Returning the ‘Three Sisters’ – Corn, Beans and Squash – to Native American Farms Nourishes People, Land and Cultures
26 November
Food
Marilyn Angel Wynn / Getty Images
By Christina Gish Hill
Historians know that turkey and corn were part of the first Thanksgiving, when Wampanoag peoples shared a harvest meal with the pilgrims of Plymouth plantation in Massachusetts. And traditional Native American farming practices tell us that squash and beans likely were part of that 1621 dinner too.
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For centuries before Europeans reached North America, many Native Americans grew these foods together in one plot, along with the less familiar sunflower. They called the plants sisters to reflect how they thrived when they were cultivated together.
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Today
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/04/native-americans-stories-california" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">three-quarters of Native Americans live off of reservations</a>, mainly in urban areas. And nationwide, many Native American communities <a href="https://civileats.com/2019/07/24/indigenous-food-security-is-dependent-on-food-sovereignty/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lack access to healthy food</a>. As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=yCZ-SMUAAAAJ&hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">scholar of Indigenous studies</a> focusing on Native relationships with the land, I began to wonder why Native farming practices had declined and what benefits could emerge from bringing them back.
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<p>To answer these questions, I am working with <a href="https://www.agron.iastate.edu/people/marshall-mcdaniel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">agronomist Marshall McDaniel</a>, <a href="https://www.hort.iastate.edu/directory/ajay-nair/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">horticulturalist Ajay Nair</a>, <a href="https://www.globe.iastate.edu/staff/donna-winham/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nutritionist Donna Winham</a> and Native gardening projects in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Our research project, "Reuniting the Three Sisters," explores what it means to be a responsible caretaker of the land from the perspective of peoples who have been balancing agricultural production with sustainability for hundreds of years.</p>
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Abundant Harvests
<p>Historically, Native people throughout the Americas bred indigenous plant varieties specific to the growing conditions of their homelands. They selected seeds for many different traits, such as <a href="https://emergencemagazine.org/story/corn-tastes-better/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">flavor, texture and color</a>.</p><p>Native growers knew that planting corn, beans, squash and sunflowers together produced mutual benefits. Corn stalks created a trellis for beans to climb, and beans' twining vines secured the corn in high winds. They also certainly observed that corn and bean plants growing together tended to be healthier than when raised separately. Today we know the reason: Bacteria living on bean plant roots pull nitrogen – an essential plant nutrient – from the air and <a href="http://www.tilthalliance.org/learn/resources-1/almanac/october/octobermngg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">convert it to a form that both beans and corn can use</a>.</p><p>Squash plants contributed by shading the ground with their broad leaves, preventing weeds from growing and retaining water in the soil. Heritage squash varieties also had spines that discouraged deer and raccoons from visiting the garden for a snack. And sunflowers planted around the edges of the garden created a natural fence, protecting other plants from wind and animals and attracting pollinators.</p><p>Interplanting these agricultural sisters produced bountiful harvests that sustained large Native communities and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/eam.2015.0016" target="_blank">spurred fruitful trade economies</a>. The first Europeans who reached the Americas were shocked at the abundant food crops they found. My research is exploring how, 200 years ago, Native American agriculturalists around the Great Lakes and along the Missouri and Red rivers fed fur traders with their diverse vegetable products.</p><div id="b473d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="02bce33cbe23b74661e1a9279fef31bc"><blockquote class="instagram-media"
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Displaced From the Land
<p>As Euro-Americans settled permanently on the most fertile North American lands and acquired seeds that Native growers had carefully bred, they imposed policies that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/87.2.550" target="_blank">made Native farming practices impossible</a>. In 1830 President Andrew Jackson signed the <a href="https://guides.loc.gov/indian-removal-act" target="_blank">Indian Removal Act</a>, which made it official U.S. policy to force Native peoples from their home locations, pushing them onto subpar lands.</p><p>On reservations, U.S. government officials discouraged Native women from cultivating anything larger than small garden plots and pressured Native men to practice Euro-American style monoculture. Allotment policies assigned small plots to nuclear families, further limiting Native Americans' access to land and preventing them from using communal farming practices.</p><p>Native children were forced to attend boarding schools, where they had no opportunity to <a href="https://doi.org/10.5749/jamerindieduc.57.1.0145" target="_blank">learn Native agriculture techniques or preservation and preparation of Indigenous foods</a>. Instead they were forced to eat Western foods, turning their palates away from their traditional preferences. Taken together, these policies <a href="https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-0802-7.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">almost entirely eradicated three sisters agriculture</a> from Native communities in the Midwest by the 1930s.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDgyNzYyMi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzM2MjkwOX0.kTWQ0TwFFU0ZF3yKNzQn9zq_ouX0TpVY2oZUE-XvPbM/img.png?width=980" id="a58aa" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4d5f239c5d47ebaf3157af1fe8bb54ba" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Native American tribes in the Great Lakes region pre-European settlement. Milwaukee Public Museum / CC BY-ND
Reviving Native Agriculture
<p>Today Native people all over the U.S. are working diligently to <a href="https://www.oupress.com/books/15107980/indigenous-food-sovereignty-in-the-united-sta" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reclaim Indigenous varieties of corn, beans, squash, sunflowers and other crops</a>. This effort is important for many reasons.</p><p>Improving Native people's access to healthy, culturally appropriate foods will help lower rates of <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/aian-diabetes/index.html" target="_blank">diabetes</a> and <a href="https://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/ethnicity-health/native-american/obesity" target="_blank">obesity</a>, which affect Native Americans at disproportionately high rates. Sharing traditional knowledge about agriculture is a way for elders to pass cultural information along to younger generations. Indigenous growing techniques also protect the lands that Native nations now inhabit, and can potentially benefit the wider ecosystems around them.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="82270cf0c87ca398f9818159ccc7e015"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IooHPLjXi2g?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>But Native communities often lack access to resources such as farming equipment, soil testing, fertilizer and pest prevention techniques. This is what inspired Iowa State University's Three Sisters Gardening Project. We work collaboratively with Native farmers at <a href="https://gardenwarriorsgoodseeds.com/2015/01/19/tsyunhehkw-oneida-nation-wisconsin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tsyunhehkw</a>, a community agriculture program, and the <a href="https://www.wisconsinlife.org/story/the-lands-we-share-laura-manthe-the-oneida-white-corn-growers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ohelaku Corn Growers Co-Op</a> on the Oneida reservation in Wisconsin; the <a href="http://72.15.165.18/index.php/en/nebraska-indian-community-college/about-nicc-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nebraska Indian College</a>, which serves the Omaha and Santee Sioux in Nebraska; and <a href="https://dreamofwildhealth.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dream of Wild Health</a>, a nonprofit organization that works to reconnect the Native American community in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, with traditional Native plants and their culinary, medicinal and spiritual uses.</p><p>We are growing three sisters research plots at ISU's Horticulture Farm and in each of these communities. Our project also runs workshops on topics of interests to Native gardeners, encourages local soil health testing and grows rare seeds to <a href="https://doi.org/10.17953/aicrj.41.3.hill" target="_blank">rematriate them</a>, or return them to their home communities.<br></p><p>The monocropping industrial agricultural systems that produce much of the U.S. food supply <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-agriculture-needs-a-21st-century-new-deal-112757" target="_blank">harms the environment, rural communities and human health and safety in many ways</a>. By growing corn, beans and squash in research plots, we are helping to quantify how intercropping <a href="https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.7.1.2016.721" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">benefits both plants and soil</a>.</p><p>By documenting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2016.1227750" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">limited nutritional offerings at reservation grocery stores</a>, we are demonstrating the need for Indigenous gardens in Native communities. By interviewing Native growers and elders knowledgeable about foodways, we are illuminating how healing Indigenous gardening practices can be for Native communities and people – their bodies, minds and spirits.</p><p>Our Native collaborators are benefiting from the project through rematriation of rare seeds grown in ISU plots, workshops on topics they select and the new relationships they are building with Native gardeners across the Midwest. As researchers, we are learning about what it means to work collaboratively and to conduct research that respects protocols our Native collaborators value, such as treating seeds, plants and soil in a culturally appropriate manner. By listening with humility, we are working to build a network where we can all learn from one another.</p><p><em>Christina Gish Hill is an associate professor of Anthropology at Iowa State University.</em></p><p><em>Disclosure statement: Christina Gish Hill receives funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/returning-the-three-sisters-corn-beans-and-squash-to-native-american-farms-nourishes-people-land-and-cultures-149230/" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>. </em><br></p>
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An aerial view from a drone shows an auger cart being used to transfer soybeans to a transport truck in a field at the Bardole & Son's Ltd farm on October 14, 2019 in Rippey, Iowa. Joe Raedle / Getty Images
By Scott Faber
The staggering number of food and farm workers who have died from Covid-19 has laid bare the Trump administration's disastrous policies on food and farm issues.
