From Dave Smith

Harvesting a sense of place from Italy’s agriculture
The life of a campanilismo farmer teaches the author a lesson in the interconnectedness of land, food and family, and the true art of sustainability. (From The New Farm)

Soil: The secret solution to Global Warming (Video)
Research by the Rodale Institute reveals that sustainably-farmed soil holds up to 30% more carbon than conventional agriculture. Converting US farmland to organic on a wide scale would reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 10%. The extra carbon in the soil also increases food nutrients, which could greatly reduce health care costs.

How Global Warming is changing our Hardiness Zones
From the National Arbor Day Foundation. (Thanks to Dave Pollard’s blog)

Five Eco-Diets Get Put to the Test
I decided to see for myself what’s on the menu for the vegan, for the 100-mile-dieter, for the raw foodist, the slow food advocate, and the strictly organic consumer, noting how these diets hold up beyond theory and in surreptitious practice (i.e. is that really organic?). To aid my assessment of each diet’s feasibility, sustainability, health and strain on the wallet, I attempted to practice each method for one week.

Greener Eggs and Ham
The benefits to producers who raise hogs and poultry on pasture include lower costs, lower capital needs, the ability to produce in season, less exposure to airborne hazards, and fewer objections from neighbors regarding odors and pollution. Consumers benefit from less exposure to antibiotic-resistant microbes, better tasting products (mainly due to the use of heritage breeds of hogs and chickens), and the knowledge that less environmental damage occurred in the production of the food.

A Grain Farmer Goes Organic
Growing organic crops proved to be a challenge for Andrews, who had to master a different method of farming. To kill weeds, Andrews can no longer plant seeds that are resistant to weed-killing chemicals and then spray fields with weed killers. Instead, his son Nathan leads a crew of nearly 20 workers who hoe the fields by hand three times a week. Andrews also uses equipment to till the soil and kill weeds before planting.

Farming: New careers for retired Baby Boomers
…the latest Census of Agriculture data of the federal government… shows an uptick in small farms between ten to forty-nine acres. Twenty seven percent of the farmers have been on their jobs for less than four years are fifty-five years or older. These are baby boomers moving towards their golden years.

Organic items are growing in popularity at table-service restaurants…
…according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2007 Restaurant Industry Forecast. Among those restaurants currently serving organic items, 52 percent of fine dining, 42 percent of casual dining and 27 percent of family dining restaurant operations expect higher sales in 2007. Locally produced food is also growing in popularity. (From The O’Mama Report)

Pollinator Protection Act of 2007 Introduced into the U.S. Senate
Pollinators are essential to our environment. The ecological service they provide is important for the reproduction of nearly 75 percent of the world’s flowering plants. This includes more than two-thirds of the world’s crop species, and one in three mouthfuls of the food that we eat. The United States alone grows more than one hundred crops that either require or benefit from pollinators. Beyond agriculture, native pollinators are keystone species in most terrestrial ecosystems. Fruits and seeds derived from insect pollination are a major part of the diet of approximately 25 percent of birds, and of mammals ranging from deer mice to grizzly bears.

Genetically Engineered Foods May Cause Rising Food Allergies
The huge jump in childhood food allergies in the US is in the news often, but most reports fail to consider a link to a recent radical change in America’s diet. Beginning in 1996, bacteria, virus and other genes have been artificially inserted to the DNA of soy, corn, cottonseed and canola plants. These unlabeled genetically modified (GM) foods carry a risk of triggering life-threatening allergic reactions, and evidence collected over the past decade now suggests that they are contributing to higher allergy rates. Food safety tests are inadequate to protect public health.
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Dave Smith is author of To Be Of Use – The Seven Seeds of Meaningful Work and lives in Mendocino County, California.
Photo Credit: The New Farm
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