·      If You Like to Eat, Thank a Farmer http://goo.gl/v6PKE

·      This mobile restaurant brings the table to the farm http://goo.gl/TMSF4

·      Are heirloom tomatoes worth the buzz – and the money? http://goo.gl/C2pbw

With popular varieties, the power of nostalgia bears fruit

·      Online marketplace (Good Eggs, San Francisco http://goo.gl/MhKIc) set to launch local vendors into the mainstream http://goo.gl/YeZdq

·      Pesticide Drift, Sick Rural Residents Force Face-Off With Big Agriculture http://goo.gl/UFmxu

It is acceptable policy to use neuro-toxins on the US population…

·      Will San Francisco Ban Plastic Bottles? http://goo.gl/ULe4D

·      Scaling Up: Vietnamese Fish Farms Searching for Eco-Friendly Formula (but not ecological friendly… ) http://goo.gl/YNQwe

Feeding fish soy, antibiotics, polluting wetlands, and sustainable production is not approved on the international market…

·      Seafood Fraud: Oceana Study Finds 31% Mislabeled In South Florida http://goo.gl/tfFMx

·      Colored Lobsters (orange, bright blue, calico, article has pics) Appearing More Frequently In The Northeast http://goo.gl/D52XT and Are more colorful lobsters a bad sign? http://goo.gl/bfHmA

·      Heat and Drought

o   Are We Headed Back to the Dust Bowl? Blame the Banks http://goo.gl/e2nhz

Record-breaking weather, farmers losing crops, banks repossessing land from the poor, a president scorned by his opponents for socialism. We’ve seen this before.

o   Heat, Drought Make For More Flavorful Produce http://goo.gl/Kmas1

o   A Drought Kills Corn, Farmers Fight Over Ethanol (and animal feed) http://goo.gl/kVZjB

… 40% of US corn production in 2011 went to ethanol production…

o   Erratic Weather Across Globe Fueling Impending Food Crisis http://goo.gl/c3deX

o   Food price crisis feared as erratic weather wreaks havoc on crops http://goo.gl/JkRBE

‘What the world economy really needs right now is a break’, one economist says, but instead it appears headed toward upheaval

o   US drought could cause global unrest http://goo.gl/7bKbR

o   The World is Closer to a Food Crisis Than Most People Realize http://goo.gl/ZAIu9

Unless we move quickly to adopt new population, energy, and water policies, the goal of eradicating hunger will remain just that.

o   Which foods will cost more because of the drought? http://goo.gl/OxEnF

o   Meat Producers and, Ultimately, Consumers Hurt By Drought http://goo.gl/cLHn3

o   The Major Threat of Ocean Acidification http://goo.gl/WNgSf

·      The Hudson Valley Food Hubs Initiative http://goo.gl/LJHNR

·      Is the food industry under attack from an ‘NGO/media complex’? http://goo.gl/WvChD

·      Strengthening SNAP could tackle obesity and food insecurity: Policy report http://goo.gl/4WEvC

·      REAL program: Like LEED, but for healthful eateries http://goo.gl/0HXX7 Rand Corp Study: What’s on the menu? A review of the energy and nutritional content of US chain restaurant menus http://goo.gl/SRv25

None of this is a surprise, but do we need yet another certification?

·      Bunge North American CEO: ‘Who would have thought Bunge would be involved in cooking and kitchens a few years ago?’ http://goo.gl/liXyd

Ingredient innovation center… oh goody, more processed food like products.

·      Where Did All The Watermelon Seeds Go? http://goo.gl/r3eZN

… are watermelons destined to go the way of supermarket tomatoes, where flavor has been sacrificed for convenience?

·      15 Food You Can Regrow From Scraps http://goo.gl/MLXFb

·      Hungarian Student Designs a More Efficient and Greener Egg Carton http://goo.gl/uffUB

·      Hunter-Gatherers, Westerners Use Same Amount of Energy, Contrary to Theory http://goo.gl/tDsF2

Labor/Economics

·      Taking on Chipotle with the Campaign for Fair Food http://goo.gl/Ogl6u

·      A person making $50K a year pays 10 cents a day in taxes for food stamps http://goo.gl/0PIV6

·      Farmer Friendly Co-op Find Success in 1^st Year http://goo.gl/M07Sr

·      Driving down prices in a battle for even bigger slice of the pie (Australia’s versions of Walmart, Coles and Woolworths) http://goo.gl/PACB4

·      Restaurant Workers Target Unsavory Labor Practices at Darden (Capital Grille, Olive Garden, Red Lobster… ) http://goo.gl/tb3of

·      After PFGBest (Peregrine Financial Group,) ‘Crisis’ In Commodities Trading Could Impact Everyday Consumers (oil/gas and food) http://goo.gl/dpgkv

With the failure of two commodities brokerage firms in less than a year could lead to a crisis of confidence among traders of commodity futures… Real regulation and oversight might help, CFTC (regulators) starved for cash by congressional Republicans…

·      Never Mind the Bubbly, Some Can’t Buy Groceries http://goo.gl/HhU8s

·      Low-Wage Workers Employed Mostly By Large, Highly Profitable Corporations: Report http://goo.gl/SQDbc

Contrary to what many people believe, most low-wage workers aren’t employed by small businesses, or mom-and-pop operations, but instead by large corporations that have enjoyed healthy profits amid a sluggish economy…

Here is the report: http://goo.gl/CxPXj

·      Farm Accidents 2.5x More Likely To Require Amputation Than Any Other Industry http://goo.gl/hPtUW

·      How to eat ice cream and end an unjust criminal system at the exact same time http://goo.gl/9kE4b

