Polyface Farms
Farmer/rancher at Polyface Farms in Swoope, Virginia; author of eight books on food an culture, including Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front, The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer and his latest, Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World
Does the Farm Lobby Really Want to Cut Subsidies? Last Friday was the deadline for suggestions to the bipartisan supercommittee on debt, which received more than 175,000 ideas from other lawmakers, think tanks, lobbyists and the public. Among them was a proposal from farm-state legislators to reduce agricultural subsidies by $5 billion. But that's not all they wanted. Is it pulling a "bait and switch?"
Egg Safety, Animal Rights and Industrial Farming Yesterday, FDA inspectors reported filthy conditions at the two Iowa mega-farms that have recalled a half billion eggs because of a national outbreak of salmonella . The irony is that the FDA had no regulations for egg safety until last month.
Egg Safety, Animal Rights and Industrial Farming Two massive egg farms thought responsible for a nationwide outbreak of salmonella were never inspected by federal agencies or the State of Iowa. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration finally adopted egg regulations . Yesterday, FDA inspectors reported filthy conditions at the two Iowa mega-farms that have recalled a half billion eggs because of the salmonella outbreak: barns pock-marked with holes chewed by rodents; chickens and mice crawling up manure piles eight feet high; innumerable flies and maggots. What are the consequences for food safety and animal rights? Are there cleaner, more humane methods of producing cheap eggs for millions of consumers?
Is the Ag Industry Making Us Fat and Damaging the Environment? Horror stories about America's food industry go back to Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle , published in 1906. The current issue of Time magazine concludes that some things have improved a lot in the past 103 years, but that others have gotten worse.
This Time It's Peanuts: Food Scares and Food Production In the largest food recall in US history, more than eighteen hundred products containing peanuts have been pulled from grocery shelves. A salmonella contamination in peanuts has been linked to nine deaths and six hundred illnesses. The outbreak is the latest in a long line of food scares. What went wrong at the Georgia processing plant that shipped peanuts that the owner knew were contaminated? Is the Food and Drug Administration doing enough to make sure food is safe? How do laws affect what we eat? Does the system itself need to be overhauled?
Hot for the holidays The Coachella Valley is the next best thing to the Judaean Desert when it comes to Christmas.
Idaho or Bust – Californians Make an Impact in Boise The housing crisis is pushing Californians out of the Golden State and into cheaper housing markets around the country. Boise, Idaho, has become the fastest growing metro area in the nation… and a lot of those newcomers are former Californians.Our dollars go a lot further there, but that’s causing a bit of friction with the locals.