<p>President Trump's failure to provide these workers with protections from the coronavirus was the latest bad decision that made our food and the people who produce it less safe, increased hunger, increased the health care costs caused by poor diets and the pollution caused by farms, and made it harder for all Americans to decide how to feed their families.</p>
<p>Now President-elect Biden has a chance to change course. Here's what should be on the menu.</p><p>First, Biden should make it a <a href="https://frac.org/news/frac-congratulates-presidentelectbiden" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">priority to end hunger</a>. As a result of the pandemic, millions more are <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/05/06/the-covid-19-crisis-has-already-left-too-many-children-hungry-in-america/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">facing hunger</a>, including one in five children.</p><p>The Trump administration has actually been undermining programs to alleviate hunger. Last year, the Department of Agriculture proposed to kick nearly <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/12/trump-snap-food-stamps-cuts/603367/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">700,000</a> people out of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, as well as implementing <a href="https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/targeting-snap-expanded-public-charge-rule-could-worsen-food-insecurity" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">other rules</a> designed to reduce participation in the program, commonly known as food stamps. Just weeks before the election, the administration went to court to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/26/trump-blocks-pandemic-food-aid-432560" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">block pandemic food aid</a> for the poor.</p><p>Biden has <a href="https://joebiden.com/joe-biden-urges-donald-trump-to-address-hunger-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pledged</a> to increase the standard SNAP benefit by 15 percent, <a href="https://joebiden.com/covid19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">supports</a> free school meals and wants to <a href="https://joebiden.com/covid19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rescind</a> rules that limit participation in anti-hunger programs. But increasing SNAP benefits and participation alone will not end hunger. A Biden administration must also address income and housing challenges.</p><p>Second, Biden should make it a priority to protect food and farm workers from Covid-19. According to the Food and Environmental Reporting Network, at least <a href="https://thefern.org/2020/04/mapping-covid-19-in-meat-and-food-processing-plants/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">72,000</a> of these workers have gotten sick and <a href="https://thefern.org/2020/04/mapping-covid-19-in-meat-and-food-processing-plants/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">327</a> have died.</p><p>Biden has <a href="https://people.com/politics/joe-biden-says-no-workers-life-is-worth-me-getting-a-cheaper-hamburger/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a>, "[N]o worker's life is worth me getting a cheaper hamburger," and <a href="https://joebiden.com/empowerworkers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pledged</a> to support policies that protect workers from Covid-19, expand their ability to organize, and provide a $15 minimum wage. To make good on his pledge to protect workers threatened by Covid-19, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, must quickly require basic personal protections for workers, boost enforcement and ensure that workers have safe housing and transportation. When food and farm workers get sick from Covid-19, they should receive sick pay so they can stay home. And when they take risks to keep us fed, those risks should be rewarded through premium pay.</p><p>Third, Biden should make it a priority to support healthy diets.</p><p>Poor diet is now the <a href="https://cspinet.org/eating-healthy/why-good-nutrition-important" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">leading cause of Americans' death</a>, and obesity rates <a href="https://sites.tufts.edu/foodnutritionandhealth2019/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">continue to climb</a>, increasing <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-consequences/economic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">health care costs</a>. The diseases caused by poor diets – such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease – have <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2021264" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">significantly increased</a> the risks posed by Covid-19.</p><p>As a candidate, Biden has not had much to say about diet. But <a href="https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/report/reset-the-table-meeting-the-moment-to-transform-the-u-s-food-system/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">food leaders</a> have had a lot to say about <a href="https://www.tfah.org/report-details/state-of-obesity-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">steps</a> we can take to support healthy diets. And Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has been an outspoken supporter of <a href="https://www.cnsnews.com/article/national/susan-jones/harris-would-change-dietary-guidelines-food-labels-discourage-red-meat" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">food policy reforms</a> designed to improve our health. For starters, a Biden-Harris administration should immediately restore tough standards for food sold in schools.</p><p>Fourth, Biden should revamp Trump's farmer bailout programs to help farmers in real need and restore rules that ensure a farmer gets a fair price.</p><p>Trump's policies have been a disaster for farmers. His <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/making-sense/what-is-the-toll-of-trade-wars-on-u-s-agriculture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">trade war</a> closed markets that had taken decades to open. His <a href="https://foodpolicyaction.org/will-congress-repeat-the-mistakes-of-trumps-farmer-bailout/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bailouts</a> have favored the <a href="https://www.ewg.org/agmag/2020/10/get-big-or-get-out-how-trump-s-farm-bailouts-are-fueling-farm-consolidation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wealthiest farmers</a> at the expense of family farms, and rules designed to ensure that farmers get a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/14/trump-usda-meatpacking-proposal-098352" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fair price</a> have been shelved. His inhumane immigration policies have created <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/nyregion/ny-farmers-undocumented-workers-trump-immigration.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">labor shortages</a> that have harmed both farmers and food manufacturers.</p><p>The modest tweaks to ethanol programs Biden has proposed won't make a difference to most farmers. His agriculture secretary must rescind and rewrite the rules for the USDA's Covid-19 response programs to help farmers facing economic ruin and reform other farm subsidy programs to level the playing field for family farmers.</p><p>But that's not all. President-elect Biden should also make good on his<a href="https://joebiden.com/rural-plan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> plan</a> to address long-standing and ongoing discrimination against Black farmers. Farm subsidy reform alone will not be enough to address the <a href="https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/equity-farmers-of-color" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">long legacy of racial discrimination</a> in farm programs. We must also transform the culture at the USDA, provide land and credit to Black farmers and lift the veil of secrecy that hides the <a href="https://civileats.com/2020/07/03/op-ed-the-farm-bureau-says-it-wants-to-fight-racism-heres-where-to-start/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">racial makeup</a> of farm subsidies.</p><p>Fifth, Biden should make it a priority to keep our food safe.</p><p>Contaminated food kills more than <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/cdc-and-food-safety.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">3,000 Americans</a> a year, and a recent <a href="https://www.gao.gov/key_issues/food_safety/issue_summary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">audit</a> shows no progress is being made to reduce foodborne illness. But Trump's Department of Agriculture <a href="https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/research/safe-food-coalition-comments-to-usda-on-its-proposal-to-eliminate-hog-carcass-cleaning-rules/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eliminated</a> a requirement to clean hog carcasses, <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/attacks-on-science/usda-increases-line-speeds-endangering-poultry-processing-plant" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increased</a> line speeds at meat-processing plants and <a href="https://cspinet.org/news/usda-publishes-final-rule-deregulate-meat-inspection-jeopardizing-food-safety-20190917" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">deregulated</a> food safety inspections. His Environmental Protection Agency <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/climate/epa-chlorpyrifos-pesticide-ban.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reversed</a> a ban on chlorpyrifos, a pesticide linked to brain damage in children, and <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/epa-reapproves-dangerous-drift-prone-dicamba-pesticides-recently-banned-federal-court-causing-widespread-economic-harm-farmers-2020-10-27/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">extended</a> the life of dicamba, another toxic pesticide.</p><p>Biden should immediately restore the ban on chlorpyrifos and reverse other Trump administration decisions that fail to protect consumers and farmworkers from pesticides. But the Biden-Harris administration should go further and fix our broken system for reviewing the safety of <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/flawed-epa-approval-process-IB.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pesticides</a> and other <a href="https://www.edf.org/health/unsafe-and-untested-chemicals-are-our-food" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">chemicals</a> in food.</p><p>We must also do much more to reduce foodborne illness. We must not only require growers to test irrigation water for pathogens but also combat <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2019/05/opportunities-to-improve-food-safety-from-farm-to-fork" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the growing threat of pathogens</a> in meat and poultry. We must <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/about/news-room/press-releases-and-statements/2017/07/17/pew-safer-meat-requires-reducing-risks-where-food-animals-are-raised" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">address these risks where they start</a> – in the massive confined feedlots that have taken over much of farm country.</p><p>Sixth, the new agriculture secretary should immediately declare a climate emergency and use the resources of the Commodity Credit Corporation to reward farmers who reduce emissions and permanently store carbon in the ground.</p><p>Farmers can play a much <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/437193-how-corn-farmers-and-cows-can-help-avert-the-climate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bigger role</a> in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Historic storms have placed farmers on the front lines in the fight against the climate crisis, and legislators have proposed <a href="https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/with-fdrs-new-deal-as-blueprint-booker-introduces-climate-change-bill-focused-on-investing-in-farm-conservation-programs-reforestation-and-wetlands-restoration" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bold ideas</a> to reward farmers who take meaningful and measurable steps to address it. Expanding and reforming voluntary farm stewardship programs to make the climate crisis a top priority and linking farm subsidies to a <a href="https://www.ewg.org/research/fooling-ourselves" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">basic standard</a> of environmental care will also help keep our drinking water clean and safe.</p><p>The Covid-19 crisis has shined a spotlight on Trump's food and farm policy failures. Workers are getting sick, and our food supply chains are being tested. Trump's policy failures have also made more consumers sick and pushed many farmers to the brink of financial ruin. A Biden-Harris administration can – and should – do better.</p><p><em><a href="https://www.ewg.org/experts/scott-faber.php" target="_blank">Scott Faber</a> is the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at the Environmental Working Group.</em></p>
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Like many other plant-based foods and products, CBD oil is one dietary supplement where "organic" labels are very important to consumers. However, there are little to no regulations within the hemp industry when it comes to deeming a product as organic, which makes it increasingly difficult for shoppers to find the best CBD oil products available on the market.
<p>Here you can learn about the importance of organic hemp oil, why it's better for the environment, and which CBD companies actually make trustworthy products with sustainable farming processes. origins which weigh heavily on many consumers who want to buy a product that's produced in the best way possible for not only themselves to ingest, but for the environment as well through sustainable farming methods. </p><h2>What Is CBD Oil?</h2><p>First things first, CBD stands for cannabidiol, and it's a cannabinoid found within cannabis sativa plants. This plant compound is believed to have many potential benefits, and it is primarily derived from hemp plants via a CO2 extraction process. </p><p>Since CBD is extracted from industrial hemp, which contains only trace amounts of THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis plants), this means that CBD won't make you feel high like marijuana, which has much higher levels of THC that causes psychoactive effects. Instead, the effects of CBD are much more subtle and promote a general sense of calm and relaxation in most users.</p><h2>What Makes a CBD Oil Organic?</h2><p>In terms of organic labels, perhaps the most important (and prominent) certification comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This government organization has been labeling foods as "organic" for many years, but what exactly does this certification entail? Essentially, a label indicating that a product is "USDA Organic" or "Certified Organic" means that at least 95% of the ingredients are obtained from organic sources.</p><p>For a crop to be considered organic by the USDA, it must be grown without the use of industrial solvents, irradiation, genetic engineering (GMOs), synthetic pesticides, or chemical fertilizer. Instead, farmers rely on natural substances and <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mechanical, physical, or biologically based farming</a> techniques to cultivate healthy and organic crops.</p><p>Before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, no hemp-derived products could be dubbed as "certified organic" since the hemp plant and its extracts were still categorized as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. However, it's still difficult for CBD companies to obtain a USDA certified organic label for their products due to the legal grey area that still surrounds CBD extracts. </p><p>Because of these challenges, and due to the fact that industrial hemp has only recently become an agricultural crop, very few CBD oils are USDA certified organic. Rather, many CBD products contain hemp extracts from plants that were grown in organic conditions but may not be federally certified.</p><h2>What are the Best Organic CBD Oil Brands?</h2><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p>
