"farming" news and stories

Organic Valley, the nation's largest name-brand marketer of organic eggs, is being accused of misleading consumers about the living conditions of its California hens, and for violating federal organic standards, according to a story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The bombshell was dropped by the California-based organic watchdog group Cornucopia Institute, which says the hens at the Petaluma Egg Farm were confined in screened "porches" and not allowed to forage naturally in pastures with direct sunlight.

"The federal organic standards clearly state that 'year-round access for all animals to the outdoors' is a requirement," says Mark Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst with the group in a release on their website.

The Cornucopia Institute has filed a legal complaint with the USDA over the matter. The current dust-up may be prompted by the USDA's National Organic Standards Board meeting scheduled for the end of April, where the board is expected to address whether "porches" meet the definition of access to the outdoors.

It's a particularly tense debate being played out in rural communities across the country, but most recently at a heated meeting in Knox County, Missouri, where residents voiced concerns over local concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) and whether or not the county's health ordinance is being properly enforced.

The conversation is especially timely. Here's a round-up of activity just this month: In Missouri, House Bill 209 and Senate Bill 187 would restrict compensation for damages caused by CAFOs. In Idaho, lawmakers are considering a move to shield data related to CAFOs from the public. In Iowa, lawmakers are considering a bill that would make it illegal for activists to film farm operations while undercover; while a Florida bill was introduced that would make photographing a farm a felony. (That bill has since been amended to target those who trespass on private land.)

Add to that, two weeks ago a federal court of appeals ruled that the EPA cannot require livestock farmers to apply for Clean Water Act permits unless manure from the farms are actually discharged into U.S. waters.

At the same time, concerns over drug resistant bacteria and its connection to antibiotic use in livestock is mounting. That's certainly a worry for Lynn Bradley who attended the Knox County meeting on Monday.

Here's an agricultural trend we can all get behind. Combat veterans are making the transition to civilian life by way of farming, reports Cooking Up A Story. Even better, they're not being asked to hoe that row on their own. Groups like California's Veterans Sustainable Agriculture Training program; Nebraska's Combat Boots to Cowboy Boots program and the California-based Farmer Veteran Coalition are providing training, funding and support to get veterans back on the land that they fought to protect.

"This is an excellent path for veterans," says Weldon Sleight, dean of University of Nebraska's College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA). "There are huge numbers of veterans that come from rural communities -- 17 percent of the U.S. population is rural, yet 45 percent of the military come from those communities."

The problem, he says, is that there are few economic opportunities in rural America, and many veterans end up in urban cities.

"They don't know how to go home, so we teach them that," said Sleight.

In case you missed the news yesterday, it was a big day for food -- the Food Safety Modernization Act passed in the Senate, inching it ever closer to becoming law and strengthening the Food and Drug Administration's power to keep our food system safe, like allowing the FDA to issue recalls without a voluntary tip-off from individual food producers who often wait too long.

This map was developed by Food & Water Watch to demonstrate just why our food legislation needs updating. More than seventy years ago, Congress passed the still-standing Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to give the FDA power to approve products, mostly drugs, for market. But as you can see, much has changed since then. Farming has become less as nature intended and more like a factory, with livestock and vegetables grown like product (genetically modified if that's best for business), rather than as a relationship with the natural environmental cycle we're given.

Cleveland is planting seeds to counter the serious problems of obesity, food deserts and urban blight, thanks in part to a $1.1 million pilot program to fund the Cleveland Urban Agriculture Incubator Project, which was announced Wednesday.

According to The Cleveland Plain Dealer, the pilot program will start with six acres of inner-city lots, grown by 20 residents from the Kinsman neighborhood. The urban farming project is being supported by the USDA, the City of Cleveland, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio State University Extension Service. With approximately 3,300 acres of vacant land in the city, the Cleveland Leader says the project will be the largest urban agriculture district in the country.

Deputy U.S. Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan was on hand for the announcement, and said the administration is also working to address the problem of urban food deserts by testing mobile groceries and food carts, and by working with more grocery stores.

The fledgling urban farmers will receive training and a quarter acre of land. They're expected to begin planting in April. Produce will then be sold to local schools and restaurants, and at area farmers markets. Officials say the soil will be tested both for safety and to determine what crops will grow best. The program is expected to expand to an additional 20 acres in the future.