“If the associations are registered and the farmers have collective rights to some land, maybe the land grabbing can stop,” Zunguze told me. Association leaders planned to visit neighboring National Farmers Union cooperatives to learn how agro-ecology could help them grow more food for their families and communities.
Farmers
Controlling Food: An Excerpt from Nourished Planet
The control over food often signifies power over others. While women make up the majority of the agricultural labor force worldwide, they retain little control over their lives. With more resources, female farmers have the potential to regain this control while bringing millions out of hunger.
New Report Analyzes Success of Agricultural Policies for Development
Over 45 years, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) tracked indicators in 117 countries to understand which policies benefitted agriculture and development. Now, their groundbreaking report has found that successful agricultural transformation in a country depends on the quantity and quality of land available, existing demographic pressures, and implementation of a mix of appropriate policies.
Oxfam America: “Hunger Is About Power”
Food Tank had the opportunity to talk with Abby Maxman, President of Oxfam America about the right to food and lasting solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges, such as climate change and gender inequality.
Who Will Feed the Future?
These farmers, photographed by world-renowned photographers, upend the dominant story that industrial agriculture—dependent on synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides, and drug cocktails in animal operations—is key to feeding a growing world population.
Opinion | Foraging in the Wake of #MeToo
While #MeToo unveils a history of sexual assault and misconduct in restaurants, female foragers feel varying effects in their workplaces: outside, in the woods.
Rethinking the Meat We Eat: An Excerpt from Nourish Planet
Meat is one of the largest social aggregators in society. From health to the environment to culture and religion, the role that meat should play in daily life is highly debated.
Agricultural Intelligence: What AI Can Do for Smallholder Farmers
Farmers have always been natural data scientists, conducting experiments and collecting data in their fields. Now, with the advent of Big Data, there are new opportunities to create information systems like the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture that can make farming more efficient, profitable, and sustainable.
If Farmers of Color Don’t Own Land, “We Don’t Have a Voice in the Food System”
On Food Talk, Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm, talks about what justice should look like for farmers and people of color, whose ancestors faced massive injustices in the past.
Fighting for Farm Workers’ Rights, “Boycotts Always Work”
On Food Talk, FLOC founder and President Baldemar Velasquez tells how migrant farm workers surmount harsh conditions as a union of families.
A Local Food Revolution in Puerto Rico
A year has passed since Hurricane Maria first made landfall in Puerto Rico, destroying homes, roads, and vehicles in its path—and taking thousands of lives. Using agroecology has allowed Puerto Rican farmers to envisage an agriculture system not reliant on external inputs.
Farming the Cities: An Excerpt from Nourished Planet
The majority of the world’s population will live in urban areas in the next 30 years, making cities central to the future of food production. Urban farmers play a key role in the development of innovative agricultural methods.
Ditch the Discounts This Coffee Day
National Coffee Day in the United States is September 29. Choosing more sustainable options can support farmers and help drive demand for sustainable coffee. This year, Fairtrade America and Conservation International suggests celebrating coffee in a way that honors the people and the work that goes into it.
“Protecting our future starts with protecting our food supply”
Food Tank had the opportunity to speak with Tobias Grasso, President of North America for Sealed Air’s Food Care division about his relationship to food, passion for farmers, and vision for a stronger food system.
Farming Better Isn’t Enough: We Need to Protect Land
Niman Ranch farmers Jan and Steve Petersen are breaking beyond what it typically means to be a farmer, inspiring conservation and sustainable practices in their community.
Re: Response to Fred Haberman on Making Organic Mainstream
“I was dismayed to read the article ‘Making Organic Mainstream.’ I am one of a group of old-time organic farmers who have been battling against the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for allowing hydroponic, aquaponic, etc. to be certified ‘organic.'”
From Little Things, Big Things Come
Native Alaskans from the Sitka Tribe depend on weekly barge deliveries by sea for their food. Subsistence foods like salmon and herring roe are an integral part of their cultural tradition. Unfortunately, 60 percent of the Tribe are not able to consume as much traditional food as they want. Marine resources need to be managed more conservatively.
Innovations in Climate Smart Agriculture offer South Asian Farmers Prosperity, Part 2
The challenges associated with food security in South Asia are exacerbated by long-term changes in average temperatures, precipitation, and climate variability. Adaptation to climate change is necessary to ensure food security and protect livelihoods of poor farmers.
IPM Empowers Farmers Not to Produce More, but Produce Better Mangoes
CORAF’s Project to Support the Regional Plan for the Control of Fruit Flies in West Africa developed a comprehensive integrated pest management package, empowering mango growers to grow fruit desired by the rest of the world.
Free, Sustainable School Lunch for All, a Pledge from Alice Waters
Alice Waters is advocating for a ‘‘free, sustainable school lunch for all students.’ Despite advances in school food, there remains a stigma around school lunch. Waters believes this can change through better food education and stronger procurement policies.