<h2>Why Organic Hemp Oil Matters</h2><p>Hemp is a unique plant, not only for its rich cannabinoid content, but also for its ability to absorb a wide variety of components in soil. But this trait poses great risks when it comes to the creation of CBD products derived from hemp.</p><p>Because hemp has a high capacity for compound uptake, this means that the plants can retain <a href="https://www.remedyreview.com/industry/lab-test-results/" target="_blank">harmful chemicals like pesticides</a>, heavy metals, and other residual solvents. This is especially true when it comes to synthetic chemicals that are more toxic to humans, and difficult to remove once they have been absorbed by the hemp plant.</p><p>Organic farming practices help reduce the risk of hemp crops absorbing harsh chemicals that may later end up in CBD oil after extraction. When you're taking CBD as a wellness supplement to help alleviate your symptoms or improve your overall well-being, the last thing you want is to ingest compounds that might negatively outweigh the benefits of CBD. This is an important reason to look for third party lab test results when shopping for CBD products since these certificates of analysis can show the full cannabinoid and terpene profile of a hemp extract, as well as test results that search for the presence of any residual solvents.</p><p>In addition to creating a better end product, organic farming practices are also better for the environment. Sustainable and organic farming methods may <a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy</a>. The use of natural pest deterrents as opposed to chemical pesticides is also better for nearby animal populations and ecosystems.</p><h3>Organic vs. Natural</h3><p>While there are only a select few companies offering certified organic ingredients in their products, almost every brand in the CBD market creates "natural" products. The term "all-natural" or "plant-based" does not mean that a product is organic, and since hemp oil is a natural derivative of hemp plants, these products are often referred to as all-natural. However, there are some synthetic CBD oils that should be avoided because they are chemically constructed and may produce unwanted side effects that are not caused by naturally derived CBD extracts.</p><h2>What are the Benefits of Organic CBD Oil?</h2><p>There's a long list of potential CBD oil health benefits, and some of the most common wellness advantages include:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/" target="_blank">Chronic pain relief</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/" target="_blank">Anti-anxiety effects</a></li><li>Better sleep</li><li><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inner-source/201901/cbd-oil-mental-health-should-you-take-it-too" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improvements in mood</a></li><li>Internal balance and regulation</li></ul><p>When dealing with pain, inflammation, sleep issues, and mental health struggles, it can be hard to find sufficient treatment options. The use of certain prescriptions can cause unwanted side effects, yet they are often the only solution for patients with these medical conditions. In search of other therapies, people have started to flock towards CBD oil as an alternative remedy for a variety of conditions. However, it should be noted that CBD products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and you should seek your doctor's advice before using CBD if you have a serious medical condition.</p><h2>Look at the Labels Before You Buy CBD Oil</h2><p>When you go online to buy CBD oil, you'll quickly realize there is an overwhelming number of brands that are saturating the market. It can be difficult to determine which products are truly as good as they make themselves out to be. Always look for up-to-date third-party lab tests so you know you are getting a great product, and don't hesitate to contact the brand if you have any additional questions. And if you're intent on purchasing 100% organic CBD oil, it's best to look for certified products or brands that are held to strict regulatory standards.</p><p><strong>Melena Gurganus </strong>is the Reviews Editor at EcoWatch. She is passionate health and wellness and her writing aims to help others find products they can trust. Her work has been featured in publications such as Health, Shape, Huffington Post, Cannabis Business Times, and Bustle.<br></p>
Spruce
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjI3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTM2NzgzOX0.axY0HjeqRctJsR_KmDLctzDpUBLBN-oNIdqaXDb4caQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="774be" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8379f35b1ca8a86d0e61b7d4bfc8b46e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="spruce organic cbd oil" /><p>As one of the best brands in the business, Spruce CBD is well-known for its potent CBD oils that feature many additional beneficial phytocannabinoids. This brand works with two family-owned, sustainably focused farms in the USA (one located in Kentucky and one in North Carolina) to create its organic, small product batches. The max potency Spruce CBD oil contains 2400mg of full-spectrum CBD extract, but the brand also offers a lower strength tincture with 750mg of CBD in total.</p>
$89
CBDistillery
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjkzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTU4OTM4Nn0.ypRdeDSBcE87slYrFfVrRwtJ2qGIK6FD5jBB4pndTMo/img.jpg?width=980" id="b473b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9930b53c9d58cb49774640a61c3e3e75" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="cbdistillery cbd oil" /><p>All of the products from CBDistillery are <a href="https://ushempauthority.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Hemp Authority Certified</a>, and for good reason. The company only uses non-GMO and pesticide-free industrial hemp that's grown organically on Colorado farms. Its hemp oils are some of the most affordable CBD products on the market, yet they still maintain a high standard of quality. CBDistillery has a wide variety of CBD potencies across its product line (ranging from 500mg to 5000mg per bottle) and offers both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils to give customers a completely thc-free option.</p>
$35
FAB CBD
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDIwOTEyMn0.MlTjz096FJ0ev_-soK7_Z-FeQeJczWoeh9Qi9SSkHsY/img.jpg?width=980" id="04b26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="76aa4862f44603242e318982acea6646" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="fab cbd oil" /><p>For an organic CBD oil that has it all, FAB CBD offers plenty of variety for any type of consumer. All of its products are made with zero pesticides and extracted from organically grown Colorado industrial hemp. FAB CBD oil comes in five all-natural flavors (mint, vanilla, berry, citrus, and natural) and is also available in four strengths (300, 600, 1200, and 2400mg per bottle).</p>
$39
NuLeaf Naturals
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzExNTgyMX0.D6qMGYllKTsVhEkQ-L_GzpDHVu60a-tJKcio7M1Ssmc/img.jpg?width=980" id="94e4a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3609a52479675730893a45a82a03c71d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="nuleaf naturals organic cbd oil" /><p>As an industry-leading brand, it comes as no surprise that NuLeaf Naturals sources its CBD extract from organic hemp plants grown on licensed farms in Colorado. The comany's CBD oils only contain two ingredients: USDA certified organic hemp seed oil and full spectrum hemp extract.</p><p>NuLeaf Naturals uses one proprietary CBD oil formula for all of its products, so you will get the same CBD potency in each tincture (60mg per mL), but can purchase different bottle sizes depending on how much you intend to use.</p>
$38.50
Charlotte's Web
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjk3NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQ0NjM4N30.SaQ85SK10-MWjN3PwHo2RqpiUBdjhD0IRnHKTqKaU7Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="84700" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2174067dcc0c4094be25b3472ce08c8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="charlottes web cbd oil" /><p>Perhaps one of the most well-known brands in the CBD landscape, Charlotte's Web has been growing sustainable hemp plants for several years. The company is currently in the process of achieving official USDA Organic Certification, but it already practices organic and sustainable cultivation techniques to enhance the overall health of the soil and the hemp plants themselves, which creates some of the highest quality CBD extracts. Charlotte's Web offers CBD oils in a range of different concentration options, and some even come in a few flavor options such as chocolate mint, orange blossom, and lemon twist.</p>
$60
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Asian short-clawed otters. wrangel / iStock / Getty Images Plus
The Asian short-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus) is the world's smallest otter, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). But what they lack in size, they make up for in brain power.
<p>The approximately three-foot long otters can learn from each other, and show the capacity for long-term memory, a new study published Wednesday by <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.201215" target="_blank">The Royal Society found</a>.</p><p>"Our study is the first to show evidence of social learning and long-term memory in Asian short-clawed otters – which may be good news in terms of their adaptability and future survival," lead author Alex Saliveros, who works from the <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/cornwall/research/facilitiesandcentres/cec/" target="_blank">Centre for Ecology and Conservation</a> at the University of Exeter's Cornwall campus, said in a <a href="https://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title_825233_en.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p>
<div id="82594" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a9cbb9aae32c001632a5ce3b79cffcec"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1326453583924121600" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Researchers have found that #otters learn from each other when solving puzzles. They gave groups of otters puzzles… https://t.co/4MzsT67ZF5</div> — University of Exeter (@University of Exeter)<a href="https://twitter.com/UniofExeter/statuses/1326453583924121600">1605086153.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>To test the otters' learning abilities, the researchers provided the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/animals/" target="_self">animals</a> with different transparent containers filled with meatballs. To access the snacks, the otters had to learn how to twist or pull a lid or handle.</p><p>The researchers discovered that once one otter figured out how to open the container, their friends were also more likely to solve the puzzle. This is evidence of what the researchers call "social learning."</p><p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scientists" target="_self">scientists</a> also tested the otters' long term memory by giving them access to the same puzzles after a several-month gap. The otters were able to get into the food 69 percent faster than when they first encountered the containers. This is evidence that the otters have long-term memory.</p>
<p>The findings don't just teach scientists more about a unique animal species. They also may help them to save them. The otters, who are found in South and Southeast Asia from the Himalaya foothills of India to Indonesia and the Philippines, are considered vulnerable by the IUCN and their population is in decline. The primary forces driving this decline are <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deforestation" target="_self">deforestation</a>, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/overfishing" target="_self">overfishing</a> of their prey and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/agriculture" target="_self">agriculture</a>, including the use of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pesticides" target="_self">pesticides</a> that poisons the waters they fish in.</p><p>"Asian short-clawed otters are declining in the wild, partly due to overfishing and pollution affecting the crustaceans and small fish they feed on," Saliveros said in the press release. "With that in mind, we wanted to understand more about how they learn and remember information about new food sources. Being able to catch new prey in new ways, and to pass on that knowledge, could be important in terms of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a>."</p>
<p>The research builds on an a <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.170489" target="_blank">2017 study</a> from the University of Exeter, which found that smooth-coated otters could learn to open food puzzles by copying each other. However, that study found no evidence of that Asian short-clawed otters learned from each other.</p><p>"Now that we know Asian short-clawed otters do so as well, we can start investigating how we might transmit critical survival information regarding new foods and predators through wild otter groups more generally," senior author Dr. Neeltje Boogert, who was involved with both studies, said in the press release.</p>
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Trending
Farmers Are Depleting the Ogallala Aquifer Because the Government Pays Them to Do So
09 November
Food
Windmill at Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Texas pumping water from the Ogallala Aquifer. Leaflet / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 3.0
By Matthew R Sanderson, Burke Griggs and Jacob A. Miller
A slow-moving crisis threatens the U.S. Central Plains, which grow a quarter of the nation's crops. Underground, the region's lifeblood – water – is disappearing, placing one of the world's major food-producing regions at risk.
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-014-9567-6" target="_blank">Ogallala-High Plains Aquifer</a> is one of the world's largest groundwater sources, extending from South Dakota down through the Texas Panhandle across portions of eight states. Its water supports <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/2013EF000107" target="_blank">US$35 billion</a> in crop production each year.</p><p>But farmers are pulling water out of the Ogallala faster than rain and snow can recharge it. Between 1900 and 2008 they drained some <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2013/5079/" target="_blank">89 trillion gallons</a> from the aquifer – equivalent to two-thirds of <a href="https://www3.clevelandwater.com/your-water/lake-erie" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lake Erie</a>. Depletion is threatening drinking water supplies and undermining local communities already struggling with the <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/coronavirus/article245598760.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">COVID-19 pandemic</a>, the <a href="https://www.hpj.com/bickel/dairy-farmer-tells-of-his-son-s-opioid-addiction-along-with-his-own/article_0df84cae-762b-11e8-b864-b3e07a63df7e.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">opioid crisis</a>, <a href="https://www.kmuw.org/post/rural-kansas-loves-its-hospitals-keeping-them-open-only-gets-harder" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hospital closures</a>, soaring <a href="https://www.kcur.org/agriculture/2019-10-18/get-big-or-get-out-farming-has-left-kansas-towns-struggling-for-survival" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">farm losses</a> and <a href="https://www.kcur.org/2020-02-26/kansas-suicide-rates-are-climbing-especially-in-the-states-most-rural-areas" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rising suicide rates</a>.</p><p>In Kansas, "Day Zero" – the day wells run dry – has arrived for about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1220351110" target="_blank">30% of the aquifer</a>. Within 50 years, the entire aquifer is expected be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1220351110" target="_blank">70% depleted</a>.</p><p>Some observers blame this situation on periodic <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2013/03/18/in-drought-ravaged-plains-efforts-to-save-a-vital-aquifer" target="_blank">drought</a>. Others point to farmers, since irrigation accounts for <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2011/5089/pdf/SIR2011-5089.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">90% of Ogallala groundwater withdrawals</a>. But our research, which focuses on social and legal aspects of water use in agricultural communities, shows that farmers are draining the Ogallala because state and federal policies encourage them to do it.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDc2MDkzNS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2Mzc4NTcwNX0.9vW7vQn6HYbxFfJf0w96KfHlnTZVUmKtYfhLkxbAXIA/img.png?width=980" id="25664" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5eec9731664ea584de05f6d043944b84" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Changes in Ogallala water levels from before the aquifer was tapped in the early 20th century to 2015. Gray indicates no significant change. Water levels have risen in some areas, especially Nebraska, but are mostly in decline. NCA 2018
A Production Treadmill
