USDA sued for not requiring verification for ‘humane’ labeling (Food Safety News) https://bit.ly/2DoKMjn
  • California is banning the sale of eggs from caged hens (World economic Forum) https://bit.ly/2qCmqLl
    • California Votes To Ban Cages For Hens, Give Farm Animals More Room (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2PIaia0   Proposition 12 may change the way farms nationwide treat their chickens, pigs and calves.
  • California pesticide regulators recommend new chlorpyrifos restrictions (The Californian) https://bit.ly/2Dxpv76
  • Republicans Are Making A Deal On Food Stamps And Farm Subsidies (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2DJ4QhB                      With Democrats taking over the House, Republicans are eager to pass the farm bill.

 

GMOs, CRISPR, Cloning & Synthetic Biology

  • Genetically Engineered American Chestnut Tree Called ‘Trojan Horse’ at Opening Door to Commercialize GE Trees (Stop GE Trees) https://bit.ly/2KbPWAw
  • Is The Pentagon Modifying Viruses To Save Crops – Or To Wage Biological Warfare? (NPR) https://n.pr/2zC2610

 

Food Science, Technology & Nanotechnology

 

Poisons

  • Industry studies show evidence of bias and misleading conclusions on widely used insecticide: Scientists (Environmental Health News) https://bit.ly/2zlfSWl                                                          Data just doesn’t add up behind industry conclusions on chlorpyfrifos – a controversial insecticide linked to brain impacts for children.

 

GrowCalgary Blog Posts

Jenny’s Food & Ag Update November 4, 2018

 

  • How activists forced FDA to blacklist “carcinogenic” flavor chemicals the agency says are safe (The New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2J9s0NS
  • ‘’It’s not fair, not right’: how America treats its black farmers (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2P5ZmU2                                                  Sugarcane farmers can’t survive without large crop loans. For the Provosts, who say they suffered decades of discrimination, this could be the end of the line
  • Lab-Grown Meat Debate Overlooks Cows’ Range of Use Worldwide (EcoWatch) https://bit.ly/2qlbXEh                                          A battle royale is brewing over what to call animal cells grown in cell culture for food. Should it be in-vitro meat, cellular meat, cultured meat or fermented meat?
  • Mystic Cheese: Modular Shipping Containers Are Being Repurposed for Food Production (EcoWatch) https://bit.ly/2ENIigL
  • Soy destruction in Argentina leads straight to our dinner plates (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2DcZ9Is                                        Argentina’s Gran Chaco forest is being razed for soya, ending up in Europe as animal feed, and on our plates. It’s the backbone of Argentina’s fragile economy, but has come at a price for the indigenous people who live there
  • Bring the wild back into farmlands to protect diversity,, researchers say (UC Berkeley News) https://bit.ly/2DlJ1nP

 

Farmers, Farming, Ranching, Herding, Fishing & Production

  • Planning for the Future (Alta) https://bit.ly/2JgmRDS                      The pioneers of the organic farming movement are aging out. What will happen to their lovingly tended farms?
  • Fewer consumers opting for that weekly box of veggies, so local farmers are struggling to survive Chicago Tribune) https://trib.in/2EVknMn
  • (Canadian) MPs who farm: How a committee’s mental-health study is hitting close to home (iPolitics) https://bit.ly/2zc5D60
  • ‘We’ll have space bots with lasers, killing plants’: the rise of the robot farmer (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2R5ZlvN
  • Caught Between Trump’s Tariffs and Tax Changes, Soybean Farmers Face Uncertain Future (NPR) https://n.pr/2Da4y2G
  • We Feed the World: Meet the Australian farmer who created the pasture cropping movement (Independent) https://ind.pn/2CtSMiJ                                                                                     After a brushfire devastated 2,000 acres of his land, Colin Seis was forced to rethink how he farmed. What he came up with radicalized farming techniques for the better.

 

Climate

  • Politicians say nothing, but US farmers are increasingly terrified by it – climate change (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2P81E4
  • The unseen driver behind the migrant caravan: climate change (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2OVu5mG
    • ‘Every Day You Become More Desperate’ (Food & Environment Reporting Network) https://bit.ly/2Px9PXY    Extreme weather in Central America’s Dry Corridor is forcing farmers to make the hardest decision
  • How Will California’s Climate Ambitions Reshape Food and Agriculture? (Civic Eats) https://bit.ly/2EaQ584                                  Some experts say Governor Jerry Brown’s pledge for a zero-emissions state by 2045 won’t be possible without rethinking the entire industry.
  • Insect collapse study ‘one of the most disturbing articles I have ever read,’ expert warns (Think Progress) https://bit.ly/2PbEdqO  Just 3.6% warming has wiped out up to 98% of rainforest insects.
  • Study: Climate-drive declines in arthropod abundance restructure a rainforest food web (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA) https://bit.ly/2NJAZ91

 

Food Culture & History

  • Gentrification, vegans, and the death of historic London pie shops (The Conversation) https://bit.ly/2OPB3Zy

 

Hunger, Food Access & Security, Obesity, Malnutrition & Nutrition

  • Yemen facing the ‘world’s worst famine in 100 years’ if fighting does not stop, warns the UN (Independent) https://ind.pn/2EEJqn1                                                                                        The UN’s coordinator for Yemen warns 13 million people could die from starvation if fighting continues in the country, where a famine is likely to be officially declared in weeks
  • Study: Weeds Growing in Poor, Inner City Neighborhoods are More Nutritious than Store-Bought Produce (Return to Now) https://bit.ly/2Akuje3
    • Study: Open-Source Food: Nutrition, Toxicology, and Availability of Wild Edible Greens in the East Bay (bioRXiv) https://bit.ly/2ynM8rm
  • Vegetables Lose Up to Half Their Nutrients By the Time They’re Shipped to the store: Another Reason to Grow Your Own (Return to Now) https://bit.ly/2OHd4wu
    • Review: Nutritional comparison of fresh, frozen, and canned fruits and vegetables II. Vitamin A and carotenoids, vitamin E minerals and fiber (Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture) https://bit.ly/2yXc8cM
    • Storage time and temperature effects nutrients in spinach (Penn State) https://bit.ly/2JdpsOT
  • Not Enough Fruits, Vegetables Grown to Feed the Planet, University of Guelph Study Reveals (University of Guelph) https://bit.ly/2AKAUin
    • Study: When too much isn’t enough: Does current food production meet global nutritional needs? (Plos) https://bit.ly/2CEaEHy

 

Gleaning, Foraging, Reuse, Recycling, Composting & Waste

  • A Billion Pounds of Pumpkins End Up In Landfills Each Year, Here’s How to Make Halloween More Eco-Friendly (Return To Now) https://bit.ly/2pUSsCa                                                                              My pumpkins go to a friend with chickens…

 

Healthy Food & Food Safety

  • A new study says organic food cuts cancer risk by 25 percent. Take that with a massive grain of salt (The New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2PRmxOh
  • How A Michelin-Caliber Chef Is Reinventing Hospital Food (The Independent) https://ind.pn/2CxCRQf                                                          In a hospital kitchen in Berlin, chef Patrick Wodni has been overhauling its supply chain, from making his own cheese to sourcing great local producers, all with the goal of making nutritious food for patients
  • Tests Reveal More Weed Killer Than Some Vitamins in Kids’ Cereals (Environmental Working Group) https://bit.ly/2JCv2ul
  • Recall hits millions of pounds of food from Harris Teeter, 7-Eleven, Kroger and more (USA Today) https://bit.ly/2EMQT3c
    • Massive Nationwide Food Recall Could Affect ‘Tens of Thousands of People” (EcoWatch) https://bit.ly/2q9Bpwi

 

Food Fraud, Scandals, Weird & Funny

  • Plight of the Honeybees: Almond growers in the Central Valley have a problem: Crooks keep purloining their pollinators (Alta) https://bit.ly/2q7GXYg
  • Nebraska Farmers Caught, as Part of a Wider Conspiracy, Selling GMO Grain as Organic (The Cornucopia Institute) https://bit.ly/2z7V7wo
  • Restaurant Owner Murders Man, Serves His Remains to Vegetarian Diners, Get Instantly Found Out (Newsweek) https://bit.ly/2JuxBhM
  • Food Fight! Why Punk Bands Are Rallying to Save a Grocery Store (City Lab) https://bit.ly/2D42V6L                                                            A DC neighborhood is trying to save a small grocery store and stop a rumored CVS takeover, in a very DC way.

 

Children & School Food

  • What Domino’s Pizza in the Cafeteria Says About the State of School Food Reform (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2OhgKos      Advocates say reformulated junk foods confuse children, but when margins are slim, administrators rely on the income.

 

Labor, Unions & Coops

  • The Modern Slavery Bill is a start, but it won’t guarantee us sweeter chocolate (The Conversation) https://bit.ly/2P9hOdP
  • Edinburgh Michelin Star Chef Introduces Four-Day Week To ‘Fuel the team’s creative flare’ (Independent) https://ind.pn/2R3K2DM
  • Our food system is built on exploitation. Now farmworkers are saying “no more” (Salon) https://bit.ly/2RiocwG              Undocumented farmworkers in Washington have won historic labor victories in recent years
  • Brining in backpackers is not the right way to get more workers on to farms (The Conversation) https://bit.ly/2NRoPLt
  • US prisoners’ strike is reminder how commonplace inmate labor is – and that it may run afoul of the law (The Conversation) https://bit.ly/2CW71hc
  • Two amputations a week: the cost of working in a US meat plant (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2MPcxD9                                                        As unions warn of serious injuries, plans to take speed limits off the line at pig plants are causing anxiety

 

Animals

  • Despite what you might think, chickens are not stupid (BBC) https://bbc.in/2yt7BiQ                                                                                Chickens have a reputation for being profoundly dumb, but in fact they are remarkably intelligent and may even be empathic
  • Health officials ‘very worried’ as African Swine Fever spreads in Europe and Asia (CNN) https://cnn.it/2xTIKEg
    • China culls 200,000 pigs due to African swine fever – official (Reuters) https://reut.rs/2J6NpHl
    • USDA suspends pork imports from Poland in ASF defense (National Hog Farmer) https://bit.ly/2Ev3LuO                                The USDA says the goal of the review is to ensure consistency with the stringent, longstanding safeguards in place that protect US animal health from African Swine Fever
  • EU plan to reduce checks on chickens ‘will increase food poisoning risk’ (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2qdGLXb                  Some experts say scaling down inspections is likely to lead to more consumers being infected with campylobacter
  • Scottish government identifies case of mad cow disease (Reuters) https://reut.rs/2NQjkwD                                                                                    The restaurant owner believes that a four-day week will benefit the work-life balance of his employees
  • ‘Horrific’ footage reveals fish suffocating to death on industrial farms in Italy (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2PJNEuN

 

Business, Social Enterprise & Our Economy

  • Millennials are killing chains like Buffalo Wild Wings and Applebee’s (Business Insider) https://read.bi/2AKzJiU
  • Lucky Supermarkets, Launches Educational Plant-Based Food Program in California (One Green Planet) https://bit.ly/2PYLO9c
  • It’s not regulations, it’s retailers you should worry about (Beef Magazine) https://bit.ly/2AnZ4yP                                                    Consumers may demand food retailers crack down on antibiotic use. What does this mean for beef producers?
  • My fight for justice goes on (San Francisco Chronicle) https://bit.ly/2SpGWf2
    • Monsanto trial: judge rejects bid to overturn landmark cancer verdict (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2q72ZKp                    Dewayne Johnson originally won $289m after finding Roundup weedkiller caused illness, but judge reduces financial award
  • ‘We did the right thing’: jurors urge judge to uphold Monsanto cancer ruling (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2pZqXr5
  • While Nestle extracts millions of liters from their land, residents have no drinking water (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2zRXdlH    Just 90 minutes fro Toronto, residents of a First Nation community try to improve the water situation as the beverage company extracts from their land
  • Pilotworks food incubator closes suddenly, leaving 175 companies kitchenless (The New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2R7srv3
  • Racial Wealth Gap Much Smaller Among Union Members (Forbes) https://bit.ly/2JctRkX
    • Americans Want to Believe Jobs Are the Solution to Poverty. They’re Not. (NYT) https://nyti.ms/2ReYhFZ                                        US unemployment is down and jobs are going unfilled. But for people without much education, the real question is: Do those jobs pay enough to live on?
  • Researchers Who Said Raising Minimum Wage Was Bad For Workers Now Say It’s Good, Actually (Splinter) https://bit.ly/2O5NRqs
    • Study: Minimum Wage Increases and Individual Employment Trajectories (University of Washington) https://bit.ly/2yz2XQm

 

Water & Our Oceans

  • In Echo of Flint, Michigan, Water Crisis Now Hits Newark (NYT) https://nyti.ms/2AE9Lxz                                                                                        For nearly a year and a half, top officials in Newark denied that their water system had a widespread lead problem, despite ample evidence that the city was facing a public health crisis…
  • Meat-free diets could cut out ‘water footprint’ in half, say scientists (The Conversation) https://bit.ly/2NH1K1Y
  • Eighty tons of illegal Bluefin tuna pose a threat to sustainable fisheries and human health (Phys.org) https://bit.ly/2yOcYIs
  • California’s Underwater Forests Are Being Eaten by the ‘Cockroaches of the Ocean (NYT) https://nyti.ms/2yylfRP
  • Scientists make incredible discovery on unexplored seafloor off Big Sur. (Monterey County Weekly) https://bit.ly/2yEOwu9

 

Government, Regulation, Policy & Farm Bill

  • ‘Hugely Important Breakthrough for Human and Animal Health’ as EU Approves Antibiotic Restrictions for Livestock to Battle Superbugs (Common Dreams) https://bit.ly/2AwfANr          “Antibiotic resistance is a real sword of Damocles, threatening to send our health care system back to the Middle Ages.”
  • European parliament approves sweeping ban on single-use plastics (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2PjmYnE                            Proposal passed 571-53, with Labour MEPs demanding UK mirror EU action after Brexit
  • Trump Admin’s Axing Of Plan To Reduce Creatures Killed In Gillnets Ruled Illegal (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2JjlfZP              A judge ruled illegal the axing of a plan to limit the number of marine creatures allowed to be killed by drift gillnets used to catch swordfish off California.
  • Trump’s trade war took a stunning bit out of the US economy, and it’s the strongest evidence yet that he’s shooting himself in the foot (Business Insider) https://read.bi/2EXfWB4
    • Trump tariffs lead to bleak 2019 farm forecasts (Politico) https://politi.co/2DciJnW
    • Tariff Troubles: Ohio Farmers Have Lots Of Crops But Nowhere To Sell Them (WOSU) https://bit.ly/2z9cixB
    • Tariffs, China and American Ginseng: A Case Study in Wisconsin (Modern Farmer) https://bit.ly/2Sg1xT3                    Marathon County is ground zero for the American ginseng industry, growing 98 percent of the country’s crop. But that may be in jeopardy if buyers start to walk away from deals in response to Chinese import tariffs.
  • California’s dairy farmers were struggling to regain profitability. Then came the trade wars (LA Times) https://lat.ms/2AxlJci
  • China slashed its imports of US sorghum, soybean, and corn in September (NBC News) https://nbcnews.to/2QdIw28                  China imported 80 percent less US sorghum in September and upped its Brazilian imports soybeans by 28 percent.
  • Chinese-owned company qualifies for Trump’s anti-China farm bailout (The Washington Post) https://wapo.st/2CC2O1c
  • Trump picks former Monsanto executive to lead US Fish and Wildlife Service (Think Progress) https://bit.ly/2OJOACM
  • Rural jails, brought to you by the US Department of Agriculture (Think Progress) https://bit.ly/2EJCvZH                                                     The federal farm boys are getting into the beds-with-bars business.
  • Farm Aid for the Big House (Vera) https://bit.ly/2PngKCV           Over the last two decades, the USDA has been funding jail construction through a program designed to finance infrastructure like emergency services, hospitals, fire station, and community centers…

 

GMOs, CRISPR, Cloning & Synthetic Biology

  • Study: Glyphosate is lethal and Cry toxins (Bt) alter the development of the stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata (Research Gate) https://bit.ly/2zdOuJ6
  • Commission asks EFSA for urgent assessment of allergenicity of GM crop Bt toxin (GM Watch) https://bit.ly/2COK3Yw
  • TGE-resistant pigs developed through gene editing (National Hog Farmer) https://bit.ly/2R333Gz                                                          Researchers at the University of Missouri have successfully produced a litter of pigs that are genetically resistant to Transmissible gastroednteritis virus (TGEV)…
  • Organic farming with gene editing: An oxymoron or a toll for sustainable agriculture? (The Conversation) https://bit.ly/2PwchdY

