Food and Sustainable Agriculture
-
Beyond the Food Miles Pothole
Last Sunday’s Star Tribune Writer vs. Writer presentation on the local foods movement is a good example of why it’s so difficult to debate a complicated issue within the confines of newsprint.…
-
Health Scare Stories
For 18 years Curt and Bertha Lou Tvedt walked a dangerous tightrope: working a farm with no health insurance coverage. “It’s scary,” Curt told me recently. “It kind of sits in the…
-
Consider the Cob
It’s not often we hear people standing up for stover—the stalks, shucks, etc., left in the field after corn is harvested. After all, it’s unapologetically called “trash” by farm tillage experts and…
-
Has CSP’s Moment Arrived?
The revamped Conservation Stewardship Program is officially off to the races. The USDA announced yesterday that it will now accept applications from farmers between Aug. 10 and Sept. 30 for the program’s…
-
Greenbook Regrets
I talked to a southern Minnesota crop farmer last night who was pretty upset over the gutting MDA’s sustainable ag program received at the hands of the Legislature and the Governor this…
-
That Certain Feeling
The other evening I walked a western Minnesota farm that had a certain “feel” to it. LSP podcast episodes 66 and 67 provide a sense of how we can help nurture more…
-
Pollinators, Potted Plants & Pesticides
As the current issues of the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer and Land Stewardship Letter make clear, pollinators are the kinds of keystone critters we all can play a role in helping—or hurting. As…
-
Sustainable Ag: Rooted & Rebooted
I once served on a land grant college committee that was trying to figure out ways to develop a marketing manual for farmers involved in alternative production practices such as organic vegetables…
-
An Important Class of Food Critics
The movie Food, Inc. has been getting a lot of reviews since it was released a few weeks ago. Many critics like what the movie has to say about the state of…
-
CSA Farming 101
If you have ambitions of launching a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm anytime soon, or even if you’ve already started one and need some guidance now that the reality of raising food…