Organic and Sustainable Agriculture News

Journal article says suppressed study found GM corn killed ladybugs Organic Consumers - 10/27/2009. By Ken Roseboro – A recent article in Nature Biotechnology on how biotechnology companies restrict independent research described a study showing that a genetically modified corn killed ladybugs. The study was suppressed by the corn's developer. If you like milk products, you may need to buy a cow Kennebec Journal - 10/26/2009. Letter to editor by Rebecca Myers Law – While the attention of the nation is focused on the health-care debate, a quiet death blow is being dealt to Maine's dairy farming tradition, as well as dairy farms large and small across the nation. With milk prices at $9 to $10 per hundredweight for most of this year, no producer can survive. Swedes put first carbon labels on food TreeHugger - 10/24/2009. By Brian Merchant –When Swedes examine the packaging of their food products, they're going to see more than nutritional information – now there's going to be a 'carbon label' right next to it. The labels read 'Climate declared: X kg CO2 per kg of product," so people will know just how much greenhouse gas their food is contributing to climate change. Amish families reviving farms in Thorndike, Unity Bangor Daily News - 10/24/2009. By Walter Griffin – Unity: New families are settling down on the old family farms. Amish families began relocating to farms in Unity and Thorndike two summers ago, and there are now nine extended Amish families in the area. Using garden ethic in public places Bangor Daily News - 10/24/2009. By Reeser Manley – In his essay, “The Idea of a Garden,” published in 2003 in his book, “Second Nature,” Pollan describes the dilemma facing a community after a tornado devastates the local old-growth pine forest, Cathedral Pines, requiring a decision by the residents on the area’s future. Some community members wanted the area immediately cleared and replanted to pines, others advocated letting nature take her course in the area, still others focused on the economic value of the fallen timber and advocated harvesting as the first priority, followed by replanting. Neat, weed-free garden looks great compared to flooded one Kennebec Journal - 10/23/2009. By Denis Thoet – When Michele looks up from what she is doing and says, "The garden looks great!" it takes me back a ways. I am in my mid-20s, sitting in a Queens, N.Y., funeral home, paying respects to my recently deceased great-uncle Bill lying in an open coffin nearby. Piercing the stifling tranquility is the jangling, bustling arrival of my favorite great-aunt, Alice, who marches up to the open coffin, looks at Uncle Bill for a second, looks at Aunt Lee (Bill's widow), and announces in a big, loud voice: "Lee, he looks great!" It took every fiber in my body not to burst out: "Aunt Alice, he's dead! He can't look great!" The race goes not always to the fast OrganicToBe - 10/22/2009. By Gene Logsdon – I am not a real farmer, my neighbors say, because I don’t do it for money. That’s almost funny because the economists are saying that nobody’s farming for money this year. Although the corn crop is good in most of the midwest, there’s not much profit in it. Some go as far as projecting that on average, corn farmers will lose $8 per acre over the whole midwest. If that is the case, I’m not a real farmer for sure because I figure on netting $550 an acre on my corn. Current  Archive     Page: 1 2 3 4 5