Weekly Wrap-Up of Farm & Food News

All week long, we post updates on what's happening at Farm Aid and in the world of farms and food on Twitter. In case you missed some of those links, below are some notable stories we shared over since our last update:

• This week, Farm Aid announced the theme of our 25th anniversary; Growing Hope for America.
• A Washington Post blog asks, "Can local food jump-start the economy?"
• A new trend or just an excuse to write an article? "The Femivore's Dilemma" - stay-at-home moms now building chicken coops and finding purpose.
• "Why Making Healthful Foods Cheap Isn't Enough." Study from University of Buffalo where they made vegetables and fruit cheaper - moms ended up buying more of them, but also more junk food with the savings.
• A short post exploring the multiple ways living next to a factory hog farm is terrible and the $11 million verdict against Premium Standard Farms in Missouri.
• A federal judge has denied a temporary ban on Monsanto's genetically-engineered sugar beets. A hearing to decide on a permanent is still scheduled for July.
• A report on the terribly lax oversight from the USDA on organic rules. Hopefully they improve.
• Here's an inspiring video where a middle-aged couple tells the story of how they changed their lives from software engineering to starting a farm:

What news did you see out there? Please share in the comments.

The Fight Against Corporate Control of our Food: A report from the DOJ/USDA Workshop

"This is a national security issue," warned U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder during the first in the series public workshops on antitrust issues in agriculture convened by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture last Friday in Ankeny, Iowa.

According to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the purpose of the workshops is "to determine whether or not the system is fair. Is today's ag system suffering from a lack of free and fair competition?"

Free and fair? Ask Moe Parr, the soft-spoken, unassuming seed cleaner interviewed in the academy award nominated film Food Inc. after he was sued by Monsanto and driven out of business. Monsanto charged that Moe had helped a neighboring farmer harvest his Round-Up Ready soybean seed. Monsanto requires farmers to sign a contract that prevents them from seed harvesting. (By the way, global giant Monsanto is doing precisely the same thing to Iraqi farmers, who have been harvesting and saving their own seed for at least two thousand years.)

Free and fair? Ask the union of United Food and Commercial Workers, dozens of whom attended Friday's workshop in their readily identifiable UFCW yellow shirts. The UFCW represents more than 250,000 meatpacking and food processing workers across the U.S. It was fantastic to see them there at the hearing in solidarity with family farmers, consumers, and millions of other hard-working, urban and rural, justice-seeking Americans. Check out UFCW president Joe Hansen's editorial here.

Free and fair? Ask the dozens of farmers, consumers, local and national activists, and other citizens who offered their own views. Both Moe Parr and David Runyon, an Indiana farmer who was also interviewed for Food Inc. after being sued by Monsanto, were among the dozens of concerned citizens who spoke their piece during the Thursday pre-workshop town hall meeting and the Friday workshop public comment periods.

Free and fair? Ask Farm Aid. Worried about who controls your food? Join the thousands who have already submitted comments to let the DOJ and USDA know we trust farmers for our food, not corporations!

Free and fair? Ask the majority of the 800 people in the overflow crowd at Friday's workshop. We've put together a photo slide show below of events in Ankeny last week, which included a raucous town hall meeting the night before the workshop, organized by Iowa Citizens for Community Action and the several groups sponsoring the new Bust The Trust website. See the site's blog for video clips of farmers speaking out at the town hall meeting, which was attended by over 250 people.

Free and fair, indeed. As you mobilize your friends and neighbors to take part in the fight against corporate control of our food, don't forget to send them this link for info on upcoming DOJ/USDA workshops in Alabama (on poultry issues), in Wisconsin (on dairy issues), in Colorado (on livestock issues), and in Washington, D.C. (on prices paid to farmers and prices charged to consumers).

Weekly Wrap-Up of Farm & Food News

All week long, we post updates on what's happening at Farm Aid and in the world of farms and food on Twitter. In case you missed some of those links, below are some notable stories we shared over since our last update:

• The big story this week is the first in a series of workshops put on by the Department of Justice and the Department of agriculture looking into antitrust issues and corporate concentration in agriculture. Now's your chance to weigh in - please take action through our site now.
• A New York Times op-ed about the threat of "superbugs" from over-use of antibiotics in agriculture.
• A fantastic little blog post from Austin, Texas about why folks who support farmers and eat their food are "local heroes" too!
• "Eat-onomics: The Ten Most Inspiring People in Sustainable Food" — some great people & cool ideas here.
• Mini-goats kept as pets and for their milk in urban areas — is this a new trend?
• A dairy farmer talks about just wanting to earn an honest living.
• Here is lots of information for farmers and consumers alike on the organic pasture rules recently created, posted by the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance.
• A great article by the New York Times on the rapid rise of seed prices for farmers (corn seed prices up 135% since 2001, soy prices up 108%).
• Here's video from Thursday night's meeting before the DOJ/USDA workshop on Friday. It's farmers speaking about their views on corporate control of agriculture:

What news did you see out there? Please share in the comments.