<p>At first glance, farmers on the Plains appear to be doing well in 2020. Crop production increased this year. Corn, the largest crop in the U.S., had <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Newsroom/2020/08-12-2020.php" target="_blank">a near-record year</a>, and farm incomes increased by <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-sector-income-finances/farm-sector-income-forecast" target="_blank">5.7% over 2019</a>.</p><p>But those figures hide massive government payments to farmers. Federal subsidies increased by <a href="https://www.agweb.com/article/usda-says-farm-income-increasing-gov-payments-are-record" target="_blank">a remarkable 65%</a> this year, totaling $37.2 billion. This sum includes money for <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-us-farmers-remain-loyal-to-trump-despite-pain-from-trade-wars-and-covid-19-146535" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lost exports from escalating trade wars, as well as COVID-19-related relief payments.</a> Corn prices were too low to cover the cost of growing it this year, with federal subsidies making up the difference.</p><p>Our research finds that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spy011" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">subsidies put farmers on a treadmill</a>, working harder to produce more while draining the resource that supports their livelihood. Government payments create a vicious cycle of overproduction that intensifies water use. Subsidies encourage farmers to expand and buy expensive equipment to irrigate larger areas.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDc2MDk0MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMDkxNzU5Mn0.CKqWTS1NTX55k7qqe2Wz3YZrJ6dAiNciR5CtypPa3r8/img.jpg?width=980" id="b7de9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="270490330e4b2ee1d37c1bb113e96040" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Irrigation pump in Haskell County, Kansas. Matthew Sanderson/Kansas State University, CC BY-ND
<p>With <a href="https://www.agweb.com/markets/futures" target="_blank">low market prices for many crops</a>, production does not cover expenses on most farms. To stay afloat, many farmers buy or lease more acres. Growing larger amounts floods the market, further reducing crop prices and farm incomes. Subsidies support this cycle.</p><p>Few benefit, especially small and midsized operations. In a 2019 study of the region's 234 counties from 1980 to 2010, we found that larger irrigated acreage <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00390-9" target="_blank">failed to increase incomes or improve education or health outcomes</a> for residents.</p>Focus on Policy, Not Farmers
<p>Four decades of federal, state and local conservation efforts have mainly targeted individual farmers, providing ways for them to voluntarily <a href="https://agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/dwr/managing-kansas-water-resources/wca" target="_blank">reduce water use</a> or <a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/eqip/" target="_blank">adopt more water-efficient technologies</a>.</p><p>While these initiatives are important, they haven't stemmed the aquifer's decline. In our view, what the Ogallala Aquifer region really needs is policy change.</p><p>A lot can be done at the federal level, but the first principle should be "do no harm." Whenever federal agencies have <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1230/all-info" target="_blank">tried to regulate groundwater</a>, the backlash has been swift and intense, with farm states' congressional representatives <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-06-19/pdf/2015-15151.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">repudiating federal jurisdiction over groundwater</a>.</p><p>Nor should Congress propose to eliminate agricultural subsidies, as some <a href="https://www.ewg.org/agmag/subsidies" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">environmental organizations</a> and <a href="https://www.cato.org/blog/five-reasons-repeal-farm-subsidies" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">free-market advocates</a> have proposed. Given the thin margins of farming and longstanding political realities, federal support is simply part of modern production agriculture.</p><p>With these cautions in mind, three initiatives could help ease pressure on farmers to keep expanding production. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's <a href="https://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/conservation-programs/conservation-reserve-program/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Conservation Reserve Program</a> pays farmers to allow environmentally sensitive farmland to lie fallow for at least 10 years. With new provisions, the program could reduce water use by prohibiting expansion of irrigated acreage, permanently retiring marginal lands and linking subsidies to production of less water-intensive crops.</p><p>These initiatives could be implemented through the <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/farmbill" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">federal farm bill</a>, which also sets funding levels for nonfarm subsidies such as the <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program</a>, or SNAP. SNAP payments, which increase needy families' food budgets, are an important tool for addressing poverty. Increasing these payments and adding financial assistance to local communities could offset lower tax revenues that result from from farming less acreage.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9a68a352afef927017e5c51944388e7b"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RHJsdtLZGoY?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>Amending <a href="https://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/farm-loan-programs/" target="_blank">federal farm credit rates</a> could also slow the treadmill. Generous terms promote borrowing for irrigation equipment; to pay that debt, borrowers farm more land. Offering lower rates for equipment that reduces water use and withholding loans for standard, wasteful equipment could nudge farmers toward conservation.</p><p>The most powerful tool is the tax code. Currently, farmers receive <a href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p225#en_US_2020_publink1000218297" target="_blank">deductions for declining groundwater levels</a> and can write off depreciation on irrigation equipment. Replacing these perks with a tax credit for stabilizing groundwater and substituting a depreciation schedule favoring more efficient irrigation equipment could provide strong incentives to conserve water.</p>
Rewriting State Water Laws
<p>Water rights are mostly determined by state law, so reforming state water policies is crucial. Case law demonstrates that simply owning water rights <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/224/107/" target="_blank">does not grant the legal right to waste water</a>. For more than a century courts have upheld state restrictions on waste, with <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/2d/3/489.html" target="_blank">rulings that allow for adaptation</a> by modifying the definitions of "beneficial use" and "waste" over time.</p><p>Using these precedents, state water agencies could designate thirsty crops, such as rice, cotton or corn, as wasteful in certain regions. Regulations preventing unreasonable water use <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2020/c085762.html" target="_blank">are not unconstitutional</a>.</p><p>Allowing farmers some flexibility will maximize profits, as long as they stabilize overall water use. If they irrigate less – or not at all – in years with low market prices, rules could allow more irrigation in better years. Ultimately, many farmers – and their bankers – are willing to exchange lower annual yields for a longer water supply.</p><p>As our research has shown, the vast majority of farmers in the region <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.12940" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">want to save groundwater</a>. They will need help from policymakers to do it. Forty years is long enough to learn that the Ogallala Aquifer's decline is not driven by weather or by individual farmers' preferences. Depletion is a structural problem embedded in agricultural policies. Groundwater depletion is a policy choice made by federal, state and local officials.</p>From Your Site Articles
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In response to the 2020 election results, Food Tank and Table 81 hosted a panel to make sense of the election results and discuss what it means to the food system. Jay Yuno / Getty Images
By Elena Seeley
In response to the 2020 election results, Food Tank and Table 81 hosted a panel to make sense of the election results and discuss what it means to the food system.
<p>Moderated by Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg and Katherine Miller of Table 81, the event featured Christopher Bradshaw of <a href="https://dreamingoutloud.org/" target="_blank">Dreaming Out Loud</a>, Devita Davison of <a href="https://foodlabdetroit.com/" target="_blank">FoodLab Detroit,</a> Navina Khanna of <a href="https://healfoodalliance.org/" target="_blank">HEAL Food Alliance</a>, Patricia Griffin of <a href="https://www.nvgllc.com/" target="_blank">NVG, LLC</a>, Bob Martin of the <a href="https://clf.jhsph.edu/" target="_blank">Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future</a>, and Kathleen Merrigan of the <a href="https://sustainability.asu.edu/food/" target="_blank">Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems</a>.</p><p>Their conversation touched on the meaning of the election results, the need to bring new voices and energy into discussions around food and agriculture, and the importance of organizing around food system issues in local communities.</p><p>"We should be talking about a complete and total dismantling of our corporate food system and building infrastructure locally from the ground up," says Davison. Listen to the full conversation below.</p>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="200" scrolling="no" src="https://embed.radiopublic.com/e?if=food-talk-with-dani-nierenberg-by-69mY3Q&ge=s1!45fd4" width="100%"></iframe>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://foodtank.com/news/2020/11/what-are-the-implications-of-the-election-results-on-the-food-movement/" target="_blank">Food Tank</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A flooded corn field along the Yazoo River during the Mississippi River near Redwood, Mississippi in May of 2011.
T. C. Knight / Getty Images
T. C. Knight / Getty Images
By Chaoqun Lu
Some effects of extreme weather are visible – like half a million acres of flattened corn in Iowa left behind after a derecho that hit the Midwestern United States on Aug. 10.
<p>Other effects are harder to measure, but can be just as harmful. One example is agricultural nitrogen runoff from farmlands in the Mississippi River Basin. It mainly comes from fertilizer that farmers apply to <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/old.2003/fs-105-03/" target="_blank">millions of acres of crops</a>.</p><p>Plants can't use all of the nitrogen in fertilizer because fertilizers are usually applied in excess. This excess can wash off farm fields into local rivers and lakes, degrading water quality and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-your-diet-contributes-to-nutrient-pollution-and-dead-zones-in-lakes-and-bays-118902" target="_blank">stimulating algae blooms</a>. Traveling down the Mississippi River, it contributes to the yearly formation of a <a href="https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/news/large-dead-zone-measured-in-gulf-of-mexico/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dead zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico</a>, covering several thousand square miles; oxygen levels there are so low that fish and shellfish cannot survive.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY3NTI1Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDI3MzY3OX0.yRe_Al0wWA5Dvuvari5a3YSLggWSF15CFm3bU4plJk4/img.png?width=980" id="3059c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="805831ff431667c6032910f6662b2171" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The Mississippi River Basin covers over 1.245 million square miles across 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Shannon1 / Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
<p>Excess nitrogen in drinking water also <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/farms-more-productive-than-ever-are-poisoning-drinking-water-in-rural-america-11547826031" target="_blank">threatens public health</a>. Ingesting high levels of nitrate, a nitrogen compound, can <a href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=1186&tid=258" target="_blank">reduce red blood cells' ability to transport oxygen</a>, a condition that is especially dangerous for infants.</p><p>My work as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VI_Lb-YAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">quantitative ecologist</a> examines how ecosystems respond to external factors such as adding nitrogen. In a recently published study, I worked with colleagues to quantify nitrogen runoff from land into rivers and streams. We found that infrequent but heavy rainfall events account for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-020-00020-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one-third of annual total runoff and nitrogen leaching from soils</a> across the Mississippi Basin. This tells us that managing nitrogen is likely to be more challenging if climate change continues to make heavy rains more frequent.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c61c993c58810750a464d2925f404029"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OQFjmWGONCA?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<h3>Too Much of a Good Thing</h3><p>Plants can't grow without nitrogen, but using too much or applying it improperly can cause problems. In the U.S. Midwest, one of the <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs155-99/fs155-99.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">most intensively farmed areas in the world</a>, farmers have added <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-969-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">large amounts of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer</a> to the land to boost crop yields.</p><p>Long-term monitoring data from river gauges shows large year-to-year variations in the quantity of nitrogen that flows down from the Mississippi River Basin into the Gulf of Mexico. Yearly changes in farmers' fertilizer use are not large enough to explain these fluctuations.</p><p>Studies show that annual total precipitation is a <a href="https://carnegiescience.edu/news/projected-precipitation-increases-are-bad-news-water-quality" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">significant factor in these changes</a>. But we know less about the role of daily rainfall – particularly heavy rains – in mobilizing and transporting nitrogen.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY3NTI2MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzIxMjIzMn0.pfwbhWLi0EIzIAdLfLRWUqzL3uf594rDG-1i7po64WA/img.jpg?width=980" id="0e006" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2f193abbb29905a56740f2553d06929" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Stream gauge measurements show that the amount of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) moving from Mississippi River Basin states to the Gulf of Mexico fluctuates dramatically from year to year. Heavy rainfalls can produce higher nitrogen levels. Modified from Lu et al., 2020, CC BY-ND
<h3>Heavy Rains Have an Outsized Impact</h3><p>My collaborators and I wanted to assess the impacts of extreme rainfall events in the Midwest. In this region, many cropped fields are laced with buried networks of drainage channels, known locally as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tile_drainage" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tile drainage</a>. These pipelines are designed to move excess moisture out of fields. But they can also channel large surges of water and nutrients into rivers and streams after heavy rainfalls.</p><p>It is challenging to determine how individual rainfall events affect nitrogen leaching and movement within a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/drainage-basin" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">drainage basin</a>. Rain happens here and there, so it's hard to distinguish a single storm's impact from river gauge monitoring data. Rainfall events also vary a lot by season and intensity.</p><p>Our study used a well-tested model to quantify how much nitrogen is washed out by each rainfall event, as well as total nitrogen delivered to the Gulf of Mexico. We looked closely at heavy rainfall events, which we defined as the top 10% of historical daily precipitation amounts for any location in a given month.</p><p>Climate records show that over the past 20 years, a growing share of annual precipitation has come in heavy rainfall events across two-thirds of the Mississippi River Basin's land area. The region that receives a total of more than 15.7 inches (400 millimeters) of heavy rain per year has expanded from areas in Louisiana and Arkansas northward to Corn Belt states like Illinois and Indiana, where nitrogen fertilizer is heavily used.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY3NTI2My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODk1OTY2Mn0.EzMMBdzQZfSr7kWm9XRBiSoGjTpi7wq1Xf_TO0bWZUs/img.png?width=980" id="af222" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d1845a190c070996325c70dc8ea8ac8f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Percentage increases in the amount of precipitation falling in very heavy events (defined as the heaviest 1% of all daily events) from 1958 to 2012. Globalchange.gov
