Sustainable Agriculture & Food Policy

The U.S. agricultural system is highly productive, yet many current practices are associated with degradation to water, air, soil and biodiversity. This can change. Studies show that organic farming practices can reduce negative environmental impacts and also can be applied within conventional operations to improve sustainability. Let’s be aware of the facts and use that knowledge to work together to produce food in a way that does not stress our environment, but that nourishes and fosters the health of our world and of our world’s population, writes Fellow Jessica Shade.

The competition, in partnership with the Center for Responsible Business at the University of California-Berkeley Haas School of Business, invites graduate students from interdisciplinary backgrounds to help Patagonia address an issue chosen by the hiking and outdoors equipment company. Patagonia targets about 40 MBA programs, especially those with agricultural elements; in fact, while most teams have MBA members, many also have graduate students in the sciences.

Abstract

Dr. Nathan McClintock is an Associate Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University. He is a geographer whose primary focus is on urban agriculture policy and practice, and how they articulate with political economy, race, class, and gender.

California Institute for Rural Studies (CIRS) received two years of Switzer Leadership Grant support to launch a new staff position for Ildi Carlisle-Cummins as Director of the Cal Ag Roots program. Cal Ag Roots, created by Ildi, aims to put historical roots under current California food and farming movements by telling the stories of California's agricultural development in innovative, useful, and relevant ways.

Farmers seeking to invest in crops with limited environmental impact should read up on a new report suggesting mushrooms are among the friendliest on the planet. A summary of the two-year study says it takes just 0.7 lb. of CO2 equivalent emissions to produce 1 lb. of mushrooms, according to researchers at sustainability technology platform SureHarvest in partnership with the Mushroom Council, the trade association of the U.S. fresh-mushroom industry. ...

The Harlow Gallery announces 13 artist/farm partnerships for Community Supporting Arts (CSA II) project taking place across Maine in 2017. Participating artists will visit their partner farms regularly beginning in January, at the very start of the 2017 growing season, creating art inspired by their farmer’s lives, work, and landscape. The resulting body of artwork will be exhibited at three venues in the fall of 2017, at the Harlow Gallery in Hallowell, at Maine Farmland Trust’s gallery in Belfast and at Engine in Biddeford.

Where Food Comes From Inc. (d.b.a. IMI Global, Inc.) (OTCQB: WFCF), the largest independent verifier of food production practices in North America, is acquiring SureHarvest Inc. The transaction expands and diversifies WFCF’s commodity reach with high-value specialty crops, including winegrapes, almonds, hazelnuts, strawberries, mushrooms, cut flowers, leafy greens and other fresh produce.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has appointed Asa Bradman, an associate professor of environmental health science at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, to the National Organic Standards Board. Bradman and four other appointees will serve five-year terms starting Jan. 24, 2017. The board was established under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 and operates in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act to assist in developing standards for substances used in organic production and to advise the secretary on aspects of the National Organic Program.