| May 1, 2019 | Economy / Business|Editors Picks|Environment / Health|HP Featured|Rights / DemocracyI’m a retired public school teacher living in Des Moines. I grew up here close to the city limits, with an easy escape to the countryside that was once dotted with miles and miles of small family farms. The sight and even the smells of those small farms were a welcome...
| Dec 17, 2014 | Food / FarmingAs the weather turns colder in this month of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the Winter Solstice, our hearts grow warmer and our thoughts turn to kindness and goodwill toward all. Unless, of course, you’re Chris Christie. The governor of New Jersey is a mighty...
| Nov 12, 2014 | Food / FarmingDespite all the panic, Americans don’t face any great risk from Ebola right now. But we do need to worry about a home-grown medical catastrophe of our own that we’re failing to address: the erosion of antibiotic effectiveness. Doctors prescribe antibiotics to...
| Nov 20, 2013 | Food / FarmingIt’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...
| Sep 25, 2013 | Food / FarmingOne of the biggest drawbacks of the factory farms producing most of our food is the amount of pollution they generate. Factory farms, which raise the bulk of our chickens, hogs, and turkeys, and house most of our dairy cows, are one of the nation’s largest...
