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The Future of Factory Farming: Barack Obama and the "Rural Agenda"

David Kirby | Posted 11.10.2009 | Living

Read More: Epa, Usda, Animal Welfare, Water Pollution, Cafo, Factory Farms, Obama, Air Pollution, Rural Development, Food, Living News
David Kirby

If elected, Obama promised, he would convene a major national summit on rural issues within 100 days of taking office. Across the country, rural activists held their breath.

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Hormones in U.S. Beef

Samuel S. Epstein | Posted 11.06.2009 | Living

Read More: Usda, Melengesterol, Sex Hormones, Fda, Trenbolone, Beef, Food Politics, Living News
Samuel S. Epstein

Increased levels of sex hormones in U.S. beef are linked to the escalating incidence of reproductive cancers in the U.S. since 1975.

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H1N1 Found in First US Commercial Swine Herd - Keep Your Eye on Factory Farms, China, and the Birds

David Kirby | Posted 11.05.2009 | Living

Read More: Avian Flu, Tom Vilsack, Indiana, Swine Flu, Factory Farm, Cafo, H1N1 Influenza, Usda, China, Living News
David Kirby

Though it would appear that people can infect pigs with H1N1, it is not clear whether live pigs can infect people. For now, officials are far more worried about the former than the latter.

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The Obama Administration and Food, Year One

Paula Crossfield | Posted 11.03.2009 | Green

Read More: Pesticides, Usda, Michael Pollan, Kathleen Merrigan, Research, Tom Vilsack, President Obama, Cafo, Big Ag, Food Safety, Food Policy, Technology, E. Coli, Healthcare, Barack Obama, Green News
Paula Crossfield

A year after Obama's election, advocates hoping for deep improvements in our food system can point to only a few successes, while other policies that could lead to food insecurity are brewing in back rooms.

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Food Stamps Will Feed Half Of US Kids, Study Says

AP | LINDSEY TANNER | Posted 11.02.2009 | Politics

Read More: How Many Kids Are on Food Stamps, Welfare, Social Justice, Poverty, Food Stamps, Children, Economy, Parenting, Food Stamp Statistics, Recession, Kids on Food Stamps, Black Children, Usda, Food Research and Action Center, Education, Nutrition, African Americans, Food, Income Gap, US Department of Agriculture, How Many People Are on Food Stamps, Food Stamps Study, Sociology, Food Stamps Data, Poverty Line, Minorities, Politics News

CHICAGO — Nearly half of all U.S. children and 90 percent of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during childhood, and fallout...

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Ground Beef Recall: Two Deaths Could Be Linked To E. Coli Contamination

AP | BEN DOBBIN | Posted 11.02.2009 | Business

Read More: Beef, Fairbank Farms, Food Politics, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Usda, Kirsten Gillibrand, E. Coli, Business News

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Contaminated fresh ground beef caused a possible E. coli outbreak that killed two people and sent 16 others to hospitals, fede...

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Big Barack Bummer

Sarah Newman | Posted 10.29.2009 | Green

Read More: Sarah's Social Action Snapshot, Pesticides, Michelle Obama, Islam Siddiqui, Tom Vilsack, Eat Well Guide, Organic, Barack Obama, Sustainable, Department of Agriculture, Usda, Monsanto, Pesticide Action Network, White House Garden, Food Inc., Takepart, Croplife, US Chief Agriculture Negotiator, Roger Beachy, Green News
Sarah Newman

It's disappointing that the Obama Administration is not providing the visionary leadership on agriculture, like it is in some many other policy areas.

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A New Family Farmer (Video)

Rebecca Gerendasy | Posted 10.30.2009 | Green

Read More: Mike Paine, Usda, Financing, Agriculture, Beginning-Farmers, Center for Rural Affairs, Purchase Farmland, Family-Farmer, Green News
Rebecca Gerendasy

According to the latest (2007) USDA Census data compiled by the National Agriculture Statistics Service, roughly 4 million family farms have been lost since the 1930's.

