Andrew Gunther

A recent report from the UK's highly respected National Trust has confirmed what Animal Welfare Approved has been advocating for a long time: Feeding cattle on grass throughout their life-cycle is the most environmentally sustainable way to raise beef.

The new report -- entitled What's Your Beef --...

It pains me to say it but there are some very real connections between BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) and the recent "pink slime" fiasco that need to be aired.

I am not saying that "pink slime" (lean finely textured beef or LFTB for short) represents anything like the public health...

Whether it's the regular tweets of the big-name food pundits or the countless anonymous contributors to online food discussions, an astonishing amount of advice is now dished out on what food we should buy and where we should buy it. While much of this...

In the U.S., we pride ourselves on being the best of the best. And in this Olympic year we're all hoping that we'll come home with the Gold. However, there is one area where the U.S. leads which should deeply concern us all.

Figures initially presented by Dr. Danilo...

Recently, The Daily broke the news that the USDA planned to buy 7 million pounds of Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings (BLBT) -- otherwise known as "pink slime" -- for school lunches. Some reports state that 70 percent of prepackaged grind on retailers' shelves contain it. The resulting backlash...

On the heels of a previous report highlighting the lack of enforcement and oversight in our food system., the U.S. Office of Inspector General's (OIG) new report on whether milk marketed as organic actually meets the National Organic Program's standards is a real wake-up call to...

America, what is going on? In the free world we pride ourselves on freedom of speech, freedom to carry a gun, freedom to run a business -- those are our rights. But with those rights come responsibilities. Regulation and oversight is continuously lessened to empower our economy to grow, so...

This Sunday, millions of Americans will sit down with friends and family to watch some of the world's greatest athletes competing in the toughest, most physical sport of all.

No one takes health and fitness more seriously than today's top football players. So isn't it kind of absurd that as...

Ask any farmer to list his or her major challenges and the issue of who will take over the farm when it's time to retire will no doubt feature in the top 10. According to government statistics about 40% of U.S. farmers are 55 years old and up, raising real...

I see a lot of news as program director of Animal Welfare Approved. Forgive me if you don't see me jumping for joy at the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) announcement that it intends to limit the use of a specific group of...

Judging by the ever-increasing demand for healthy, environmentally friendly and high-welfare products, it's clear that consumers are now waking up to the hidden costs of industrial farming. So, as the holiday season approaches, I thought it might be interesting to highlight some of Big Ag's 'gifts' that we didn't really...

As public interest in ethically produced food continues to flourish even in such difficult economic times, it's perhaps somewhat inevitable that food businesses jump on the "grassfed" bandwagon.

We've seen it happen with organic, where some of the rules that farmers and food manufacturers must follow in order to use...

One of the things I love most about my job as program director at Animal Welfare Approved is that I get to meet people who are literally changing the world from the ground up. Ron Finley is the perfect example, except that he's not the typical farmer or...

When it comes to public relations there is spin and there is downright deceit. A recent press release from the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) on the potential link between antibiotic resistant bacteria and industrialized farming definitely falls into the latter category. And it doesn't help matters when the modern...

Ever heard of the phrase "you are what you eat?" Well, no one takes this more seriously than today's top athletes. They need to ensure that their bodies receive the correct balance of nutrients and energy and avoid potentially harmful additives. So it's no surprise to find that top athletes...

How many more lives must be lost or irreversibly damaged before we finally accept the fact that industrialized farming is killing us?

On July 29, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) announced a nationwide outbreak of a deadly strain of Salmonella food poisoning that...

Is presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's (R-MN) attack on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) settlement with African American farmers racist? Bachmann is coming under increasing fire for characterizing a settlement to black farmers who were discriminated against as mass "fraud."

For years, black farmers alleged that they were being...

A recent press release issued by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and United Egg Producers (UEP) may have caught your eye. The press release heralds a new "historic" agreement on future egg production between HSUS and UEP, an industry body which represents 80% of all U.S. egg...

When it comes to food and farming, unfortunately it often takes a major public health scare to bring about necessary changes in policy and practice. Unless you have been on another planet you will have no doubt heard the news of the horrific food poisoning outbreak in Europe which has...

Arsenic -- that well-known poison made notorious by historic murder cases -- was first added to poultry feed in 1944 and pretty much since that time there have been warnings of its potential to cause various cancers and contribute to other health issues such...