| Mar 27, 2013 | Food / FarmingGlobal pork titan Smithfield has ranked second among food production companies on Fortune magazine’s 2013 list of “Most Admired Companies.” Before untangling how terribly strange and ironic this is, I’d like to address just what “most...
| Mar 13, 2013 | Food / FarmingMillions of Americans will enjoy a beer tonight. The vast majority of them probably won’t realize that the wide variety of brands they see in the stores, bars, and restaurants come from just two foreign-based multinational companies that control 80 percent of...
| Jan 30, 2013 | Food / FarmingWhile most Americans were enjoying the holiday season or stressing out over the nation’s imminent leap off the so-called fiscal cliff, the Food and Drug Administration delivered some big news as quietly as possible. On December 21, the agency announced that...
| Dec 26, 2012 | Environment / HealthIn 1862, the federal government created the land-grant university system to produce critical agricultural research. Since then, America has relied on these schools to inform and guide independent scientific advances in areas like food production and energy...
| Oct 10, 2012 | Food / FarmingMeet the Arctic apple. In the field-trial stage since 2003, this fruit has had bacterial and viral DNA inserted into it — a genetic modification that prevents browning when bruised or sliced. One company, Okanagan Specialty Foods, has been testing these...