While #MeToo unveils a history of sexual assault and misconduct in restaurants, female foragers feel varying effects in their workplaces: outside, in the woods.
Farmers
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.
Innovations in Climate Smart Agriculture offer South Asian Farmers Prosperity, Part 1
Natural resources are under increasingly more stress in South Asia due to agricultural intensification, urbanization, population growth, increasing climate change risks, and difficulties related to land degradation. Techniques like zero tillage, double cropping, and tools developed by CIMMYT can help mitigate these challenges.
Grabbing Land: An Excerpt from Nourished Planet
Land grabbing occurs when private investors, often encouraged by governments, purchase and take over control of farmland. This escalates food price volatility, food insecurity, and poverty, which is most burdensome on rural and developing areas.
“I Couldn’t Think of a Reason to Not Farm Sustainably,” Says Howe
Niman Ranch farmer Steve Howe is continuing generations of pig raising, treating pigs humanely and with love.
“Agriculture Must Be Inclusive In Its Diversity,” for Food System Change
Karen Washington wants people to imagine a new face for American farmers: the workers on farms who produce the world’s food yet often face discrimination and food insecurity.
Helping Refugees Become Sustainable Farmers
New Roots for Refugees works with refugees to build independence through farming. Empowering graduates of the program to acquire their own land, they hope farmers will expand their businesses and continue selling produce at local markets.