<p>We found that one-third of annual total runoff and nitrogen leaching loss come from heavy rainfall events, which happen on only about nine days per year on average across the basin. Nearly half to three-quarters of heavy rainfall in the basin occurs in spring and summer, with a monthly peak in May.</p><p>This timing coincides with the planting and seed germinating stages of corn, when the plants are using <a href="http://nmsp.cals.cornell.edu/publications/factsheets/factsheet98.pdf" target="_blank">minimal amounts of nitrogen</a>. We wondered whether changing when and how farmers apply fertilizer could reduce nitrogen runoff.</p>
<h3>When to Fertilize</h3><p>When during the year to apply fertilizer is a long-standing question in both <a href="https://theconversation.com/farmers-of-the-future-will-utilize-drones-robots-and-gps-37739" target="_blank">precision agriculture</a> and environmental science. Midwest farmers apply over 90% of nitrogen fertilizer before crops germinate in springtime and after harvesting. This means that a fair amount of available nitrogen accumulates in the soil before crops start taking it up. When heavy rainfalls occur, it is likely to be washed out.</p>
<div id="7afc9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1e3585752d31dbe2f9fa3749fa375f74"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1318214328403767303" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Nitrogen fertilizer application restrictions on crop ground went into effect in certain areas of Minnesota on Sept.… https://t.co/2xW8POSKyy</div> — DTN/The Progressive Farmer (@DTN/The Progressive Farmer)<a href="https://twitter.com/dtnpf/statuses/1318214328403767303">1603121761.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>We set up modeling experiments to test whether postponing fertilizer application could make the water running off of farmlands cleaner. In our alternative fertilizer management scenario, we assumed fertilizer was applied only twice, after crops developed. We expected this would reduce the amount of unused nitrogen accumulating in soils.</p><p>Our results predicted that this modification could reduce nitrogen loading to the Gulf of Mexico by up to 16%. This would be a significant step toward goals set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is working with states to reduce nutrient loads entering the Gulf of Mexico by <a href="https://archive.epa.gov/epa/newsreleases/states-develop-new-strategies-reduce-nutrient-levels-mississippi-river-gulf-mexico.html" target="_blank">20% by 2025 and 45% by 2035</a>.</p><p>However, even under the postponed fertilizer application scenario, we still found the frequent heavy rains in the recent decade could enhance nitrogen loss during summer and early fall. Scientists predict that if climate change continues at its current rate, it will cause <a href="https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/highlights/regions/midwest#intro-section-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more extreme rainfall events in the Midwest</a>, which, we think, would reduce environmental benefits from alternative nitrogen management practices.</p><p>Reducing the amount of nitrogen that escapes from land into water bodies while maintaining food production is a significant challenge. Our study complements the well-known <a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/ia/technical/ecoscience/nutrient/nrcs142p2_008196/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">4R concept</a> for managing nutrients: Using the right fertilizer product, at the right rate, at the right time, and in the right place. To get that timing right, our research shows that along with crop nitrogen demand, farmers should also consider the occurrence of heavy rainfall.</p>
<p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/chaoqun-lu-1160490" target="_blank">Chaoqun Lu</a> is an assistant professor of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology at Iowa State University.</em><br/>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: Chaoqun Lu receives funding from the National Science Foundation, Iowa State University, and the Iowa Nutrient Research Center.</em>
</p><p>
<em><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-few-heavy-storms-cause-a-big-chunk-of-nitrogen-pollution-from-midwest-farms-146980" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em></em>
</p><script async="async" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146980/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" type="text/javascript"></script>From Your Site Articles
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A man looks out at a home submerged in flood waters following Typhoon Goni's tour of destruction through the Philippines. Xinhua / STRINGER via Getty Images
Typhoon Goni, one of the most powerful storms on record, slammed into the Philippines Sunday, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and killing at least 16.
<p>The storm came as the Philippines grapples with one of the worst <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> outbreaks in Southeast Asia, which complicated evacuations. The country has reported more than 383,000 cases and more than 7,200 deaths, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/02/typhoon-goni-philippine-president-visit-storm-hit-area-death-toll-climbs" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>"This typhoon has smashed into people's lives and livelihoods on top of the relentless physical, emotional and economic toll of Covid-19," Philippine Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/02/typhoon-goni-philippine-president-visit-storm-hit-area-death-toll-climbs" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<div id="a6b54" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1c5d100093b906c5f4208c0beb25e3b0"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1322839366184652807" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">This is the sound of one of the strongest storms ever witnessed on Planet Earth.
This is super typhoon #RollyPH
(… https://t.co/7ioyJONIOi</div> — Scott Duncan (@Scott Duncan)<a href="https://twitter.com/ScottDuncanWX/statuses/1322839366184652807">1604224456.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The storm destroyed tens of thousands of homes and displaced around 370,000 people, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-54775430" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. Two million people were impacted overall and more than 100 towns and cities lost power, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/super-typhoon-goni-philippines/2020/11/01/f222d5e8-1b92-11eb-8bda-814ca56e138b_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>. The cost in crop damage stood at more than $22 million, impacting around 20,000 farmers.</p><p>Just before it made landfall on Catanduanes Island Sunday, the storm had winds of 195 miles per hour, making it the equivalent of a Category 5 <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane" target="_self">hurricane</a>. However, passing over the island weakened the storm, and by midday it was the strength of a Category 4 hurricane. It was downgraded to a tropical storm by the end of the day, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/31/world/asia/typhoon-goni-live-updates.html?campaign_id=51&emc=edit_MBE_p_20201102&instance_id=23703&nl=morning-briefing&regi_id=88631294&section=whatElse&segment_id=43136&te=1&user_id=d8eb7cee9d3c5ab39515239b6ec54d19" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p><p>On Catanduanes Island, the storm killed at least six people and cut off water, electricity and cell phone coverage, the Philippine Red Cross told BBC News. In the town of Virac, the first major population center in the storm's path, the Red Cross estimated that 80 to 90 percent of the buildings were damaged.</p>
<p>The storm then moved on to the Philippines' most populous island of Luzon, home to the capital of Manila. However, the storm largely spared the capital, The New York Times pointed out. Instead, the Bicol region took the brunt of the damage.</p><p>In Bicol's Albay Province, southeast of Manila, Governor Al Francis Bichara said it was "probably the strongest storm I have seen," according to The New York Times.</p><p>"In our district, roofs were flying," he said.</p><p>At least 10 people died in Albay Province, BBC News reported, including a five-year-old boy. Two people drowned, one was crushed by a tree and one was caught in volcanic mud.</p><p>Volcanic debris also buried more than 300 homes in the province. Congressman Zaldy Co said on Facebook that several people were feared to have been buried alive.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2ef9bd67ffbf81c050d04d719435fd08"><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/repzaldyco/photos/pcb.195809272058366/195808535391773"></div></div>
<p>Goni is the fourth typhoon to impact the Philippines within the past month, The Guardian pointed out. It comes just a week after Typhoon Molave killed 22 people and displaced 120,000. And another storm, Atsani, is currently strengthening and has the Philippines in its path.</p><p>Overall, the Philippines weathers an average of 20 typhoons and tropical storms every year, according to The New York Times. This year, it has endured 18 so far. But the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is making the situation even worse as the warm waters surrounding the Philippines heat even further, increasing the frequency and intensity of storms. In fact, the Philippines is one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and this has not been helped by massive <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deforestation" target="_self">deforestation</a> that removes natural flood barriers and wind breaks.</p><p>"Climate change is a big international idea, but we are facing this on the local level and we aren't equipped with enough progressive vision for it," Dakila Kim P. Yee, a sociologist at the University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College, told The New York Times.</p><p>Typhoon Goni also intensified rapidly, a process that is fueled by warming ocean waters, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/10/30/super-typhoon-goni-philippines-rolly/" target="_blank">The Washington Post pointed out</a>. Its winds went from less than 100 miles per hour Thursday to almost 180 miles per hour Friday, and by Sunday they were at 195 miles per hour. During this time, the water fueling the storm was two to three degrees warmer than normal.</p>
<div id="82179" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cef66b33ce5e226f49d217024ec324fc"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1322325480465465349" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#Goni #RollyPH https://t.co/4OsgUclzGF</div> — Stu Ostro (@Stu Ostro)<a href="https://twitter.com/StuOstro/statuses/1322325480465465349">1604101936.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>At its peak, it was the strongest storm in four years, with winds comparable to 2016's Typhoon Meranti and 2013's Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,000 people in the Philippines.</p>
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An Asian giant hornet taken from the first U.S. nest to be discovered. ELAINE THOMPSON / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
The first U.S. "murder hornet" nest has been discovered and eliminated.
<p>"Murder hornets," or Asian giant hornets as they are officially called, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/murder-hornets-honeybees-us-2645912097.html" target="_self">first emerged</a> as a concern after four sightings of the bee-slaughtering <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/insects" target="_self">insects</a> were verified in Washington State in December 2019. Since then, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) has been working to prevent the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/invasive-species" target="_self">invasive species</a> from establishing a presence in the state, and they made headway towards that goal Saturday when they removed a nest newly discovered near Blaine, Washington.</p><p>"Got 'em," the WSDA wrote in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WAStateDeptAg/posts/10158596587562906" target="_blank">Facebook post</a>.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7728c1de4b7ce306f2afe8918f938293"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/WAStateDeptAg/videos/3411169195635580" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div>
<p>WSDA workers vacuumed the hornets out of the tree cavity where their nest was found and into canisters, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/insects-washington-asia-agriculture-united-states-c235c7f6725460b463af968bb1355445" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>. They donned protective gear thick enough to defend them against the hornets' six-millimeter long stingers. The suits also included face shields because the hornets can spit venom.</p><p>The tree will now be cut down and the nest searched for newborn hornets and to see if any queens have already left. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scientists" target="_self">Scientists</a> think there may be other murder hornet nests in Washington State.</p>
<div id="a3b24" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="38572c61a5ebaf7cbdae52cd9f3cf21d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1320151317495439361" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Quite a morning shooting Asian giant hornets and our WA Ag workers taking them out in Blaine. Love those sting-resi… https://t.co/uooInt70T9</div> — Elaine Thompson /// journalism matters (@Elaine Thompson /// journalism matters)<a href="https://twitter.com/ElaineMThompson/statuses/1320151317495439361">1603583575.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Murder hornets earned their nickname because they attack in groups and can inject a victim with as much venom as a snake bite. They are native to China, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam and other Asian countries, where they kill as many as three dozen people every year.</p><p>While that may sound like a lot, species of wasps, hornets and bees already common in the U.S. kill an average of 62 people a year, The Associated Press pointed out.</p><p>The main danger that Asian giant hornets pose is to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/honeybees" target="_self">honeybees</a>: A small group of them can kill an entire hive within hours, the <a href="https://agr.wa.gov/about-wsda/news-and-media-relations/news-releases?article=31875" target="_blank">WSDA said</a>.</p>
<p>Honeybees in Japan have evolved to surround invading hornets and vibrate until they cook the intruder alive, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/23/murder-hornet-us-first-nest-found-washington-state" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. But North American honeybees have not evolved with Asian giant hornets, so they would not have any such defense strategies. Farmers are concerned that the hornets could devastate U.S. honeybee populations if they were to spread. This would also have serious consequences for all the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/food" target="_self">foods</a> that bees pollinate.</p><p>The WSDA discovered the first U.S. Asian giant hornet nest around 4 p.m. on Oct. 22. The nest was located after the WSDA tied radio trackers to some captured hornets with dental floss, The Associated Press reported.</p>
<div id="ef0b1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4b5bd1f1de8027364b6a15f8bfb6a358"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1319651074744094720" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The rumors are true - our entomologists located the first-ever #AsianGiantHornet nest in the U.S. late yesterday. P… https://t.co/0LmpZToVHj</div> — WA St Dept of Agr (@WA St Dept of Agr)<a href="https://twitter.com/WSDAgov/statuses/1319651074744094720">1603464308.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The first Asian giant hornet was trapped in the U.S. in July, the WSDA said. Since then, its entomologists have been working to locate and eliminate any nests.</p>
From Your Site Articles
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Chef Regina Tchelly with her food creations on her veranda, with Copacabana Beach in the background. Favela Organica
By Agostino Pestroni
Take a dozen banana peels, wash them gently with a brush under running water, then chop them into small pieces. Next, blend the peels with five spoons of cacao and a cup of ice water. Once the lumps have been removed, place the mixture in a hot, buttered pan and stir it for five minutes. Let it cool down to thicken, and then roll the resulting dough into small spheres. Lastly, dip the balls into sesame or peanut powder, and you'll have a brigadeiro, an iconic Brazilian dessert.
