There is no reason why India should face hunger and malnutrition and why our farmers should commit suicide. India is blessed with the most fertile soils in the world. Our climate is so generous we can, in places, grow four crops in a year—compared to the industrialized west where sometimes only one crop is possible […]
I imagine top executives at Monsanto are not huge fans right now of Neil Young or Pope Francis. The two might seem to lead very disparate lives. One is a life-long Canadian rocker and the other leads a flock of 1.2 billion Catholics. But lately the two have drawn the ire of corporate giants, particularly Monsanto, all over the […]
The decision by an organization of the world’s leading cancer experts to classify the herbicide 2,4-D as a possible carcinogen underscores the risk posed by the U.S. government’s recent approval of 2,4-D for use on genetically engineered, or GMO, crops. “Since the federal government has failed to curb the overreliance of glyphosate and 2,4-D, mandatory […]
Organic, GMO, Pesticide-free, Fair Trade—what do these really mean, are they just trends and how do they affect our planet? Agriculture is a complex industry which to some extent we are all reliant upon. Understandably, for decades the focus has been on how to increase crop yield more efficiently and at lower and lower costs. […]
News that the world’s cancer experts are taking a fresh look at 2,4-D has farm organizations worried. Two months ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded that glyphosate—the world’s most heavily-used weed killer—is “probably carcinogenic” to human health. Perhaps, farmers’ organizations should be as dedicated to “farmer protection” as they are to “crop protection.” Photo credit: […]
Concerned consumers have been pushing for the right to know what’s in the food they buy for many years. And companies like Monsanto have been pushing back with their money and political influence to make sure that doesn’t happen. So the fight continues for consumers who want companies to be required to label their products […]
2015 has been declared the International Year of Soils by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Dr. Vandana Shiva, who has been at the forefront of the food democracy movement, wants to take the momentum from the victories for food sovereignty in 2014 and make 2015 an even bigger year. Shiva recaps how food activists […]
Marilyn McHugh and Chris Kennedy had a honeymoon unlike most. They set out to travel around the world for a year with plans to stop in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. What was supposed to be a week in Kenya turned into six weeks when they saw how devastated the communities were by industrialized, chemical agriculture and felt […]
I am glad that the future of food is being discussed, and thought about, on farms, in homes, on TV, online and in magazines, especially of The New Yorker’s caliber. The New Yorker has held its content and readership in high regard for so long. The challenge of feeding a growing population with the added obstacle of climate […]