Milk not Jails, Up State NY dairy farms and the prison system…

·      The Fear of God, Or Not (Walmart’s union busting actions. Great video of DC flash mob) http://goo.gl/kLM3z

·      Should the food movement push for better jobs too? http://goo.gl/DLFs5

·      “Voluntary” Work Program Runs in Private Detention Centers Pays Detained Immigrants $1 a Day http://goo.gl/jzEe7

and remember, the private prison system is doing the same thing... The Hidden History of ALEC and Prison Labor ($0.20 per hour) http://goo.gl/3ysxo and Captive Labor on the Farm (Idaho potatoes) http://goo.gl/ri5kp

You might want to call it our new Jim Crow laws

·      Who are you calling ‘rich’? A small farmer shares some hard data http://goo.gl/HOInz

Occupy, Anonymous & Protests

·      Occupy the Dam: Brazil’s Indigenous Uprising http://goo.gl/NRm8m

Government/Regulation/Policy/Farm Bill

·      It’s All About the Farm Bill

o   Why the farm bill is doomed (for now) http://goo.gl/9jR4V

Why House Republicans are in no hurry to pass a farm bill that spends billions on feeding the needy

o   Path to the 2012 Farm Bill: House Moves Toward Extension Rather than Reform http://goo.gl/kdMIt

o   Jaw-Dropping Corruption: America’s 47 Million Hungry Mouths Are Just Another Corporate Cash Cow http://goo.gl/JGiHwAn Attorney’s courageous report exposes just how ruthless and greedy big business is capable of being.

o   Congress Set to Take Food Aid Away From Millions of Hungry Americans http://goo.gl/ZJy78

This makes no sense from a humanitarian point of view for from an economic one.

o   House Farm Bill Extension Would Hurt Farmers and Economy, Undermine Conservative Efforts http://goo.gl/03ugd

·      USDA Meatless Monday Posting Retracted after Beef Industry Calls Foul http://goo.gl/eow6y

The Agriculture Department says a statement on its website encouraging its employees not to eat meat on Mondays was made with out proper clearance…

o   Meatless Monday suggestion causes DC to have a cow http://goo.gl/mYKcK

·      California Water Plans: Jerry Brown’s Tunnel Proposal Sparks Controversy http://goo.gl/QHLgw

Here we go…

·      Should the Microbiological Data Program Be Saved? http://goo.gl/LhKw4

Maybe… Maybe not…

·      Bill Favoring Polluters over Public Health http://goo.gl/UkKoM

·      Drummondville couple fights to keep vegetable garden http://goo.gl/63yhT

New bylaw will ban front lawn vegetable gardens

·      4 of Obama’s Worst Food and Ag Wimp-Outs http://goo.gl/kOBRs

GMOs/Cloning/Nanotechnology/Poisons

·      Labeling Genetically Engineered Foods: Whose Side Are You On? http://goo.gl/Ap5mJ

·      GNO labeling group plans to make history with massive grassroots campaign http://goo.gl/ZxtX8

·      Growing fatter on a GM diet http://goo.gl/yQn87

Rats being fed genetically modified food eat more and grow fatter than those on a non-GM diet.

·      Monsanto’s 1990’s PR Stunt: Food Labeling. It has Monsanto’s Full Backing http://goo.gl/1t6S7

·      GMO sugar beets get the green light http://goo.gl/HWYIV

Last week, the USDA ruled once and for all to allow unrestricted planting on Monsanto’s GMO sugar beets…

o   Feds to farmers: Grow GMO beets for face sugar shortage http://goo.gl/qHSnC

Healthy/Humane/Safe Food & Water?

·      Sea sick: Another virus crashes Canada’s salmon farms http://goo.gl/NijNN

·      Competing egg lobbies scramble over measure requiring large cages for hens http://goo.gl/yAhN2

·      McDonald’s In India: Chain Underperforming, Hopes Price Slash Will Boost Sales http://goo.gl/4PGHT

o   Ex-McDonald’s exec opens a healthy fast food restaurant http://goo.gl/dcQLY

·      Ban Milk From School Lunches: National Physicians group Pushes Petition http://goo.gl/UVrIT

·      Stop the Frack Attack http://goo.gl/qlbni

o   Global Frackdown http://goo.gl/be0J9

o   Fracking takes a hit in Penn., while most states still do little to regulate http://goo.gl/myHyJ

o   Exposed: Pennsylvania Act 13 Overturned by Supreme Court, Originally an ALEC Model Bill http://goo.gl/IoxLp

This is the law that allowed fracking everywhere with little to no regulation…

·      Heavy metal fish: How mercury ends up on your plate http://goo.gl/v0Lrv

… the burning of fossil fuels…

·      Food mega-wholesaler Sysco pledges to liberate pigs from crates http://goo.gl/uveIC

·      Cultivating Toxic Crops (Packistan)

“The farmers here say the drain ensures them of year-round irrigation. What they won’t tell you – either because they don’t know it, or refuse to believe it – is that the water is poisoned.”

Events

·      NY Nut Growers Summer Meeting, August 11, 2012 http://www.nynga.org/

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia & Greene Counties

479 Highway 66, Hudson, NY

518.828.3346

            &

NY Nut Growers Fall Meeting, October 13, 2012

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chenango County

Norwich, NY

For more information, contact Jerry Henkin, NYNGA Vice President, tel. (914) 282 - 1371, e-mail sproutnut@aol.com. 

Other

·      Change Lab Solutions: Law & policy innovations for the common good: Model Licensing Ordinance for Healthy Food Retailers http://goo.gl/xFohl