But this is not the standard version of the sweet: It's a unique variant created by Regina Tchelly, a 39-year-old Brazilian chef and resident of Rio de Janeiro's Babilônia slum.
<p>"I always wanted to be a chef, but not a normal one," Tchelly says.</p><p>In 2001, Tchelly moved from a small town in northeastern Brazil to the favelas, or slums, of Rio looking for a better future for her and her daughter. She initially worked as a housemaid, a common profession for women coming into the city from poorer areas. But the longer she shopped at the local markets, the more she grew disappointed by the amount of food being thrown out each day.</p><p>Back in her hometown, she had learned to use all parts of the fruits and vegetables she prepared, and she couldn't make peace with the wastefulness of the city. She knew that the thrown-away peels, seeds, and rinds held precious nutritional value. Tchelly has since worked to give a second life to food that would otherwise go to waste. She shows that repurposing food waste is not only a solution to the problem of access to healthy food, but also one remedy to help address a broken social system.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUxMTY1Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDk1NDEyOX0.qveLhDsh6gjy_SJ7fnx5BLkZfc30Z7exMWqoIo-Cjk0/img.jpg?width=980" id="c4769" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5a97044d6e71ca284e01ed75cc5cd2c6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Regina Tchelly giving a talk about the impact of food on health in a Rio de Janeiro hospital. Favela Organica
<h2>Democratizing Real Food</h2><p>The difficulty of making ends meet in rural areas of Brazil is <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Brazil/Ongoing-domestic-migration" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one of the reasons for migration within the country</a>. Small farmers leave their homes to crowd into the favelas of the megalopolis, where they can no longer afford the quality of food they used to produce on their land.</p><p>About <a href="https://catcomm.org/favela-facts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1.5 million</a> people live in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, known as the Cidade maravilhosa, or city of wonder. Electricity, running water, and sanitation systems are often lacking in those informal settlements long neglected by the government, and life is tough for those who live in them. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-biosocial-science/article/family-food-insecurity-and-nutritional-risk-in-adolescents-from-a-lowincome-area-of-rio-de-janeiro-brazil/2557E62F6E770DC4144FF5D00B0E0E58" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Food insecurity</a> is one of the most significant divides between the favelas and wealthy areas of Rio: In the slums, many rely on government-subsidized schools, food banks, or junk food to feed their children.</p><p>It's a matter of affordability rather than supply, though. Food abounds in Brazil. A 2014 <a href="http://www.fao.org/in-action/fapda/publications/country-fact-sheets/en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a> by the Food and Agriculture Organization listed Brazil as the world's third-largest exporter of agricultural products. Yet <a href="https://www.scielosp.org/article/csc/2020.v25n9/3421-3430/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">5 million people</a> still suffer from <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/malnutrition-in-all-its-forms-and-social-inequalities-in-brazil/89E445C46FF53653A6604163C1EB86E4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">malnutrition</a>.</p><p>"My idea was to democratize real food, so to allow everybody to be able to access it," Tchelly says.</p><p>In 2011, Tchelly gave her first course on how to cook with food scraps to six other housekeepers in her slum, which led her to create a social enterprise called <a href="https://favelaorganica.com.br/pt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Favela Organica</a>. Her goal was to teach others how to repurpose food waste produced by Rio's markets, and to learn how to grow produce on their balconies and in their yards. Tchelly's project relies on the idea of an integrated food cycle: growing food, utilizing it all, and creating compost with what's left to fertilize a garden.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUxMTY2NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDkwNDc2OH0.nqQKFWhgBdPxnsCUgXAIOWygueR6ZW5f9t29VcKfpEs/img.jpg?width=980" id="ae904" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ed69af837c7eff99599eedc2fe1062d0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A class on how to use juicing residue for skin care. Favela Organica
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUxMTY2Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDAxMjUxMX0.hDqR9kLfVZbYJhYjBBSpoRghlrza7KOu5pooCxhUu30/img.jpg?width=980" id="9ea30" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="db8f96e70aaa7a76d283017d95ede675" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Favela Organica's work focuses on the cycle of life and uses yoga and meditation as part of its classes. Favela Organica
<p>While Tchelly initially aimed at tackling food waste, her project soon turned into something more powerful. With the pandemic and the resulting food insecurity <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/08/10/covid-brazil-deaths-inequality/?arc404=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spreading widely within the crowded favelas</a>, what Regina Tchelly ultimately provides is a way for people to gain dignity by making their own nutritious food. She's part of the <a href="https://www.terramadre.info/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Terra Madre</a> network, a global movement of food producers, chefs, and academics who believe that through a holistic approach to food, communities affected by systemic social disparities can regain power over what they eat, which is the first step towards self-determination.</p>
<h2>Innovating for Food Justice</h2><p>The balcony of Favela Organica overlooks the famous Copacabana Beach. A small vegetable garden adds to the produce coming from local farmers who donate to Tchelly what they cannot sell. Tchelly's workplace is a forest of hanging pans and pots, with a cooking station for two people and a larger space where she gave free classes to 60 people at a time — until the pandemic hit. Now she offers her courses online.</p><p>Tchelly supports the free lessons for residents of the favela. She covers her costs with the income earned from her high-end catering services and the money she receives from giving talks around the world, or winning prizes such as the Prêmio Aliança Empreendedora from the Brazilian Entrepreneurial Alliance. Over the years, Tchelly has built up enough recognition for her work that, in 2016, she was invited to San Paolo to give a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXqc29uVIbo" target="_blank">TEDx Talk</a>. Since she began offering courses, Tchelly has taught some <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=208&v=yPDD8O14tsg&feature=emb_logo" target="_blank">30,000 people</a>, mostly women, around Brazil how to regain power over the food they eat.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUxMTY2OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1ODI4MzIwMX0.FGXkyUNNxqoMBTA8CcWomxhqx3aLYSIbHTDKeEh2q7E/img.jpg?width=980" id="4e685" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="896170dbff69522b1caa12ad72427d8d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
'Tabuli de broccoli,' a salad created by Tchelly made with broccoli stems. Favela Organica
<p>The only requirement to attend Tchelly's classes is that attendees must develop a new recipe to bring to market from the widely available food scraps of Rio de Janeiro. Last year, Ivonides Silva, 54, joined one of the classes.</p><p>"When you go to the market, you spend 10 reais ($2) and use seeds, fruit, and everything else," Silva says. By cooking this way, nothing goes to waste, and Silva has been saving money on groceries.</p><p>As her final project, Silva transformed pumpkin rinds and seeds — parts of the fruit that are usually thrown away — into flour, which she then used to bake a cake. Her classmates liked it, so she began selling more cakes to neighbors and at the salon where she works as a hairdresser. She now sells about five cakes each month, which adds 240 reais ($42) to her income. If it wasn't for the pandemic, Silva says, she could sell many more.</p><p>"Tchelly gives us the tools to have the autonomy to create a small business to make some money," Silva says. In the slums of Rio de Janeiro, where people make on average <a href="https://www.rioonwatch.org/?p=57787" target="_blank">734 reais ($130) a month</a>, the supplementary income from the sale of cakes is a welcome help.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUxMTY3Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNDM2NTczM30.0b-tLtGZxXrqhidrPRCWZD4rvClRUIn-gDqvey2SUxY/img.jpg?width=980" id="b13db" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="029612a5727369b5f6780e3826b79108" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Tchelly at a food bank in Curitiba, Brazil, teaching how to make pumpkin risotto. Favela Organica
<p>Maria Beatriz Martins Costa, CEO of <a href="http://www.greenrio.com.br/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Green Rio</a>, a network that advocates for fairer and better food, is fond of Tchelly's work, but told me that to have a greater impact, projects like Tchelly's need more public support. According to a <a href="https://www.iisd.org/publications/food-security-brazilian-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a> by the International Institute of Sustainable Development, limited access to food is not the result of lack of food availability, but of its unaffordability for many Brazilians. The Brazilian government has worked toward reducing social inequality in the past two decades with programs like the <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i3023e/i3023e00.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Zero Hunger Program</a>, which aims to give all Brazilians enough good and nutritious food through a series of multi-sectoral public policies. Thanks to this program, the country was removed from the FAO's world hunger map in 2014.</p><p>But malnutrition problems remain, and the pandemic is accentuating them.</p><p>Growing one's own food can help, which is why Tchelly and many other activists around the world also teach students how to grow urban gardens.</p><p>"This kind of agriculture is important because it gives you support," says Costa, who sees urban gardens as another expression of family farming. She believes family farmers play an essential role in future food scenarios and are critical in diminishing food and social disparities. About 77% of Brazil's farmers are family farmers (as opposed to agribusinesses), but they receive only <a href="http://www.fao.org/family-farming/detail/en/c/283339/" target="_blank">36% of the total industry revenues</a>. According to Costa, the difference in income between small and large farms is partly because of a lack of logistics to distribute products and infrastructures to scale up.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDUxMTY3My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjI2NDEzOH0.mtp-uqWB0Vj9uqFNWawcQj464YUDcWPWEtc5KwqN250/img.jpg?width=980" id="8c9cd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="69745d31653ac880802003baaf1a895f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Tchelly teaching a class at a food bank in Curitiba, Brazil, on how to use all parts of the produce. Favela Organica
<p>"Public policies are fundamental," Costa says. Over the past 20 years, Brazil has constructed a robust food security policy that includes Safra, a credit program for family farmers, and a program that pushed schools to buy food from local small farms. But in 2019, the current government, led by President Jair Bolsonaro, eliminated the Consea, Conselho Nacional de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional — a body that allowed Brazilian civil society to have a say in the formulation of food policies — a <a href="https://www.slowfood.com/lets-defend-brazils-food-security/" target="_blank">move that many fear</a> is the first step toward deconstructing the country's food security policy.</p><p>Still, Costa believes that Brazil, with all its flaws, is working toward issuing policies that promote family farmers. For example, the country's current secretary for Family Agriculture and Cooperation, Fernando Schwanke, has created the first bioeconomy plan for biodiversity and family farming. Such policies, combined with entrepreneurial efforts like Tchelly's, could brighten Brazil's food future.</p><p>"Regina Tchelly was a pioneer and game-changer and deserves all credit as being a forerunner fighting for a change in the food system," Costa says. Tchelly, with her daily fieldwork, represents a larger, and often unseen, global movement that focuses on the roots of nutrition inequalities. Together, they are working to provide access to fairer, cleaner, and better food for all.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2020/10/09/food-waste-brazil-communities/" target="_blank">YES! Magazine</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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'Regenerative Agriculture and the Soil Carbon Solution': New Paper Outlines Vision for Climate Action
28 September
Climate
A new white paper explains how to transform current widespread agricultural practices to regenerative agriculture. PickPik
By Andrea Germanos
A white paper out Friday declares that "there is hope right beneath our feet" to address the climate crisis as it touts regenerative agriculture as a "win-win-win" solution to tackling runaway carbon emissions.
