Today’s news that the number of oxygen-starved “dead zones” in the world’s seas and oceans has risen by a third in the past two years is almost too much to comprehend. So let’s try this: according to United Nations marine specialists, there were 149 of these zones in 2004—today there are 200. Does that help… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Food and Sustainable Agriculture
Will MDA Gut Environmentally Friendly Farming?
As you read this, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is taking significant steps that may lead to the dismantling of one of the most effective sustainable and organic agriculture programs in the nation. This program has been a leader in advancing farming that protects Minnesota’s environment. The MDA’s proposed undercutting of this program is… Read more »
The Farm as Natural Habitat
As fall in the Upper Midwest goes into overdrive, migrations of ducks, geese and other birds remind us of the variety of feathered fowl that have been residing in our rural areas since spring. This time of year, local wildlife watchers flock to national and state refuges to get a glimpse at their favorite birds… Read more »
It’s Enough to Give Popeye a Bellyache
When news broke that E. coli infections had been linked to raw spinach, some of it coming from certified organic farms, apologists for the conventional food system pounced. Organic vegetable operations can use cattle manure as a natural source of fertility, and E. coli is often present in raw bovine waste. For some commentators, that… Read more »
Farming’s Other Public Goods
All this week, the Star Tribune has been running an excellent series of editorials on the relationship between farming, farm policy and water quality. One key point the editorials make is that in order to attain significant improvements in water quality, we don’t need to make the entire Minnesota River watershed into a pristine wilderness… Read more »
Gas, Grass & Biomass
As goes ethanol, so goes our landscape? On Sept. 6, the USDA’s chief economist announced that the U.S. would need 90 million acres of corn by 2010 to meet the burgeoning demand for ethanol while maintaining existing markets for exports and animal feed. That’s 10 million more acres than what farmers have been planting in… Read more »
Keeping Farming’s Natural & Economic Wealth at Home
It’s harvest time—during the next several weeks hundreds of millions of dollars worth of corn and soybeans will be extracted from Minnesota’s rich soil. Unfortunately, little of that wealth stays in our rural communities. It’s sucked out of these regions by a food and farm economy that exports raw commodities and imports finished products from… Read more »
Cast a Mealtime Ballot for Conservation
September is here, providing Minnesotans perhaps the best opportunity of the year to support good stewardship of the land. This is the time of the growing season when local farms producing fruits and vegetables are peaking with delicious results. Fall is when many farms that produce pork, beef and chickens using sustainable methods are doing… Read more »
Ads on WCCO Don’t Pass the ‘Reality’ Test
If you’ve spent any time watching WCCO-TV in recent months, you’ve probably seen the series of ads sponsored by the Minnesota Farm and Food Coalition. These ads, which feature colorful rural photos and music that pulls at the heartstrings, make the argument that the state’s economy will collapse unless we allow significant expansion of large-scale… Read more »
Welcome
Hi folks – welcome to Loon Commons. Thank you for joining in with this experiment. As you will hopefully notice while looking around the site, we are working to make this a forum for discussion and information sharing on current and emerging environmental and conservation issues in Minnesota. To start this off, we will be… Read more »