“We prefer to work with nature. And you can taste that.” That’s the motto of Swiss organic farmers, and the reason they are hosting a cow marathon as of May 27th. Its purpose: to show that cows from organic farms in Switzerland get to walk around in nature a ton. Thus, 10 contenders will be … Continue reading Switzerland Hosts a Cow Marathon – and other Fun Facts about Swiss Agriculture
As I was only able to check in a couple of minutes on Sunday, I left you with a link to an expose on farm labor in the US. I wanted to come back to that topic, though, and add a little more reflection. In particular, today a NY Times story was run which read … Continue reading Who Is (Or Should Be) Picking our Food?
About a week ago, I wrote about the threats to EU seed diversity possibly contained in a sweeping law that required the mandatory registration of all commercially traded seeds, often at considerable financial and administrative effort involved. Today, the European Commission actually presented its proposal for the first time and, lo and behold, there were … Continue reading EU Seed Diversity – The Final Word
‘As Common As Dirt‘ just received the 2013 James Beard Award in the Politics/Policy/Environment category, one of the most prestigious awards for food journalism. Click the link above to get an eye-opening reminder of the realities of American farm labor. Particularly, it exposes the ‘farm labor contractor’ system, a system in which an intermediary between … Continue reading 'As Common As Dirt', an Expose on Farm Labor in California
In a way it’s almost funny – all this time a lot of the food policy community’s attention is drawn to seed laws in the US, dissecting Supreme Court cases and hidden Congressional amendments, while at the same time the European Commission is drafting what seems to be at least equally harsh legislation with a … Continue reading What's Happening to EU Seed Diversity?!
If you were asked to design an efficient, responsive, economical system to deliver food aid to poor people in a hunger crisis due to food price spikes, how would you do it? a) Buy grain from your country’s farmers, put it on big boats, ship it across an ocean, hire some trucks, drive the trucks … Continue reading Shift in U.S. Food Aid Policy At The Horizon?!
If you ever feel powerless or overwhelmed by the challenges we are facing to reform our food system, just watch the video above. Steve Ritz, an educator from the poorest congressional district of America, the South Bronx in New York, talks with contagious enthusiasm and energy about how he founded the “Green Bronx Machine“. His project … Continue reading The Power of the Green Bronx Machine
Here is a mind-boggling Sunday statistic for you: India is estimated to have more undernourished people than all of Sub-Saharan Africa combined. I had to re-read that sentence three times before really grasping its consequences. I think especially in academia, we are now so used to think of India as an “emerging economy”, a “model … Continue reading India On the Verge to Legally Implement Right to Food
Coffee is a vital crop in Burundi. It accounts for 60-80% of the country’s export revenues, and 55% of the population is dependent on coffee growing for their livelihoods. Thus, a reform of the coffee sector could make a huge difference for this country’s development – it currently ranks as the third-poorest nation in the … Continue reading Coffee Reform in Burundi: Same Old, Same Old SAP?
If you live in the US, you may have heard about the recent proliferation of regulations in around a dozen states that opponents call “ag-gag laws”. These laws make it illegal to covertly videotape livestock farms or to apply for jobs without disclosing ties to animal welfare organizations. Such undercover taping however is often crucial … Continue reading "Ag-Gag" Laws – What Stands Behind Them?