Sustainable Agriculture & Food Policy

During his talk, Dara pointed out the growing number of consumer-facing apps that help individuals connect directly with producers. Some allow you to map local farmers markets or identify retailers that only sell locally-produced goods. Others allow you to scan QR codes to literally find out what farm your meat came from.

Nearly 200 agro-enthusiasts gathered in South Royalton Sunday for a conference on direct marketing to consumers.

This is a really nice piece with Ellen Mallory, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Agriculture, University of Maine, Orono, about the resurgence of growing grains locally in New England. She covers grains that can be used for stock feed as well as those fit for human consumption. She explains that the movement started with organic dairy farmers, whose cost for organic grains is about two-thirds of their budget, and expanded to satisfy the growing demand by consumers looking for locally-produced food.

Although 10 years have passed since the first regulatory approval of genetically engineered, herbicide-tolerant rice, no transgenic rice is grown commercially, either in California or nationwide. In contrast, genetically modified crops such as soy, corn and cotton have received widespread adoption by U.S. farmers. Debate continues over whether genetically modified rice would be a plus or minus for the environment. While herbicide-tolerant varieties could reduce herbicide applications overall — they could also contribute to herbicide resistance in weedy rice.

There is little doubt that agriculture is both affected by and directly affects climate change. Exactly how to address agriculture within the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UFCCC), however, is not easy to answer. Before Durban, negotiating text had been circulating since before the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit, virtually unchanged for two years.

“Soil carbon offsets will promote a spate of African land grabs and put farmers under the control of fickle carbon markets,” said Teresa Anderson of the UK-based Gaia Foundation, an NGO that promotes indigenous farming, speaking in Durban. “The [World] Bank’s agenda is more money for the bank and for carbon project developers, not development,” said Doreen Stabinsky of the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

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One of the major issues being considered here at COP17 is adaptation.