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In the last three weeks. New crops. ALfalfa, sugar beets, ethanol corn. What is going on ? obama? You need us to show you the movement? You need us to get direct up in your space? You need some squealing piglets on the white house lawn? These developments erode the resiliency of our agricultural system, […]

Calling all Oregon friends and farmers! Be sure to head out to Salem, OR for the Family Farmer and Rancher Day at the Capitol on March 15th.  Talk to your legislators about the importance of local agriculture, support our farmers and ranchers, and help create the kind of food system you would like to see […]

Farmer objects to bill on livestock treatment from the Daily Progress By Bryan McKenzie On Davis Creek Farm in bucolic Nelson County near the non-incorporated community of Old Myndus they raise animals for people to eat, but that doesn’t mean the family farmers don’t want the animals to be well treated. In fact, that’s why […]

Reminder - there's a public hearing happening today (Thursday, February 17!) in San Francisco about a proposed new zoning code for urban agriculture! Here's a note from Brook Budner (greenhors artist extraordinaire) of Little City Gardens, along with a poster she designed. I would love for the broader young agriculturalist community to know that this […]

WE STAND UNITED IN OPPOSITION TO GE ALFALFA We stand united in opposition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) decision to once again allow unlimited, nationwide commercial planting of Monsanto's genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa, despite the many risks to organic and conventional farmers. Last spring more than 200,000 people submitted comments to […]

If you like the greenhorns blog, and support young farmers, and feel connected to entrepreneurship in agriculture: PLEASE ACT TODAY. BREAK THE BEEF PORK POULTRY TRUST. Please take a few moments of your day this Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday to call the White House and tell President Obama that you support the proposed Fair Livestock Competition […]

listen HERE Food prices are through the roof around the world. We look at all the why’s and all the consequences. 2008 was a bad year for global food supplies. A real pinch. Now, just over two years later, the pinch is back. The U.N.’s global food price index is at a record high. Experts […]

National Call-In Day February 14th Call the White House Today: Fairness and Justice for Farmers! In the 2008 Farm Bill, Congress passed new rules to protect livestock and poultry farmers from unfair treatment by big meat companies. The companies are now pressuring the administration not to implement the new rules. It's time to tell President Obama that big […]

A heads up from our lawyer friend Anne Linder. I am a lawyer in my day job, and just ran across this article (written by my law firm) that I thought might be of interest to greenhorns in New York.   New Law Increases Burdens and Risks For New York State Employers.  The law is called the […]

here's a note from our friends at Little City Gardens. Thanks to the hard work of many people, last month the City officially announced a proposal that, if passed, will update San Francisco’s zoning regulations to explicitly permit gardening in all areas of the city and also officially allow for the sale of produce grown […]

Below is what the Cornucopia Institute has to say.  Read more in the NYTIMES and the Des Moines Register USDA to Fully Deregulate Monsanto's Genetically Engineer Alfalfa ----Gene Contamination of Feed, Milk, Meat and Other Products to Follow USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack this afternoon announced that the agency will fully deregulate Monsanto’s controversial genetically engineered […]

Dear gentle famers:  I am the mother of a greenhorn. A beautiful, healthy, strong and loving greenhorn who fell from a barn loft and required a month-plus of intensive care and rehab to survive and regain her quality of life. It was so frightening for all of us, and we are so grateful to have […]

Are you in any of these districts? Take note!! Peterson Announces Agriculture Committee Democrats WASHINGTON - U.S. House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., today announced the Democratic members who will serve on the Agriculture Committee during the 112th Congress. "The Agriculture Committee oversees a wide range of issues, including farm programs, nutrition […]

healthcare, farming... and the BRIGHT YOUNG PEOPLE who are moving back to small towns to set up doctor's offices, farms, butcher shops, and the new american economy. game on. Vilsack Questions Attempt to Repeal Health Care Law Ag secretary says there is not support in Senate or White House. Jason Vance Published: Jan 18, 2011 The […]

A recent piece on the farm bill: Money Where Our Mouths Are by Ken Cook, Environmental Working Group President Food and agriculture policy always comes down to money: how federal dollars will be prioritized and spent. If anyone needed reminders of this dynamic, 2010 provided at least two. The lesson to be drawn from both […]

Worldwatch Institute's State of the World 2011 Shows Agriculture Innovation Is Key to Reducing Poverty, Stabilizing Climate Report provides a roadmap for food security and agricultural investment, revealing 15 high- and low-tech solutions that are helping to reduce hunger and poverty in Africa New York, 12 January 2011-Worldwatch Institute today released its report State of […]

Food security is a HYPER critical issue, particularly as the weather starts fluctuating more wildly. Conversations I've had with plantspeople and farmers over the past three years have taught me how utterly odd is this current weather pattern. Everywhere I go its never been this way in 40 years. or 400 years. G20 to tackle […]

to this good work being done by Food for Maine's Future. January 7, 2011 Dear Gov. Paul LePage and the 125th Maine Legislature, Next week the Maine Department of Agriculture is hosting its 70th Maine Agricultural Trades Show. The anniversary is an opportunity to celebrate and honor the contributions of Maine's farmers, farm workers, and […]

The Guardian UK WikiLeaks: US Targets EU Over GM Crops US embassy cable recommends drawing up list of countries for 'retaliation' over opposition to genetic modification by John Vidal, environment editor The US embassy in Paris advised Washington to start a military-style trade war against any European Union country which opposed genetically modified (GM) crops, […]

Here is the house committee ag chairman Lucas ranting about the EPA's unachievable and radical environmental proposal - http://agriculture.house.gov/keyissues-spraydrift.shtml As neighbors in the ag- landscape many of us are keen for regulation of spray-drift. How many of us? This is old news this spray drift issue-- but not many of us have weighed in on it. […]

Lindsey Lusher breaks down loan obstacles to young and beginning farmers. Young farmers need help from the USDA—and the next Farm Bill by Lindsey Lusher Shute 15 Dec 2010 in Grist More and more Millennials are rejecting Cubicleville and instead opting for hands-on professions, including farming -- and not a minute too soon. Over the last […]

Committed to preserving rural heritage and promoting local food systems, these Rural Vermont-ers are tackling the big issues - raw milk, on farm slaughtering, agricultural hemp, compost - and fostering tangible change through active engagement with the democratic process.

CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY UPDATE: WINNING THE BATTLE ON GMOS IN THE UNITED STATES San Francisco, CA – Today Federal District Judge Jeffrey S. White issued a preliminary injunction ordering the immediate destruction of hundreds of acres of genetically engineered (GE) sugar beet seedlings planted in September after finding the seedlings had been planted in violation […]

Activists Submit 240,000 Petitions Demanding Action to Curb Food Monopolies WASHINGTON – On the eve of the final Department of Justice/USDA public workshop examining the effects of corporate concentration in food and agriculture, a coalition of farm and food activists submitted almost a quarter of a million (nearly 240,000) petitions calling on both the Justice […]

A Stale Food Fight By Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser November 28, 2010 THE best opportunity in a generation to improve the safety of the American food supply will come as early as Monday night, when the Senate is scheduled to vote on the F.D.A. Food Safety Modernization bill. This legislation is by no means […]

Senator Stabenow’s Statement on Becoming Next Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee WASHINGTON— U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) today made the following statement on becoming the next Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Fields of Zombies by Claire Pentecost www.clairepentecost.org We begin with the seed. In this case a very particular cache of seeds banked in a remote and barren location: Svalbard, Norway, 620 miles from the North Pole. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault functions as a back-up depository to a network of official seedbanks worldwide. Boasting dual […]

Corporations Have A Powerful Extra-Legal Strategy For Coercing Self-Censorship By Those Who Talk About How Our Food is Produced - Can We Track It? Can We Stop It? Agribusiness interests have pushed through laws designed to make the expression of critical ideas about food production seem too costly. These laws are working outside of actual […]

Thanks, Alex, for sending us this heads up.  In Alex's words, "An excellent and nitty gritty investigation into the direct corporate favortism by U of M officials preventing release of a film" Released U Documents Show Officials Went to Great Lengths to Appease Corporate Ag & Cover Up Reasons for Film Censorship LSP Publishes 100’s […]

The 'New Green Revolution for Africa', launched by the philanthropic foundation established by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, may not be so green after all. by PHILIP L BEREANO & TRAVIS M ENGLISH The persistence of food crises and food price volatility has spawned some false solutions. The most notable of these is the 'New Green […]

Check out the Beehive Collective on tour, sharing stories on their new poster, "The True Cost of Coal," about mountaintop removal and everything interconnected with the process. Please pass along to interested folks, and COMEJoin the Beehive Collective for an exciting and educational visual workshop on "The True Cost of Coal" Come for food and […]

from the Michigan Young Farmer Leaders Conference brought to you by the Farm Bureau Dick Wittman Keynote: "Are You Getting a Passing Grade in Farm Management" Business management practices, not economic issues, are often the reason family operations dissolve business relationships or fail in their efforts to achieve viable business succession. Wittman examines key managerial […]

we just received this note about the plight of Morningland Dairy - they've been ordered to destroy 50,000lbs of raw milk cheese and are fighting back. You can sponsor a cheese for $5 to help with legal costs. Morningland Dairy, a small dairy farm in Mountainview Missouri, needs our help.  They are well-known for selling […]

that they have set up the rhetoric for ' shock doctrine agronomy' with these patents. frustrated by Monsanto? become a farmer, take back that territory! Surge in Corporate Patents on “Climate-Ready” Crops  Threatens Biodiversity and Signals Grab on Land and Biomass Nagoya, Japan -- Under the guise of developing “climate-ready” crops, the world’s largest seed […]

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We need agricultural research to support the transition of our foodsystem to regional production-- not making candy bars into little candy coated bite size pieces. Convenience is killing us. Lets begin the awkward and unglamorous logistics of redesigning our foodsystem to feed us properly. GRRR. Obama taps food-industry exec for top ag-research post From Grist.org: […]

discussing immigrant farmworkers. here's the video from ABC news. [vodpod id=Video.4525513&w=425&h=350&fv=vid%3D22093501%26amp%3BplaylistId%3D15749652%26amp%3BbrowseCarouselUI%3Dhide%26amp%3BshareScreenUI%3Dhide] Stephen Colbert draws attention to self, then f..., posted with vodpod

Check out Sustainable Connections at the Washington Young Farmer Mixer. Food to Bank On provides support to beginning farmers Bellingham, WA - Applications are now available for the 2011 Food to Bank On, a Sustainable Connections project that connects beginning sustainable farmers with training, mentors and market support while providing fresh high-quality food to Whatcom's […]

From Fresh the Movie: STOP GE Salmon We cannot let this slip by us. It's time to raise hell. We don't need faster growing salmon. We need to protect our health, environment and precious biodiversity. We will deliver your comments in person to FDA meeting about this issue on September 19th, and will keep you […]

Organic dairy farmer Francis Thicke is running for Secretary of Agriculture in Iowa, and he also has a new book. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga2HIZkXPTk&feature=player_embedded] Dr. Francis Thicke's A New Vision for Iowa Food and Agriculture: Sustainable Agriculture for the 21st Century, is an important new book with a blueprint for the future of global agriculture. Thicke's persuasive arguments […]