<p>"Humans broke the planet with grave agricultural malpractice," Tom Newmark, chairman of <a href="https://thecarbonunderground.org/" target="_blank">The Carbon Underground</a> and a contributor to the research, said in a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/25/new-white-paper-shows-shift-regenerative-ag-could-sequester-100-percent-annual" target="_blank">statement</a>. "With this white paper, Rodale Institute shows us how regenerative agriculture has the potential to repair that damage and actually reverse some of the threatening impacts of our climate crisis."</p><p>"This is a compelling call to action!" he added.</p><p>Released by the Rodale Institute and entitled <em><a href="https://rodaleinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Rodale-Soil-Carbon-White-Paper_v8.pdf" target="_blank">Regenerative Agriculture and the Soil Carbon Solution</a></em>, the white paper discusses how a transformation of current widespread agricultural practices—which now contribute indirectly and directly to the climate crisis—"can be rolled out tomorrow providing multiple benefits beyond climate stabilization."</p><p>The findings are based on Rodale's own trials, research data, and interviews with experts, and build upon the institute's 2014 <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/10/09/solution-soil-how-organic-farming-can-feed-world-and-save-planet" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">paper</a> <em>Regenerative Organic Agriculture and Climate Change: A Down-to-Earth Solution to Global Warming</em>.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ0MzM2NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNzczMDk0M30.g3bMMcdsxChGxcYN8onbvkGVHEJUwfLJZTIcX_tPZQk/img.png?width=980" id="1290a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="89e0122fc2627a2a88dfe53a7c0aa395" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Graph from Rodale Institute's new white paper "Regenerative Agriculture and the Soil Carbon Solution."
<p>The claim made in the new paper is bold: "Data from farming and grazing studies show the power of exemplary regenerative systems that, if achieved globally, would drawdown more than 100% of current annual CO2 emissions.</p><p>"Regenerative agriculture, as the researchers describe, represents "a system of farming principles that rehabilitates the entire ecosystem and enhances natural resources, rather than depleting them."</p><p>In contrast to industrial practices dependent upon monocultures, extensive tillage, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers, a regenerative approach uses, at minimum, seven practices which aim to boost biodiversity both above and underground and make possible carbon sequestration in soil.</p><ul><li>Diversifying crop rotations</li><li>Planting cover crops, green manures, and perennials</li><li>Retaining crop residues</li><li>Using natural sources of fertilizer, such as compost</li><li>Employing highly managed grazing and/or integrating crops and livestock</li><li>Reducing tillage frequency and depth</li><li>Eliminating synthetic chemicals</li></ul><p>While passers-by may easily spot visual differences above ground between the divergent agricultural approaches, what's happening below ground is also vital. From the paper:</p><blockquote>Contrary to previous thought, it's not the recalcitrant plant material that persists and creates long-term soil carbon stores, instead it's the microbes who process this plant matter that are most responsible for soil carbon sequestration. Stable soil carbon is formed mostly by microbial necromass (dead biomass) bonded to minerals (silt and clay) in the soil. Long term carbon storage is dependent on the protection of the microbially-derived carbon from decomposition.<br></blockquote><p>As for claims such as agricultural transformation wouldn't be able to produce enough food, the paper counters: "Actual yields in well-designed regenerative organic systems, rather than agglomerated averages, have been shown to outcompete conventional yields for almost all food crops including corn, wheat, rice, soybean, and sunflower."</p><p>But that is far from the only benefit. "When compared to conventional industrial agriculture," the authors write, "regenerative systems improve":</p><ul><li>Biodiversity abundance and species richness</li><li>Soil health, including soil carbon</li><li>Pesticide impacts on food and ecosystems</li><li>Total farm outputs</li><li>Nutrient density of outputs</li><li>Resilience to climate shocks</li><li>Provision of ecosystem services</li><li>Resource use efficiency</li><li>Job creation and farmworker welfare</li><li>Farm profitability</li><li>Rural community revitalization</li></ul>
<p>Rather than framing it as a "wake-up call," the institute says the paper should be seen as an "invitation to journey in a new direction."</p><p>"It is intended to be both a road map to change and a call to action to follow a new path," the authors write. "One led by science and blazed by farmers and ranchers across the globe."</p><p>"Together we both sound the alarm and proclaim the regenerative farming solution: It's time to start our journey with a brighter future for our planet and ourselves as the destination," the paper states.</p><p>Resources accompanying the white paper include a sample letter to members of Congress to urge support for the Agriculture Resilience Act (H.R. 5861), <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/mike-lavender/a-resilience-roadmap-fulfilling-agricultures-role-as-a-climate-solution" target="_blank">introduced</a> in February by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), and a "buyer's guide to regenerative food" to help decipher food labels and questions to ask suppliers at farmers' markets.</p><p>"A vast amount of data on the carbon sequestration potential of agricultural soils has been published, including from Rodale Institute, and recent findings are starting to reinforce the benefits of regenerative agricultural practices in the fight against the climate crisis," said Dr. Andrew Smith, COO and chief scientist of Rodale Institute.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/26/regenerative-agriculture-and-soil-carbon-solution-new-paper-outlines-vision-climate?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>
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USDA and Meatpacking Industry Collaborated to Undermine COVID-19 Response, Documents Show
17 September
Politics
The USDA and the meatpacking industry worked together to downplay and disregard risks to worker health during the COVID-19 pandemic. RGtimeline / Getty Images
By Brett Wilkins
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the meatpacking industry worked together to downplay and disregard risks to worker health during the Covid-19 pandemic, as shown in documents published Monday by Public Citizen and American Oversight.
<p>The <a href="https://www.citizen.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-OSEC-04055-F_2nd-Interim_Item-1_Redacted.pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=f7bf3f03-ce98-4df4-9c45-f44d9a6a5890" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">documents</a>, which the groups obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, reveal that a week before President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/28/catastrophic-harm-feared-trump-uses-emergency-powers-keep-meat-packing-plants-open" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">issued his controversial executive order </a>in April to keep meatpacking plants open—overriding closure orders from local health officials—a leading meat industry lobby group drafted a proposed executive order that was strikingly similar to Trump's directive.</p><p>North American Meat Institute president Julie Anna Potts drafted the document, which invoked the Korean War-era Defense Production Act in proposing a presidential proclamation that orders "critical infrastructure food companies continue their operations to the fullest extent possible."</p><p>The documents also show that the North American Meat Institute repeatedly requested that USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue discourage workers who were afraid to return to work from staying home, that meatpacking plants asked the USDA to intervene on multiple occasions when state and local governments either shut them down over health and safety concerns or sought to impose worker health and safety standards, and that pork producer and food processing giant Smithfield Foods repeatedly requested that the USDA "order" it to reopen its meat processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota—even though the agency lacks the legal authority for such a move.</p>
<div id="13077" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="11b9fe5ff48ebc437353df6df9c2c892"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1305915938148147205" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Just a week before the Trump administration issued an executive order aimed at keeping meat packing plants open, th… https://t.co/DkbXgPm4YR</div> — ProPublica (@ProPublica)<a href="https://twitter.com/propublica/statuses/1305915938148147205">1600189597.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"While we knew that the meatpacking industry was lobbying the Trump administration to take steps to protect its profits regardless of the cost to workers' lives, the degree of collaboration these documents show is astounding," <a href="https://www.citizen.org/news/usda-meatpacking-industry-collaborated-to-undermine-covid-19-response-foia-docs-show/" target="_blank">said</a> Adam Pulver, attorney for Public Citizen.</p><p>"As outbreaks continue to emerge in meatpacking plants, it is stunning to see the cavalier attitude officials took to the health and safety of workers in the early part of the pandemic," Pulver added. "To the extent that the USDA impeded the efforts of state and local governments to contain the virus, the blood of meatpacking workers is on their hands."</p><p>According to July <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6927e2.htm" target="_blank">data</a> from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 23 states reported Covid-19 outbreaks in meat and poultry processing facilities, with 16,233 cases and 86 deaths reported in 239 facilities. Fully 87% of those cases occurred among racial or ethnic minorities. The problem is global, with other countries from <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/53137613" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Britain</a> to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-jbs-specialreport/special-report-how-covid-19-swept-the-brazilian-slaughterhouses-of-jbs-worlds-top-meatpacker-idUSKBN25Z1HZ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brazil</a> reporting widespread Covid-19 infection among their meatpackers.</p><p>A common theme connects all of these outbreaks around the world, critics said Tuesday—the prioritization of profit over people.</p>
<p>"During a global pandemic, Americans should be able to trust that public health experts are drafting public health standards, not big businesses looking out for their bottom lines," <a href="https://www.citizen.org/news/usda-meatpacking-industry-collaborated-to-undermine-covid-19-response-foia-docs-show/" target="_blank">said</a> Austin Evers, executive director at American Oversight. "This is corruption that came at the cost of lives and safety. Making matters worse, we know now that Trump knew the coronavirus was a deadly threat even while he played it down and took steps he knew were at odds with what experts advised."</p><p>The poultry industry, already the target of a <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-09-03/u-s-chicken-industry-accused-of-conspiring-to-keep-immigrant-wages-down" target="_blank">massive class-action lawsuit</a> alleging some of the biggest animal agriculture corporations in the nation conspired to suppress worker wages and benefits, has been roiled by accusations of worker mistreatment during the pandemic. </p><p>"For us employees that work in production, we are treated like modern-day slaves," Tara Williams, an employee at a Tyson Foods poultry plant in Camilla, Georgia, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/02/meat-plant-workers-us-coronavirus-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told</a> <em>The Guardian </em>in May.</p><p>"Excuse my language, but Tyson really aren't going to give a f**k about us at all," Williams—who has worked at the plant for five years and currently earns $13.55 an hour—said of the $22 billion company after her colleague Elose Willis, who worked at the plant for 35 years, <a href="https://www.loftonfuneralhome.com/obituary/Elose-Willis" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">died</a> of Covid-19 in April. </p><p>"It was like they were keeping a secret," Williams said of Willis' death. "It took them about two weeks just to put a picture up, to acknowledge that she had died." </p><p>In related news, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/want-know-what-workers-life-worth-america-trumps-osha-fines-meat-company-just-13494" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fined</a> Smithfield's Sioux Falls plant just $13,494 last Thursday for failing to take adequate steps to contain the virus, leading to the infection of more than 1,200 plant employees and the deaths of four plant workers between March and June. Critics said the fine isn't nearly enough.</p>
<div id="36e4c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e7c8048c2755109629a3b3072fcb3261"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1304424041814593539" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Meatpacking union @UFCW, which reps workers at this plant (four of whom died), slams OSHA for the small $13k fine a… https://t.co/tnhfKd89ab</div> — Dave Jamieson (@Dave Jamieson)<a href="https://twitter.com/jamieson/statuses/1304424041814593539">1599833901.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union, which represents Smithfield Foods workers, <a href="https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/crime/2020/09/10/osha-fines-smithfield-foods-sioux-falls-south-dakota/5768786002/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=f7bf3f03-ce98-4df4-9c45-f44d9a6a5890" target="_blank">slammed</a> the fine as "insulting and a slap on the wrist."</p><p>"How much is the health, safety, and life of an essential worker worth? Based on the actions of the Trump administration, clearly not much," said UFCW president Marc Perrone.</p><p>"This so-called 'fine' is a slap on the wrist for Smithfield, and a slap in the face of the thousands of American meatpacking workers who have been putting their lives on the line to help feed America since the beginning of this pandemic," Perrone added. </p><p>Other critics, including vegans, vegetarians, and animal rights and environmental advocates argued that the accelerated spread of Covid-19 from meatpacking facilities is but the latest compelling argument in favor of reducing—or eliminating—meat consumption.</p><p>"We know that Covid-19 originated in a meat market and that previous influenza viruses originated in pigs and chickens," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) <a href="https://www.peta.org/blog/meat-shortage-slaugherhouses-go-vegan/" target="_blank">said</a> in April amid news that a Foster Farms slaughterhouse in Livingston, California was <a href="https://www.peta.org/blog/coronavirus-covid-19-slaughterhouse-meat-concerns/?utm_source=PETA::Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=0420::veg::PETA::Twitter::Workers%20Blame%20Major%20Pig%20Slaughterhouse%20600%20Infected%20COVID-19::::tweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ordered closed</a> by local health authorities due to a Covid-19 outbreak that killed eight employees.</p>
<div id="28490" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="48ddd3480a2beb42597d9516ef652f0f"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1252416495990140929" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! @SmithfieldFoods allegedly took NO PRECAUTIONS to protect the safety of its workers, leaving o… https://t.co/viAJ026pLy</div> — PETA (@PETA)<a href="https://twitter.com/peta/statuses/1252416495990140929">1587434336.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"It's not a matter of <em>whether</em> using and killing animals for food will give rise to another disease outbreak—it's a matter of <em>when</em>," said PETA. "There has never been a better, more obvious time for businesses to put an end to their dirty trade of slaughtering animals for their flesh." </p>
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54 Million People in the U.S. May Go Hungry During the Pandemic — Can Urban Farms Help?
