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As part of Food Week of Action, today we are celebrating with farmworkers in vermont and as we recognise the huge milestone that was reached in the food and farming world earlier this month. On Tuesday October 3, farmworker leaders from Migrant Justice and the CEO of Ben & Jerry’s jointly signed the Milk with […]

Dear young farmers, If you are feeling in this circus of crises that our response to the common plight of a planet in an un-natural spin defines us as a society, and that the scar tissues formed over the wounded parts of ourselves and our lands— then perhaps you will resonate with the campaign undertaken […]

As the next Farm Bill approaches, the House Agriculture Committee members are beginning to gather input from farmers, ranchers and other stakeholders. As you may know, several current programmes that contribute to the success of organic agriculture are under threat of elimination as so it is imperative that policy makers hear directly from organic farmers, […]

We are unbelievably proud and excited to stand with over 100 organizations in support of the Young Farmer Success Act, a bill that would help our nation's young farmers manage their student loan debt and has finally gotten to the floor of congress. The legislation has been in the works for years now, due in large part […]

Why are California farms struggling with a labor shortage?

A recap of the ten-day campaign to free two young farmworker activists from ICE detention.

A new bill to provide debt relief to young farmers!

Stay vigilant: "Save the Rainforest" is not a past decade's issue.

This NPR report suggests that leaving NAFT could hurt American farmers, but we wonder if it could actually help small-scale agriculture.

In the age of twitter leadership and instagram bill signings occasionally we see something that's worth mention. The Swedish government has just signed a new climate action plan that commits to phasing out greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2045. Really no need to contrast that historic decision with the likes of which we have […]

Greenhorns! It's no secret that the National Young Farmers Coalition goes to Herculean efforts for young farmers across the country, from fighting lobbyists from big ag to make sure the farm bill addresses the needs of small farmers to advocating their chaps off for farmer student loan forgiveness programs. Now, it's time to help them […]

Friends, it's clear to us that the activism bug is sweeping the nation. Suddenly even my once-apolitical mother is calling her senators every day. It's beautiful, and it's important. On this note, we've got one URGENT request for you today: please, please add the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to your call and write lists. President […]

Tomorrow January 25th on the Heritage Radio Network, Greenhorns radio talks to Jeff Conan, Senior Forest Campains Manager at Friends of the Earth, a global activist network that campaigns for international environmental and climate justice. Much of Conan's work focusses on the toxic legacy of palm oil production in Gautemala. Maybe you already knew that the […]

Audre Lorde for the win!

We are only exaggerating a little when we say that these ideas are too big for google: originally a GoogleDoc, Indivisable was so popular that the traffic overloaded GoogleDocs and has been moved to its own website. The 24-page document was written by former congressional staffers and uses Tea Party strategies as a model for grassroots […]

Influenced by agribusiness giants, the rating mechanisms of a World Bank index threaten the seed sovereignty of small farmers globally. Please help!

photo: Samuel Oslund It's that time of year. The gifts are torn apart,the wrapping paper lays warm next to the dying tree, boots are on, and people are piling into cars, lining up at shops, trampling and fighting for deals, deals, deals! We're doing a little internal shopping. Check out the buy nothing catalogue, a […]

La Via Campesino is a tenacious international "peasants" movement long admired by the Greenhorns. (We covered them in a 2011 blog post about their food sovereignty youth training program and a post earlier this year on their declaration against the powers that be.) They seek to unite peasants, landless agrarians, woman farmers, and rural youth to fight to […]

Thanks be to High Country News for this latest piece that brings us back to a much-needed review of the ins-and-outs of our representative federal form of government as they relate to the latest events at Standing Rock. Have you found yourself wondering over the past few months, how did we get here, why can this happen […]

Geographer Robert Szucs created this color-coded map to show which rivers and tributaries feed the water basins of the United States. That big pink one in the middle? That's the Arkansas, Missouri, and Mississippi, the basin the water protectors at Standing Rock are working so hard to keep safe.

For the love of all things good! Can we talk about something other than Donald Trump already? Thanks to Global Research for publishing this informative piece: "The first point is actually very simple: Native Americans standing up for themselves is not polarizing. In an age of institutionalized media divisiveness and hyper-partisanship, the story of Native Americans in North […]

http://www.democracynow.org/embed/story/2016/10/24/standing_rock_police_arrest_100_water The indigenous peoples and activists at Standing Rock are facing militarized police and a impenetrable silence in the mainstream media as they work to protect the indigenous rights granted by treaty and our collective water commons. The camp still needs supplies, donations, and volunteers. If you haven't donated yet, this is a good time. […]

In a recent ECONOMIST article, the future of agriculture is controlled by computers, genetic manipulation, big data, and the assumption that we humans know what is going on with soil-plant relationships (*sarcasm*). This article reads scarily of science fiction. http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/external/tq2016/images/tq2.jpg "Farms, then, are becoming more like factories: tightly controlled operations for turning out reliable products, […]

