Food and Sustainable Agriculture

With the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 finally wrapping up, the Land Stewardship Project has developed a report card on where the legislation finally landed in terms of conservation, local…

I’m not sure what’s happening. Maybe the cold, wet spring whet our appetites for fresh vegetables to an extraordinary degree. Or maybe more people are getting the word on the benefits of…

As food riots in places like Haiti and Egypt are reminding us, there are many, many hungry people in the world. Supporters of industrialized agriculture have argued for years that the only…

Early this morning—during those vampire hours between bar close and breakfast—members of the Congressional Farm Bill conference committee agreed on a 2008 Farm Bill. While a final price tag and other details…

Here in Minnesota the fishing opener and preparation for corn planting often coincide—that’s why you won’t see many crop farmers wetting lines on Leech Lake come May 10. That’d be akin to…

The University of Minnesota announced earlier this week it has approved a plan that will create new resources and programs for sustainable and organic agriculture. This is the result of an overall…

Soil scientist Gyles Randall calls it the “broom handle” effect. That’s when a corn field has been shaved clean: stalks, leaves, the whole nine yards — all the way to the stubble,…

There’s nothing like a call-in radio show to bring them out of the woodwork. Or, in the case of young farmers who are excited about producing healthy food in a sustainable manner,…

Looking for a thin bit of hope that spring is indeed just around the ice-encrusted corner? A Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farmer told me today that she just started veggie seedlings in…