- John Oliver: America’s Food System Is Out of Whack (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/1MlDHyu Sell by dates are total B.S…
- Crazy Tree Grows Over 40 Different Types of Fruit (For Real) (Yahoo!) http://yhoo.it/1RW6wp5
- Farming May Have Started Way Earlier Than Scientists Thought (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/1D4nHxH Researchers have found evidence of plant cultivation at 23,000-year-old site.
- Study: The Origin of Cultivation and Proto-Weeds, Long Before Neolithic Farming (PLOS One) http://bit.ly/1LELvK7
- Want to know why US tomatoes suck? Because we don’t care about flavor (Grist) http://bit.ly/1gFiJNY
- Organic Farmers and Whole Foods Reach Ceasefire Over ‘Responsibly Grown’ Ratings (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/1JgdWcK After a public letter from farmers, the company has offered to reconsider the way its produce rating program responds to organic practices.
- Carnivorous Figs: The Relationship Between Wasps and Figs (Contra Costa Master Gardeners) http://bit.ly/1Gt4j8D
- When it comes to food in the US, “local” is the new “organic” (Quartz) http://bit.ly/1ObxH91
- Bacon Flavored Seaweed May Be Your Eggs’ New Best Friend (Yahoo!) http://yhoo.it/1M8uh8A
- Can meat actually be eco-friendly? (Grist) http://bit.ly/1I3dS3v
- Is Kale making people sick?: The dark side of everyone’s favorite superfood (Salon) http://bit.ly/1DjWx0J
- Sorry, Foodies: We’re About to Ruin Kale (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/1Hv5JDv
- The Vegetable Detective (Craftsmanship) http://bit.ly/1goINNk
- Belcampo Meat Co. delivers (Meat + Poultry) http://bit.ly/1LPPe7Q Belcampo Meat Co. is breaking out of the butcher shop.
- Smart Farming (Craftsmanship) http://bit.ly/1HHsEJw Suggested articles, books and websites of alternative paths for soil conservation…
- Big Organic farming isn’t as clean as we may have thought (Grist) http://bit.ly/1VaMdmP
- Study: Does certified organic farming reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural production? (Texas Grass Fed Beef) http://bit.ly/1fQnm7U
- The Myth of Big, Bad Gluten (NYT) http://nyti.ms/1CiXxXT
- Food Shift (Craftsmanship) http://bit.ly/1Pd4nhR
- A Battle Royal To Keep McDonald’s Out Of Historic Food Hub In Paris (NPR) http://n.pr/1CIPl3v
- Palm Oil Is In Everything – And It’s Destroying Southeast Asia (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/1HM7Enh Cultivating the product, found in most processed foods and cosmetics, kills animals and displaces people
School Food
- When Schools Serve Pizza and Corn Dogs for Lunch, These Companies Make Bank (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/1ObCeIs Food corporations rake in millions from junk-laden school lunches, a new report finds.
- Report: Who’s Making Money from Overweight Kids? (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) http://bit.ly/1gIWBlQ
Labor/Unions/Coops
- A Starting Wage of 15 an Hour: The New Normal? (NYT) http://nyti.ms/1JjOeXg
- Fight for 15 Keeps on Stepping (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/1Op6mjV … “thousands of federal contract workers walked off their jobs yesterday, led by the Senate’s cafeteria workers…”
- How Whole Foods Exploits Prison Labor (Truthdig) http://bit.ly/1JpI31r
- “Conscious Capitalism” Icon Whole Foods Exploits Prison Labor (counterpunch) http://bit.ly/1CPfihH They are paying $1.50 per hour, more than the Federal Government’s prison corporation, Federal Prison Industries http://www.unicor.gov/ and more here http://bit.ly/1hD7Zwd
- Bill That Lets Bosses Fire Single Women For Getting Pregnant Gains Steam (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/1HSYLFd
- AFL leader Trumka hears about wage theft (Philly.com) http://bit.ly/1DeHvcp
Business & Economy
- This Sliding Scale Café Takes Food Access to the Next Level (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/1OmaOzE At the Denver based SAME Café, customers pay what they can.
- CCOF and Whole Foods Market Announce Adjustments to Responsibly Grown Ratings (Farms Reach) http://bit.ly/1M8R5F7
- Campbell Soup Will Cut Artificial Ingredients From Its Foods (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/1IlvTKD
- McDonalds franchisees have never been this depressed (MSNBC) http://on.msnbc.com/1CGrr8R Sales continue to drop…
- Starbucks to open location in Ferguson (MSNBC) http://on.msnbc.com/1V9eYAn Starbucks will be opening new store location in low-income and under privileged communities across the country…
Protests
- The “Yes Men” Have a Solution to California’s Drought (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/1HI0xMt
- Slate: Anti-GMO activists say the darnedest things (Grist) http://bit.ly/1K9S8lZ
Gleaning, Reuse, Recycling, Composting & Waste
- 4 Big Recycling Myths Tossed Out (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/1L2ELH2 No, “blue bins” are not what’s causing America’s trash problem.
