Basics
Casino of Hunger: How Wall Street Speculators Contributed to the Global Food Crisis
2009-11-02
Fact Sheet: 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.
Dairy Crisis 101
2009-10-16
You’re not getting what you pay for in the dairy aisle these days. While shoppers are led to believe that the milk they purchase comes from tranquil pastures, where farmers watch over happy milk cows grazing on green fields, the reality is not so idyllic. Today’s dairy industry doesn’t work for consumers, who pay more than ever at the grocery store, or for small and mid-sized family farmers, who aren’t paid enough for the milk they produce to break even. It seems like everyone is losing, except for the processors and retailers who skim off all the cream.
The Bad Seeds: The Broken Promises of Agricultural Biotechnology
2009-10-14
Agricultural biotechnology has been promoted as a key tool to combat global hunger and poverty by increasing the productivity of farmers worldwide. The technology relies on genetically modified (GM) seeds and agrochemicals that are tailored to the genetic traits of the seeds. The biotechnology industry promised that farmers could increase their yields, lower production costs and reduce agrochemical use. Instead, American farmers have faced higher costs without higher productivity, risked lawsuits from seed companies, and applied more agrochemicals as weeds and insects developed resistance to the genetic crop traits.
The Bottom Line of Tracking Livestock: The Money Behind the National Animal Identification System
2009-08-12
There are around 2.5 billion farm animals that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) wants to track under the proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS).
Animal Identification Does Not Equal Food Safety
2009-07-22
Consumers get a lot of information about the things they buy, whether it’s monitoring the progress of a package making its way across the country or the label in a shirt that says where the fabric was made and the final product assembled. So should consumers expect any less when it comes to food?
To Our Health: Why the California Senate Should Pass S.B. 416
2009-05-14
If you eat food, care about the environment or value your health, you should lend your support to S.B. 416. This piece of legislation was offered by California Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter) and addresses a major public health threat in California’s food system and environment: the practice of feeding healthy animals low doses of antibiotics to make them grow faster and to keep illness from spreading between animals confined closely together.
Biotech Diplomacy: How US Embassies Are Pushing GMOs Throughout Europe
2009-05-08
When you think of an embassy, you might think of diplomats dining with world leaders and consulate staffers assisting travelers who have lost their passports. Lately, however, ambassadors representing the United States have been carrying out a less traditional sort of mission in the European Union: promoting the interests of biotechnology companies and the genetically modified products they are attempting to sell around the world.
Chinese Imports
2009-04-14
In the last year, thousands of people worldwide have fallen sick from eating unsafe food produced in China. Lax inspections abroad and at home mean that Chinese food producers have relied on dangerous additives, fertilizers and pesticides, leaving consumers to contend with the dangerous residue of China’s unregulated food production system. And consumers are growing weary of the neverending scandals surrounding imports from China, from tainted dog food, to cookies laced with melamine, to the rising incidence of avian flu.
The Risks of Nanotechnology
2008-09-23
Nanotechnology is the process of manipulating matter at the molecular level — or nanoscale. Nanomaterials have at least one dimension that is 100 nanometers or less. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter — approximately 1/100,000 of a human hair.
rBGH: Anything but Green
2008-07-02
One of the many factors contributing to factory-scale dairy operations is recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH or also sometimes called rBST), an artificial growth hormone developed by Monsanto to increase dairy cows’ milk output. Industrial agriculture proponents proclaim that farming on a large scale, and using technology such as rBGH, is better for the environment. That's just plain wrong.
Fact Sheets
- Casino of Hunger: How Wall Street Speculators Contributed to the Global Food Crisis
- Dairy Crisis 101
- The Bad Seeds: The Broken Promises of Agricultural Biotechnology
- The Bottom Line of Tracking Livestock: The Money Behind the National Animal Identification System
- Animal Identification Does Not Equal Food Safety
Reports
- Casino of Hunger: How Wall Street Speculators Fueled the Global Food Crisis — During 2008, rising food prices — accelerated by ...
- Unseen Hazards: from Nanotechnology to Nanotoxicity — Nanotechnology—engineering extremely small parti ...
- Bridging the GAPs — Although the vast majority of produce-related food ...
- rBGH: How Artificial Hormones Damage the Dairy Industry and Endanger Public Health — Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), also cal ...
- Where's the Local Beef? — Local beef. Sustainable sausage. They’re what a ...