Food and Farming
Your Taxpayer Dollars Are Funding Corporate Propaganda
While Congress hasn’t accomplished much in 2017, it did manage to pass a budget resolution — and within that budget, a sum of $3 million stands out. Congress appropriated that $3 million to fund the Agricultural Biotechnology Education and Outreach Initiative. That's...
Forget the Nordic Diet. Try their Tax Plan.
You’ve heard, no doubt, of the miraculous Mediterranean diet, which is said to keep Italians and Greeks living healthy lives into their 80s and beyond. The Japanese diet is popular, too, as the Japanese live the longest lives in the world. Then there’s the Nordic...
Trigger Happy With Toxins
For many years, genetically engineered crops were said to be environmentally responsible. Those crops have genes from different species implanted in them, giving them traits they normally wouldn't have. Companies like Monsanto that produced such strains claimed they...
‘Farm to Table’ Has Jumped the Shark
Now that Amazon's taken over Whole Foods, a natural foods grocery known for its high prices, the new owners have pledged to lower prices. I stopped by the store to see what had changed. In addition to a few discounts — organic apples went from $2.99 to $1.99 per pound...
Want to Improve Your Diet? Plant a Fruit Tree.
One of the simplest ways to improve your family's diet? Plant a fruit tree. Or plant several. The last time I was fortunate enough to have a yard, I planted four of them. Unfortunately, I broke up with my then-boyfriend and moved out right about the time all four...
1984 at the Grocery Store
Wall Street analysts tell us that Amazon's $14 billion buyout of Whole Foods isn't only a win-win for both of them, but also for consumers, for Amazon intends to lower the organic grocer's prices. Really? Yes, they say, because Amazon will use its amazing...
Trump’s Revealing Budget for Rural America
How we spend our money says a lot about what we value — and what we can do without. The Trump administration’s proposed budget, which it submitted to Congress in May, sends the alarming message that it can do without much of rural America. The surprisingly harsh...
The Coming Crisis for the World’s Farmers
Remember the climate crisis? It's still happening. Having a government that resembles a circus, it turns out, hasn't stopped the clock on the level of greenhouse gases in the air. At a conference in Italy, former president Barack Obama spoke recently about the impact...
How Mexican Farmers Got the Better of Trump
Often, when world powers pick fights with seemingly powerless countries, they learn that even small dogs have sharp teeth — as President Trump is finding out in his ill-fated war with Mexico. His scheme to wall off Mexico is collapsing because most people here in the...
Wall Street Sodbusters
I love the names: Bobcat Farm, Golden Eagle Ranch, Long Prairie, Ten Mile Farm. They conjure up Americana, the old homestead, and our rich rural culture. Less bucolic, however, is the fact that all those farms are part of a massive Wall Street investment scheme called...