Dept. of Justice & Dept. of Agriculture Workshops to examine corporate concentration in agriculture

Today, an historic event is taking place among the corn and soybean fields of Iowa: The Department of Justice and the Department of Agriculture is kicking off its series of public workshops examining corporate concentration and antitrust violations in agriculture. If you can't be there, but want to add your voice to the discussion, take action here.

Agriculture is one of the most concentrated industries, to the detriment of family farmers and all of us eaters. For decades, there has been little or no oversight over agribusiness mergers and buyouts, leading us to the place we are today — where one company controls 93% off the soybeans and 80% of the corn grown in the United States. And this concentration is not just limited to seeds — it pervades our entire food system, from livestock to poultry to dairy to food retailers.

Today's workshop looks specifically at the issue of seeds and farmers will be well-represented (although they'll be outnumbered more than 2 to 1 by politicians!). But to make sure that all farmers get a chance to tell their story, food and farm organizations have organized additional events to give the media and people concerned about our food system an opportunity to hear from many farmers.

Last night's "Taking on Corporate Power in our Food System: A Town Hall Meeting" in Ankeny, Iowa brought out more than 250 farmers and activists who chanted "Bust the trust" and strategize about how best to tell the story of how corporate concentration and lax anti-trust enforcement has hurt family farmers and all of us eaters.

Today, Farm Aid and the Center for Food Safety will co-host a lunch for folks at the workshop, featuring farm-fresh food and stories from farmers who have been impacted by concentration in the seed business.

Our very own Joel Morton is there in Iowa and we'll have a complete recap from him, as well as footage from the workshop.

For more information about the workshop in Iowa and future workshops, click here.

Weekly Wrap-Up of Farm & Food News

All week long, we post updates on what's happening at Farm Aid and in the world of farms and food on Twitter. In case you missed some of those links, below are some notable stories we shared over since our last update:

• The "Crop Mob" trend. Volunteers visit family farms to help do work—I'm sure a lot of farmers would welcome this!
• A new website is available to help you learn "Where is my milk from?"
• "Last Clucks: The Death of a Chicken" by an author who spent last year on a farm. "To appreciate your white meat and where it came from, all you need is a bird and a straight razor."
• Black farmers look forward to USDA settlement — where they will get paid for years of discrimination in getting turned down for loans.
• A Missouri town banded together to keep a new factory farm from being built, but the battle is now going statewide and local laws may be overturned to allow these farms in.
• A Boston Globe article about the rising popularity of ordering grass-fed & other meat directly from farmers online.
• "Speak Your Piece: Guess Who's Missing From Antitrust Hearing?" (Spoiler alert: It's farmers!)
• And finally, does your 6-year old know what a tomato looks like? These kids don't...

What news did you see out there? Please share in the comments.

New and beginning farmers head to Capitol Hill

Next week, I'll travel to Washington, D.C., for the upcoming "Drake Forum on America's New Farmers: Policy Innovations and Opportunities" on behalf of Farm Aid.

I'm excited because this Forum begins a long over-due national discussion on new and beginning farmer policy issues, with the goal of identifying great ideas that can be replicated to get new farmers on the land throughout the country. A wide range of stakeholders, including farmers, USDA officials, Senate and House leaders, academics, industry representatives, and many sustainable farming organizations in Farm Aid's Farmer Resource Network, will take part in the two-day conference.

The Forum is being organized by Neil Hamilton, the director of the Drake University Agricultural Law Center. Neil's brilliant proposal for a federally supported New Farmers Corps is one of many ideas that will be discussed.

In addition, the day before the conference, Farm Aid is participating in a "New Farmer Fly-In" spearheaded by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC). The fly-in will bring new farmers from eight different states to D.C. for meetings at the USDA and on Capitol Hill. The farmers' travel costs are being covered thanks to a cooperative effort between Forum organizers, NSAC, Farm Aid, the Center for Rural Affairs, the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association, Land Stewardship Project, Practical Farmers of Iowa, California Farm Link, Land for Good, the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, the Quivira Coalition, and the CS Mott Group for Sustainable Food.

With this focus on new farmers, now is a good time to remind everyone that April 6 is the deadline for grant proposals for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. Grants are awarded primarily to non-profit and community-based organizations to develop and offer new farmer education, outreach, mentoring and internships programs. See this page for details.

I'll be reporting from D.C. next week so stay tuned for an insider look at how farmers effect change in Washington!

Weekly Wrap-Up of Farm & Food News

All week long, we post updates on what's happening at Farm Aid and in the world of farms and food on Twitter. In case you missed some of those links, below are some notable stories we shared in the past week:

• The USDA issued long-awaited final rules on organic livestock pasture access for grazing
• A hopeful article talking about the possibilities with The Localization of Agriculture
• A community in Toronto comes together to replace lawns with gardens, supplying enough to supply a farmers market
• Good read about the farmers of Golden Earthworm Farm in Jamesport, New York. "We farm because we believe it's the single most important thing we can do with our time, energy and expertise."
• A farmer sounds off on the idea, "So You Think Farming's 'Cute'?"

What news did you see out there? Please share in the comments.