Food and Agriculture

7 Traditional Thanksgiving Foods Brought to You By Bees

7 Traditional Thanksgiving Foods Brought to You By Bees

It’s easy to take the food that appears before us for granted particularly during the holidays. However, there is one really important creature responsible for much of our favorite Thanksgiving fare: bees. Bee pollination is a $20 billion to $30 billion per year contributor to U.S. agriculture and vital to the majority of fruit and […]

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    How Food With Palm Oil is Wiping Out Orangutans and Enslaving Workers

    How Food With Palm Oil is Wiping Out Orangutans and Enslaving Workers

    By Piper Hoffman “Adam,” a poor 19-year-old Indonesian, found a job driving trucks for a palm oil plantation that paid $6 a day. The foreman picked him up for a three-week, two-thousand mile journey to the worksite in Borneo. Along the way the terms of employment changed: Adam wouldn’t be paid for two years, and […]

    10 Urban Farming Projects in New York City

    10 Urban Farming Projects in New York City

    Who would think that one of the world’s largest cities, New York City, would be a major hub for urban agriculture? Well, it is. Food Tank has compiled a list of 10 urban farming projects providing New Yorkers fresh, local produce. 1. Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, 44 Eagle St., New York, NY A 6,000-square-foot organic vegetable […]

    Farm to School Programs Grow Interest in Local Food and Healthy Eating

    Farm to School Programs Grow Interest in Local Food and Healthy Eating

    An increasing number of U.S. school districts are participating in Farm to School programs, reflecting the growing popularity of local foods. Farm to School participants implement healthy, nutritious school meals incorporating local food products and school gardens as well as lessons in health, nutrition, food and agriculture. Activities can include school gardens, student field trips to […]

    Stand Up for Local Food and Farms

    Stand Up for Local Food and Farms

    The deadline is approaching to comment on new rules proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These rules will impact how fresh fruit and vegetables are grown and processed in the U.S. The FDA is accepting comments on the rules, part of the Food Safety Modernization Act, through Nov. 15. The rules, as […]

    Do You Know Who Owns Your Food?

    Do You Know Who Owns Your Food?

    Corporate giants who were anonymously opposing the Washington state measure to mandate labeling of genetically modified ingredients through the Grocery Manufacturers Association were outed recently after the state attorney general filed a suit claiming violation of election disclosure laws.  Funneling money through a lobbying group is not the only way that Big Food can hide […]

    How Eating Healthy Improves Farming Communities and the Environment

    How Eating Healthy Improves Farming Communities and the Environment

    Eating fresher, healthier food would not only be good for our bodies—it would improve the health of our farmland, environment and rural communities. The Healthy Farmland Diet, a new report from Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), uses economic modeling techniques to estimate the effects of changing food consumption on agricultural land use. This Michigan farm uses […]

    Conservation and Science Leaders Demand Protection of Wild Bumblebees

    Conservation and Science Leaders Demand Protection of Wild Bumblebees

    Conservation and science leaders renewed their call today demanding the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture protect bumblebees in light of numerous threats contributing to population declines.   The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Defenders of Wildlife and entomology professor Dr. Robbin Thorp asked agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack to take action on a petition to regulate the movement […]

    Eat, Drink, Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Food Politics

    Eat, Drink, Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Food Politics

    Most people think their food choices have nothing to do with politics. But Marion Nestle, a public-health nutritionist and professor at New York University, says food choices have everything to do with politics. In her new book, Eat, Drink,Vote, Nestle collaborated with The Cartoonist Group syndicate to present more than 250 of her favorite cartoons on issues ranging […]