Good Food is Everybody's Business
In early October the third annual Social Capital Markets Conference (SOCAP) – for investors interested in socially responsible companies – included a special track on food systems. It was odd to see regional food systems in the spotlight with biotech and IT! Almost the complete six session food system track is available online.
Alive with shimmering color, a king salmon or lingcod is a beautiful fish as it comes out of the water. Keeping that freshness from the boat to the table is a skill that fishermen like Krist Martinsen and his sons, Olin and Karl, have learned.
Mix together college freshmen; super caffeinated alcoholic, sugary, fruit-flavored beverages in brightly colored cans; and a party and you get trouble. Nine Central Washington University students were hospitalized after drinking Four Loko, also known as “blackout in a can.” Last month 23 undergrads at Ramapo College in New Jersey suffered alcohol poisoning from the same drink.
Twenty-first century seasonal farm workers have a lot in common with 18th century industrial workers: long working hours at low pay at low wages, working conditions dominated by machines, child labor, and dirty, unhealthy living conditions. Broetje Orchards is changing that.
In Britain, rural communities are communities are losing vital services because of cuts in public spending. And, as they say: when things get tough, the tough get going.
Today’s price for “vine tomatoes” at Amazon Fresh is $4.69/pound or Romas from Mexico are $2.71/pound. Safeway Online is selling the Romas for 66¢ each and the vine tomatoes for $1.10 each. What about the farm worker who picked those tomatoes? The reality is, we have all these people who grow and harvest our food and yet they can’t afford to buy anything they produce.
Never mind the government regulators. When it comes to influencing the way farmers grow their crops, the real power someday may be Walmart, the nation’s largest food retailer. This week, Walmart executives descended on Iowa to push their “sustainable agriculture” program which pledges to double the sales of locally grown food by 2015 and to ensure that the food it sells is produced in sustainable ways.
Nature continues to surprise us with the many ways plants interact with the world around them. Scientists at the University of Bristol (UK) have discovered a previously unknown route by which GM genes may escape into the natural environment.