Can Organic Feed the World? A webinar hosted by Friends of the Earth Tuesday, June 21st 1:00 – 2:00 PST Two commonly held beliefs about world hunger are that we will need to vastly increase food production to feed a growing population and that organic agriculture is not up to the task. Join us to […]

Photo by Preston Schlebusch for The New York Times  STONE RIDGE, N.Y. — Apple trees have blossomed, and soon fruit will begin emerging at Elizabeth Ryan’s orchard in the Hudson Valley. Before long, her harvest will head south to Manhattan, where Miro Uskokovic, the pastry chef at Gramercy Tavern, will use it to create an […]

Hank Vogler spent the last 40 years building his dream ranch in the arid lands of eastern Nevada. But a plan to transfer water from ranches like his to slake the thirst of Nevada's largest city threatens his livelihood.  This sheep rancher says he won't give up without a fight.

"Back in 2010, the city of Toronto (in Ontario, Canada) decided to launch a program that converts old unused metro buses into mobile grocery stores called Mobile Good Food Markets, and ever since, they've been traveling across the Toronto metropolitan area selling affordable fresh food. They have been especially successful (and helpful) in low income […]

http://cdn.chinabusinessnews.com/images/1280/1450685214413981-syngenta-once-again-under-shower-of-blessing-by-chemchina.jpg If you thought Monsanto was bad, this could be even worse: Chinese chemical giant ChemChina has begun a $43 billion merger with Swiss-based seed and pesticide company Syngenta to create one of the largest chemical and GMO seed companies in the world. This proposed merger could have huge ramifications in the U.S. and across […]

In late February of this year California State Assembly member Cheryl Brown introduced AB 2593, a bill to legalize the sales of homemade food, including hot meals, within certain limits. The bill would provide a dramatic expansion of California citizens’ ability to legally sell homemade food. If you are receiving this message, you are likely […]

This week, for In These Times, John Collins researches what the current presidential candidates have to say about agriculture-- and what he discovers might surprise you. For instance, Hilary Clinton has the most detailed proposition for supporting small farms, including mention of student debt reform. She even proposes doubling funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development […]

On March 17th Washington-state-based independent farm worker union, the Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ), began a 28-day tour from Bellingham, WA to the US-Mexico border to galvanize a boycott of Driscoll berries to be undertaken in solidarity with their contract negotiations with their employer and Driscoll-supplier Sakuma Berry. So far, they have: walked 1,090 miles visited 13 […]

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is slated for an up-or-down vote in Congress. Proponents say it’s about free trade. But it looks more like corporate colonization. One issue unites three U.S. presidential candidates from quite different positions on the political spectrum. Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders all oppose the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP […]

http://blog.yellow-seed.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/FullSizeRender_3-768x576.jpg Impact Hub Berkeley’s “From the Ground Up” is a four part, year-long program that brings together multi-stakeholder organizations working in sustainable food and agriculture to collaborate on joint initiatives. The change accelerator combines dynamic innovation salons, public-facing education programs, and community building events to drive systemic change in the following areas: (1) Collaborative Trade, […]

LunaseeStudios/Shutterstock The world's largest brewer in Dec. 2015 introduced a new incentive program that could offer some independent distributors in the U.S. annual reimbursements of as much as $1.5 million if 98% of the beers they sell are AB InBev brands, according to two distributors who requested confidentiality because they were asked not to discuss […]

Enter the Young Farmer Success Act, which would extend the student loan debt forgiveness granted to persons in public service by the Higher Education Act of 1965 to full time farmer and farm workers. It's in the senate now!  What you think? Is farming an act of national service? Then join up with the folks […]

The newly released IATP statement on the Feb. 3 signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership reflects the major flaws with the trade agreement and the growing TPP opposition in the U.S. and around the world. The signing doesn't mean the TPP is a done deal. It's now up to Congress to authorize changes to US […]

I can almost hear organic farmers across the country rolling their eyes, cover cropping: this is news? And, I know, I know, you've been doing this for years-- but, yes, actually there's some real good news here: New York Times writer Stephanie Strom's report, "Cover Cropping: A Farming Revolution with Deep Roots in the Past," indicates that the […]

Maybe you heard that the Climate Summit in Paris had lead to an "landmark deal," and you were as skeptical as we were. Maybe you also wondered how often the word "agriculture" appeared in the climate deal or how indigenous groups were responding to the agreement. Feed your skepticism! Danny Chivers and Jess Worth of The New […]

Somaliland's harshest drought is decimating the herder way of life and displacing thousands. By Ashley Hamer Hargeisa, Somaliland  - Swaths of Somaliland, a fragile, internationally unrecognised nation-state in the Horn of Africa, have been racked by one of the harshest droughts in two decades which is destroying livelihoods and pushing families into destitution. When a […]

From: John Brown Lives! The research is clear: Education reduces recidivism, improves job prospects for individuals once they leave prison and strengthens communities. Since 1995, though, New York has blocked incarcerated individuals from receiving this aid. Our goal is to restore it.​ You can help - sign this petition today! Next month, John Brown Lives! will […]