 

Poisons

  • Pesticides and suicide prevention – why research needs to be put into practice (The Conversation) https://bit.ly/2pZLZ91
  • Bombshell New Study Calls For Ban On Pesticide Family Tied To Brain Damage In Kids (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2yAfTVU      For pregnant women, there is no safe level of exposure to organophosphate pesticides.
  • Entire Pesticide Class Must Be Banned to Save Children’s Health, Landmark Study Says (EcoWatch) https://bit.ly/2Rhw0P9
  • Ban entire pesticide class to protect children’s health, experts say (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2OQORnH
  • Study: Organophosphate exposures during pregnancy and child neurodevelopment Recommendations for essential policy reforms (PLOS) https://bit.ly/2JgeFn9
  • Prenatal exposure to phthalates linked to language delays in children, study says (CNN) https://cnn.it/2OdVUl4

 

GrowCalgary Blog Posts

Jenny’s Food & Ag Update, October 20, 2018

 

 

  • Tacoma man grows organic food to give away for free (King5) https://kng5.tv/2OLXA9J                                                                                          A Tacoma man sets out a table in front of his house with free organic produce that he grows in his backyard. He aims to fill a need in his neighborhood and build community at the same time.
  • What if there was a prize for food sovereignty? (The New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2pYtCBi                                                                There is – and it’s an emerging alternative to the far better known, lucrative, and contentious World Food Prize.
  • The Promise and Peril of Mexico’s Wine Revolution (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2AbjdYJ                                                                          Baja’s Valle de Guadalupe is booming – worrying some its residents.
  • America Isn’t Ready for the lanternfly Invasion (Bloomberg) https://bloom.bg/2DQ4pTv                                                                                      A bizarre pest from Asia is spreading fast putting billions of dollars’ worth of resources at risk.
  • Will Americans Embrace A Zeal For Eel? This Maine Entrepreneur Hopes So (NPR) https://n.pr/2PA178h                    North America’s rivers were once filled with eel, but we ate so many they are now endangered and therefore protected
  • American Eels: Restoring a Vanishing Resource in the Gulf of Maine (Gulf of Maine Council) https://bit.ly/2CsXPQh
  • Goat Meat Could Save Our Food System, But We’re Too Afraid To Eat It (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2CAtwIy                                        Not only is goat often referred to as the healthiest of red meats, but It’s good for the planet, too. And, yes, it actually tastes good.
  • Good News For ‘Green’ Brews: Consumers Say They’ll Pay More For Sustainable Beer (NPR) https://n.pr/2yilRut
  • Samin Nostrat Wants Everybody to Cook (The Atlantic) https://bit.ly/2QNuCDC                                                                                      The Bay Area chef believes that great food can be both beautiful and accessible. Her new Netflix series, based on her celebrated cookbook Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, might just help her deliver that message
  • Flood carries a piece of the Mountain Valley Pipeline into the hands of opposing land (farmer) owner (The Roanoke Times) https://bit.ly/2NFN7It
  • Slaughter-Free Meat Is An Answer To Our Cruel And Broken Food System (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2PH63rZ
  • Urban Farming organization Visualizes a Franchise Model to Produce Fresh Fish and Vegetables (EcoWatch) https://bit.ly/2NDLGdv
  • Coffee Rust Threatens Latin American Crop: 150 Years Ago, It Wiped Out An Empire (NPR) https://n.pr/2ykFDFA

 

Farmers, Farming, Ranching, Herding, Fishing & Production

  • The Potato Whisperer (Atlas Obscura) https://bit.ly/2zZMTIr        Manuel Choqque Bravos delicious, colorful creations adored by world class chefs.
  • As Trump Demonizes Immigrants, These US Farmers Aren’t Having it (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2PBoCxL                Immigrant workers perform grueling jobs that many Americans won’t do. And Farmers know it. A Wisconsin program builds a deeper understanding between them.

 

Land and Soil

  • US boasts 6.5 million acres o organic certified land with 460 new operations in 2018 (Ag Update) https://bit.ly/2OxUZB0

 

Climate

  • We Feed the World: photo stories of farmers fighting climate change in five continents (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2NyIVtQ
    • ‘Crisis is a way of life’” helping farmers cope with devastating climate change (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2dRVtft
  • To Address the Climate Crisis, We Must Completely Rethink How We Produce and Consume Food (In These Times) https://bit.ly/2NKEQTg                                                                                Market-driven solutions won’t cut it.
  • Agroecology as a Tool of Sovereignty and Resilience in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2OEvsGs      Two member of Organización Boricuá, which recently won the Food Sovereignty Prize, discuss lessons learned from organizing on the front lines of climate change.
  • The Giant Corporations Behind Your Burgers And Milk Have A Terrifying Climate Secret (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2CFmguO                                                                                Together, five companies have a climate footprint bigger than Exxon, Shell or BP, but we don’t talk about it.
  • Bye-Bye, Beer? Brewers Say They’ve Got a Plan On Climate Change (NPR) https://n.pr/2Ah9Bfi
    • Beer Prices Could Double Because Of Climate Change, Study Says (NPR) https://n.pr/2pVVbLr
    • Study: Decreases in global beer supply due to extreme drought and heat (Nature) https://go.nature.com/2yJ0jqh
    • Trouble brewing: climate change to cause ‘dramatic’ beer shortages (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2P1D3hr                      Extreme weather damage to the global barley crop will mean prices spike and supply problems, according to new research
  • Extreme weather could trigger a global beer shortage that causes prices to skyrocket worldwide (San Francisco Chronicle) https://bit.ly/2J6DSQV
  • A Shortage of Beer and Fries? Climate Change Hits Europe Where It Hurts (EcoWatch) https://bit.ly/2A98vSP
  • Wineries and vineyards clash over how to handle grapes affected by wildfire smoke (San Francisco Chronicle) https://bit.ly/2y7uTKQ

 

Seeds & Cultivars

  • Scientists thought they had created the perfect tree. But it became a nightmare. (Seattle Times) https://bit.ly/2IQmmQB
  • This Seed Bank Preserves Biodiversity by Opening Its Doors to Farmers (Gastro Obscura) https://bit.ly/2Aev6xa                                  The Ethiopian institution pioneered a new model.

 

Food Culture & History

  • How the Navajo Nation Is Reclaiming Food Sovereignty (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2OwKLRl                                                                    Through cooking classes, outreach, and social media, a new generation of Native Americans are reconnecting to Indigenous foodways.
  • Canada’s Wild Salmon Caravan Connects Future Of Fish And Indigenous People (NPR) https://n.pr/2QNdL3N
  • Fire and Agroforestry Are Reviving Traditional Native Foods and Communities (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2QJnWGD                                  In Northern California, the Karuk and Yurok tries are burning away decades of forest management practices and revitalizing their foodways and communities.
  • The Chile Pepper Rivalry Heats Up Between New Mexico’s Hatch And Colorado’ Pueblo (NPR) https://n.pr/2IF5SL8
  • Ancient Maya: Astronomers, Farmers… And Salt Entrepreneurs? (NPR) https://n.pr/2C5tyXM
    • Research Report: Salt and marine products in the Classic Maya economy from use-wear study of stone tools (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA) https://bit.ly/2IXUl9N
  • How a Uruguayan Meat Factory Became Iconic Worldwide (Atlas Obscura) https://bit.ly/2AdSj2t                                                                          The former factory is now a UNESCO world heritage site.

 

Hunger, Food Access & Security, Obesity, Malnutrition & Nutrition

  • Food Banks Reap Unexpected Bounty From Trade Disputes (The Wall Street Journal) https://on.wsj.com/2Nq5d0A                                  US government set to deliver $1.2 billion in products bought from farmers as tariff relief
  • Connecting the dots: The trade war with China and feeding America’s poor (Food Politics by Marion Nestle) https://bit.ly/2CkI4Lm
  • Sloppy science bears substantial blame for Americans’ bad eating habits (LA Times) https://lat.ms/2pIjnAX
    • Brian Wansink, the Cornell Professor Known or His Fun Food Research, Retires Amid Scandal (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2pQEJMD                                                                        Accused of misconduct, he stands by the integrity of his work.

 

Gleaning, Foraging, Reuse, Recycling, Composting & Waste

 

Healthy, Food Safety

  • Should Canadians Be Worried About American Milk Quality? (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2EjWH42                                                    A dairy expert weighs in on commons misconceptions in the wake of USMCA.
  • Maseca Corn Flours Test Positive for Toxic Residues of Monsanto Weedkiller (OCA) https://bit.ly/2OSeuUj                                        Leading international brand also tests positive for genetically modified organisms, despite marketing claims of ‘100 percent natural.’
  • Is LaCroix Safe? Yes. Natural? That’s Complicated (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2Ostclc                                                                                                    A new lawsuit underscores the ambiguity of food labels.
  • Pret A Manager Says Second Person Died After Allergic Reaction To Sandwich (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2Nt49cA                            The news of the death follows a British coroner’s ruling that the sandwich chain’s product labeling is inadequate.
  • Walmart, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s are recalling thousands of pounds of ready-to-eat salads (Business Insider) https://read.bi/2OxIR31                                                                                      Here we go again, this is the second recall since August 1, 2018: Health alert issued for salad s, wraps from Kroger, Trader Joe’s, Walgreens due to parasite concern (CNN) https://cnn.it/2LEK8nn

 

Food Fraud, Scandals, Weird & Funny

  • This Cornell Food Researcher Has Had 13 Papers Retracted. How Were They Published in the First Place? (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2ynpGhq
  • In Germany, an Entire Vineyard of Grapes Has Gone Missing (Gastro Obscura) https://bit.ly/2Cs0URt                                                Police suspect a rival grape-grower got a little jelly.
  • A Museum Dedicated To Disgusting Food Is Opening In Sweden (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2O9Jtvk                                                From century eggs to maggot-infested cheese, this museum is home to 80 of the world’s most disgusting foods.

 

Labor, Unions & Coops

  • “Papá, I don’t think you should go to work today.” (The California Sunday Magazine) https://bit.ly/2Ro3BIj                                                  The dread and hope of migrant farmers and families
  • Farmworkers face illness and death in the fields (High Country News) https://bit.ly/2PmmFFw                                                                      ‘The reality is that the machinery of growers is taken better care of than the lives of farmworkers.’
  • ‘Crops go unharvested and animals go uncared for. ‘ Concerns about Washington farmworker shortages grow (Seattle Times) https://bit.ly/2vFPAf1
  • 1,000 unfilled jobs forcing meatpackers to sweeten benefits pot (Ag Update) https://bit.ly/2CoPhtY                                                                  On any given Monday, America’s biggest supplier of ground beef has 1,000 jobs unfilled, pushing Cargill Inc. to aggressively sweeten the pot on benefits to retain existing workers and hire new ones…
  • Sun-Maid strike ends with new contract (Hanford Sentinel) https://bit.ly/2ygR15E                                                                                              … more than 500 Sun-Maid workers went on strike for two weeks…
  • As Midterms Approach, Fast Food Workers Plans Strikes in Battleground States (Truthout) https://bit.ly/2QDRmpF
  • The Food Industry Has Been Notoriously Hard To Organize. Could These Tactics Bring It New Life? (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2OhVLSz                                                                                      These organizing tactics aren’t traditional, but they are helping unions make some headway in the food and drink industry.
  • A Boos for the Worker-Owned Economy (Yes!) https://bit.ly/2y1tEgn                                                                                                  A new measure will make it easier for retiring owners to sell their businesses to employees – and save jobs into the bargain.

 

Pollinators

  • A New Study Shows How Mushrooms Could Save Bees. Yes, Mushrooms. (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2PbJ8Vu                                “If we could knock down viruses in honey bee colonies, it could lead to greater health in other pollinators.”

 

Animals

  • Will California finally get the cage-free bill they’ve been seeking? (The New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2RC7fOR                                     A decade after Proposition 2 passed, voters want firm, clear parameters on how much space to allow farm animals.
  • California’s Latest Push for Cage-Free Eggs (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2P64A1h                                                                                          A new ballot initiative seeks to expand upon a 2008 law that didn’t go as far as many hoped.
  • Calves in Confinement (The Intercept) https://bit.ly/2Pmmc61   Gruesome footage of dairy calves exposes a gaping loophole in California’s landmark animal welfare law.
  • Police Arrest 58 Activists After Factory Conditions Exposed at ‘Free Range’ Perdue Supplier (Common Dreams) https://bit.ly/2IU4YdF

 

Business, Social Enterprise & Our Economy

  • Aspiring Maine credit union wants to lend exclusively to farms, food producers (Bangor Daily News) https://bit.ly/2Erl1kG
  • Long Meadow Ranch Takes a Full-Circle Approach to Farming in Wine Country (KQED) https://bit.ly/2A2ocuL                                Visitors to St. Helena, Napa Valley’s chic epicenter, frequently stop at the Farmstead, a restaurant, café, farmstand, and general store know for seasonal, locally grown, and organic fair…
  • Soda Companies Are Waging A Cynical War On ‘Grocery Taxes’ (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2q2Ds53                                      Corporate-backed campaigns to on sugary beverage taxes are misleading voters.
  • StarKist Faces $100 Million Fine For Fixing Tuna Prices (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2PIzQk7                                      Prosecutors allege that the industry’s top three companies conspired between 2010 and 2013 to keep prices artificially high.
  • Scotland’s $2 Billion (farmed) Salmon Industry Is Thriving – But At What Cost? (NPR) https://n.pr/2AeE0uJ
    • Report: Review of the Environmental Impacts of Salmon Farming in Scotland (Scottish Association for Marine Science) https://bit.ly/2BNnkYS
  • No Cash Needed At This Café. Students Pay The Tab With Their Personal Data (NPR) https://n.pr/2zDXatI
  • People of color have the highest obesity rates in the US. Food marketing is part of the problem (Vox) https://bit.ly/2NO4BHd        University of San Diego marketing professor Aarti Ivanic discusses how race and food marketing intersect.
  • 28 Pie Charts That Show Female Representation in Food (Eater) https://bit.ly/2zdOhEF                                                                                          How far have we come since “The Gods of Food”?
  • The World’s 50 Best List Will at Least Try to Include Women in 2019 (Eater) https://bit.ly/2M8QFC4                                                          The awards’ voting academy will gender-balanced in 2019, but the organization will keep its controversial “best female chef” award
  • How lobbyists for Monsanto led a ‘grassroots farmers’ movement against an EU glyphosate ban (Greenpeace) https://bit.ly/2CS3HUw
  • ‘The world is against them’: new era of cancer lawsuits threaten Monsanto (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2OfzQvh
    • Lawyers: CRT Corrections of Glyphosate Review Only Tells Half the story (Baum Hedlund Aristei Goldman) https://bit.ly/2yy3tx5
  • Texas companies paid $654M more in tariffs this summer than the last amidst Trump’s trade war (The Dallas Morning News) https://bit.ly/2P9XwRo

 

Food Fraud, Scandals & Weird

  • California’s almond harvest has created a golden opportunity for bee thieves (Reveal) https://bit.ly/2QBJyou

 

Water & Our Oceans

  • When In Drought: States Take On Urgent Negotiations To avoid Colorado River Crisis (NPR) https://n.pr/2NENnY0
  • Latest: Tribes gain more leverage over Western water (High Country News) https://bit.ly/2CNP7gM                                                          A recent ruling could settle the unresolved ground water rights of early 240 tribes.
  • Fracking is destroying US water supply, warns shocking new study (Think Progress) https://bit.ly/2O9LLKW
    • Study: The intensification of the water footprint of hydraulic fracturing (Science Advances) https://bit.ly/2PcuXis
  • Why 1 million Californians lack safe drinking water (High Country News) https://bit.ly/2PCXIp9                                                  Rural, cash-strapped communities don’t have the means to treat contaminated water.
  • Oysters On The Half Shell Are Actually Saving New York’s Eroding Harbor (NPR) https://n.pr/2ybbSXJ
  • Plastic Pollution Has Increased A Hundredfold In The South Atlantic (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2NMxPBG                        “This is a very big wake-up call.”