07 September
Insights + Opinion
An example of urban farming is seen on this Chicago rooftop. Linda / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 2.0
By Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner
When I call Chef Q. Ibraheem to discuss urban farming in her own cooking career, she's in the middle of placing an order for microgreens from a small farm in Lake Forest, a ritzy suburb just north of downtown Chicago. Now's a great time for her to chat, actually, because the Chicago-based chef is immersed in what she loves, sourcing ingredients as locally as possible.
<p>"It's really important we know where our food is coming from," she says. "I know my farmers by name. I can go to the farms, see how they are growing everything, see it in the soil. It's always nice to have something within reach and know your produce." Chef Q runs supper clubs and chef camps throughout Chicagoland, sustaining the local economy by purchasing ingredients from urban gardens and farms within miles of her pop-up experiences.</p><p>"As a chef, you realize you have a responsibility to your guests," she says, and for her, that responsibility means being transparent about ingredients, and even educating diners about what's on their plates. Growing up spending summers on a farm in Georgia, Chef Q has an innate curiosity about where and how her food is grown, and she recognizes the importance of farms in both urban and rural areas.</p><p>Commercial urban agriculture is <a href="https://bedfordandbowery.com/2020/07/as-the-pandemic-continues-urban-gardening-is-growing-on-new-yorkers/" target="_blank">on the rise</a>, with small-scale farms in <a href="https://ny.curbed.com/maps/new-york-urban-gardening-city-farmers-brooklyn" target="_blank">New York City</a> like <a href="https://www.gothamgreens.com/" target="_blank">Gotham Greens</a>, which reduces the amount of energy, land use and food waste in tight, underutilized spaces to produce herbs and roughage for the masses. In Austin, Texas, <a href="https://austinot.com/urban-farms-austin" target="_blank">backyard farms and urban gardens</a> sell ingredients to restaurants and markets throughout the region, as do <a href="https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2019-10-10/avenue33-urban-farm-grows-in-los-angeles" target="_blank">similar projects in Los Angeles</a>. In fact, innovations allowing farmers to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-urban-farmers-are-learning-to-grow-food-without-soil-or-natural-light-88720" target="_blank">grow without soil or natural light</a> expand the potential for food sourcing in urban areas. Urban farming has increased by over <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/urban-agriculture-food-security-2628852711.html" target="_self">30 percent in the past 30 years</a>, with no indication of slowing down. Urban land could grow fruit and vegetables for 15 percent of the population, <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-03/uos-ulc031720.php" target="_blank">research shows</a>.</p>
<p>While the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/grow-your-own-urban-farming-flourishes-in-coronavirus-lockdowns/" target="_blank">COVID-19 lockdowns have inspired a burst of urban farming</a> as people have been starting to grow their own fruits and vegetables at home, a renewed interest in culinary arts, plus a nostalgia for simpler times in many fast-paced big cities — just look at all the mid-century-era diners <a href="https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/why-so-many-restaurants-opened-as-modern-diners-in-2019" target="_blank">popping up</a> in Manhattan right before the pandemic — may be accountable for the steady rise in urban farms. More consciousness about the environment, too, may lead small growers to want to reduce transportation emissions and take charge of the use of pesticides and fertilizers in their foods, but there's another great reason for urban farms to continue growing: feeding the masses. And with 68 percent of the world's population <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html" target="_blank">expected to live in urban areas by 2050</a>, it's time to take urban farming seriously as a viable, primary food source.</p><p>Despite being the wealthiest nation in the world, the United States had more than <a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america" target="_blank">37 million people</a> struggling with hunger in 2018. Since the pandemic, that number is expected to rise to up to <a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2020-04/Brief_Impact%20of%20Covid%20on%20Food%20Insecurity%204.22%20%28002%29.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">54 million people</a>. And while systemic changes may one day be able to greatly reduce this number, a planting cycle is quicker than an election cycle. Bureaucracy may not immediately solve fair wages, but vegetable seeds may help communities when times are tough.</p>
Urban Farming as a Social Practice
<p>In her work, Chef Q has helped turn empty lots and abandoned buildings into urban farms, which allows neighbors to "take ownership in their communities" and also become educated consumers. In neighborhoods where the fancy grocery store is referred to as "<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/04/01/whole-foods-prices-amazon-announces-cuts-and-more-prime-benefits/3335214002/" target="_blank">Whole Paycheck</a>," Chef Q has seen seed exchanges help folks start growing new produce, and regain agency over their food budgets and eating habits. Programs like the <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/15th-annual-chicago-food-policy-summit-registration-89317576275" target="_blank">Chicago Food Policy Summit</a>, a free annual event on Chicago's South Side, help popularize urban farming and education and help provide Chicagoans with grants to start growing their own food. Though <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/dining/urban-farming-kids-healthy-food-new-york-city.html" target="_blank">gentrification may bring relief</a> to previously dubbed <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/how-do-people-living-in-a-food-desert-feed-themselves-amid-a-pandemic/" target="_blank">food deserts</a> — neighborhoods without a nearby source of fresh food — the slew of problems attached to gentrification, including higher costs of living, can easily make these new, more nutritious food options completely unaffordable to residents of the neighborhood.</p><p>As seen in smaller cities, urban farming may be the key for cities to be less reliant on rural areas, and also help <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-urban-agriculture-can-improve-food-security-in-us-cities-106435" target="_blank">achieve food security</a>. As Dr. Miguel Altieri, professor of agroecology at the University of California, Berkeley, has shown, diversified gardens in urban areas can yield a large range of produce and efficiently feed nearby residents.</p><p>Of course, land in cities is often at a premium, with many people living in little space. Shifting public land use to incorporate food growth and getting creative with rooftops, basements and unused buildings can seriously change the way cities consume fresh ingredients.</p><p>In fact, renewed efforts by the conservation organization <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">World Wildlife Fund</a> to <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90505222/why-the-world-wildlife-fund-is-trying-to-spark-an-indoor-farming-revolution" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">boost indoor farming</a> may revolutionize some sources of produce, particularly in cities. Repurposing unused indoor space, such as warehouses, can create direct sources of ingredients for restaurants or community-supported agriculture for neighbors. Indoor farming, while potentially more expensive, also allows urbanites from all walks of life to connect to the food system, repurpose food waste into compost and expand knowledge on growing food. <a href="https://www.gothamgreens.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Greenhouses like Gotham Greens</a>' rooftop spaces can supplement indoor and outdoor spaces, adding even more potential healthy food to local ecosystems.</p>Urban Gardening With Neighbors in Mind
<p>When she's not hosting pop-up dinners with culinarily curious Chicagoans, Chef Q volunteers with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/fosterstreetgarden/" target="_blank">Foster Street Urban Agriculture</a>, a nonprofit garden that aims to help end food insecurity in Evanston, the Chicago suburb home to Northwestern University. In the garden, Chef Q teaches kids how to water, plant, weed and grow produce. She'll notice a multigenerational interest: "Once kids taste zucchini, it's over," she jokes, of little ones bringing in parents and grandparents to learn to cook with more fresh produce. "They'll start [the program] eating hot Cheetos, and they're eating something green and leafy and won't go back."</p><p>Kids also just love being able to eat something that comes out of the ground and will take their passion back home, growing tomatoes in their windowsills or trying other small gardening projects in spaces available to them near home. Harvests from Foster Street are donated to food pantries and also sold at a local farmers market, where kids learn community-based entrepreneurial skills.</p><p>"Everyone eats, it's a common denominator," she says. "When food is on the table, people will have conversations."</p><p>Now, in the wake of COVID-19, urban farms have become more essential than ever. Chef Q has partnered with farms that would otherwise throw away produce without their major restaurant and hotel clients, to redistribute food to Chicagoans in need. She's noticed a spike in the price of fresh food, thanks in part to the expensive early May crops — peas, leeks and spinach. "It's been imperative," she says, of feeding the community with a local bounty of eggplant, microgreens, cheese and more farm-to-fork provisions.</p><p>Chef Q emphasizes that urban gardens still have to grow food to feed communities. Across the nation, we've seen victory gardens pop up in yards of homebound upper-middle-class Americans, planted with hope, thriftiness and a creative outlet in mind. But for those who don't have yards or ample space, shared urban gardens can still serve a local population. When people don't have money, growing food is a solution to provide nutrition, and perhaps even income. And it starts with advocacy, volunteers and outreach. "Plant something in the windowsill," Chef Q suggests, as an entryway into small-scale gardening. "It's essential. We can't stop."</p>
<p class=""><em>Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner is a writer based in New York. She is a writing fellow at <a href="https://independentmediainstitute.org/earth-food-life/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Earth | Food | Life</a>, a project of the Independent Media Institute. She's written for the New York Times, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Travel & Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, Glamour, AlterNet, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, Architectural Digest, Them and other publications. She holds a bachelor's degree in creative writing from Columbia University and is also at work on a novel. Follow her on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/melissabethk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@melissabethk</a>.</em></p><p class=""><em>This article was produced by </em><a href="https://independentmediainstitute.org/earth-food-life/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Earth | Food | Life</em></a><em>, a project of the Independent Media Institute.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Urban Farming Is Revolutionizing Our Cities - EcoWatch ›
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- Urban Farming Booms During Coronavirus Lockdowns - EcoWatch ›
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