Going through my email this morning turned up the latest from farm policy. White House has laid out a graphic there that speaks loads about the disconnect between reality and what should be our Subsidy in this country... I was really inspired by the diversity and nutritiousness of the crops…
Something I keep pushing in the healthcare reform debate...Agriculture is key to real reform. Recently a team of designers from M.I.T. and Columbia was asked by the foundation of the insurer UnitedHealthcare to develop an innovative systems approach to tackling childhood obesity in America. Their conclusion surprised the designers as…
Stumbling through my news reader I came across a reference and a video of Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I have been aware of the work Joel is doing for a while. His success with Polyface is an inspiration that will become more important…
I have a confession to make...I just discovered Marion Nestle and her blog Food Politics. I know, I'm slow on the uptake sometimes. I find that my feelings about food are becoming somewhat activistic...I am getting more upset by the industrialization of our food on a daily basis. So you…
Dear Kitchen Gardener, Whats a home garden worth? With the global economy spiraling downward and Mother Nature preparing to reach upward, its a good question to ask and a good time to ask it. There isnt one right answer, of course, but Ill give you mine: $2149.15. Last year, my…
It just seems to me that when you have production of goods going into so many food products you would have controls in place to insure the safety of the public...Doesn't it? Passing the responsibility off to others for the testing of the product is not an option. Both the…
When I was born in 1952, there were 203,000 farms in Iowa, only 11,000 fewer than when my dad was born in 1926. By 2002, the number had dropped to about 90,000, with roughly the same acreage in production in a state with a population that had remained roughly the…