Tag: USDA

  • Ohio Coops Worth 3.7 Billion

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    Farming co-ops aggregate and market farm products, supply members with the fertilizer and other things they need in order to farm, and provide financial services. Local farming co-ops reach into bigger towns, too, by marketing meat, grain, fruits, vegetables, fiber — and even rock salt — produced by or for member farmers to processors, retailers…

  • USDA Power Grab Benefits AgriBusiness

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    WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–October 11 – As collateral damage spreads, with Congress continuing at loggerheads over a Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government, the newest victims include farmers and consumers who depend on the USDA to oversee the propriety and integrity of the organic industry. In a unique regulatory structure, Congress created the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to…

  • Yet Another Reason to Buy Local

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    This is another reason to be picky about where your meat comes from.  Better yet, stop eating meat altogether: From the Daily Kos: Put down your ham sandwich before you read this one, folks. The US Department of Agriculture is hoping to expand a pilot program replacing half the USDA inspectors in meat plants with…

  • Organizations Urge USDA to Improve Oversight of GM Trials

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    The Environmental Leader reports on efforts by more than 150 organizations to urge the US Department of Agriculture to improve its oversight of experimental trials of gentically engineerd crops: Organic food manufacturer Amy’s Kitchen, Farm Aid, Clif Bar & Company, The Urban Farm, Organic Seed Alliance and the Center for Food Safety are among more…

  • The Truth About Organic Foods from China

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    The information provided by Dr. Josh Axe in his post  The Truth About Organic Foods from China is disturbing but not surprising.  There has been one scandal after another regarding the substandard quality of products imported from China.  Why should organic foods be any different? As long as shoddy standards, little regulation and rampant corruption exist,…

  • GMO Crops Mean More Herbicide, Not Less

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    By Beth Hoffman: Forbes Over the past 15 years, farmers around the world have planted ever larger tracts of genetically engineered crops. According to the USDA, in 2012 more than 93 percent of soy planted was “herbicide tolerant,” engineered to withstand herbicides (sold by the same companies who patent and sell the seeds).  Likewise, 73 percent of all corn…

  • GM Foods Cont.’d

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    I’d like to know why Americans aren’t more skeptical of these GM crops. Why we are so quick to accept studies, put out by the industry, that assure us they’re safe to eat? In the industrialized world our population is the fatest and sickest. Our life expectancy, in some demographics, is decreasing. Allergies are going…

  • Chicago Urban Farm Receives USDA Organic Certification

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    The FarmedHere urban farming company, which has been successfully conducting urban farming work in the Chicago area since 2011, has received USDA organic certification. The organic vertical farming practice makes use of derelict warehouses to produce food for the community. The company recently expanded with a new 90,000 square foot post-industrial building in Bedford Park,…