Food and Farming

Monsanto
Child Hunger and Obesity: A Double-Edged Sword
When it comes to our children’s nutrition, we’re currently confronted with a double-edged sword. On one hand, we face a growing epidemic of child obesity that’s harming both our kids’ health and their quality of life. Even as adult obesity has doubled in recent years, we’ve seen child obesity triple. And from the very worthwhile efforts of First Lady Michelle Obama to draw attention to this issue to the recent report which found that 27 percent of young adults are too overweight to serve in the military, this trend has rightfully been much publicized.
Campaigning at Dairy Farms
Low milk prices having been hammering the nation’s dairy farmers, including those in New York’s 24th congressional district, where Republican Candidate Richard Hanna is challenging Democrat Michael Arcuri.
Cornering the Seed Market
It’s Economics 101, and the National Family Farm Coalition points out what happens with the consolidation of the seed industry.
Too Fat to Fight
Pizza and freedom fries have become national security threats. As Marian Wright Edelman recently put it in an OtherWords op-ed: “It’s time to fight childhood obesity.” The U.S. military gets it. A military officers group called “Mission: Readiness” wants to make school lunches healthier, after its new study reported more than a quarter of Americans ages 17-24 are ineligible to enlist because they weigh too much. The group appeared on Capitol Hill to tell Congress about this problem.
Monopolies Are Killing Our Farms
After two decades standing idly by while agribusiness companies and seed behemoth Monsanto swallowed their competitors, a new Department of Justice anti-trust team is vowing to bust up companies that have gotten so big they’re thwarting competition. And a new sheriff is taking the issue to the people.
Retire Ronald
For decades, fast food advertising icon Ronald McDonald has caught the attention of our kids. The brightly dressed mascot successfully fought for fast food market share, and Corporate Accountability International released a report detailing why this clown has got to go.
Don’t Mess with Georgia’s Brown Thrasher
Most people hear the word “chicken” and immediately think: “Dinner!” Some commercial interests in Georgia, however, think: “Money!” So, they’ve launched a campaign to put the common fryer on the top roost of the bird kingdom by having it declared Most people hear the word “chicken” and immediately think: “Dinner!” Some commercial interests in Georgia, however, think: “Money!” So, they’ve launched a campaign to put the common fryer on the top roost of the bird kingdom by having it declared the state bird of Georgia. //

It’s Time to Fight Childhood Obesity
When First Lady Michelle Obama decided to launch the “Let’s Move” campaign to fight childhood obesity, she brought much-needed attention to a crisis millions of children face. It’s a special concern for children of color, because new research shows black and Latino kids are disproportionally at risk.