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Big Pork at the Government Trough -- Again

Wayne Pacelle | Posted 10.26.2009 | Green

Read More: National Debt, House Agriculture Committee, Bailout, National Pork Producers Council, Swine Flu, Ohio, Factory Farms, Usda, Pork, H1n1, Green News
Wayne Pacelle

The public no longer wants a combination of financial bailouts and government deregulation. But Congress and the U.S.D.A. never seem to have gotten the memo when it comes to Big Agribusiness, especially the pork industry.

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Please, Sir: $1 Billion More a Year for School Lunches

David Becker | Posted 10.24.2009 | Green

Read More: Public Schools, Farming, Childhood Nutrition, Usda, Green News
David Becker

"President Obama has pledged to end childhood hunger by 2015." Talk about an ambitious goal!

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Food Prices Poised To Rise

DailyFinance | Dan Burrows | Posted 10.15.2009 | Business

Read More: Usda, Food Prices, Inflation, Cost of Living, Commodity Prices, Business News

If there's any silver lining to a recession -- albeit a thin one -- it's that consumer prices typically go down. Make no mistake, deflation is a sign ...

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Vilsack Mistakenly Pitched "GMOs-Feed-The-World" to an Audience of Experts--Oops

Jeffrey Smith | Posted 10.14.2009 | Green

Read More: American Academy of Environmental Medicine, Hans Herren, Ge, Secretary Vilsack, Iaastd, Bill Gates, Small Farmers, The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, GM Food, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Global Population, Usda, Dupont, Monsanto, Biotechnology, Hunger, World Food Prize, Union of Concerned Scientists, GE Food, Local Food Systems, GM Crops, Science and Technology for Development, GE Crops, Feed the World, Syngenta, Agribusiness, Community Food Security Coalition, Gmos, Vilsack, Genetically Modified Foods, Green News
Jeffrey Smith

It is clear to the experts that the current generation of GMOs do not live up to the hype continuously broadcast by biotech companies and their promotional East Coast wing--the federal government.

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Rachel Maddow Takes on Corporate Agribusiness PR. Next Up, the Fight for Food Safety?

Paula Crossfield | Posted 10.07.2009 | Green

Read More: Video, Food Safety, Usda, Fda, Meat Recall, Rachel Maddow, Interview, Rick Berman, Green News
Paula Crossfield

Rachel Maddow continues her work pulling back the layers of American politics to expose underhanded and manipulative lobbying tactics to the public.

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E. Coli: Woman Paralyzed After Severe Food Poisoning; The Unsafe System, Meat

The New York Times | Michael Moss | Posted 10.04.2009 | Green

Read More: Brain Damage, Meat Processors, Food, Agriculture, Regulation, E. Coli, Grocers, Usda, Food Poisoning, Red Meet, Hamburger, E Coli, Severe Food Poisoning, Beef Processors, Health, Ground Beef, Beef, O157:H7, Cargill, Business, Restaurants, Frozen Hamburgers, Burger, Cattle, Ecoli, Food Safety, Costco, Bad Hamburger, Trimmings, Paralyzed, USDA Policy, Food Safety Regulation, Green News

Stephanie Smith, a children's dance instructor, thought she had a stomach virus. The aches and cramping were tolerable that firstday, and she finished...

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Judge overturns USDA's approval of biotech beets

Colorado Daily. | Colorado Daily | Posted 09.23.2009 | Home

Read More: Sugar Beets, Boulder Colorado, Usda, Home News

A federal judge has overturned USDA approval of the genetically engineered sugar beets that caused an uproar in Boulder County earlier this year....

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Genetically Engineered Beets: Judge Overturns USDA's Approval

Daily Camera | Daily Camera | Posted 09.24.2009 | Home

Read More: Usda, Boulder County, Biotech Sugar Beets, Home News

A federal judge has overturned USDA approval of the genetically engineered sugar beets that caused an uproar in Boulder County earlier this year....

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USDA Mortgages: Zero-Down Government Loans Called "Subprime Beef"

BusinessWeek | Mara Der Hovanesian | Posted 09.22.2009 | Business

Read More: Department of Agriculture, Federal Housing Administration, Suprime Mortgages, Usda, Joaquin Tremlos, Mortgage Market, Business News

Builders and lenders are dusting off a familiar pitch: mortgages with $0 down and 100% financing. The deals, which take advantage of a little-known lo...

