Farming

US Farmers Allege Deception By Agrochemical Giant

February 18, 2016 Clara Herzberg, www.truth-out.org Educate! Agrochemical, Farming, Food and Agriculture, GMOs

By Clara Herzberg for Truthout - From Indiana to Louisiana, a movement among thousands of corn farmers in the United States is trying to hold a Swiss GMO agribusiness giant to account for willful deceit and is making steady progress in court. According to these lawsuits - which may soon become class action - Syngenta, one of the world's largest agrochemical companies, deliberately misled small farmers into thinking that the genetically modified Viptera corn it was pushing on them would be approved for export to China.

US Should Join France & Civil Society To Solve Climate

December 14, 2015 Katherine Paul and Ronnie Cummins, www.organicconsumers.org Create! Climate Change, Farming

By Katherine Paul and Ronnie Cummins for Organic Consumers Association - France, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the U.K., Germany and Mexico are among the more than two dozen countries that have so far signed on to what one day will likely be recognized as the most significant climate initiative in history. France’s 4/1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate puts regenerative food and farming front and center in the climate solutions conversation. This is why the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), our Mexico affiliate, Via Organica, IFOAM Organics Internationaland more than 50 of our other activist allies across the globe have signed on in support of the Initiative.

Does U.S. Farm Policy Have A Race Problem?

December 7, 2015 Steve Holt, www.truth-out.org Educate! Farming, Race

By Steve Holt for Occupy - When it comes to the disparities within the food system, the numbers are pretty stark. The 10 largest mega-corporations generate $450 million annually in food sales. These companies’ CEOs earn, on average, 12 times what their workers make. Of those food workers, women of color make less than half of the salaries of their male counterparts and are far more likely to need nutrition assistance than workers in other industries. Black farmers have lost 80 percent of their land since 1920, while large-scale and corporate farms make nearly half the agricultural sales—despite accounting for less than five percent of all farms.

How To Drought-Proof California’s Farms

October 6, 2015 Erica Etelson, www.hcn.org Create! California, Farming

By Erica Etelson for High Country News - Three years into its most severe drought in over a thousand years, it's unclear how much longer California can continue growing half of the nation's produce. The crisis confronting Big Ag and family farmers alike may signal the end of agriculture as it's currently practiced. But it need not spell doom for farming altogether: On the contrary, a handful of ecology-minded growers think California could produce plenty of food even with limited amounts of water. For starters, they say, state agriculture and water policymakers could study the practices of farmers like Warren Brush. He runs a 50-acre family farm in the high and dry foothills south of Santa Barbara, where annual rainfall has dropped to just over 10 inches.

Tractor Protest Against The TransPacific Partnership

September 30, 2015 Brent Patterson, www.canadians.org Educate! Canada, Farming, TPP

Ottawa area farmers brought a long convoy of tractors into downtown Ottawa this morning for a protest against the concessions the Harper government is poised to make at the Trans Pacific Partnership talks in Atlanta this week. CBC has reported, "Canada is preparing to open the border to more American milk, without getting reciprocal access for Canadian dairy farmers in the United States... Trade Minister Ed Fast will leave the campaign trail to join his counterparts in Atlanta on Wednesday [Sept. 30], intent on concluding the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks. ...What Fast offers could seriously disrupt the supply-managed dairy sector. The short strokes on dairy come down to how much of Canada's domestic market would be opened up to American products to compensate U.S. dairy producers for opening up their market to TPP partners such as New Zealand, an aggressive and competitive dairy exporter."

Japan’s ‘Sacred’ Rice Farmers Await TPP Death Sentence

August 4, 2015 Nicole L Freiner, www.theconversation.com Educate! Farming, Food and Agriculture, Japan, Rice, TPP

By Nicole L Freiner for the Conversation - Rice is one of the five sacred areas of Japanese agriculture (with pork and beef, wheat, barley and sugarcane). To many, especially those living in rural areas, it remains the primary ingredient of the Japanese identity. As one farmer here said, “without rice, there is no Japan; the culture is a rice culture, it is the most basic element.” Japan’s rice farmers have long been the backbone of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. But lately, as their numbers dwindle along with a declining population and demand for rice, this key cultural constituency seems to have lost the strength it once had to demand the government’s support. There are now around 2 million rice farmers in Japan, down from 4 million in 1990 and as many as 12 million in 1960. The US is pushing Japan to increase its duty-free imports of American rice and related products from 10,000 tons a year to 215,000 tons. The US also wants Japan to open up its lands to foreign investment.

