Food and Farming
Save the Turkeys
It's odd that the most iconic feature of Thanksgiving — the turkey — is likely the most unnatural. It's got competition, of course, from the jellied cranberry sauce that retains the shape of its can and various food products sold in boxes marked "Just Add Water."...
Genetically Engineered Truth
Genetic Engineering Lies Prevail Again
If you doubt that big money and lies can pervert elections, look at Initiative 522 in Washington State. A grassroots coalition of consumers, organic producers, environmentalists, and others who want honesty in food labeling put it on the ballot. They lost. The measure...
This Year, Have a Big-Poultry-Free Holiday Season
Chicken and turkey are among the most popular and versatile foods Americans eat, but they also bring health risks to your plate. Most factory-farmed poultry is raised with antibiotics — which leads to antibiotic resistance in humans. Now, the USDA wants to cut the...
Who Deserves Our Thanks for Truly American Food?
What do turkey, sweet potatoes, and cranberries have in common? Yes, you eat them on Thanksgiving. Additionally, they are all distinctly American foods. So are potatoes and the corn in your corn bread. Believe it or not, the day that Columbus blundered into the...
Big Food Crushes Consumer Rights in Washington State
When you look at the numbers, how could Washington State's ballot initiative to require the labeling of foods made with genetically engineered ingredients ever stand a chance? I'm not talking about poll numbers. I'm talking about money. Just six weeks ago, voters...
Food Stamp Cuts Will Stoke Hunger
Would you believe that the nation's cabinet has approved an executive order defining food as a legal right? No, not our nation. India has taken this bold step. Malnourishment afflicts 42 percent of Indian children, and part of their government's response to this...
This Vanilla Experiment Stinks
Isn't it so inspiring to see global corporate giants crush small farmers, stomp on nature, circumvent our laws by hook or crook, and deceive and gouge consumers? Welcome once again to the phantasmagoric world of DNA manipulators. In particular, this branch of genetic...
Child Labor Shouldn’t Haunt Halloween
I can't bring myself to be the Grinch who stole Halloween. I just can't, even though I write about healthy food. I even eat (mostly) healthy food. Friends and colleagues expect me to have something to say about Halloween. But how can anyone condemn an innocent day of...
You Won’t Love These McSubsidies
Let us all now bow before the god of free enterprise, whose awesomeness was revealed in a recent news release announcing that the divine managers of fast-food deity McDonald's achieved a profit of $1.5 billion in just three months this summer. Holy Big Mac! How does...
