Large landowners and agribusinesses in the West have been corrupting the county, state, and federal governments. They siphon off billions of dollars of public subsidies while they cannibalize the family farmers and wreck the communities and ecology of rural America.

Family farmers have been and will always continue to be critical to national and global food security. Food Tank will be featuring posts focused on the issues and innovations critical to family farmers around the world, as well as actions everyone can take to support them.

Through consistent and deliberate year-round work, farmers provide us with the makings of our holiday traditions. They grow the flowers that adorn our tables, the wreaths on our doors, and the Christmas trees that are a centerpiece for many families.

The 30 women profiled in this book share a common vision for what constitutes a sustainable food system.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) held another joint public hearing on anti-trust issues in farming. This hearing focused on dairy farmers, who, it's fair to say, are in a state of overwhelming crisis.

Some days I let gratitude slip away. I forget to be thankful for all the amazing little things in my new life. But most days I pinch myself when I wake up, just to make sure I haven't passed on to another world.

Mother Earth wasn't the only thing watering the soil at Eco Farm 2010. Big business, too, came to rain on the parade.

One hard lesson I learned this year--if you're going to grow or harvest a lot of your food locally and seasonally, you must learn how to preserve it, or much of it will go bad.

Sowing the seeds of the right approach to farmland preservation today will enable more of us to reap the bounty of locally grown produce long into the future.