Organic and Sustainable Agriculture News

The true cost of cheap food Resurgence - 3/5/2010. By Timothy Wise – Cheap food causes hunger. On its face, the statement makes no sense. If food is cheaper it’s more affordable and more people should be able to get an adequate diet. That is true for people who buy food, such as those living in cities. But it is quite obviously not true if you’re the one growing the food. You’re getting less for your crops, less for your work, less for your family to live on. That is as true for Vermont dairy farmers as it is for rice farmers in the Philippines. Port Clyde co-op helps fishermen make most of catch Bangor Daily News - 3/5/2010. By Heather Steeves – Port Clyde: A group of local fishermen has discovered that a way to do work sustainably also may be what keeps them financially afloat in an era of new, tighter federal regulations and quotas. A dozen commercial fishermen in Port Clyde are allowed to catch fewer fish than ever, but by processing and selling their own catches, the fishermen say they are making more money with less product. And if the fishermen are getting the right price for their work, they don’t have to overfish – which was why the Port Clyde Fresh Catch fishing cooperative was founded in the first place. Shrimp season, market strong Bangor Daily News - 3/4/2010. By Bill Trotter – Ellsworth: Shrimpers are having a whale of a season. Well, it might not be that huge, but relatively speaking the amount of shrimp being caught in Maine waters and the price it is fetching on the market are both doing well this year, according to officials. More weeds found resisting Monsanto Roundup Organic Consumers - 3/3/2010. By Carey Gillam, Reuters – Kansas City: Scientists said on Friday they have confirmed expanding weed resistance to a key ingredient in Monsanto's widely used Roundup herbicide, a troubling development for farmers and fresh fodder for Monsanto critics. Kansas State University said scientists had found five kochia weed populations in western Kansas that have been confirmed to have become resistant to glyphosate. Kochia, also called fireweed, is a drought-tolerant weed commonly found on land in the western United States and Canada where crops are grown and cattle are grazed. Glyphosate resistance in weeds – the transgenic treadmill Institute for Science in Society - 3/3/2010. By Joe Cummins – Glyphosate herbicide was patented and sold by Monsanto corporation since 1974 under the trade name and proprietary formulation Roundup. The herbicide has been used widely in agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, alongside roads and highways, and in home gardening. Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide that poisons many plant species so it is frequently used to ‘burn down’ weeds on a field prior to the planting or emergence of crops. Before 1996, weeds were not observed to have evolved resistance to glyphosate in the field, but since then, the introduction of transgenic glyphosate tolerant crops has led to evolution of a number of resistant weeds as the result of the greatly increased use of the herbicide particularly during the post-emergent growth of the crops. 100 percent of fish in US streams found contaminated with mercury Natural News - 3/3/2010. By David Gutierrez – In a new study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), every single fish tested from 291 freshwater streams across the United States was found to be contaminated with mercury. "This study shows just how widespread mercury pollution has become in our air, watersheds and many of our fish in freshwater streams," said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. EU authorizes GMO potatoes Common Dreams - 3/2/2010. By Agence France Presse – Brussels: The European Commission on Tuesday approved the cultivation of genetically-modified potatoes, but environmentalists and some European ministers slammed the so-called "frankenfoods." The first approval of genetically modified foods in Europe for 12 years was criticised by the Friends of the Earth group and others as a threat to human health, though the potatoes will not be for human consumption. "This is a bad day for European citizens and the environment," Friends of the Earth said of the green light given for the Amflora potato to be developed by German chemical giant BASF. Current  Archive     Page: 1 2 3 4 5