Consumers and the Divide Over Walmart’s Prices
Walmart’s Low Prices Compete Against Tried and True Supermarket Chains
At a time when food prices are soaring, Walmart has announced it will be slashing its already low grocery prices. Is this a good thing? The discussion about Walmart has come to stand for the larger debate about corporate food [...]
The Unstoppable Worm
The Western Corn Rootworm and its Damaging Aftermath
In 2003, seed giant Monsanto introduced what was thought to be among its most revolutionary products since Roundup – corn with insecticide (Bacillus thuringiensis, commonly known as Bt) genetically engineered into it. Suddenly, farmers could plant continuous corn crops without worrying about the invasion of a [...]
Bagging the Greens: Do You Know What’s in that Bag of Salad?
Salad Bags and its Harmful Contaminants
Bagged salad sometimes seems like more of a threat than raw meat these days, with one produce outbreak after another grabbing the headlines. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that the overall incidence of foodborne [...]
Ethanol On Its Own
A Look at the Expiration of the Ethanol Subsidy
At the end of 2011, Congress let the ethanol subsidy, worth a yearly $6 billion, expire. It was really a combination of tax breaks for processors and tariffs on foreign ethanol, but what mattered to most people was the fact that the industry got [...]
Palm Oil: The Global Ingredient
A Look at the Environmentally Destructive Crop: Palm Oil
The market for palm oil – now one-third of the world’s vegetable oil trade – swelled 2,100 percent between 1980 and 2007. An area the size of Singapore (about 350,000 acres), is cleared every year for palm plantations, mostly in Malaysia and Indonesia. [...]
Downstream from the Northeast: The Chesapeake’s Comeback
Improvements to the Bay’s Watershed
It’s not every day that a wide swath of people sharing little else but a common resource join forces to reverse the resource’s degradation with admirable success.
Emerging evidence shows that that may be the case for the Chesapeake Bay, the nation’s largest estuary, and one [...]
Saratoga County Farm Tour 2011
Pumpkins, Fresh Goods, Corn Mazes and even some Llamas at this year’s Saratoga County Farm Tour
Been meaning to check out some of the area’s local farms? This weekend, you’ll have the opportunity to do so (at harvest season no less) during the Saratoga County Farm Tour, which constitutes a drive it [...]
Roundup: Latest Studies & Effects
The Popular Weed Killer and Herbicide, Roundup
With almost any chemical in widespread use, we don’t have the full picture of what we’re dealing with, even as our habitat practically swirls with a chemical stew. Most understanding of long-term health effects is not fully conclusive, because trials are usually done in labs [...]
Severe Drought Across Farm Country
In a striking about-face from spring’s weather, farmers across the South and Midwest now contend with, in many cases, record-breaking hot and dry weather. An exceptionally damp, cool spring brought persistent rains that stalled planting across the Corn Belt, especially in Indiana and Ohio. Now that crops are behind schedule, they’re [...]
Visit a Farm Animal Sanctuary in New York State
If a vacation or day trip with a purpose is on your to-do list this summer, then why not visit one of the three farm animal sanctuaries New York state has to offer. Not only will you get the chance to take in the great serene countryside [...]
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