 

Government, Regulation, Policy & Farm Bill

  • Trump signs ‘Save Our Seas Act’ to boost clean-up efforts in world’s oceans (UPI) https://bit.ly/2QX6AWY
  • ‘So much water.’ Trump moves to slash environmental rules on Delta, putting farms before fish (Sacramento Bee) https://bit.ly/2AjfEQm
  • How an Algorithm Kicks Small Businesses Out of the Food Stamps Program on Dubious Fraud Charges (The Intercept) https://bit.ly/2IIZemV
  • Trump tells May to abandon ‘unjustified’ food (safety) standards for Brexit trade deal (Business Insider) https://read.bi/2Ou9fL3
    • Insect filled chocolates, rat hair noodles, and maggot orange juice: The reality of a Brexit trade deal with Trump (Business Insider)
  • Trump team makes controversial change to allow chicken plants to operate at faster speeds (The Washington Post) https://wapo.st/2J6CWvS                                                                                  What of worker safety, public health, and animal welfare?
  • San Diego approves ban on polystyrene with grace period for small restaurants (San Diego Union Tribune) https://bit.ly/2Acu30D
  • The Farm Bill Expired – Now What? (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2OZm245                                                                        Republicans and Democrats in the House couldn’t agree on what the bill should include.
  • It’s not just tariffs. The stalled farm bill threatens demand for American food overseas (The New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2CVU5Ic
  • A Change to Farm Bill Conservation Efforts Could Spell Disaster for the Corn Belt (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2QVt2j8                             As lawmakers debate whether or not to merge two crucial farm conservation programs, the future of arm pollution in Iowa – and other Midwestern states – hangs in the balance.
  • GOP plant to get Americans off food stamps puts 4 million children and seniors at risk (Vox) https://bit.ly/2Oq8uCP  Republican work rules will do more harm than good.                  Remember, there is a reason we implemented the food stamp program and it is part of the Farm Bill…

 

GMOs, CRISPR, Cloning & Synthetic Biology

 

Food Science, Technology & Nanotechnology

  • The Future Of Food (Quartz) https://bit.ly/2P3cubG                            A four part series                                                                                                        As global climate change worsens and the population expands, humanity must produce more food in the next 50 years than it has in the past 10,000. Are lab-made meat and automation the key to farming in the future, or must we tend to the soil we already have?
  • Forcing the Farm (etc Group) https://bit.ly/2PIosEQ                      How Gene Drive Organisms Could Entrench Industrial Agriculture and Threaten Food Sovereignty
  • Death by Fertilizer (grist) https://bit.ly/2zLSqSE                          Nitrogen fertilizer is a disaster. Abandoning it would be a bigger disaster. Now a dozen billionaires are funding an alternative.

 

Poisons

  • Glyphosate and dicamba herbicides increase antibiotic resistance in bacteria (GMWatch) https://bit.ly/2yAfSRf                            Antibiotic resistance development in bacteria increased b a factor of up to 100,000 times faster than occurred without the herbicide
  • Study: Agrichemicals and antibiotics in combination increase antibiotic resistance evolution (PeerJ) https://bit.ly/2RN2qSy
  • Nationwide Class Action Lawsuit Targets Dupont, Chemours, 3M, and Other Makers of FPAS Chemicals (The Intercept) https://bit.ly/2C1svrU                                                                                          The Teflon chemicals
  • Despite A Ban, Arkansas Farmers Are Still Spraying Controversial Weedkiller (NPR) https://n.pr/2NzAX3v                                                      … soybeans were damaged in 2017 by dicamba, a popular weedkiller that’s prone to drifting into neighboring fields. Some farmers in the state are defying efforts by regulators to strictly limit use of the chemical.
  • Ancestors’ exposure to DDT may contribute to obesity, study says (LA Times) https://lat.ms/2EjwG52                                          Exposure to the pesticide DDT could be playing a role in high rates of obesity three generations later, new study says.
  • Study: Ancestral dicholorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) exposure promotes epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of obesity (MBC Medicine) https://bit.ly/2NFpMq3

 

GrowCalgary Blog Posts

Jenny’s Food and Ag Update October 8, 2018

 

  • Bayview ‘Growers Market’ provides healthy food options grown by and for the neighborhood (San Francisco Examiner) https://bit.ly/2OjwDtT
  • Willie Nelson’s Farm Aid Stages Its Most Crucial Benefit Concert in a Generation (Billboard) https://bit.ly/2NUx2CC                          “The crisis farmers are in now is even worse than 1985, because there are fewer farms left to lose,” says John Mellencamp, co-founder of Farm Aid. “They have a whole system stacked against them.”
  • What Hurricanes Warn Us About the Future of Food (Medium) https://bit.ly/2OzRBl2                                                                                  Whether from floods or fires or climate change0induced natural disasters, when roads collapse and interstate commerce grinds to a halt, we all find ourselves vulnerably dependent on the food at hand.
  • Wisconsin On Pace To Hit Highest Loss Of Dairy Farms In 4 Years (Wisconsin Public Radio) https://bit.ly/2Mvwr5O                          Fewer dairy herds in Wisconsin due to continued economic pressures
    • Wisconsin dairy farmers, in debt and out of options, turn to GoFundMe for bailout (Journal Sentinel) https://bit.ly/2PSI6xG
  • An Amazing Reaction Happens When a Plant Gets Hurt, Making Them More Similar to Animals (Science Alert) https://bit.ly/2Da3FYW
  • Everyone agrees the country needs new farmers. Trouble is, they can’t afford land (New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2xg6EK8   Nearly 100 million acres of US farmland will change hands in the next few years, but most of it will go to investors and developers. Now, two online tools aim to help a new generation of farmers find land and demystify the cost of owning it.
  • Agriculture Has a Sustainability Problem – and It affects Your Business. Here’s Why (Inc.) https://bit.ly/2NBsJwL                           The way you connect to other companies and industries is a web bigger than you ever imagined.
  • In Farm Country, Grappling With the Taboo of Talking about Climate Change (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2KMLOup                Despite the heated political rhetoric on both sides of the issue, the realities of the changing climate are driving farmers of all stripes to take action.
  • New global study reveals the ‘staggering’ loss of forests caused by industrial agriculture (Science) https://bit.ly/2RosG5B

 

Farmers, Farming, Ranching, Herding, Fishing & Production

  • CSA Farmers Must Navigate Obstacles to Get Fresh Food to NYC’s Low-Income Tables (City Limits) https://bit.ly/2Oqjord
  • North Carolina Produces 60% of the Country’s Sweet Potatoes. The Crop Is in Trouble. (modern farmer) https://bit.ly/2NRxx1i
    • North Carolina supplies the nation’s sweet potatoes. Florence has put this year crop in doubt. (Charlotte Observer) https://bit.ly/2N9Fxpa
  • Racing Against the Harvest, Custom Wheat Cutters Struggle to Stay Relevant (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2R1I9IE                                        For nearly 100 years, itinerant workers known as “Wheaties” have followed the Great Plains wheat trail, cutting ripening grain from south to north. Climate change, global markets, and the depopulation of rural America are now casting doubt on the future of their way of life.

 

Seeds & Cultivars

 

Food Culture & History

  • Luz Calvo Wants to Decolonize Your Plate (East Bay Express) https://bit.ly/2Qaym1M                                                                                      The Oakland resident and ethnic studies professor aims to preserve healing indigenous food traditions through a cookbook and art exhibit.
  • Archaeologists Find Oldest Example of Nutmeg-Spiced Food, Just in Time for Fall (Gizmodo) https://bit.ly/2pDW9M9

 

Hunger, Food Access & Security, Obesity, Malnutrition & Nutrition

  • Calfresh, a ‘lifesaver’ for Bay Area college students struggling to buy groceries (KTVU2) https://bit.ly/2QfiKKm
  • Freezers taped shut, food dangling from ceilings: How food pantries are preparing for Hurricane Florence (New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2plWTWt                                                             Food insecurity increases in the wake of devastating storms. And that makes food pantries and their game time decisions more critical than ever.
  • The Scientific Case for Eating Bread (Medium) https://bit.ly/2xnWHcO                                                                                       The widespread vilification of bread isn’t supported by strong research

 

Gleaning, Foraging, Reuse, Recycling, Composting & Waste

  • Humans, Fish and Other Animals Are Consuming Microfibers in Our Food and Water (Truthout) https://bit.ly/2RA4EVg
    • As Synthetic Microfibers Infiltrate Food, Water and Air, How Can We Prevent Future Release? (Ensia) https://bit.ly/2wHD7I5                                                                          Scientists and manufacturers are looking for ways to keep synthetic microfibers from getting into the environment in the first place
  • Plastic Pollution Is Now Spreading From Ocean Food Chain Into Land Animals, Thanks to This Insect (Science Alert) https://bit.ly/2PWoGb6
  • We Can Ban Plastic Straws, But America’s Eating Habits Are The Real Problem (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2PYjJhZ
  • Austin, Texas, Bans Restaurants From Throwing Away Food Waste (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2DSO6Fx                            Eateries will now have to donate or compost leftover food.

 

Healthy Food & Food Safety

  • Medi-Cal Home-Delivers a New Prescription: Healthy Meals (Capital & Main) https://bit.ly/2xLeDz3                                     California’s Medically Tailored Meals pilot program could lead the medical industry, and especially insurers, to include nutrition as part of overall health care.
  • Jeffrey Sachs: Sugar Addiction Is A Sign Of Our Broken Food System (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2zzuNMY                              The economist and adviser on the UN chief takes aim at large food companies that “peddle food and drink that is bad for people.”
  • Cafeteria Food: What the tray Says About Us (East Bay Express) https://bit.ly/2NM3urT                                                                                        From hospitals to schools, mass-produced meals aren’t what they used to be.
  • Hospitals Take Aim At ‘The Greatest Health Threat Of The 21st Century’ (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2MJ0lDP
    • Global Climate and Health Forum: Call To Action https://bit.ly/2Mq2fsM                                                                                    10 Priorities: #4 Build local, healthy, and sustainable food and agricultural systems.
  • Apples Or Fries With That? When It Comes To Kids Meals, Fries Are Hard To Beat (NPR) https://n.pr/2ImqfMS
  • Cargill recalls 66 tons of ground beef after deadly E. coli 026 outbreak (Food Safety News) https://bit.ly/2xslz40                              The recall began with 132,000 pounds, and was increased the next day to 66 tons.
    • More than 132,000 pounds of ground beef are being recalled after one death and at least 17 illnesses (Business Insider) https://read.bi/2PVf4NN
  • 5 Million Pounds Of Beef Have Been Recalled Due To Salmonella Risk (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2P7vRwV                                            At least 57 people have become ill following a possible outbreak of salmonella stemming from Arizona-based meat producer JBS Tollenson, Inc.
  • What Sparked An E. Coli Outbreak In Lettuce? Scientists Trace A Surprising Source (NPR) https://n.pr/2PNkVW9

 

Food Fraud, Scandals, Weird & Funny

  • Maine Asks Restaurant To Stop Giving Lobsters Cannabis Before Boiling Them (NPR) https://n.pr/2QYgGYf                                                  The state of Maine has asked the owner of a lobster restaurant to stop giving cannabis to lobsters in order to get them high before they die.

 

Children & School Food

  • More US Children Eating Fast Food, Despite Health Concerns (EcoWatch) https://bit.ly/2Qmkx0t
    • Report: Parents’ Reports of Fast-Food Purchases for Their Children: Have They Improved? (UConn Rudd Center) https://bit.ly/2zytZrZ

 

Labor, Unions & Coops

  • Labor Conditions at Starbucks-Certified Plantation Deemed Analogous to Slavery (Truthout) https://bit.ly/2DwQxNJ
  • Trillion Dollar Company Led By CEO Worth $100+ Billion Gives Workers 25 Cent Raise (Labor 411) https://bit.ly/2DxPKvZ and Amazon raises minimum wage for US and UK employees (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2zMnTUZ                                                                      I guess he changed his mind…
  • Amazon training videos coach Whole Foods staff on how to discourage unions (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2DzN7K7The Guardian obtained internal videos sent to Whole Foods management, coaching them on how to watch for unionizing
  • Life as a Farmworker in Yuma’s Lettuce Fields (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2LZxk6o                                                                                       Each winter, the fields of Yuma, Arizona, grow half a billion heads of iceberg lettuce. This is what it’s like to work as a lettuce harvester in those fields.
  • Climate Change Isn’t Just Making It Difficult For Farmworkers. It’s Putting Their Lives In Danger (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2D5kK6o                                                                                  Hotter temperatures can increase heat-related illnesses, reduce paychecks and even kill those who labor outdoors.
  • Disney Resort hotel workers approve a new contract with a $15-an-hour minimum wage (LA Times) https://lat.ms/2OO3Vy1
  • Striking Hotel Workers Say “Slow Season” Is No Excuse for Losing Health Care (Truthout) https://bit.ly/2O3Xeee
  • The Co-op Farming Model Might Help Save America’s Small Farms (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2yb8Eml                                                Amid a nationwide rise in worker-owned businesses of all types, small farms across the country are foregoing traditional farm ownership and reaping the benefits of cooperative farming.

 

Protests

  • Workers across the Midwest arrested at rallies for higher wages, right to unionize (Think Progress) https://bit.ly/2ID0uIc                “Every month is a struggle just to get by.”
  • MeToo’s hidden activists? Working class women (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2R0tD4b                                                                                    Janitors and fast-food workers, not celebrities, are ground zero of the MeToo movement. Time to shift the focus to them
  • The Simple Request of the McDonald’s Anti-Sexual Harassment Protests (The Atlantic) https://bit.ly/2QM8XN0                                      The strike, like most #MeToo-era advocacy, reveals the those who’ve dealt with workplace misbehavior don’t desire vengeance so much as an acknowledgment of the harm that’s been wrought.
  • McDonald’s workers are about to walk out of their jobs to protest sexual harassment (Vice News) https://bit.ly/2pjR63o
    • McDonald’s Workers Strike Over Sexual Harassment In The Workplace (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2Nj3Kyd                          The strike comes after the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund filed 10 sexual harassment complaints on behalf of women employed by the fast-food giant.
    • McDonald’s workers across the United States are on strike to protests sexual harassment (Mic) https://bit.ly/2PVzqXi
  • As Florida chokes on red tide, governor denies environmental malpractice (Seattle Times) https://bit.ly/2OQmBg6        Republican Governor Rick Scott, now running for the US Senate against the Democratic incumbent, Bill Nelson, nickeled, dimed, slashed and ignored Florida’s environmental protections for almost eight years.
    • Red Tide Protesters Drive Florida Gov. Rick Scott From Campaign Stop (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2PKxUqC           “Red Tide Rick has got to go.” Shouted demonstrators as waves of   dead fish buried beaches.
  • Rock Band Occupies Palm Oil Tanks With Activists Protesting Deforestation (EcoWatch) https://bit.ly/2Of9zw5                                    … activists, including members of Greenpeace and the Indonesian rock band Boomerang, occupied a palm oil refinery owned by Wilmar International, the world’s largest palm oil trader to protests deforestation in Indonesia.

 

Pollinators

  • Study: Roundup Weed Killer Could Be Linked To Widespread Bee Deaths (NPR) https://n.pr/2xEvmnz
    • Study: Glyphosate perturbs the gut microbiota of honey bees (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA) https://n.pr/2xEvmnz

 

Animals

  • The War On Drugs – In Your Bacon (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2NvoWBg                                                                                Factory farming risks pushing us into a post antibiotic world, but consumers are demanding change.
  • A deadly pig disease raging in China is bound to spread to other Asian countries, experts warn (Science) https://bit.ly/2CpKN6Y
    • African swine fever (ASF), a deadly virus in pigs and wild oars, continues to spread in China and will almost certainly wreak havoc in other countries in Asia soon.
  • There’s Only One Way For Grass-Fed Cattle To Be A Sustainable Farming Practice (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2CsBvaz            With a growing demand, two Harvard researchers attempt to answer that question.

