Published on April 05, 2011
- Reports:
As many consumers in the United States and Europe are dropping bottled water, the industry is beginning to see a decline in sales. In fact, between 2007 and 2010, Nestlé Waters, the biggest water bottler in the world, saw its total sales drop 12.6 percent. Today, Nestlé appears to have developed new strategies to combat this challenging sales climate, which center around its Pure Life brand. Unfortunately, while the brand has been profitable, these tactics do not bode well for public water in the United States or abroad.
Published on March 24, 2011
- Issue Briefs:
Written by Food & Water Watch Board of Director Maude Barlow, this paper is intended to serve as a background, a call to understanding and a call to action on an exciting new proposal to designate the Great Lakes and its tributary waters as a lived Com- mons, to be shared, protected, carefully managed and enjoyed by all who live around them.
Published on March 22, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
As consumers become more aware of the impacts food production has on our health and environment, it’s becoming clear that our food system is broken. The system fails many low-income consumers in even more fundamental ways, and growing numbers of Americans struggle to feed their families healthy food on a regular basis.
Published on March 09, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
The Coquina Coast Ocean Desalination Project is one water supply alternative being aggressively promoted by the St. Johns River Water Management District as a way to complement traditional groundwater sources in Flagler, Volusia, St. Johns, Marion and Lake County, Florida.
Published on February 28, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Although the market for “antibacterial” products remains strong, public opinion on triclosan is turning. In the past two years, pressure from activists and U.S. policy makers, as well as emerging science have forced federal agencies to finally begin a thorough investigation of this toxic pesticide.
Published on February 26, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Not long ago, towns all over rural America had vibrant economies based on farming and agriculture. There were independent grain mills and local dealers for seeds, fertilizers and other inputs, as well as a slaughter facility to process farmers’ livestock. The income from agriculture sources then circulated throughout the community, providing steady jobs and stable income for a large portion of the town’s population. But things have changed. Now many rural downtowns lay silent, with empty buildings where locally owned business once were.
Published on February 25, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
It’s trendy for food retailers to label some of their produce as coming from “local” farmers or to feature specific farmers in their ads. But why is it such a novelty to carry a product that is produced near where it is sold? And why is it such a small portion of the food, and usually only fresh fruits and vegetables? Is it that hard for grocery stores to sell food that comes from regional or local producers?
Published on February 25, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Ocean aquaculture — the mass production of fish in large, floating net pens or cages in the sea — has often led to environmental and other disasters in the countries where it has been practiced commercially. Expanding this dirty, costly industry in waters off the United States could harm consumers, fishermen and the marine environment.
Published on February 24, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Our food system is broken, and it didn’t happen by accident. Rampant consolidation in the food industry has left control of much of our food in the hands of a few large firms which serve as a bottleneck between 2 million farmers and more than 300 million consumers. Farmers receive lower prices for their products while consumers face higher prices at the grocery store. As more farms bow to the economic pressure to “get big or get out,” intensive production practices, like raising livestock on factory farms, put public health and the environment at risk.
Published on February 24, 2011
- Reports:
Groundwater contamination in the Central Valley is caused by a number of different sources.This report focuses on the massive dairies that have come to dominate the Central Valley over the last 20 years. These dairies generate nearly five times more waste than the human population of Los Angeles each year, and their waste has been found to leach into groundwater. Yet until 2007, groundwater pollution from dairies was virtually unregulated.
Published on February 22, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Over the last two decades, small- and medium-scale livestock farms have given way to factory farms that confine thousands of cows, hogs and chickens in tightly packed facilities. In Minnesota, there were 7.1 million hogs, 290,000 beef cattle, 91,200 dairy cows and 12.7 million chickens on the largest operations in 2007, ac- cording to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture. Minnesota ranks third in the nation in factory-farmed hogs and ninth in factory-farmed egg-laying hens.
Published on February 22, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Our food system is broken, and it didn’t happen by accident. Rampant consolidation in the food industry has left control of much of our food in the hands of a few large firms which serve as a bottleneck between 2 million farmers and more than 300 million consumers. Farmers receive lower prices for their products while consumers face higher prices at the grocery store. As more farms bow to the economic pressure to “get big or get out,” rural communities have suffered.
Published on February 21, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Whether the topic is obesity, climate change or even the budget deficit, there are few debates these days when U.S. farm policy doesn’t get mentioned. One popular recommendation to fix our farm policy is slashing payments to farmers entirely, or redirecting that money into other programs. Proponents of this approach claim it would encourage farmers to shift to crops other than corn or soybeans and would protect the environment. It’s an appealing concept — save money and stop promoting industrial agriculture at the same time. The problem is, when it comes to the food system, it’s never quite that simple.
Published on February 17, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Over the last two decades, small- and medium-scale livestock farms have given way to factory farms that confine thousands of cows, hogs and chickens in tightly packed facilities. In Maryland, there were 7,000 dairy cows and 33.2 million chickens on the largest operations in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture.
Published on February 13, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Over the last two decades, small- and medium-scale livestock farms have given way to factory farms that confine thousands of cows, hogs and chickens in tightly packed facilities. In Georgia, there were 236,000 hogs, 35,000 dairy cows and more than 159 million chickens on the largest operations in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture. Georgia ranks first in the nation in factory-farmed broiler chickens.
Published on February 12, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Over the last two decades, small- and medium-scale livestock farms have given way to factory farms that confine thousands of cows, hogs and chickens in tightly packed facilities. In Michigan, there were 871,000 hogs, 75,000 beef cattle, 149,000 dairy cows and 8.9 million chickens on the largest operations in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture.
Published on February 09, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) was established in 19961 as an eco- labeling and certification program with the purpose of letting consumers know which fisheries are considered "sustainable" based on a set of criteria. It was co-founded by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), an international conservation organization, and Unilever, a multinational corporation that was once one of the largest seafood manufacturers in the world.
Published on February 08, 2011
- Reports:
Globalization has fundamentally changed agriculture across Europe. The idyllic image of small farms with sustainable agri- culture has been replaced with agricultural cogs producing food-ingredient inputs for international industrial agribusinesses. The pork chops and chickens on European tables begin their lives far away on soybean plantations in Latin America, where the feed for European livestock is harvested.
Published on February 07, 2011
- Reports:
Europe: Globalization has fundamentally changed agriculture across Europe. The idyllic image of small farms with sustainable agriculture has been replaced with agricultural cogs producing food-ingredient inputs for international industrial agri-businesses. The pork chops and chickens on European tables begin their lives far away on soybean plantations in Latin America, where the feed for European livestock is harvested.
Published on February 03, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Over the last two decades, small- and medium-scale livestock farms have given way to factory farms that confine thousands of cows, hogs and chickens in tightly packed facilities. In Iowa, there were 17.9 million hogs, 1.18 million beef cattle and 53.5 million chickens on the largest operations in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture. Iowa ranks first in factory-farmed egg-laying hens, first in factory-farmed hogs and fourth in large cattle feedlots.
