Sustainable Agriculture & Food Policy

We'd probably like to think that clean, safe food goes hand in hand with pristine nature, with lots of wildlife and clean water. But in the part of California that grows a lot of the country's lettuce and spinach, these two goals have come into conflict. Environmental advocates say a single-minded focus on food safety has forced growers of salad greens to strip vegetation from around their fields, harming wildlife and polluting streams and rivers.

While this year's early warm weather has made for something of a ramp windfall, it also suggests future problems, said Frank Lowenstein, a climate scientist with the Nature Conservancy and an avid harvester of wild ramps. Since they're hearty, drought- and cold-resistant, and spend most of their year in the ground, a dry year will not hurt them, Lowenstein explained. "That’s their historical strategy: Get some leaves up and get their sunshine now." But a permanent change to weather patterns could spell disaster.

“I obviously can’t speak for all farmers, but competition and the downward pressure on food prices means that farmers have to go to great lengths to satisfy customers,” Mulvaney said. “If there’s anything not in alignment with sales, it will not be balanced. Selling food is number one.” Read the full story

Sara Mersha (2010) is the Director of Grantmaking and Advocacy for Grassroots International. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Sara worked for 12 years as Lead Organizer and then Executive Director of Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE), a grassroots group serving low-income communities of color in Providence, RI. After serving as Visiting Faculty in the Ethnic Studies Department of Brown University, she began a master's degree at Brown's Center for Environmental Studies.

"For their corporate people to take this step is very encouraging," said hook fisherman Eric Hesse of West Barnstable. Hesse, who was among a group of five Cape Cod fishermen who sold their catch of cod to Whole Foods in the first quarter of last year, said fishermen and representatives of the chain will meet next week to look into a new agreement to buy locally landed fish. "We were able to establish a relationship with them," he said. "Now, we're in the planning stages again."

"According to our study, if West Virginians bought their fruits and vegetables from local farmers during the growing season, about $190 million would stay in the state instead of flowing beyond its borders," explained Downstream Strategies President Evan Hansen. "These locally spent dollars would circulate in the economy as farmers spend more at supply stores and on other goods and services." Read the full story

Pannonia Ethanol, a corn-ethanol plant in Dunafoldvar, Hungary, is now producing ethanol. Pannonia Ethanol Zrt., a special purpose subsidiary of Ethanol Europe, hired Fagen Europe LLC as the project’s design builder for the facility, which will produce up to 240 MMly (63.4 MMgy) of ethanol in central Hungary, said Eric Sievers, CEO of Ethanol Europe. Read the full story

“More with less, save the rest.” The three key concepts set forth in this phrase have been at the center of many recent domestic and international conversations about the future of agriculture. The discussion regarding the first concept follows the logic that food production will need to double by 2050 to meet demand. This will be due to an overall increase in the global population coupled with increases in the consumption of animal protein, fruits, and vegetables as the standard of living, especially in developing countries, steadily rises.