 

Business, Social Enterprise & Our Economy

  • A food hall, run only by women of color and immigrants, is challenging the “boys’ club” of kitchens (Mic) https://bit.ly/2xY1wtz
  • How commercial kitchens support the cottage food industry, helping startups realize their dreams (Inlander) https://bit.ly/2Nw8osO
    • Spokane County Interstate Fair offers free lessons in growing, preparing and preserving food (Inlander) https://bit.ly/2xyvgOd
  • The man who beat Monsanto: ‘They have to pay for not being honest’ (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2IhLxeB
  • Cornell Alliance for Science is a PR Campaign for the Agrichemical Industry (USRTK) https://bit.ly/2Nyi0hW
    • Email communications between Alison Van Eenennaam and Sarah Davidson Evanega (Chemical Industry Documents UCSF) https://bit.ly/2OLkvSq
  • The Pros And Cons Of Food Delivery And Meal Prep Services (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2NmQPeN                                                    Is outsourcing your shopping and meal prep really worth the money and environmental impact?
  • Vegan Fast-Food Chain Amy’s Drive Thru to Open Second California Location (Livekindly) https://bit.ly/2QeM1oL
  • Class Action Lawsuit Alleges LaCroix Contains Ingredients Used In Cockroach Insecticide (3 CBS Philly) https://cbsloc.al/2xZQJzQ
  • Nestle says slavery reporting requirements could cost customers (Sydney Morning Herald) https://bit.ly/2C5QY0T
  • Soylent meal replacement gets UK launch (BBC News) https://bbc.in/2DqSxHs                                                                                      Meal replacement drink Soylent will launch in the UK on Thursday with a different formula to its US equivalent.                                  Remember, this is the stuff that was making people sick in the US in 2016
    • Soylent: meal-substitute company admits products making people sick (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2feZU8G                            The California startup announced its meal powder makes people ill just days after finding similar problems with Soylent Bar
  • The Rise of the Zombie Small Businesses (The Atlantic) https://bit.ly/2MMptOC                                                                                      What your chicken dinner says about wage stagnation, income inequality, and economic sclerosis in the United States
  • Under Trump, CEO Pay Soars While Employee Wages Decrease – And Tax Cuts Could Make the Gap Even Bigger (Newsweek) https://bit.ly/2OQlywK
    • Study: Top CEO’s compensation increased 17.6 percent in 2017 (Economic Policy Institute) https://bit.ly/2zmXrB9          The ratio of CEO-to-worker compensation grew 312 to 1
  • Unions Play a Critical Role in Wealth Creation for People of Color, Research Says (Bloomberg) https://bloom.bg/2CilGnA
    • Union Membership Narrows the Racial Wealth Gap for Families of Color (Center for American Progress) https://ampr.gs/2Nm9EJS
  • On the minimum wage one thing is clear: you get what you pay for (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2IgnBZ1                                        Academic studies have provided encouragement for both supporters and opponents of raising the minimum wage. Smart business owners already know the answer

 

Food Fraud, Scandals & Weird

  • Seattle sea cucumber poachers reeled in $1.5m (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2NL4rQT                                                                        Washington man faces prison for role in years-long operation to poach and sell 250,000 lb. of poorly understood creature

 

Water & Our Oceans

  • The Navajo Nation Is Experiencing a Water Crisis (Color Lines) https://bit.ly/2xrt6iE                                                                                                  In Indian Country, 26,000 homes lack access to safe water and/or sanitation services.
  • Grand Canyon uranium mining ban upheld as supreme court declines to hear challenge (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2Owmmug                                                                                    Court says extraction ban is among cases it refuses to review, in victory for environmental groups and Native American Communities
  • While Nestle extracts millions of liters from their land, residents have no drinking water (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2zRXdlH
  • In the Heart of the Corn Belt, an Uphill Battle for Clean Water (Yale Environment 360) https://bit.ly/2Ob6PQu                            Runoff from farms and feedlots has badly polluted Iowa’s waterways, more than half of which do not meet federal quality standards. Now, an unlikely coalition is calling for stricter controls…
  • California’s Looming Water Pollution Problem (Pacific Standard) https://bit.ly/2xws5H0                                                                                            In California’s Central Valley, the oil industry has been dumping wastewater into unlined – and under-regulated – ponds, threatening the state’s limited groundwater the humans who rely on it.
  • Fracking Chemicals Dumped in Allegheny River a Decade Ago Still Showing Up in Mussels (Earth Island Journal) https://bit.ly/2PJ9caa                                                                                          New study shows that strontium is making its way into the food chain
    • Study: Accumulation of Marcellus Formation Oil and Gas Wastewater metals in Freshwater Mussel Shells (Environmental Science & Technology) https://bit.ly/2DdTQcG
    • Study: Sources of Radium Accumulation in Stream Sediments near Disposal Sites in Pennsylvania: Implications for Disposal of Conventional Oil and Gas Wastewater (Environmental Science & Technology) https://bit.ly/2QDNmX6
  • Oil Drillers’ Attempts to Avoid Earthquakes May Make Them Worse (Scientific American) https://bit.ly/2zxBj7c                        Shallow wastewater injections – supposedly safer – can cause big, far-flung quakes, study says
  • “Wild, Wonderful” West Virginia’s Decapitated Mountains and Deformed Fish (Scientific American) https://bit.ly/2xqpMVw            A scientist documents the poisoning of the state’s waters by the coal industry
  • High And Dry: Swiss Army Airlifts Water To Cows In Drought-Stricken Mountains (NPR) https://n.pr/2Q9Zeim
  • Florence Kills An Estimated 5,500 Pigs, 3.4 Million Chickens And Turkeys In North Carolina (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2NXB657                                                                                      There are also farms cut off from vital supplies like animal feed, a state official said.
    • Hurricane Florence Is Turning North Carolina Into A Toxic Stew o Pig Poop, Sewage, and Coal Ash (Vice News) https://bit.ly/2OwLC0b
    • These Photos of Submerged North Carolina Livestock Farms Are Devastating (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2pj4uEX                  Millions of animals have perished.                                                                  And what of contamination from all that chicken litter?
    • Press Release: Sanderson Farms, Inc. Provides Update on Hurricane Florence Damage https://bit.ly/2PGzXMz
    • Even Before Florence’s Floods, North Carolina’s Factory Farms Were Deadly to Their Neighbors (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2xoYyyS                                                                                    …who are disproportionately poor, African American, and Native American.
    • Thousands of Dead Fish Cover North Carolina Roads After Floodwaters Recede (Time) https://ti.me/2DtfVEd
    • Climate Dystopia: When Hurricanes Hit Industrial Agriculture (Medium) https://bit.ly/2R13bqQ

 

Government, Regulations, Policy & Farm Bill

  • China hits back at Trump, adds tariffs to $60B of US made products (NBC News) https://nbcnews.to/2QJg6hh
    • Iowa farming’s $2.2 billion trade loss could ripple through state’s economy (Des Moines Register) https://dmreg.co/2QVh0qK                                                                            You think?
    • Trump’s Tariffs Will Make Food and Clothing Pricier for Americans (Bloomberg) https://bloom.bg/2QLK1Fe
    • Walmart says customers will see higher prices due to Trump’s China tariffs (WJLA Washington DC) https://bit.ly/2xzwicS
  • Nicola Sturgeon (First Minister of Scotland) tells Amazon to ditch slave wages or lose millions in handouts freeze (Daily Record) https://bit.ly/2MVfr9m                                                                                          The First Minister has lost patience with the web giant after their failure to bring fair working standards and pay staff the Living Wage.
  • As aid checks go out, farmers worry bailout won’t be enough (PBS) https://to.pbs.org/2xMHRws                                                        Farmers across the United States will soon begin receiving government checks as part of a billion-dollar bailout to buoy growers experiencing financial strain from President Donald Trump’s trade disputes with China.
    • Farmers Say Aid Won’t Cover Tariff Damage (WSJ) https://on.wsj.com/2zyXoCj                                                                              USDA has begun make payments to farmers affected by trade conflicts
  • 5 People Died From Eating Lettuce – But Trump’s FDA Still Won’t Make Farms Test Water For Bacteria (AlterNet) https://bit.ly/2NUq7KH                                                                                            For more than a decade, it’s been clear that there’s a gaping hole in America food safety
  • As More Cities Push For Paid Sick Leave, States Push Back (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2xRHr7Y                                                  Twenty-two states bar cities from mandating paid sick leave.
  • Governor Brown Signs Bill Legalizing Street Vending in California (KTLA5) https://bit.ly/2pjw8ls
    • Selling street food is no longer a crime in California, easing fears of jail time and deportation (Mic) https://bit.ly/2MPw46b
  • Federal Court Rules in Favor of North Carolina’s Farmworkers Unions (modern farmer) https://bit.ly/2OYLqqW                                   In 2017, North Carolina’s farm bill included a provision that prevented farmworkers in the state fro organizing.
  • In North Carolina, Big Ag Tells You What Is ‘Milk’ (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2psjyjL                                                                               New legislation in North Carolina has placed pressure on the Food and Drug Administration to review their rules regarding the labeling of milk and limits the ability of residents to hold big-ag operations accountable for pollution.                                                                                      This sounds a lot like Missouri’s legislation that ‘meat’ can only be used for derived from “… livestock or poultry.”
  • What’s the beef? Missouri’s attempt to silence speech about veggie burgers (The Hill) https://bit.ly/2MVU6fM
  • (New York) City’s Milk Buying Could Help Farmers in Crisis and Workers in Need (City Limits) https://bit.ly/2NrGRIT
  • Bad Farm Policy Contributes to Natural Disasters (Common Dreams) https://bit.ly/2NpXMGW                                            Unfortunately, the Washington power structure cares little for the environment or working families
  • Congress Leaves Farmers Hanging Right Before The Election (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2DUCCRD                                Negotiators wanted to keep the pressure on by not doing a short-term extension. But it’s rural lawmakers who are feeling the pressure most.
  • The ocean is brown, the crabs are dead and the smell is unbearable. Welcome to Florida (Miami Herald) https://bit.ly/2zT3WvH

 

Food Science, Technology & Nanotechnology

  • Science Reveals How Fruit Keeps A Lid On Ripening Until The Time Is Right (NPR) https://n.pr/2In6THy

 

Poisons

  • Publisher: Roundup Studies Failed to Fully Disclose Monsanto’s Role (EcoWatch) https://bit.ly/2y0yjhI
    • Monsanto’s Role in Roundup Safety Study Is Corrected by Journal (Bloomberg) https://bloom.bg/2y1yw4h                          Bayer AG’s defense of Roundup weed killer may take a hit after an academic journal said Monsanto Co. didn’t fully disclose its involvement in publishing research finding the herbicide safe.
  • ‘Natural’ Bread Tests Positive for Glyphosate (EcoWatch) https://bit.ly/2Qk9yEz                                                                                              Of course they do, many Cooperative Extensions recommend using glyphosate as a pre-harvest aid for small grains…
  • Despite knowing PCBs were dangerous, Monsanto kept profiting for decades (Inlander) https://bit.ly/2MQcdDL                              Spokane is now suing, and the ‘Poison Papers’ show why
  • A Drifting Weedkiller Puts Prized Trees At Risk (NPR) https://n.pr/2N80kcq                                                                                  Dicamba drift, again…
GrowCalgary Blog Posts

Jenny’s Food & Ag Update September 16, 2018

 

  • This Chef Is Fighting Gentrification With Hot Chicken (Yes!) http://bit.ly/2wGwd5I                                                                                        Tunde Wey’s dinner series – slash – public art project raised $50,000 to address Nashville’s affordable housing crisis
  • ‘Shocked and disappointed’: Pair of researchers say they felt pressed by federal wildlife officials to bury risk on endangered beetle (The Washington Post) https://wapo.st/2wBxImO
  • Only 60 Years of Farming Left If Soil Degradation Continues (Scientific American) https://bit.ly/2g0pw9e                                Generating three centimeters of top soil takes 1,000 years, and if current rates of degradation continue all the world’s top soil could be gone within 60 years, a senior UN official said

 

  • Fake news and the “other white meat”: How pork became poultry, and why it matters (Salon) https://bit.ly/2CBioMj                                    The iconic ad campaign changed what we thought we knew about meat, and set the sage for the age of spin.
  • Europe’s meat and dairy production must halve by 2050, expert warns (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2Mz8HxF                            Policymakers, farmers and consumers face ‘deeply uncomfortable choices’, says author of report advising urgent reduction of unsustainable livestock sector
  • Report: What is the Safe Operating Space for EU livestock? (Rural Investment Support for Europe) https://bit.ly/2Njm1va

 

Farmers, Farming, Ranching, Herding, & Fishing

  • ‘I still have a farm. Yeah, I am a farmer!’ says 113 year old North Dakota woman (Grand Forks Herald) https://bit.ly/2oKDKNy
  • ‘This Is Life or Death for Us’: Mexico’s Farm Movement Rejects New NAFTA Agreement (Common Dreams) https://bit.ly/2CZ8xQv                                                                                       Donald Trump and Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico’s lame-duck conservative president, are trying to push through new trade deal, but farmers are rising up in opposition
  • Watch how organic farmers use tractor-mounted flamethrowers on weeds and pests (boingboing) https://bit.ly/2x6up6v
  • There’s a ‘Scallop War’ Raging in the English Channel and It’s Getting Violent (Munchies) http://bit.ly/2wCeOvc                          Footage from the clashes between French and British scallop fishers included scenes of boat-bumping, rock-throwing, and inexplicably smoking boats.

 

Food Culture & History

  • After decades, Native American tribes are regaining their fishing rights. But are there any fish left? (New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2NFycC1                                                                                            Like many tribes in the Pacific Northwest, the Yurok had to fight hard to gain fishing rights in their ancestral river. Now they fight to keep it healthy.
  • In Washington, a farm-to-table restaurant tried to serve the best local fish. Instead, it stumbled into a debate over tribal fishing rights (New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2CR9oCX
  • In Flatbush, Little Caribbean Food Tours Help Preserve West Indian Culture (The Village Voice) http://bit.ly/2oxymgs
  • ‘White People Food’ Is Creating n Unattainable Picture Of Health (Huffington Post) http://bit.ly/2Q1uCjO                                                There’s a perception in the black community that eating healthy means eating like white people, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
  • The New Era Of Kosher Wines You Should Try For Rosh Hashanah (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2wTwT89                              It’s not your grandparent’s Manischewitz
  • The Bizarre Fad Diet Taking the Far Right by Storm (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2QdzeDv                                                          “Canivorism” advocates claim meat will cure health woes, replenish masculinity – oh, and piss off liberals.
  • According To History, We Can Thank Women For Beer (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2xfgPhO                                                  Beer consumption has been so disproportionately linked with men that it’s easy to forget women were the original brewers. Now, they’re staking their claim again.

 

Hunger, Food Access & Security, Obesity, Malnutrition, and Nutrition

  • Immigrants, fearing Trump crackdown, drop out of nutrition programs (Politico) https://politi.co/2Cbyg88                                        Both documented and undocumented immigrants fear that accepting federal aid could make them ineligible for a green card if rules are changed.
  • Food apartheid: the root of the problem with America’s groceries (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2wHs9T4
  • We already know climate change will make our crops less nutritious. Now we know how that will impact our health (The New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2Nvj32C                                                  A new study shows this nutrient decline will mean that, by 2050, an additional 175 million people worldwide will be deficient in zinc, and 122 million more won’t be eating enough protein.

 

Gleaning, Foraging, Reuse, Recycling, Composting & Waste

  • 6 Photos That Show Just How Ridiculous Plastic Packaging Has Become (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2p43Hrf
  • A Massive Floating Boom Is Supposed To Clean Up The Pacific. Can It Work? (NPR) https://n.pr/2QqeqZz
    • Half of dead baby turtles found by Australian scientists have stomachs full of plastic (Independent) https://ind.pn/2D4J4p4  Study suggests younger reptiles are particularly vulnerable to pollution

 

Healthy/Food Safety

  • Thousands of California home cooks have no idea they’re breaking the law every day (New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2NbDWDV                                                                                          By selling or trading food with neighbors, contributing dishes to the church BBQ fundraiser, or peddling tamales on the street, home cooks violate food sales and safety laws. But new legislation aims to make them “Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operators” instead.

 

Food Fraud/Scandals/Weird/Funny

  • $100,000 reward offered to find person putting needles in Australia strawberries (Independent) https://ind.pn/2NKj8mK      ‘Someone is trying to sabotage the industry but also in doing that, they are putting babies’ and children’s and families’ lives at risk’
  • Mountain Dew Mistakenly Tells Scotland to Masturbate for ‘Epic Thrills’ (Munchies) http://bit.ly/2wzwMPK                                              Gives a whole new meaning to ‘Do the Dew.’

 

Children & School Food

  • The Problem With School Lunch: How The Wealth Gap Is Shaming Students (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2L4HRwB      The school lunch is symbolic of America’s socioeconomic and food disparities.

