Can the Local Food Movement Feed the World?

Joanna Schroeder

I think that one, living in California, and two, living on a ranch, is causing me to obsess about food. Or maybe it is because publishers keep sending me books about food to review (come back next week for one of those very reviews). Regardless of the reason, I was in Whole Foods last week and the last few times …

Farming, Food

Till, Baby, Till

Cindy Zimmerman

It may not be very conservation-minded, but it’s still a clever slogan that makes a great t-shirt. The credit for “Till, Baby, Till” goes to SynGest, Inc, the company behind the t-shirt and the website where you can buy it. SynGest CEO Jack Oswald a “Till Baby Till” chant as he delivered the keynote address at the 2010 International Biomass …

Biofuels, Corn, Farming

Buy Triscuits, Grow Your Own Garden

Joanna Schroeder

I was in the grocery store last night and just happened to find myself in the cracker isle when a box caught my eye. It was the new branding for Triscuits. What struck me was that NabiscoWorld is now promoting “home gardening” on the box. When you look at the back of the box there are instructions on how to …

Farming, Food, Organic

Record Crop Progress

Cindy Zimmerman

Record planting progress continued around the country last week, despite the rain, and corn planting is breaking records. USDA reports that 68 percent of the corn crop was planted by Sunday. That’s 28 percent more than the five year average and five percent more than the previous record for this time of year in 2004. Emergence is at 19 percent, …

Corn, Farming, Video

Lots of Food

Cindy Zimmerman

The Population Research Institute is seeking to debunk the myth of overpopulation with a series of simple but clever YouTube videos. Our daughter Chelsea alerted us to the latest one – “Food: There’s Lots of it.” Some very good points in here about modern agricultural production and the real causes of hunger.

Farming, Video

Plow Boys Make Planting Progress

Cindy Zimmerman

The planters were tearing it up around the country last week in the glorious weather. What a difference a year makes! Last year at this time, just five percent of the corn was planted. As of Sunday, a whopping 19 percent was in the ground – more than twice the five year average! Illinois has 34 percent planted, compared to …

Corn, Farming, Video

Planting My First Garden

Joanna Schroeder

Wow. Growing your own food is hard work. For the past month, I’ve been living (and continue to live) in the Canyons of California on Puma Canyon Ranch. Here on the ranch (what most people would call a farm), there are dozens of acres of avocado, lemon and orange trees. However, there is more than fruit here on the farm, …

Farming

AgChat Foundation To Help Farmers With Social Media

Chuck Zimmerman

That weekly AgChat Twitter conversation is nearing its one year anniversary and it has helped energize and inspire many farmers to engage online to agvocate for their industry using social networking tools like Twitter and Facebook. Still wondering if farmers are engaged online? Today the AgChat Foundation has been announced via Twitter. This farmer led group “is designed to empower …

Farming, Social Networking

NCFC Launches Campaign to Tell Co-op Story

Cindy Zimmerman

“Farmer Cooperatives: Providing for America” is the theme of a new campaign launched this month by the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC). NCFC launched the new campaign at its 81st Annual Meeting in Santa Barbara, California last week to tell the story of this country’s 2500 farmer cooperatives to policy makers, government officials, and the American public. The campaign …

Cooperatives, Farming

Field To Table Video

Chuck Zimmerman

How many discussions have you participated in about showing consumers how food gets from the field to the plate? I lost count a while ago. There are many groups and efforts going on to accomplish this. Here’s one I just found from the Canned Food Alliance. They’re using YouTube and MealTimes.org. Canned food is one of the most versatile options …

Agencies, Farming, Food, Video