Sustainable Agriculture & Food Policy

“Happy hour” at the S-market store in the working-class neighborhood of Vallila happens far from the liquor aisles and isn’t exactly convivial. Nobody is here for drinks or a good time. They’re looking for a steep discount on a slab of pork.

A new study co-authored by Fellow Kendra Klein shows that the class of insecticides called neonicotinoids poses significant threats to insects, soil and water. In an op-ed with Anna Lappé for The Guardian, Klein writes that the war we are waging against nature with toxic pesticides must end.

Fellow Pamela McElwee was one of the lead authors of the recently released IPCC report on climate change and land use. From The New York Times: The world’s land and water resources are being exploited at “unprecedented rates,” a new United Nations report warns, which combined with climate change is putting dire pressure on the ability of humanity to feed itself.

Results from a recent study examining what's in organic versus conventional milk show that the majority of samples of conventional, non-organic milk tested positive for certain low, chronic levels of pesticides, illegal antibiotics and growth hormones. The organic samples tested at either much lower or non-existent rates in comparison.

By providing a feminist history of the National School Lunch Program, Fellow Jennifer Gaddis recasts the humble school lunch as an important and often overlooked form of public care. Through vivid narration and moral heft, her new book, The Labor of Lunch, offers a stirring call to action and a blueprint for school lunch reforms capable of delivering a healthier, more equitable, caring, and sustainable future.

With Fellow Amanda Beal at the helm of Maine's agriculture department, the state is uniquely positioned to push forward into the role of regional breadbasket that she helped lay in the 2014 report "A New England Food Vision"—and set a national example for how to build a sustainable, healthy, and just regional food system.

Editor's note: Fellow Lauren Howe recently won the USAID Agrilinks Young Scholars Food Security Blog Contest with the following post about her work in Ethiopia with sweet potato leaves, which first appeared on the Agrilinks website.

Editor's note: The video attached to this story was produced by Organic for All.