 

Labor/Unions/Coops

  • Study: Minimum Wage Hikes Are Paying Off (New York Magazine) https://nym.ag/2M9CZGZ
    • Study: The New Wave of Local Minimum Wage Policies: Evidence from Six Cities (Institute for Research on Labor and Employment) https://bit.ly/2QejBvE
  • A post-Great Recession overview of labor market trends in the United States and California (Institute for Research on Labor and Employment) https://bit.ly/2NR8kD4
  • Challenging forced labor in immigrant detention centers (Looking South) http://bit.ly/2LWhycl
    • Court allows claims to move forward against private prison company that profits from forced labor of detained immigrants (Southern Poverty Law Center) https://bit.ly/2xbTfT8                     A federal court has ruled that a private court has ruled that a private prison company can be held liable for forcing detained immigrants to work for as little as $1 a day to clean, cook, and maintain an immigration prison it operated in Georgia.
  • Is Prison Labor the Future of Our Food System? (Food First) https://bit.ly/2oQVYg6                                                                                Prisoners are being used to fill the growing shortage of farmworkers – shortages that in large part are caused by the US immigration enforcement system.
  • Founding Farmers’ Restaurant Group Settles a Class Action Lawsuit From Employees for $1.49 Million (Eater) https://bit.ly/2MStH7E
    • Restaurant Group Agrees to $1.49M Pay, Sick Leave Settlement (Bloomberg Law) https://bit.ly/2LVB7kY                        A restaurant group with locations in the Washington, DC, area agreed to pay up to $1.49 million to settle claims it didn’t provide sick leave required by a city law and underpaid tipped employees.
  • A Labor Day tribute to restaurant workers, cooking and serving food they can’t afford to eat (Salon) https://bit.ly/2x1n0oK                I made 12 bucks an hour in a place where the tasting menu cost $400. Capitalism at its worst, but I don’t regret it
  • Your Labor Day reading List: five stories that will help you understand the workers behind what you eat (New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2NFn8F2
  • Whole Foods workers are moving to unionize. Read the letter sent to employees nationwide (The New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2MVpbF7                                                                                          “We cannot let Amazon remake the entire North American retail landscape without embracing the full value of its team members.”
  • Thousands Of Marriott Workers To Vote On Multi-City Strike (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2MRveL5
    • Hundreds of hotel workers march in San Francisco for better pay (San Francisco Chronicle) https://bit.ly/2O1Wp2i
    • Thousands of Chicago Workers Are Out On the First City Wide Hotel Strike In Over a Century (In These Times) https://bit.ly/2D0YtGz
  • Fed Up With Sexual Harassment, McDonald’s Workers Are Going On Strike (Labor 411) https://bit.ly/2paFPCo                            Emboldened by the #MeToo movement, McDonald’s workers have voted to stage a one-day strike next week at restaurants in 10 cities in hopes of pressuring management to take stronger steps against on-the-job sexual harassment.
  • What History Books Left Out About Depression Era Co-ops (Yes!) https://bit.ly/2Os4nlu                                                                                    It would seem that a movement that provided livelihood for more than 300,000 people in California alone would merit discussion in the history books.

 

Protests

 

Pollinators

  • ‘Like nicotine’: Bees develop preference for pesticides, study shows (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2LFcnxc                                      Insects’ acquired taste for pesticide-laced food is similar to nicotine addiction in smokers, say scientists

 

Animals

  • Investigation Exposes Animal Abuse at US Supplier to World’s Largest Meat Company (Truthout) https://bit.ly/2MYUOxQ

 

Business, Social Enterprise & Our Economy

  • Nestle says slavery reporting requirements could cost customers (Sydney Morning Herald) http://bit.ly/2LQZGj0
  • Bob’s Red Mill Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over Glyphosate Weedkiller Contamination (Organic Consumers Association) https://bit.ly/2MVYP62
  • California Farm Bureau sells out farmers, hands John Deere a monopoly over tractor repair (Bongboing) https://bit.ly/2NHsjUG
  • Maine’s small wild blueberry farmers struggle on what they’re raking in (Portland Press Herald) https://bit.ly/2x80QlB                Fierce competition from Canada, a glutted marketplace and inequitable USDA buybacks have made cultivating this iconic Maine crop a brutal business.
  • Price of Maine wild blueberries tumbles to lowest point in more than 30 years (Portland Press Herald) https://bit.ly/2KIY4bd
  • Filipino Fast-Food Giant Jollibee Serves Spaghetti, Burger Steak and Fried Chicken – This Is What Two New Yorkers Made Of It (Independent) https://ind.pn/2xgCyGi
  • How do Whole Foods shoppers feel about Amazon’s $1 trillion milestone? Look at their Yelp reviews – and the foot traffic (The New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2M1FGdr
  • Why Care about Independent, Locally Owned Businesses? (Institute For Local Self-Reliance) https://bit.ly/2oUDFaa
  • Inflation hits 6-year high, wiping out wage gains for the average American (Chicago Tribune) https://trib.in/2uBlicz
  • The Chemical-Free Food Movement Turning Dusty Land Into Fertile Paradise (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2Q6xSdP                    It’s called permaculture, and advocates say it could feed the world.
  • Is the Second Farm Crisis Upon Us? (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2N1F1OH                                                                                Farmers across the country are in a state of emergency with diary and grain producers, new farmers, and farmers of color being hit the hardest.
  • The Consolidation of the American Harvest (Bloomberg) https://bloom.bg/2NzjM69
  • Minnesota farmers consider asking for government help as trade war worsens downturn that started years ago (Star Tribune) http://strib.mn/2Nu2OGq                                                                                      The escalating trade war is imposing new burdens on Minnesota’s vast and economically important agricultural sector.
  • The economy my be booming, but early half of Americans can’t make ends meet (LA Times) https://lat.ms/2PtEvFX

 

Food Fraud/Scandals/Weird

  • (Great Britain) More Than a Fifth of Meat Samples From Supermarkets and Restaurants Found to Contain DNA From Animals Not On the Label (Independent) https://ind.pn/2QgZ4qu
  • School Cops Busted for Selling Soda to students (Munchies) http://bit.ly/2NGy81A                                                                                            The side hustle grew out of Connecticut’s ban on soda in public schools.

 

Water & Our Oceans

  • This Is How Much Water it Takes To Make Your Favorite Foods (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2hbfrbn
    • Report: The Green, Blue and Grey Water Footprint of Crops and Derived Crop Products (UNESCO-IHE) https://bit.ly/2cXdETw
    • Report: The Green, Blue and Grey Water Footprint of Farm Animals and Animal Products (UNESCO-IHE) https://bit.ly/1UXNle3
  • Torrential Rain Triggers Cole Spill In North Carolina (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2MBwPj1                                                                            Duke Energy said the collapse displaced about 2,000 cubic yards of ash…
  • How do you make California water wars worse? Get the Trump administration involved (Sacramento Bee) http://bit.ly/2oH0Ftb
  • Pennsylvania: Energy Transfer Partners’ Pipeline Explodes Because of Rain (Earth First Journal) https://bit.ly/2NxTxNE          The pipeline had only been in operation for one week…
  • Pipeline that Exploded in Pennsylvania Part of Push to Build Fracking-Reliant Petrochemical Network (Desmog) https://bit.ly/2CWOIct
  • More than half PA gas wells used ‘secret’ chemicals for fracking or drilling, report says (State Impact Pennsylvania) https://n.pr/2xbDWtI
  • Injecting wastewater underground can cause earthquakes up to 10 kilometers away (Nation of Change) http://bit.ly/2Ced5lD        The important insight of this study is sedimentary rock injection is not a safer alternative to basement injection.
  • Oregon Reaches Critical Drought Levels after Driest Summer West of the Cascades in 40 Years (Willamette Week) https://bit.ly/2MfFpns
  • UN Makes a Bold Move to Protect Marine Life on the High Seas (Scientific American) https://bit.ly/2O0qMq0                                   More than 190 nations are hammering out a treaty as industry rushes to cash in
  • Eyes on the High Seas (Anthropocene) https://bit.ly/2x3UeEb        Illegal fishing is getting harder, thanks to public surveillance from space
  • Oyster shells used to end up in landfills. Now, they’re being turned into castles for baby oysters (New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2Ok7OdW

 

Government/Regulation/Policy/Farm Bill

  • France becomes first country in Europe to ban all five pesticides killing bees (The Telegraph) http://bit.ly/2Pt5lhg
  • A handful of companies control American agriculture. Cory Booker wants to change that (New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2oGp8Pc                                                                                              The New Jersey Senator has introduced a bill to halt the mergers and acquisitions that have hamstrung small-scale producers for decades.
  • Congress Finally Can Tell Hemp From Pot (The Atlantic) https://bit.ly/2nhuqQr                                                                                            For almost 50 years, hemp has been lumped together with heroin, LSD, and Ecstasy, but new legislation could soon make the crop legal for farmers still struggling from the loss of tobacco.
  • Court orders ban of top-selling pesticide, says EPA violated law, ignored scientific studies (Chicago Tribune) https://trib.in/2PNk9IS
  • Documents Show Financial Entanglements Between Trump’s USDA Pick and Agribusiness (Texas Observer) https://bit.ly/2OdBjhH                                                                                      Mindy Brashears, a Texas Tech animal scientist nominated by Trump to lead the food safety arm of the USDA, is deeply imbedded in the agribusiness industry.
  • Trump rolls back worker safety rules (Politico) https://politi.co/2wFpE4a                                                                                    ‘We want to protect our workers,’ Trump said in 2017. But his administration has weakened measures designed to keep them safe.
  • Hey, Army Corps of Engineers – Show Us Your Work in Your DAPL Report (Natural Resources Defense Council) https://on.nrdc.org/2NKRB4o
  • Bernie Sanders’ BEZOS Act would tax Amazon for its employees use of federal assistance (New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2Q7WRgP
  • Hawaii Shows States’ Power to Regulate Pesticides (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2tdhL4u                                                                                                  A new state law banning chlorpyrifons and regulating agrochemical companies is the result of nearly a decade of grassroots community organizing, and the first in the nation.
  • Michigan Legislature Approves Initiatives for $12 Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave (Eater) https://bit.ly/2NUZaCk        Republicans aim to keep the issues off the November 6 ballot
  • Why Labor Is Holding Its Applause for Michigan’s Latest “Workers’ Rights” Measures (In These Times) https://bit.ly/2DenX3J
  • (California) Gov. Brown signs bills to block Trump’s offshore oil drilling plan (LA Times) https://lat.ms/2x3CcTo
  • Why an Oakland pop-up restaurant was shut down for being ‘illegal’ (Berkeleyside) http://bit.ly/2wERX1T
  • The House Is Trying to Sneak These Controversial Changes Into the Farm Bill (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2xlrCGz                            Even if the SNAP work requirements don’t make it through, these three wrinkles could.
  • How the Farm Bill Could Keep You from Banning Roundup at Your Kid’s Playground (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2CnDHkm                  A lesser-known provision in the House farm bill would prevent cities and counties from setting their own rules about pesticides on public land. And it would reverse current bans in 155 communities.              And once again, what of states rights?
  • City Official Farm Bill Preemption Letter to Senate Ag Committee (Friends of the Earth) https://bit.ly/2xeFQZB
  • About 2 Million Low-Income Americans Would Lose Benefits Under House Farm Bill, Study Says (NYT) https://nyti.ms/2wTCQSl

 

GMOs/CRISPR/Cloning/Synthetic Biology

  • Researchers to Release Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes in Africa for First Time (Scientific American) https://bit.ly/2QeJhs6
  • Experts: Non-GMO Certification of GMO-Derived Sweetener Sets a ‘Dangerous Precedent’ (EcoWatch) https://bit.ly/2x7I3Gd

 

Technology/Food Technology/Nanotechnology

  • This is Roquette Science (Anthropocen) https://bit.ly/2x9dX64       How computerized arugula (aka roquette) farms take over the world

 

Poisons

  • Study: Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance (US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health) https://bit.ly/2jzDr82
  • These Farmers Switched to Organic After Pesticides Made Their Families Sick (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2KW9etU                                  After seeing parents fall ill from cancer or die, many farmers are switching to organics to protect themselves and their children.
  • How the EPA and the Pentagon Downplayed a Growing Toxic Threat (ProPublica) https://bit.ly/2L5QAza                                                   A family of chemicals – know as PFAS and responsible for marvels like Teflon and critical to the safety of American military bases – has now emerged as a far greater menace than previously disclosed.
  • New Science Shows Bee-Killing Pesticides Are Unnecessary on Most Farms (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2GDcFWU                  Alternatives are available for neonicotinoid insecticide seed coatings, saving farmers money and better protecting the environment.
GrowCalgary Blog Posts

Jenny’s Food & Ag Update September 2, 2018

 

  • When The US Government Tried To Replace Migrant Farmworkers With High Schoolers (NPR) https://n.pr/2PzIlOz
  • The Farm Group that’s Part of Rural America’s Crisis (Open Market Institute) http://bit.ly/2nVNDY3                                              Austin explains how the Iowa Farm Bureau is hurting rural communities.
  • Prevalence trends tell us what did not precipitate the US obesity epidemic (The Lancet) http://bit.ly/2BxqpBd
  • Chef Ron Freeman Wants to Bring Better Ramen to the Incarcerated (NPR) http://bit.ly/2o0c9av                                                    The Los Angeles area chef is on a mission to make his low-sodium ramen a commissary staple.
  • The Organic Food Industry Thrives On Regulation (Other Words) http://bit.ly/2LfBpTy                                                                                    Without strict standards, the organic label would become worthless. So why is the White House rolling them back?
  • One pound of cheese makes nine pounds of whey. Where does it all go? (New Food Economy) http://bit.ly/2NkJGaK
  • For Bordeaux’s Winemakers, Rising Temperatures Bring A Reckoning (Huffington Post) http://bit.ly/2wxAQjj                      France’s famous vintners will need new grapes that can withstand a warmer climate – and produce wine that remains both fine and French.
  • Seaweed: The ‘Superfood’ That Could Help Fight Climate Change (Huffington Post) http://bit.ly/2wxZTTz

 

Farming, Farmers, Ranching, Herding, Fishing & Production

  • Berry Farmers Break Free From Big Agriculture (Yes!) http://bit.ly/2LNg1p2                                                                                        These farmworkers created an organic o-op that guarantees fair wages and healthy working conditions while preserving indigenous heritage.
  • Launching the Next Generation of Latinx Farmers in Washington’s Skagit Valley (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/2wk2rDN    The region is home to handful of training programs helping to support new farmers and local food producers.
  • Paying It Forward (Oregon Tilth) http://bit.ly/2MzabN6           Farmers mentoring farmers to make the transition to organic more manageable
  • Farm concerts don’t make farmers any money. So why do farmers host them? (New Food Economy) http://bit.ly/2NxU6Us

 

Seeds & Cultivars

  • The Corn of the Future Is Hundreds of Years Old and Makes Its Own Mucus (Smithsonian) http://bit.ly/2BKz03U                                  This rare variety of corn has evolved a way to make its own nitrogen, which could revolutionize farming

 

Food Culture & History

  • If you want to save the world, veganism isn’t the answer (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2wpE2gL                                                        Intensively farmed meat and dairy are blight, but so are fields of soya and maize. There is another way
  • Before You Try to Decolonize Your Diet, Read This (Yes!) http://bit.ly/2LGdUmG                                                                                              A new book digs into the paradoxes of American Indian diets most people don’t know.

 

Hunger, Food Access & Security, Obesity, Malnutrition, and Nutrition

  • Federal Court: First Amendment Protects Sharing Food With Homeless People (Forbes) http://bit.ly/2C649yL
  • Hungary Intentionally Denying Food To Asylum-Seekers, Watchdog Groups Say (NPR) https://n.pr/2wiwlIG
  • UK: We’re in a new age of obesity. How did it happen? You’d be surprised (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2ocB1fz                                          It’s not that we’re eating more, that we exercise less, or that we lack willpower. The shaming of overweight people has to stop
  • We already know climate change will make our crops less nutritious. Now we know how that will impact our health (New Food Economy) http://bit.ly/2LFfeX9
  • Delay eating breakfast and eat dinner early if you want to lose body fat – new study (The Conversation) http://bit.ly/2wzhs4T
    • Time-restricted eating can overcome the bad effects of faulty genes and unhealthy diet (The Conversation) http://bit.ly/2PpoNMa

 

Gleaning, Foraging, Reuse, Recycling, Composting & Waste

  • Philadelphia’s Prison System is Fighting Food Waste and Recidivism with an Organic Farm (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/2LAethQ                                                                                              The unique prison program diverts 685 tons of food waste a year into compost and is training inmates to farm without chemicals.
  • Norway Has A Radical Approach To Plastic Pollution, And It’s Working (Huffington Post) http://bit.ly/2o2G4z2                                    So why isn’t the US following suit?