28 Inspiring Urban Agriculture Projects

July 25, 2015 Food Tank, www.foodtank.com Create! Farming, Food and Agriculture, Urban

By Food Tank - Around 15 percent of the world's food is now grown in urban areas. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), urban farms already supply food to about 700 million residents of cities, representing about a quarter of the world’s urban population. By 2030, 60 percent of people in developing countries will likely live in cities. At Food Tank, we are amazed by the efforts of hundreds of urban farms and gardens to grow organic produce, cultivate food justice and equity in their communities, and revitalize urban land. Urban agriculture not only contributes to food security, but also to environmental stewardship and a cultural reconnection with the land through education. The Urban Food Policy Pact (UFPP), to be signed on World Food Day, will address the potential of cities to contribute to food security through urban agriculture.

Imagine Farming That Actually Heals The Earth

July 25, 2015 Sami Grover, www.treehugger.com Create! Earth, Environment, Farming, Food and Agriculture

By Sami Grover in TreeHugger- One of the most inspiring recent developments in the discussion about farming has been the shift from talking about "sustainable" agriculture to advocating for "regenerative" agriculture. Instead of seeking to be less bad, say a growing number of farmers and farming experts, the farming industry should be positioning itself to be good—to heal the harm being done to our planet. From slowing, and maybe even reversing global climate change through soil carbon sequestration to creating perennial food crops that mimic natural prairies and help protect our waterways, there are many methods that could be deployed to both reduce farming's negative impact and simultaneously start rebuilding natural ecosystem services that have previously been degraded.

Occupy The Farm Plans New Protests Against Univ Of California

July 10, 2015 Damin Esper, www.mercurynews.com Resist! California, Farming, Law, Occupy

By Damin Esper in Mercury News - The activists organized as "Occupy the Farm" are not giving up their fight against a mixed use development by the University of California at a portion of its property along San Pablo Avenue, despite the loss in court of an appeal under the California Environmental Quality Act. Occupy the Farm has announced it will be holding a protest event at the property at San Pablo Avenue and Monroe Street on July 16. "Love the Land? Take a Stand!" is the name of the event, scheduled for 4 p.m. The event is timed to mark one month since the June 16 ruling by the state Court of Appeals, which voted 3-0 to deny the appeal. The group asks protesters to join them "one month after the court's misruling to take a stand and demonstrate refusal to accept the misuse of public land in utter disregard of environmental and public health."

Farming For A Sustainable Community: A Training Manual

June 25, 2015 American Friends Service Committee, www.afsc.org Create! Farming, Sustainability

"Farming for a Sustainable Community: A Training Manual" documents the knowledge of Don Bustos, lifelong New Mexican farmer and director of AFSC's New Mexico program, and the farmer-to-farmer training program developed by AFSC to pass down the knowledge he and his ancestors have known for generations. The manual presents models for land selection, soil preparation, crop planning, cultivation, handling, marketing and season extension with point-by-point instruction, case studies, illustrations, and descriptions. This knowledge is shared free of charge. Please credit AFSC when referencing the manual.

Old Barns Good For More Than Reclaimed Wood

September 4, 2014 Lori Rotenberk, www.grist.org Create! Barns, Farming, Food and Agriculture, Sustainability

Jeff Marshall rolls along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, counting barns on the horizon — 50 so far today, many of them disintegrating. Marshall heads the National Barn Alliance, a nonprofit that works with advocacy groups across the country. He’s speaking on the phone about how many barns have been lost in recent years, as farmers can no longer afford to maintain them, and federal and local funds for restoration dwindle. According to the American Farmland Trust, we’ve lost 72 million acres of farmland since 1982, with the trend expected to hasten as farmers retire and die. How many barns there once were and how many remain isn’t really known. But Marshall says a salvation of sorts is taking place. From Texas to Maine, smaller, sustainable farms are finding new uses for their noble barns — and we’re not talking about the weddings that have made both farmers and their neighbors crazy in recent years. These are agricultural uses. A former dairy barn becomes a cheese-making operation, a shelter for draft horses, or a winery. A small whelping barn becomes a place to grow mushrooms, micro greens, and spinach. “Right now I’m looking out the window, just east of Harrisburg, and guess what I’m passing?” Marshall exclaims. “A barn that is Santa’s Workshop!” The resignation is evident in his voice: While the North Pole elf theme is far removed from farming, at least a barn is saved.

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