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Risks From Toxic Ingredients In Cosmetics, And Personal Care Products

Samuel S. Epstein | Posted 09.17.2009 | Living

Read More: Organic Cosmetics and Personal Care Products, Toxic Ingredients in Cosmetics, Usda, Cosmetics, Personal Care Products, Toxic Beauty Book, Fda, Organic Consumers ASsociation, Living News
Samuel S. Epstein

There are no warnings whatsoever on cosmetics and personal care products. Yet their ingredients pose unrecognized lifelong dangers to the entire U.S. population.

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From Fast Food Nation to Pro Food Ventures

Rob Smart | Posted 09.16.2009 | Business

Read More: Farms, Retail, Growing Power, The Jungle, Farmers, Food Retail, Will Allen, Upton Sinclair, Business, Fast Food Nation, Innovation, Usda, Slow Money, Michael Pollan, Pro Food, Food Inc., Industrial Food, Sustainable, Organic, The Omnivore's Dilemma, Local, Eric Schlosser, Pro, Investments, Triple Bottom Line, Venture Capital, Entrepreneurship, Business News
Rob Smart

Early pioneers of the sustainable food movement, with dirt on their hands, lessons learned and progress made, have played a critical role in blazing trails for new ventures.

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USDA Launches Local Foods Blitz, Bans Fried Foods and Donuts in Cafeteria for a Day

Samuel Fromartz | Posted 09.16.2009 | Green

Read More: Kathleen Merrigan, Usda, Local Food, Green News
Samuel Fromartz

I don't usually get calls from the deputy secretary of the USDA, but there Kathleen Merrigan was on the phone. She talked about the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food campaign that launched this week.

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USDA to Unveil Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative

Grist | Posted 09.11.2009 | Green

Read More: Know Your Farmer Know Your Food, Food, Gardening, Usda, Urban Agriculture, Local Food, Food Politics, Green News

I think the potential is enormous, especially in formerly industrial cities, where the big factories are not going to come back, but there are large t...

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Minestrone, and Three Other Things That Will Save American School Lunch

Deborah Lehmann | Posted 11.09.2009 | Green

Read More: National School Lunch Program, Tiverton, Slow Food Usa, Slow Food, Usda, Eat-In, School Lunches, Green News
Deborah Lehmann

It's time to bring the school lunch program back to its roots. This year's child nutrition reauthorization provides an enormous opportunity to overhaul school food and teach students healthy eating habits that will last a lifetime.

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Pork Industry Bailout Request Full of Fat

Wayne Pacelle | Posted 10.19.2009 | Green

Read More: Horse Protection Act, Iowa Pork Producers, Animal Welfare Act, National Debt, Commodity Programs, Public Funds, Pork, Usda, Critics, Green News
Wayne Pacelle

Our government actually bails out the pork industry when it overproduces and buys up volumes of surplus pork, typically by dumping these surplus commodities into our nation's schools and food programs.

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Middle-Income Family Spends $221,000 To Raise Baby: Report

AP | BETSY TAYLOR | Posted 09.04.2009 | Business

Read More: Us Ecoonomic Recession, Usda, USDA Report, Economic Recession, Family Income, Raising a Baby, Child Rearing, Expenditures on Children by Families, Middle-Income Families, Recession, Business News

ST. LOUIS — It's no secret that raising children can be expensive, but how about nearly a quarter of a million dollars expensive? A government ...

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Guess Who's Controlling Our Food Supply

Rob Smart | Posted 08.27.2009 | Green

Read More: Labeling, Farms, Consumer Food Expenditures, Usda, Pro Food, Monsanto, Industrial Food, Politics, Farmers, Sustainable, Food Retail, Food Safety, Supermarkets, Local, Food Marketing, Regulation, Business, Gmo, Green News
Rob Smart

It is hard to understand how a handful of companies have amassed so much control over food ingredients found in an estimated 75 percent of processed foods in America's supermarkets.

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