 

Healthy/Food Safety

  • ICE detainees are supposed to eat nutritious food three times a day – they don’t (The New Food Economy) http://bit.ly/2o2cutw
  • Michigan’s Failed Effort to Privatize Prison Kitchens and the Future of Institutional Food (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/2Nvj9Hu      Private companies took over the state’s prison kitchens, inedible and inadequate food was just the tip of the iceberg – now other institutions outsourcing foodservice on notice.                                    Finally! Let’s hope this spreads across the country.

 

Food Fraud/Scandals/Weird/Funny

  • Will Anyone Be Held at Fault Over Flint? (City Lab) http://bit.ly/2POLF8Q                                                                                              As the Michigan city’s water crisis drags on, the state’s highest-ranking health official faces criminal charges. But he’s still on the job.
  • Top State Health Official to Stand Trial for Flint Water Crisis Role (PBS) https://to.pbs.org/2wiPZUK
  • Official charged with manslaughter over deaths linked to Flint water crisis (Think Progress) http://bit.ly/2w0d7YX                    Officials knew of the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak months before they told the public, emails show.
  • Oil from BP spill pushed onto shelf off Tampa Bay by underwater currents, study finds (Tampa Bay Times) http://bit.ly/2wsjF21

 

Children & School Food

  • Cuts to Oakland Free Dinner Program Felt by Thousands of Students as School Resumes (KQED News) http://bit.ly/2wELowy
    • After School Supper Is the Latest Casualty of Oakland Unified Budget Cuts (East Bay Express) http://bit.ly/2NCXhKz

 

Labor/Unions/Coops

  • Farmworkers Are Dying from Extreme Heat (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2MMaOlP                                                                                    There’s a new push to force the government to stop the problem.
  • Facing rising temperatures and pollution, farmworkers are being left behind by Florida lawmakers (Think Progress) http://bit.ly/2Nte5nh                                                                                              For years, activists have focused on pesticides and immigration issues. Now, they’re turning to warming temperatures.
  • Farm workers still have to pick fruit in unhealthy air conditions (KIMA TV Yakima, WA) http://bit.ly/2LkqOGK
    • ‘A smokestorm is imminent’ Spokane’s hazardous air now worse than Beijing and Delhi combined (Think Progress) http://bit.ly/2w6JPHX                                                                      Surrounded by wildfires, Washington state sees worst air quality in history.
  • Washington (state) has already had nearly 900 wildfires in 2018 (K5News) https://kng5.tv/2nYEDl7
  • Smoke from hundreds of wildfires darkens skies over British Columbia (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) http://bit.ly/2N7PaoV
  • Denver International Airport Workers Will Ask Voters for a $15 Minimum Wage (Westword) http://bit.ly/2C1HDaq
  • Labor Day Surprise: Union membership grows by 81,000 in pro-business Texas (Dallas Morning News) http://bit.ly/2NEK042
  • Small business owners are getting a new incentive to sell (their businesses) to their employees (The Conversation) http://bit.ly/2PksGlk                                                                                              The federal government just made it a lot easier to form an employee owned business.
  • Historic Federal Law Gives Employee Owned Businesses Access to SBA Loans (Nonprofit Quarterly) http://bit.ly/2LNpqgp
  • USDA Grants to Fund Co-op Education for Business Owners in Pacific Northwest (Nonprofit Quarterly) http://bit.ly/2PpzKNx

 

Protests

  • Major prison strike spreads across US and Canada as inmates refuse food (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2P4YNFv                      Prisoners stand against forced labor and other indignities amid reports of action in California, Washington state and Nova Scotia
  • US inmates stage nationwide prison labor strike over ‘modern slavery’ (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2wgJpxZ                            Organizers say prisoners across the country are expected to refuse to work, hold sit-ins and even stage hunger strikes
  • ICE Detainees Join Nationwide Prison Strike, Many Refusing To Eat: Organizers (Newsweek) http://bit.ly/2LyGUNl
  • Prisoners nationwide on strike over poor conditions and forced labor – including firefighting (Think Progress) http://bit.ly/2LlqFmB

Incarcerated people are often on the frontlines of natural disaster recovery and relief.

  • Detainee Speaks Out from Hunger Strike in Northwest Detention Center (Democracy Now) http://bit.ly/2oiq3Fn
  • As prison strikes heat up, former inmates talk about horrible stat o labor and incarceration (USA Today) https://usat.ly/2weiune
  • The ‘Modern Day Slavery’ Of Prison Labor Really Does Have A Link To Slavery (Huffington Post) http://bit.ly/2ojNvSB

 

Pollinators

  • A bee economist explains honey bees’ vital role in growing tasty almonds (The Conversation) http://bit.ly/2NCFJhG
  • Pesticide Touted as Neonicotinoid Replacement Still harms Bees (EcoWatch) http://bit.ly/2ovIeHy                                                                    As evidence builds that neonicotinoids harm bees and other pollinators and bodies like the EU move to ban them, the agricultural sector is casting about for something to replace what is currently the most used type of insecticide worldwide.

 

Animals

  • Building the Mecca of Heritage Poultry in Kansas (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/2wrt5e8                                                                                    Heritage poultry breeder Frank Reese has been hatching a plan to build the Good Shepherd Institute for two decades. Now, with help from MASS Design Group, it has moved one big step closer to reality.
  • Was Your UTI Triggered By Raw Chicken? (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2NxI4um                                                                                                  A new study says a strain of E. coli “could be causing 30,000 to 40,000” urinary tract infections in the US every year.

 

Business, Social Enterprise & Our Economy

  • Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani Talks Greek Yogurt and the American Dream (NYT) https://nyti.ms/2PcJNpn                                                          A Trukish immigrant of Kurdish descent, Mr. Ulukaya brought Greek yogurt to the mainstream. Along the way, he began hiring refugees, a move that drew threats from fringe websites and far-right commentators.
  • 8 Restaurant Chains Agree To End ‘No Poach’ Agreements Under Threat of Lawsuit (NPR) https://n.pr/2PvEylq
  • Krogers Will Phase Out Plastic Bags By 2025 To ‘Protect Our Planet’ (Huffington Post) http://bit.ly/2BEvB6m
    • Miami Beach Wants to Expand Its Ban on Plastic Straws (Miami New Times) http://bit.ly/2MNjurZ
    • San Francisco bans plastic straws, joining these California cities (The San Diego Union-Tribune) http://bit.ly/2BCbHsE
      • American Airlines Joins Efforts To Eliminate Plastic Straws, Stirrers (Huffington Post) http://bit.ly/2CcTfr2
  • Bayer’s Monsanto faces 8,000 lawsuits on glyphosate (Reuters) https://reut.rs/2BLQNY9
    • Along with Monsanto, Chemical Giant Bayer Inherits Its Pests (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2MxGFre                                                  From dicamba drama to crop-chomping caterpillars.
  • Profiting Off Poison (Other Words) http://bit.ly/2P6AkQm              A court found that Monsanto knew its signature Roundup chemical could cause cancer, but sold it anyway.
  • Vietnam demands Monsanto pays compensation for Agent Orange victims (Yahoo News) https://yhoo.it/2P5UDgC and Monsanto court ruling bolsters the hope for millions of Vietnamese Agent Orange victims (Viêt Nam News) http://bit.ly/2C926K9
  • General Mills Faces Lawsuit Over Glyphosate in Cereals (EcoWatch) http://bit.ly/2wyDmG6                                                  Monsanto’s – and now Bayer’s – glyphosate problem is also a headache for General Mills. The Cheerios maker could face a class action lawsuit alleging the company failed to warn consumers about traces of the controversial herbicide in its products.
  • General Mills To Remove ‘Natural’ Label From Granola Bars After Glyphosate Lawsuit (Forbes) http://bit.ly/2wwVb8C
  • The federal government markets prison business as the “best-kept secret” (Vox) http://bit.ly/2P3VDly                                                      The Department of Justice says prison labor is good for a company’s bottom line.
  • The UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries program trade name) Services Business Group: The Onshore Advantage (UNICOR) http://bit.ly/2MN7jLL
  • Pigs Aren’t the Only Ones Suffering From North Carolina’s Industrial Hog Farms (Truthout) http://bit.ly/2MP8ASB
  • Lab-Grown Meat and Traditional Meat Producers Turn to Government to Solve Industry Disputes (Interesting Engineering) http://bit.ly/2MNv3Qd
  • A Weekend In and Around Hudson, Massachusetts (Modern Farmer) http://bit.ly/2LGmbr0                                                                        “Local first” is the mantra in this progressive small town…

 

  • Taxpayers Are Subsidizing Corporations That Pay CEOs Hundreds of Times More Than Workers, Study Shows (Common Dreams) http://bit.ly/2PjNDNj                                                                  Author says the findings should fuel the movement to “use the power of the public purse to crack down on corporations that refuse to share the wealth.”
  • Study: Executive Excess 2018: How Taxpayers Subsidize Giant Corporate Pay Gaps (Institute for Policy Studies) http://bit.ly/2Pl9dRH

 

Water & Our Oceans

  • Safe Drinking Water for All (NYT) https://nyti.ms/2Lf6jeL      California lawmakers are considering a plan to help poor communities afflicted by contaminated water. It could be a model for the nation.
  • Study: National trend in drinking water quality violations (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) http://bit.ly/2OViwHF
  • Tax on California water revived to clean up drinking water – but it’s voluntary (Sacramento Bee) http://bit.ly/2BFE1e2
  • Detroit turns off every public school’s drinking water due to high levels of lead, copper (Think Progress) http://bit.ly/2PrtODX        For Michigan, it’s just the latest turn in the state’s ongoing water crisis.
  • Pueblo (CO) City Schools disables or repairs nearly 50 water fountains due to lead (KRDO TV) http://bit.ly/2N4tb5t
  • Kansans drank contaminated water for years. The state didn’t tell them. (The Wichita Eagle) http://bit.ly/2PK9tKK
  • Why a New Fisheries Bill Is Being Dubbed the “Empty Oceans Act” (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2oeYP2t                                              Five ways H.R. 200 could “undercut the important role science plays in management decisions.”
  • Corporate Food Brands Drive the Massive Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico (Truthout) http://bit.ly/2C1PVPn
    • Report: Flunking The Planet: Scoring America’s Food Companies on Sustainable Meat (Mighty Earth) http://bit.ly/2N5eL58

 

Government/Regulation/Policy/Farm Bill

  • ‘We’ve Made History’: Ireland Joins France, Germany and Bulgaria in Banning Fracking (EcoWatch) http://bit.ly/2wCthXZ      Ireland is set to ban onshore fracking after its Senate passed legislation on Wednesday that outlawed the controversial drilling technique.
  • New ‘Groundbreaking’ Bill Would Put Firm Pause on Out-of-Control Food Industry Mega-Mergers (Common Dreams) http://bit.ly/2N00MxC                                                                    “Consolidation has now reached a point where the top four firms in almost every sector of the food and agriculture economy have acquired abusive levels of market power,” said Sen. Cory Booker, who introduced the legislation
  • Why is Trump slashing the USDA’s independent research arm? Look at its findings (The New Food Economy) http://bit.ly/2Ll4WLG
  • Department of Labor Gives Federal Contractors a License to Discriminate (Truthout) http://bit.ly/2PUHIiP
  • Agriculture Department Will Pay $4.7 Billion To Farers Hit In Trade War (NPR) https://n.pr/2MTb1DX
    • USDA to buy $1.2B in goods, offer $5B in aid to farmers hurt by trade war (ABC News) https://abcn.ws/2ojnOle
    • The Winners and Losers of Trump’s Tariff Bailout (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2PN8WrI                                                                    The president is about to shower some farmers with extra subsidies. Guess who gets chosen.
  • Dairy Farmers Say Denting Supply Management In NAFTA Deal Would Be ‘Devastating’ (KTIC) http://bit.ly/2wtq3qe
  • Feds extract penalties in crashes that killed five migrant farm workers (The New Food Economy) http://bit.ly/2MsiwCi
  • Victory! Court Rejects Trump Administration’s Claim That Organic Animal Standards Withdrawal Cannot Be Challenged (Center For Food Safety) http://bit.ly/2MLpJwH
  • Virginia regulator won’t revoke pipelines’ water permits despite major environmental violations (Think Progress) http://bit.ly/2OZ63CY                                                                              Extensive damage to streams and other water sources fails to sway Virginia regulators.
  • As Florida chokes on red tide, governor denies environmental malpractice (The Seattle Times) http://bit.ly/2olLpkY
    • Red Tide’s continuing toll: The 554 dead manatees in 2018 already surpasses last year’s total (Tampa Bay Times) http://bit.ly/2wv5aLs
  • California Moves to Ban Fishing Nets Blamed for Killing Numerous Species (EcoWatch) http://bit.ly/2PXkbxS
  • Southern Cities Are Passing Paid Sick Leave – But Republicans Won’t Let Them Have It (In These Times) http://bit.ly/2ok0bJa
  • Santa Rosa City Council Unanimously Bans Roundup at City Parks (Organic Consumers Association) http://bit.ly/2MPOckt
  • Berkeley’s new urban agriculture ordinance encourages residents to grow their own food (Berkeleyside) http://bit.ly/2wxyIrV
  • Proposed Farm Bill amendment could negate local food laws in Maine (Bangor Daily News) http://bit.ly/2LnZl72
    • R. 4879 – Protect Interstate Commerce Act of 2018, Sponsor: Rep. King, Steve http://bit.ly/2MxKQ67                                                  To prevent States and local jurisdictions from interfering with the production and distribution of agricultural product in interstate or foreign commerce, and for other purposes                                              What of States Rights?
  • Districts of House Negotiators Get $9.3 Billion In Farm and Food Aid (Daily Yonder) http://bit.ly/2wu8cii                                                    Forty-seven members of the House of Representatives are serving on a committee to hammer out a farm bill compromise with the Senate. They represent 1.7 million households that receive nutrition benefits and 230,000 farms that receive farm payments.

 

Poisons

  • Environmentally-Caused Disease Crisis? Pesticide Damage to DNA Found ‘Programmed’ Into Future Generations (EcoWatch) http://bit.ly/2OQTCsG
    • Study: Atrazine induces complete feminization and chemical castration in male African clawed frogs (NIH) http://bit.ly/2OQU8H8
  • West Texas Vineyards Blasted By Herbicide Drift From Nearby Cotton Fields (NPR) https://n.pr/2PtPhgd

 

GrowCalgary Blog Posts

Jenny’s Food & Ag Update August 20, 2018

 

  • Former Tyson Foods CEO Brings Chicken Farming To Rwanda – But Can It Last? (NPR) https://n.pr/2Myg8Wt
  • Americans Eat Too Much Free Food at Work, US Government Warns (Newsweek) https://bit.ly/2nv8Urv
    • Large study finds workplace foods contribute to unhealthy eating (EurekAlert) https://bit.ly/2LN7Vgj                              Employees eat more than 1,000 calories a week at work and most of it is obtained for free
  • (UK) McDonald’s to cut cheeseburgers and chocolate milk from Happy Meal menu (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2w7VUMr

 

 

Farming, Farmers, Ranching, Herding, Fishing & Production

  • Calgary urban farm questions why the government needs all of its land for ring road (The Star) http://bit.ly/2N2Typs

 

Seeds & Cultivars

 

Food and Culture

  • Tracing the Overlooked Legacy of the Silk Road’s Fruits and Nuts (Atlas Obscura) http://bit.ly/2MoqFrb                                                            A new archaeobotanical study is helping shift the historical record.
  • Arboreal crops on the medieval Silk Road: Archaeobotanical studies at Tashbulak (PLOS One) http://bit.ly/2BsPo8J
  • World Champion Squirrel Cook-Off (Atlas Obscura) http://bit.ly/2ONjfe3                                                                                                An ardent celebration of a humble source of protein.
  • Climate Change Threatens Midwest’s Wild Rice, A Staple For Native Americans (NPR) https://n.pr/2nkWWQY
  • Our 14,400 Year Old Relationship with Bread (Scientific American) http://bit.ly/2Miyqit                                                                        New evidence from Jordan is challenging what we thought we knew about hunter gatherer diets
  • Delicious Purple Beans Connected One Chef to Her Family’s Culinary Past (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2L0eknL

 

Hunger, Food Access & Security, Obesity, Malnutrition, and Nutrition

  • Create a Brexit-ready food cupboard? Many can’t afford their next meal (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2B5kOlG                                  The leave camp is selling hardship as a badge of honor. That’s because its proponents won’t be the ones facing shortages
  • UK: “They hadn’t eaten all day: food banks tackle (summer) holiday hunger (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2Mo1X9B
    • Food banks shouldn’t even exist. Don’t let them become the new normal (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2MhxKtX                  (Food) Benefit cuts and an unjust social order have left hundreds of thousands hungry in one of the richest countries in the world       Does this all sound familiar?
  • California Protects Low-Income (SNAP) Access to Farmers Markets (Capitol and Main) http://bit.ly/2MDQkvo

