FAO Food Price Index Highest Since 1990

Serving both developed and developing countries, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. The FAO has tracked food prices since 1990. As prices continue to rise on most of the indexes, we are approaching or exceeding the food prices that triggered riots in 2008.

Frank Morton explains how GMOs get that way

Ever wonder exactly how Monsanto gets those genes into GMOs? Frank Morton explains it in layman’s terms. For decades, Morton has been a “salad guy,” raising a wide variety of greens for seed and selling seed to gardeners and farmers.

Small Farmers Need Small Slaughterhouses

Small farmers in the West who are raising meat and poultry need affordable – and legal – slaughterhouses. Nearly all the meat and poultry consumed in the US today comes from just four companies that operate their own USDA-inspected processing plants. Most of the remaining meat processors – beef, pork, lamb – do not process poultry.

The Right Price for Good Food – Part 1

Whether the price is right depends on whom you’re asking, which may possibly explain why discussions around food prices are so lively. It’s almost gotten to the point that we have a tug of war going on between food producers and consumers around what should dictate price, especially now that prices are rising.

The Economics of Happiness: Helena Norberg-Hodge

The industrial food system serves the special interests of investors rather than people. Our real health and happiness can be restored through local food systems that strengthen community relationships and empower individuals to participate. We have choice in discovering our own happiness.

Bringing the Food Economy Home by Helena Norberg-Hodge

Bringing the Food Economy Home reveals how a shift towards the local would protect and rebuild agricultural diversity by giving farmers a larger share of the money spent on food, and providing consumers with healthier, fresher food at more affordable prices.

Foraging for Fungi in the Pacific Northwest

Foraging for mushrooms combines complementary interests: exploring the outdoors and learning more about mushrooms and other fungi. “Mushrooming” has been described “grocery shopping in the woods,” because is it one of the few hobbies where a side benefit is lots of good things to eat.

Whole Foods Adopts Animal Welfare Rating System

Whole Foods Market, four animal advocacy groups (including the Humane Society of the United States), and industry partners such as CROPP Cooperative (Organic Valley and Organic Prairie brands), have come together to support the Global Animal Partnership to encourage better animal welfare practices.