Reports

During 2008, rising food prices — accelerated by an unprecedented run-up of prices on the commodities futures markets — created a food crisis that increased global hunger, sparked civil unrest and hurt farmers in America and worldwide. The global food crisis is an overlooked symptom of the broader global economic crisis. The food crisis shares many characteristics of the financial meltdown — it was exacerbated by the deregulation of the commodity markets (including agriculture) that encouraged a tidal wave of Wall Street speculation — leading to further increases in already rising food and energy prices.

Nanotechnology—engineering extremely small particles at the molecular level to create materials with new behaviors and chemical properties—is a powerful new scientific pursuit, one with the potential to produce the next electricity or combustion engine—the next thing to change everything. Unfortunately, the enormous potential of nanotechnology to quell the world’s problems may be offset by its potential to cause harm. There is legitimate concern that the nano-sized particles employed in this new technology will have seriously damaging effects on the health of humans and the environment. Dozens of studies from the emerging field of nanotoxicity have already demonstrated hazards associated with nanoparticles.

The City of Milwaukee faces a serious fiscal predicament. Its budget deficit could top $100 million by 2010, and laws restrict its ability to raise taxes to help offset the shortfall. In 2008, with this conundrum in mind, a public official proposed leasing the Milwaukee Water Works to generate a new revenue source. The city needs an alternative to service cuts and fee hikes, but water privatization is an inadequate and possibly expensive option.

This report, Land-Based Recirculating Aquaculture Systems, provides an introduction to Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS). RAS are closed-loop fish farming facilities that retain and treat water within the Systems addresses why RAS could be an important method of producing more fish for the United States; highlights research, development and technical innovations in RAS; and discusses concerns and recommendations for the future of these systems. Land-Based Recirculating Aquaculture Systems also provides commercial case studies of existing successful RAS operations in the United States.

Since the initial release of Fishy Farms in October 2007, there have been many regional and national developments regarding the status of open ocean aquaculture (OOA) in the United States.

Although the vast majority of produce-related food-borne illnesses in the United States are traced back to food processors and not to farms, several recent outbreaks associated with fresh or fresh-cut produce have brought the farm squarely into the food safety picture. A 2006 outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 in bagged, ready-to-eat spinach and iceberg lettuce sent consumers running from leafy greens; a 2008 Salmonella outbreak, linked first to tomatoes and then to chili peppers, had a similar chilling effect. As a result, both government and industry have developed guidelines or strict protocols intended to improve produce safety on the farm.

Farmers in the western United States are drilling ever deeper to water their crops. Mainers are concerned with lowered water levels in their wells when water bottlers come to town. Arizonans see the Santa Cruz River withering away. In communities around the country, these citizens are all seeing the effects of a decline in one of our most crucial but least understood natural resources: groundwater.

Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), also called recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), is a drug that is injected into cows to increase their milk production. Developed by the agricultural company Monsanto and approved for commercial use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1993, by 2000 it had become the largest selling pharmaceutical product in the history of the dairy industry. RBGH has never been approved for commercial use in Canada or the European Union due to concerns about the drug’s impact on animal health. The artificial hormone’s known side effects include increased udder infections and reproductive problems in cows. Notably, a growing body of scientific research also suggests a link between drinking rBGH-treated milk and certain types of cancer in humans.

A carne bovina do Brasil pode ser saborosa e ter preço atraente, mas os motivos para banir sua importação pela União Européia - UE estão começando a aumentar. Apesar da sobretaxa de 176 por cento sobre a carne bovina brasileira na UE, fazendeiros de gado na Irlanda, na Escócia, no País de Gales, na Itália e em outros países dizem que a carne importada ainda é tão barata que ameaça levá-los à falência.

Local beef. Sustainable sausage. They’re what a growing number of people want for dinner. Across the country, demand is increasing for meat from cattle, sheep and other animals raised on the pastures of local and regional farms and ranches. But satisfying this burgeoning demand is no easy task. Decades of agribusiness and economic trends tilted toward centralizing animal agriculture in industrial factory settings have hollowed out the infrastructure needed to produce and market meat close to population centers. The long, slow demise of local small slaughter and processing operations is now preventing farmers and ranchers from fully satisfying rising consumer demand for meat from sustainably raised livestock.