 

Gleaning, Foraging, Reuse, Recycling, Composting & Waste

  • Earth Has a Hidden Plastic Problem – Scientists Are Hunting It Down (Scientific American) http://bit.ly/2nI1WPR                      Trillions of tiny particles generated by our plastic-reliant society are polluting environments worldwide

 

Healthy/Food Safety

  • Baby Food Tests Find 68 Percent Contain ‘Worrisome’ Levels of Heavy Metals (EcoWatch) http://bit.ly/2Po6mYP                        Testing published by Consumer Reports found “concerning levels’ of toxic metals in popular US baby and toddler food.
  • These bars are made with “100 percent natural whole gain oats” – and glyphosate (New Food Economy) http://bit.ly/2Pos0MT    Consumers don’t expect chemicals in their natural foods, says the latest lawsuit accusing a “natural” product of dirty dealing.
  • The Roundup Chemical Found Responsible for Cancer Might Also Be in Your Cereal (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2vNZCLQ    Glyphosate – deemed “probably carcinogenic” – sticks around on snack and breakfast foods.
  • Roundup for Breakfast? Weed Killer Found in Kids’ Cereals, Other Oat-Based Foods (EcoWatch) http://bit.ly/2PbqaPd
  • Glyphosate Pre-Harvest Aid in Small-Grains (North Dakota State University) http://bit.ly/2BoYzXP
  • Glyphosate Used to Kill and Prepare Crops for Harvest (The Cornucopia Institute) http://bit.ly/2OOl6ix
  • ‘This Is Very Strange.’ An Illness Outbreak Possibly Related to an Ohio Chipotle Remains a Mystery Two Weeks Later (Newsweek) https://ti.me/2M9o9oN

 

Food Fraud/Scandals/Weird/Funny

  • Hungry Thief Wanted After Nearly $100,000 Worth Of Ramen Noodles Stolen (Huffington Post) http://bit.ly/2KZBASG

 

Children & School Food

  • Study: Children have better nutrition when they live near forests (Nation of Change) http://bit.ly/2MjW4v3                                                  The data show that forests aren’t just correlated with improvements in people’s diets. We show that forests cause these improvements.
  • Adolescents’ cooking skills strongly predict future nutrition well-being (EurekAlert) https://bit.ly/2Mf8LHp                                  Confidence in cooking ability led to fewer fast food meals, more meals as a family, and more frequent preparation of meals with vegetables in adulthood, according to a new study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
  • The Problem With School Lunch: How The Wealth Gap Is Shaming Students (Huffington Post) http://bit.ly/2LaEc0b                The school lunch is symbolic of America’s socioeconomic and food disparities.

 

Labor/Unions/Coops

  • Demanding Wide-Reaching Reforms and an End to Slavery, Inmates in 17 States Plan Prison Strike (Common Dreams) http://bit.ly/2wdwWeD                                                                                  “Every single field and industry is affected on some level by prisons, from our license plates to the fast food that we eat to the stores that we shop at.”
  • Ben & Jerry’s ‘Milk With Dignity’ {act With Farmworkers Seems To Be Paying Off (NPR) https://n.pr/2MnRAna
  • Arkansas’ minimum wage fight will be on the ballot in November (Think Progress) http://bit.ly/2MqbwG7                                          Arkansas’ current minimum wage is $8.50.
  • Trump’s visa crackdown is hitting Maryland’s crab industry hard (Think Progress) http://bit.ly/2Plnn5Z                                            Businesses on the coast are reeling.

 

Animals

 

Business, Social Enterprise & Our Economy

  • Stop Meat Companies from Rigging the Grass-fed Market (Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy) http://bit.ly/2Mrlzuo
  • Chipotle is adding bacon to the menu, and it reveals how drastically the chain has had to change in the wake of its E. coli scandal (Business Insider) https://read.bi/2nP6rbp
  • Man Who Fought Monsanto Will Leave a Lasting Legacy (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2OxDj3W                                                                        When Dewayne “Lee” Johnson was awarded $389 million for damages related to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, he didn’t just triumph over Monsanto. He also may have created a path forward for thousands of similar plaintiffs.
  • What does the Monsanto verdict means for thousands of pending cases? (Food, Agriculture, and the Environment) http://bit.ly/2BoZhnX
  • Why were damages in Monsanto’s Roundup trial so high? Not only is the giant liable, but it cause harm deliberately (New Food Economy) http://bit.ly/2MNSCVM
  • How Monsanto Plants Stories, Suppresses Science & Silences Dissent to See a Cancer-Linked Chemical (Democracy Now) http://bit.ly/2MLR2DF
  • Monsanto Cancer Ruling Sparks Backlash Around the Globe (EcoWatch) http://bit.ly/2PeTjsX
    • Australian farmers body says Roundup cancer ruling is ‘in blatant ignorance’ of science (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2Mp25G0                                                                        (Australian) National Farmers’ Federation says US court ruling that weedkiller causes cancer sets a ‘reckless precedent’
  • Monsanto loses another court case over its widely used weed killer (SF Chronicle) http://bit.ly/2OGLrPz                                                The (CA) state supreme Court rejected a challenge by Monsanto Co. on Wednesday to California’s decision to list the main ingredient in its Roundup herbicide as a cause of cancer…
  • Homebase to review sale of Monsanto weed killer after US cancer Verdict (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2MhJeMV            Roundup was ruled by a Californian jury to have caused Dewayne Johnson’s Lymphoma
  • US bosses new earn 312 times the average worker’s wage, figures show (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2MlrxNB
  • Where even Walmart won’t go: how Dollar General took over rural America (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2Mmapq8
  • Inside Mexico’s Anti-Capitalist Marketplaces (In These Times) http://bit.ly/2MvV4mZ                                                                                        How some Mexicans re using barter and alternative currencies to build an economy beyond profit.

 

Food Fraud/Scandals/Weird

  • Police Chief Defends Use Of Taser On Elderly Woman Cutting Flowers (Huffington Post) http://bit.ly/2nKTOyo                            Martha Al-Bishara, 87, was carrying a knife to cut dandelions and didn’t understand the officers’ orders, her family said.
  • A Restaurant In Maine Replaced Their Crinkle-Cut Fries With Straight Fries And Angry Customers Are New Harassing Them (BuzzFeed) http://bit.ly/2PjiNVV                                                                      One angry diner even threatened to physically fight one of the owners. Really?

 

Water & Our Oceans

  • Australia: Calls for environmental water entitlements to be sold to drought affected farmers (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2vJhesa  Politicians and farmers say water should be diverted to crops to keep hers alive
  • Salting the earth: North Dakota farmers struggle with a toxic byproduct of the oil boom (NBC News) https://nbcnews.to/2MM8PLd                                                                          The state of North Dakota doesn’t even know how many acres of cropland have been damage by saltwater spills, a byproduct of the local oil boom.
  • Current List of Saltwater Spills in North Dakota 2008 – Current, Last Updated: August 9, 2018 https://nbcnews.to/2MM8PLd          To date there are 871 reported saltwater spills since January 2, 2008
  • Fracking is destroying US water supply, warns shocking new study (Think Progress) http://bit.ly/2MY3DE0
    • Study: The intensification of the water footprint of hydraulic fracturing (Science Advances) http://bit.ly/2nQwgYW
    • Fracking Water Use Skyrockets, Creating 1,440 More Toxic Wastewater (Huffington Post) http://bit.ly/2vLTKm4
    • Water use for fracking has risen by up to 770 percent since 2011 (phys.org) http://bit.ly/2Bg5r9T
  • Roundup Chemical Linked To Cancer Used To Kill Weeds In The (Sacramento, San Joaquin) Delta (CBS Sacramento) https://cbsloc.al/2BuLkow
    • Glyohosate Sprayed on GMO Crops Linked to lake Erie’s Toxic Algae Bloom (EcoWatch) http://bit.ly/2nIhiEi
  • Florida Declares State Of Emergency As Red Tide Spreads (Huffington Post) http://bit.ly/2MqISDN                                                  The harmful algae bloom has fouled the state’s waters for months.
  • Pollution is slowing the melting of Arctic sea ice, for now (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2MMxnUc                                                            Human carbon pollution is melting the Arctic, but aerosol pollution is slowing it down

 

Government/Regulation/Policy/Farm Bill

  • This Small Caribbean Island (Dominica) Is Waging A Big War Against Plastic (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2MJfhCG      Dominica’s government plans to ban plastic and Styrofoam food containers and utensils by 2019.
  • Five Red Flags for Food, Farming and Fair Trade Under the UK’s New Brexit Plan (Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy) http://bit.ly/2Mz9DpI
  • How a Pair of Kentucky Pols Are About to Legalize Hemp (Politico) https://politi.co/2ARhzhF                                                                The non-psychoactive sister plant of marijuana is a favorite with farmers, and it will get a lot easier to grow if Congress removes it from the list of banned drugs. The DEA is not happy.
  • Report detailing lead poisoning in young children on army bases draws fire from lawmakers (Think Progress) http://bit.ly/2vTGaNL                                                                                          More than 1,000 young children living on army bases were found to have elevated lead levels.
  • Stalling Trump’s ‘Illegal Rubber-Stamp’ of Keystone XL, Federal Court Orders Full Environmental Review (Common Dreams) http://bit.ly/2MUWnsn                                                                                        “This is a huge win for the landowners and Tribal Nation members whose water and environment would be forever threatened by this dangerous tar sands project.”
  • It’s official: This fall America will harvest more soybeans than ever. But who’s buying? (New Food Economy) http://bit.ly/2OB7bMS
  • Trump Quietly OK’s Bioengineered Farming on Wildlife Refuges (The Nation) http://bit.ly/2OGgjjl                                                                      By rescinding an Obama-era regulation, the administration is giving a green light to agribusiness on protected lands.
  • Why the Trump Administration is Going to War with the Wine Industry (Vice) https://bit.ly/2Oy0yuS                                                        The Treasury Department is going after US businesses that both import and export wine. Buckle up and hoard the pinot.
  • San Antonio passes paid sick leave ordinance, joining Austin in fight against top Texas Republicans (The Texas Tribune) http://bit.ly/2MkJOKO                                                                                              A similar measure passed by Austin earlier this year is tied up in court. And dozens of Republican state lawmakers have lined up against the ordinance.

 

GMOs/CRISPR/Cloning/Synthetic Biology

  • Regulate new GE techniques? US (never) vs. EU (Yes) (Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy) http://bit.ly/2MHr1si
    • The USDA reorganizes for its “customers,” throws science under the bus (Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy) http://bit.ly/2MIzITz
    • Risk associated with off-target plant genome editing and methods for its limitation (Emerging Topics In Life Sciences) http://bit.ly/2MHFMf2

 

Technology/Food Technology/Nanotechnology

 

Poisons

  • Toxic neighbor: Monsanto and the poisoned town (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2vuSshE                                                                                       Almost a century ago, Monsanto opened a chemical factory in Anniston, Alabama. Mathieu Asselin spent years photographing this damaged landscape – including a creek where the waters run red.
  • 3M knew about the dangers of PFOA and PFOS decades ago, internal documents show (The Intercept) https://bit.ly/2M8yywO

 

GrowCalgary Blog Posts

Grow Calgary Relocation Press Release

Grow Calgary has been informed by Alberta Infrastructure that the organizations current site of operation must me vacated by December 31st, 2018 in order to make way for the Calgary West Ring Road (C-WRR) development beginning in Spring 2019, particularly the C-WRR / TransCanada Highway (TCH) interchange. Grow Calgary’s stance on the matter is not one of resistance. Grow Calgary does not object to Alberta Infrastructures request to relocate and acknowledges the request as fair and within the authority of Alberta Infrastructure. Grow Calgary is eager to collaborate with Alberta Infrastructure to find a new location to continue the operation of an urban community farm. However, before Grow Calgary puts effort and resources into relocating, the organization is requesting Alberta Infrastructure provide a more detailed explanation of how the parcel of land Grow Calgary occupies will be utilized in the development process of the C-WRR. Current drawings of the C-WRR / TCH interchange do not appear to show the Grow Calgary site directly impacted by the proposed development. Grow Calgary’s request is to receive more information as to why they have been ordered to relocate as their current site does not appear to be in the way of the proposed development. Grow Calgary is motivated by a desire to achieve a deeper understanding of the necessity of their relocation. To participate in the dialogue or to learn more about Grow Calgary’s stance on the relocation send an email to farm@growcalgary.ca.38888296_1845604935487793_7084158520181915648_o

GrowCalgary Blog Posts

Jenny’s Food & Ag Update August 12, 2018

 

  • The Inspiring Women Reshaping the Food System (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2OIdqPT                                                                                        From farmworkers and graziers to entrepreneurs and advocates, these women are leading the change for more just and sustainable food.
  • Meet the Once-Homeless Chef Using Food to Fight Poverty (Vice) https://bit.ly/2Oau3Cx                                                                            “You can’t do anything positive with your life unless you’re stabilized, and you can’t be stabilized on an empty stomach.”
  • What Are We Getting from Voluntary Sustainability Standards for Coffee? (Center for Global Development) https://bit.ly/2w1xMLx
  • LA’s Incentive for Urban Farming Fails to Take Root (City Lab) https://bit.ly/2AsNIvr                                                                                          Hardly any lots have received a tax break so far under the Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones program.
  • Why Are So Many Migrants Leaving Guatemala? A Crisis in the Coffee Industry Is One Reason (Time) https://ti.me/2vbs74N
  • The Chinese Are Eating More Meat Than Ever Before and the Planet Can’t Keep p (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2vlZX8d              “In the end, per capita meat consumption in China is still half that of the United States.”
  • How Factory Farm Pollution Harms the Quality of Life in rural Communities (In These Times) https://bit.ly/2O8uMnL
  • Why the Midwest’s Food System is Failing (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2OGRbcU                                                                                          The heavily agricultural states in the middle of the country aren’t actually feeding their people. But the 2018 Farm Bill offers an opportunity to change that.
  • Do Fair Trade Labels Actually Mean Anything? (AlterNet) https://bit.ly/2M19niZ                                                                                        How to know if what you’re purchasing helps that poor person of color in the brand’s marketing.
  • How an Obsession with Fruit Took Me on the Adventure of a Lifetime (National Geographic) https://on.natgeo.com/2vjZVxF
    • This Adventurer Risked His Life to Discover Good Food (National Geographic) https://bit.ly/2GP8OTb                            David Fairchild brought lemons, Japanese cherry trees, and decent beer to the U.S.
  • 4 Environmental Activists Are Killed Every Week So We Can Have Snacks, Meat and Coffee (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2Mt06gO                                                                                          “We don’t want to any more bloodshed,” said the child of one slain land defender.
  • How Brexit will kill the sandwich (Politico) https://politi.co/2vL1UKW                                                                                The UK imports a lot of meat, cheese and salad from Europe to satisfy its lunchtime cravings.
  • Not just a fad: the surprising, gut wrenching truth about gluten (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2Mqsujy                                                      While just 1% of the UK is allergic to the proteins that cause coeliac disease, many others suffer with gluten related digestive problems. Some researchers believe mass produced food is to blame
  • Study: Glyposate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance (US National Institute of Health) https://bit.ly/2jzDr82
  • Fertilizer destroys plant microbiome’s ability to protect against disease (UC Berkeley) https://bit.ly/2LEkDTi                            Nitrogen based fertilizer is synthesized from atmospheric nitrogen and natural gas which are poisons. We use nitrogen gas to preserve foods in Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP, think about that baby lettuce from Trader Joe’s that lasts so long) Which kills microorganisms. And we are all aware that petrochemicals are poisons…
  • ‘I Still Have Hope’ (Grub Street) https://grb.st/2njeb5m                    How one New York – trained chef is bouncing back – and helping Puerto Rico – after Hurricane Maria.

