Category: Agro-Ecology

Dr. Huber – expert in microbial ecology – discusses the effects of genetically modifying plants

Most of us have no idea how genetically modified organisms (GMOs) actually work. What is it that makes it possible to kill the weeds growing in a corn field without affecting the corn? What is it that makes it possible for corn to “grow its own” pesticide to kill root worms? How does this modification affect the micro-organisms in the soil? How can it affect the animals – including we humans – that eat these plants?

Plumbing the Agroecology Zeitgeist

The highlight of the Tilth Producers of Washington Conference was the keynote delivered by professor Miguel Altieri of the Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, at the University of California. His specialty – agroecology — combines agriculture, the science of cultivating the land and raising livestock; with the principles of ecology, the study of the relationship between living organisms and their environments. Altieri began with a series of startling statistics proving that when measured in total output small scale indigenous agriculture is actually more productive than industrialized agribusiness.

Future of Organic Food and Agriculture at Risk

The Cornucopia Institute, one of the nation’s leading organic industry watchdogs, is urging members of the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), in formal testimony, to vote to preserve the integrity of organic food and farming at its upcoming meeting in Savannah, Georgia.

Somali Bantu Farmers Put Their Skills to Work in Washington

Starting over can mean different things to different people, depending on the nature of the change. It often entails a journey: physical, emotional or both. For a group of Somali Bantu refugees who have settled in the South King County part of Washington, it has been nothing less than an odyssey.

West Africa: Women in Agriculture

Fatou Batta, Co-Coordinator for West Africa from Groundswell International, spoke recently in Seattle about the causes of food insecurity in Africa, particularly in Burkina Faso; the role of rural women in agricultural production and food security; the challenges rural women face; and some of the solutions they have developed.

Africa, Agriculture, and the State of the World 2011

For those unable to join the Worldwatch Institute’s 15th Annual State of the World Symposium, hosted at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC on January 19th, 2011, we have the full live stream coverage.

The Right Price for Good Food – Part 2: From the Farmer’s Perspective

Most people who care about good food are at least somewhat aware that the (mostly small) farms which grow good food scrape by financially while farm bill subsidies go to large commodity farms. In this second of three pieces on food prices, our local food systems economist, Viki Sonntag, explores how these subsidies shape market prices and in turn our product choices.