The movie Food, Inc. has been getting a lot of reviews since it was released a few weeks ago. Many critics like what the movie has to say about the state of our food system; others aren’t as enamored. But perhaps the most important review I’ve read so far was penned by my 10-year-old neighbor, Will. After all, if true change in our food and farming system is to come about, it’s Will’s generation that needs to get the message. Here’s his take on the film: (more…)

If you have ambitions of launching a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm anytime soon, or even if you’ve already started one and need some guidance now that the reality of raising food for other human beings has set in, an event being held next Thursday (June 25) is right up your alley. (more…)

During the past several months, some in the pork and poultry industry have asked the USDA to spend millions of dollars of tax money to  stabilize low prices caused in part by overproduction. Here’s the kicker: the USDA continues to guarantee loans to new and expanding CAFOs, the very operations contributing to the overproduction. The phrase, “the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing” comes to mind. At least you hope that’s all that’s going on. (more…)

The May 26 Minnesota Crop Progress Report contains a troubling note: “Strong winds eroded soils and damaged newly emerged crops in some areas.” That’s Dust Bowl talk, and like the Dirty Thirties, we can’t blame it all on natural causes. A lack of diverse crop rotations is making our land more vulnerable than ever to extreme weather. Unfortunately, recent actions at the Capitol could send even more soil airborne. (more…)

The list of Twin Cities area CSA farms that are sold out for the 2009 season is growing ever-longer, but there are still a few spots left for adventurous localvores. Check out LSP’s list (we’ve marked the SOLD OUT farms) and start counting the days toward that first delivery of fresh produce. And if you really want to whet your appetite for local, sustainable farming, attend one of the screenings of the new movie Fresh in Minneapolis June 2-3. Yumm.

It was no surprise that the overall budget for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture had to be cut 8 percent during the recent legislative session. But by the time the final gavel fell, budgets for two key sustainable/organic MDA programs ended up being slashed by a combined average of over 75 percent. When a few successful programs are singled out for such disproportionately rough treatment, it’s not exactly a “we all share in the pain” situation. It’s beginning to smell like the folks on high don’t like any type of food and farm system that threatens the status quo. (more…)

It’s been a good couple of weeks if you’re a farmer looking for federal programs that help integrate conservation measures on an organic operation or get involved in a “value chain” that makes your production more lucrative before it leaves the land. The USDA just announced two such initiatives. The downside is the application window is ridiculously tight for these programs, so don’t blink. (more…)

One would be hard put to find anything positive about the recent outbreak of swine flu. However, it has generated a healthy discussion—first via blogs and later, after being goaded by those same blogs, by the general media—over the price we are paying for allowing large-scale factory meat companies like Smithfield Foods to have their way in communities here and abroad. Swine flu may have faded from the headlines for now, but swine factories remain a nightmarish presence for all too many rural residents. (more…)

It’s a sunny afternoon in mid-summer, and wildlife biologist Tex Hawkins is ecstatic over the “pepper-and-salt” pattern he’s seeing on a diverse farming operation in southeast Minnesota’s bluff country. (more…)

Want to meet some of the voices behind the vittles in the burgeoning local foods movement? LSP’s Community Food and Farm Fest, which is part of this weekend’s Living Green Expo, is a great way to do exactly that. Seventeen farmers producing everything from melons to meats will be on hand to answer your questions and hook you up with a season’s bounty. The fact that the CFFF is a major component of Living Green is a triumph in itself—it wasn’t long ago that the environmental community didn’t make the connection between how we spend our food dollar and the health of the land. Here’s to eating green.