 

Farmers, Farming, Ranching, Herding, Fishing & Production

  • Venezuela’s Marching Campesinos Meet Maduro, Denounce Corruption & Revolutionary ‘Reversals’ (Venzuelanalysis) https://bit.ly/2n7HebW
  • American Farmers Want Trade Partners Not Handouts – An Agricultural Economist Explains (100 Days in Appalachia) https://bit.ly/2vflQ9c
  • Hawaii was once a local milk mecca. On Oahu, there’s just one dairy left (New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2MjkxzF                      How Oahu’s last dairy, Naked Cow Dairy, beat the odds – one wheel of squid ink brie at a time.
  • In A Record Year, Almond Growers Are Nervous (Modern Farmer) https://bit.ly/2M1OaGE
    • Almond Farmers Are Reeling From Chinese Tariffs (WSJ) https://on.wsj.com/2M3hdFJ                                                                    Prices for California almonds have fallen by more than 10% over past two months
  • Trump’s Tariffs Are Screwing Farmers. Many Still Won’t Blame Him. (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2KBcVnw                                “We’re just hoping this doesn’t last a long time.”

 

Seeds & Cultivars

 

Food and Culture

  • Archaeobotanical evidence reveals the origins of bread 14,400 years ago in northeastern Jordan (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) https://bit.ly/2OL88mP
  • Restoring culturally relevant food systems to Native American and Immigrant populations (UC Berkeley) https://bit.ly/2vsW815
  • For many Muslim grocery shoppers, a shifting definition of ‘halal’ (The Conversation) https://bit.ly/2OIIT4t
  • In Oakland’s most exciting restaurants, incredible food and social activism go hand in hand (Mic) https://bit.ly/2KnHNHU
  • People Have Reacted Accordingly to Mayonnaise Flavored Ice Cream’s Debut (Time) https://ti.me/2mQLZGB

 

Hunger, Food Access & Security, Obesity, Malnutrition, and Nutrition

  • Low – Income Americans on SNAP Still Can’t Afford to Eat Healthy (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2uTRAjT                                        Federal nutrition assistance only covers about half the amount it would cost a family to follow the federal guidelines for a healthy diet.
  • Food Aid Doesn’t Cover the Price of Food in Almost Every County in America (City Lab) https://bit.ly/2CI0mmr
  • How the Other Half Eats (City Lab) https://bit.ly/2Oz1gIW        SNAP benefits add up to $1.86 per person, per meal. Here’s what that looks like.
  • A Pioneering Massachusetts Program Helps Low Income Residents Eat Healthier and Supports Local Farmers (Civil Eats) https://bit.ly/2O3FAnb                                                                                        The Healthy Incentives Program connects SNAP to farmers’ markets and boosts the local economy.
  • New York State Reaches Agreement to Keep SNAP Benefits Working at Farmers Markets Nationwide (Modern Farmer) https://bit.ly/2OOtoI5
    • Farmers’ Market SNAP Crisis Gets ‘Emergency Support,’ But No Long Term Fix (Grub Street) https://grb.st/2JLnbZX
  • How “Greens, Beets, and Tomatoes” Turned Around This Historically Black Church (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2OtwfoO  “I was frustrated with the dynamic of seeing the food that we needed and not being able to afford it.”
  • Reducing food insecurity among households with children is still a challenge for the United States (Brookings Institution) https://brook.gs/2OkSe1Z
  • How the Lack of Affordable Vegetables is Creating a Billion-Dollar Obesity Epidemic in South Africa (Inter Press Service) https://bit.ly/2OZ9biY
    • Report: At the Bottom Of The Food Chain: Small Operators Versus Multinational Corporations In The Food Systems Of Brazil, Mexico And South Africa (DST-NRF Center of Excellence in Food Security) https://bit.ly/2MGUWxT

 

Gleaning, Foraging, Reuse, Recycling, Composting & Waste

  • Hungry for change: urban foragers take the law into their own hands (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2vLfDRU                                Municipal parks are generally off limits to foragers, but in Seattle there’s a newfound hunger to maintain this tradition in cities
  • Only a third of plastic food packaging can be recycled, councils say (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2ADJKjZ                                              Scrap ‘smorgasbord’ of plastics used in packaging, town hall chiefs tell manufacturers

 

Healthy/Food Safety

  • With Culinary Medicine, Doctors Are Finally Learning About Food (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2LvF7JG                                            It picks up where basic (and brief) med school nutrition education leaves off, and it’s making doctors better at their jobs.
  • Chefs Serve Hospital Food That’s Better for Patients, Employees – and the Planet (Foodtank) https://bit.ly/2MC71nV
  • This Cheesecake Factory Burrito Is Equal To 7 Sausage McMuffins (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2KGhAo0                              If breakfast is the most important meal of the day, this might just ruin your day.
  • Cattle operation may have caused #. Coli outbreak linked to romaine, FDA says (New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2vuC0eZ    Monday’s announcement is the first indication that the agency suspects water contamination from animal agriculture may have been the outbreak’s original source.
  • Chicken’s Salmonella Problem Is Worse Than You Think (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2O9BPwD                                                                          And cooking the shit out of it won’t necessarily protect you.
  • Almost Every Kind of Wild Fish Is Infected with Worms (Vice) https://bit.ly/2OIeFyr                                                                                          Ever have a nice meal at a fancy restaurant, plop down $75 for a wild seafood dinner, then get home and open the container of leftovers to see worms wriggling out of your fillet? It may be better to go with farm-raised fish after all.
  • Live Worms Slither Out of Half Eaten Fish Dish, Restaurant Somehow Mad at Customer (Vice) https://bit.ly/2nc7vGk                    A Jersey Shore restaurant is upset with a diner for putting them on blast.
  • Even More Snacks Are Being Recalled Over the Salmonella Fears Affecting Goldfish and Ritz Crackers (Time) https://ti.me/2NTaDlE
  • Almond Milk Recalled For Possible Cow’s Milk Contamination (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2O8Rr3c                                                “Milk inadvertently was entered into the processing equipment for almond milk,” said a spokeswoman for HP Hood, maker of Blue Diamond Vanilla Breeze.
  • Premade Wraps and Salads Sold at Trader Joe’s, Walgreen’s, and Kroger Contaminated With Parasite (Modern Farmer) https://bit.ly/2ARhZoa

 

Food Fraud/Scandals/Weird/Funny

  • Man sues McDonald’s, Coca-Cola over alleged spiking of drink with heroin replacement (The Hill) https://bit.ly/2LTUhfi
    • McDonald’s Apologizes to Woman For Serving Her Cleaning Solution Instead of Coffee (Time) https://ti.me/2Mefygl
  • Rogue Goats Take Over Idaho Neighborhood (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2O6ugqA                                                                                        These goats on the lam were supposed to be working when they were found eating up a quiet suburban street.

 

Education

  • Bring back home economics class because our kids lack basic life skills (Dallas Daily News) https://bit.ly/2nezftU

 

Children & School Food

  • Breastfeeding is about health; formula is about profits (Marin Independent Journal) https://bayareane.ws/2O7rzom                Health experts say toddler formula is unnecessary, and some argue it could be harmful to growing kids.
  • The Breastfeeding Boom, The Baby Formula Industry Is Turning To Toddlers (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2B0MkjY

 

Labor/Unions/Coops

  • The Supreme Court Just Helped Chipotle Boot 2, 814 Workers From a Wage Theft Lawsuit (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2B7XxQ6                                                                                            A judge’s order shows the real-world effects of the court’s decision to let employers force workers to give up their right to class-action lawsuits.
  • A Popeye’s worker says she was fired after she blew the whistle on unsanitary conditions (Yahoo) https://yhoo.it/2LTDCsi
  • Hotel Workers Back New Law (California) Ending Secrecy in Harassment Cases (Capitol & Main) https://bit.ly/2nfHiXc            Non-disclosure agreements have become targets for #MeToo advocates, since they bar women from discussing their stories of workplace sexual harassment. Proposed California legislation could change that.
  • People over profit: Famed Seattle fish market sold to longtime employees – instead of highest bidder (Daily Kos) https://bit.ly/2KkoUFz

 

Protests

  • Tomato Canning as Protest: How a Community Resisted Corporate Farming (Yes!) https://bit.ly/2OT2wXC                                    A Missouri town’s summer ritual brings much needed support to small family operations.

 

Animals

  • In Wisconsin and Minnesota, goats are used to combat invasive species (Wisconsin Gazette) https://bit.ly/2O2Gj8k

 

Business, Social Enterprise & Our Economy

  • Plant Based Food Sales Hit $3.3 Billion Last year – And Will Only Grow From Here (One Green Planet) https://bit.ly/2Ko1H5K
  • Smithfield Foods Ordered To pay Millions In Damages To Neighbors Of Hog Farms (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2LQ7TJ3                                                                                            The North Carolina farms “generate many times more sewage than entire towns.”
  • Nestlé misled consumers about GMOs in its food products lawsuit alleges (Money Watch) https://cbsn.ws/2nmU06N      Nestlé is facing a federal class-action lawsuit in Los Angeles alleging it sold products labeled as having “No GMO Ingredients” with genetically modified organisms.
  • Mission accomplished? Once scarce, the Impossible Burger has hit the mainstream (SF Chronicle) https://bit.ly/2AXd3hh
  • Chipotle Slapped With Lawsuits Following Ohio Foodborne Illness Outbreak (Eater) https://bit.ly/2LZ9X0C                              Nearly 400 people have reported falling ill
  • Robert Reich: Almost 80% of US workers live from paycheck to paycheck. Here’s why (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2LRC2Hq          America doesn’t have a jobs crisis. It has a ‘good jobs’ crisis – where too much employment is insecure, and poorly paid
  • How Many Workers Must Live In Poverty For McDonald’s CEO To Make $21.8 Million? (Forbes) https://bit.ly/2vATYeZ
    • 52 Percent of Fast Food Workers Need Government Assistance to Make Ends Meet (Eater) https://bit.ly/2Mg0Gya
    • Why Companies Fear Disclosing CEO-to-Worker Pay (Bloomberg) https://bloom.bg/2rwBRIf
    • (US) CEOs earn 361 times more than the average US worker – union report (Reuters) https://reut.rs/2vyygIE
    • European CEO pay ratios highest in UK, France and Germany (Board Agenda) https://bit.ly/2vfRumY                                                      CEO pay is 94 times in the UK, 91 times in France, 89 times in Germany, 71 times in the Netherlands, and 40 times in Sweden’s largest companies
  • As Workers’ Wages Continue to Fall Under Trump, Analysis Shows CEO Pay Is Way Higher Than Typically Reported (Common Dreams) https://bit.ly/2Kq1sXO                                            “The data is out: CEOs are cashing in their huge benefits from the [Trump tax cuts], meanwhile workers’ wages are declining and Americans are struggling to afford rising healthcare premiums.”

 

Food Fraud/Scandals/Weird

  • Lawsuit Alleges that Canada Dry Ginger Ale Contains No Actual Ginger (Vice) https://bit.ly/2M11YAl                                                                  If the plaintiff’s claims are true, ‘high fructose corn syrup ale’ might be a more accurate name for the drink.

 

Water & Our Oceans

  • Farmers are drawing groundwater from the giant Ogallala Aquifer faster than nature replaces it (The Conversation) https://bit.ly/2OjBDL9
  • Fracking industry is cannibalizing its own production, increasing spill risks (Nation of Change) https://bit.ly/2KLGMJK                      How will this turn out? Don’t ask the industry experts because they admit they have no idea.
  • Reminder of ‘How Often Fracking Pipelines Blow Up’: 7 Hospitalized After Series of Explosions in Texas (Common Dreams) https://bit.ly/2AC6gcO                                                                      The incidents occurred in a region that “is crisscrossed by oil and gas pipelines” and where fossil fuel production is “booming”
  • Here’s How Toxic Tap Water Can Send You Scrambling for Something Safe to Drink – and Why It Might Become the New Normal (AlterNet) https://bit.ly/2Mdnl2p                                              Toledo was the first large US city where toxic algae blooms made tap water unsafe to drink. But it may not be the last.
  • Fish Are Losing Their Sense of Smell (Nexus Media) https://bit.ly/2vkobj3                                                                                                  At stake? Their survival and the livelihoods that depend on them.

 

Government/Regulation/Policy/Farm Bill

  • Which retailers profit from food stamps? Journalists have been asking for years – and we may never know (New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2M8I3Ad
  • US government failing millions by paying below $15 an hour, study finds (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2MCD0nZ
  • Court Orders EPA To Ban Chlorpyrifos, A Pesticide Linked To Brain Damage In Kids (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2AXun5X      Pediatricians warned that keeping it on the market put “all children at risk.”
  • Court bans popular farm pesticide defended by Trump. What it means for farms, workers, kids (Sacramento Bee) https://bit.ly/2vtJL4X
  • The Zombie Guest Worker Bill (Capitol & Main) https://bit.ly/2m2l4ax                                                                              Republican immigration reform proposals may be dead, but Republican guest worker proposals live on.
  • Growing Pains: Guest Farm Workers Face Exploitation, Dangerous Conditions – Part I (Capital & Main) https://bit.ly/2vtMUS3                                                                                        Many migrant workers in California on H-2A temporary agricultural visas are forced to contend with unsafe working conditions, wage theft and other labor law violations.
  • Growing Pains: Guest Farm Workers Face Exploitation, Dangerous Conditions – Part II (Capital & Main) https://bit.ly/2vtNn6L                                                                                              The influx of migrant agricultural workers brought to the US on temporary visas means increased competition for resident laborers – and less bargaining power.
  • Trump Administration Lifts Ban On GMOs, Bee Killing Chemicals In Wildlife Refuges (Huffington Post) https://bit.ly/2OHAy0S      The Defenders of Wildlife CEO called the decision to scrap the Obama-era policy “an insult to our national wildlife refuges and the wildlife that rely on them.”
  • Trump administration lifts ban on pesticides linked to declining bee numbers (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2n9KDqE        Environmentalists say lifting the restriction poses a grave threat to pollinating insects
  • House Farm Bill Would Increase Food Insecurity and Hardship (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) https://bit.ly/2O2mFcj
    • Paul Ryan Is Holding the Farm Bill Hostage Over Food Stamps (Mother Jones) https://bit.ly/2n2NQby                                                The House will only approve a farm bill that squeezes SNAP recipients; the Senate won’t let that happen
  • In Latest Attempt to Harm Struggling Families, Trump Urges Lawmakers to Push One Million Americans Off Food Stamp Program (Common Dreams) https://bit.ly/2OGjQyM                          “So weird the Trump administration isn’t putting work requirements on its capital gains tax cut.”
  • A Closer Look at Who Benefits from SNAP: State by State Fact Sheets (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) https://bit.ly/2z0bA8m
  • Survey: Nearly Tow-Thirds of Americans Oppose Cuts to SNAP Program (John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) https://bit.ly/2M07TCj                                                                                Majorities also support investing resources in new farmers
  • Why punitive work-hours tests in SNAP and Medicaid would harm workers and do nothing to raise employment (Economic Policy Institute) https://bit.ly/2LTQgYd
  • Trump’s ag relief program will benefit factory farms, not family farmers (Wisconsin Gazette) https://bit.ly/2AHsxpU

 

GMOs/CRISPR/Cloning/Synthetic Biology

  • Despite Ban and New Labels, Study Reveals ‘Large-Scale Illegal Presence’ of GMOs in India’s Food Supply (Common Dreams) https://bit.ly/2vCRfBM                                                                                        “We were shocked to know the scale in which GM foods have penetrated the Indian market.”
  • Selective fertilization with phosphite allows unhindered growth of cotton plants expressing ptxD gene while suppressing weeds (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) https://bit.ly/2nb04im

 

Technology/Food Technology/Nanotechnology

  • How scientists are hijacking plant skeletons to make lab-grown steaks (New Food Economy) https://bit.ly/2NZDwwu
  • Growers Are Beaming Over The Success Of Lasers To Stave Off Thieving Birds (NPR) https://n.pr/2Ot0wUQ

 

Poisons

  • Wind-Blown Pesticides An Issue In Courtrooms, Communities Across US (Harvest Public Media) https://bit.ly/2nue1Ik
  • Federal Suit Alleges Companies Knew Dicamba Would Drift, Monsanto Created monopoly (Harvest Public Media) https://bit.ly/2vZjxXw
    • Drift damage from dicamba estimated on more than a million acres this year (Wisconsin Gazette) https://bit.ly/2LTPvOF
  • Monsanto ordered to pay $289m as jury rules weedkiller caused man’s cancer (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2MbCJvO
    • Monsanto ‘bullied scientists’ and hid weedkiller cancer risk, lawyer tells court (The Guardian) https://bit.ly/2zn8f4j
    • First trial alleging Monsanto’s Roundup causes cancer goes to jury (Reuters) https://reut.rs/2nmiUDl
    • Doe Monsanto’s Roundup cause cancer? Trial highlights the difficulty of proving a link (The Conversation) https://bit.ly/2LTjBD2