Water & Our Oceans
- Drought Is Just the Beginning of Our Frightening Water Emergency (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/1TL6DRR
- Drought-Stricken California Is Exporting 100 Billion Gallons of Water a Year in the Form of Cattle Feed (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/1CUpoxG Profitability trumps practicality as most of the state’s thirstiest crop ends up feeding cows in China.
- Thirsty birds are dying all over California – thanks, climate change (Grist) http://bit.ly/1HC1G8m
- Chris Christie Is Turning Tap Water Into a Private Commodity (The Nation) http://bit.ly/1MdgRsN A new law pushed by the governor makes it even easier for towns to sell public utilities to private corporations.
- In Flint, Michigan, Overpriced Water is Causing People’s Skin to Erupt in Rashes and Hair to Fall Out. (The Nation) http://bit.ly/1KaWido As the nation’s infrastructure falls apart, water is becoming more expensive and less safe.
- Fracking Linked to Heart Conditions and Neurological Illness (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/1CKmKei People who live near fracking sites suffer higher rates of heart conditions and neurological illnesses, says new research.
- ‘The Great Fish Swap’: How America Is Downgrading Its Seafood Supply (NPR) http://n.pr/1fhj2xE
Government/Regulation/Policy/Farm Bill
- House Botes To Ban States From labeling GMO Foods (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/1LGhJ7M “Regardless of what consumers want, they won’t be told,” said one opponent.
- Amendment In The Nature Of A Substitute To HR 1599 – “Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015” (House Agriculture Committee) http://1.usa.gov/1KnFaE0
- House, Senate members introduce $15 federal minimum wage bill (Al Jazeera) http://bit.ly/1HIWSOw Bernie Sanders, Keith Ellison and others join campaign by striking workers to raise nationwide minimum wage
- House Agriculture Committee Says “No” to GMO Labeling, What’s Next? (truthout) http://bit.ly/1VeKCwq
- Food Disaster : Republicans Stomp on GMO Labeling (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/1Idgq11 If passed, a new bill will only escalate the assault on our health, and the health of Planet Earth.
- FDA overwhelmed with foreign imports (KSAT) http://bit.ly/1CP230M
- Mexico’s Soda Tax is Working. The US Should Learn From It (Wired) http://wrd.cm/1CA7d0i
GMOs/Cloning/Food Technology/Synthetic Biology/Nanotechnology
- Hillary vs. Bernie on Frankenfood (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/1KdLw5W
- Systems Biology Group, International Center for Integrative Systems: GMO Soy Accumulates Formaldehyde & Disrupts Plant Metabolism, Suggests Peer-Reviewed Study, Calling for 21st Century Safety Standards (The Cornucopia Institute) http://bit.ly/1Ke1srG
- Study: Do GMOs Accumulate Formaldehyde and Disrupt Molecular Systems Equilibria? Systems Biology May Provide Answers (Scientific Research) http://bit.ly/1Ke1C2v
Poisons
- Glyphosate damages DNA, says World Health Organization Expert (GMWatch) http://bit.ly/1V5ZTiY
- Monsanto Hires Industry Consultancy Firm to Review Verdict on Glyphosate (Global Research) http://bit.ly/1M8RVSn
Pollinators
- Buzz Kill For Bumblebees: Climate Change Is Shrinking Their Range (NPR) http://n.pr/1HnptWo
Animals
- Will the Worst Bird Flue Outbreak in US History Finally Make Us Reconsider Factory Farming Chicken? (The Cornucopia Institute) http://bit.ly/1LvprS8 Or factory farming of any thing?
- Why chicken doesn’t taste like chicken anymore (NY Post) http://bit.ly/1GEFMDj
Healthy/Safe Food
- Junk Food Isn’t Just Making People Fat – It’s Making Them Stupid (takepart) http://bit.ly/1HHfBrx New research suggests that gut bacteria may be the key to understanding the effect of sugar and fat on brain function.
- Study: Fat, sugar cause bacterial changes that may relate to loss of cognitive function (Oregon State University) http://bit.ly/1Bx64FZ
- Why Recent Food Poisoning Outbreaks All Began in This One State (Yahoo!) http://yhoo.it/1MtXHim
- European Safety Review of Aspartame a Whitewash, Says CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest) http://bit.ly/18m3vbm
- Life sentence urged in peanut salmonella case (MSNBC) http://on.msnbc.com/1Mox9ya