Musings on sustainable food systems, agriculture vs. agroecology, and more!
I was pretty perplexed when I realized that exactly one year ago I wrote my first post on this blog – has it already been so long? It doesn’t feel like it at all, which just comes to show that I like doing it, I guess. And it’s so exciting that one year later, people … Continue reading Happy Blogiversary! And Thanks for Reading!
This is pretty shocking news – when testing what kinds of fish are sold under which labels, in some states as many as 52% were mislabeled, mostly in order to sell less expensive fish en lieu of the more high-end ones and still capture the price premium. Not only that, but sometimes fish was even … Continue reading "What Fish Would You Like?" "… Do I Have A Real Choice?"
I was looking through the photojournalist site VII (a great time suck if you ever feel like being unproductive in the most enjoyable of ways; and a superb array of photos of course) and stumbled upon this series on Farming in Gaza. I would highly encourage you to head on over to check out the … Continue reading Farming in Gaza – a Series of Challenges
On Wednesday, as anticipated, the House of Representatives passed the Farm Bill after a 2 year impasse with 251 to 166 votes. The Democratic leadership of the Senate has already endorsed it, making it likely that it will pass the Senate floor as well in the coming week and be on President Obama’s desk soon. … Continue reading The USA Have A Farm Bill! Halle … Well … Yeah.
Just now I was working on an application for a teaching job on Sustainable Development and reflecting on how often we conflate “sustainability” with “environmentalism”. Yes, of course protecting the environment is important, especially in an activity so dependent on ecosystems as agriculture, but just as important is the second pillar of sustainability – the … Continue reading Beyond Environmental Sustainability – Pursuing Social Justice in the Food System
Man, I love lentils. And chickpeas. Black beans. Give me any legume, basically, and I am a happy camper. What a typical vegetarian, you say? Well, keep reading, have a look at this Ensia article, from which most of this information comes from, and think again. Turns out, there are at least five reasons why … Continue reading 5 Reasons to Love Lentils – Boost Your Legume Literacy!
Have you heard of Temple Grandin? I must have been living under a rock or something because I had no idea about her and her amazing achievements – including designing equipment used in more than half of all American slaughterhouses that contributed to great steps forward in animal welfare. She also got a doctorate, is associate … Continue reading Temple Grandin – Seeing the World as A Cow Would
2014 is shaping up to be an exciting year in the food policy world – wherever you look, new policies are about to be decided upon and/or implemented. So let’s have a look across the globe and see what’s on the agenda, shall we? USA: After Congress spectacularly failed to finalize the Farm Bill during … Continue reading 2014 – What's on the Food Policy Agenda?
Sometimes, when I raise issues like animal welfare in our agricultural economics classes, I feel like “that” person. You know, the PETA-supporting, tree-hugging, naive, doe-eyed idealist that people expect to sing kumbaya next. In ag econ, we care about efficiency. Optimal economic decisions. If you cannot survive as a small producer, you are clearly not … Continue reading What Are You Willing to Pay for Cheap Meat?
Many times, hailing the health benefits of organic foods, for example fruits and vegetables, has been criticized, and with good reason – while there may be less pesticide residues on the produce, the organic production method is mainly healthy for the planet, and there is little reason why an organic apple should have more vitamins … Continue reading Organic Milk – The Healthier Option?