Sholom Rubashkin was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison on Monday, marking yet another chapter in Postville, Iowa’s, tragic relationship with Agriprocessors Inc. I thought about this relationship the… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Food and Sustainable Agriculture
Erosion Down—Fingers Crossed
The federal government’s latest assessment of how much soil is being washed and blown off our farmland contains some good news: between 1982 and 2007, erosion dropped 43 percent nationally.
The Danger of Endangered Rivers
An endangered river is dangerous—the Cedar River proved that exactly two years ago this week.
Making Local Cuisine a Cafeteria Constant
My kids reminded me this morning that the final hours of another Minnesota school year are fast approaching. It’s amazing how scholars who can barely master adding or subtracting from… Read more »
CAFO Settlement Tells Us What We Already Knew
It was already good news for our state’s water when the Legislature killed a proposal that would have exempted many of our largest factory farms from getting NPDES permits. But… Read more »
Pro-Factory Farm Bills Killed
By the time the 2010 session of the Minnesota Legislature convened Monday, proposals that would have weakened environmental standards for factory farms and undermined environmental review on the local level… Read more »
CSP: Working out the Warts
The USDA announced this week that farmers have until June 11 to fill out an application for the latest round of Conservation Stewardship Program contracts. That’s a narrow window of… Read more »
Local Meat Needs Local Processors
The USDA is drafting new meat testing regulations for small processors that could deal a serious blow to the local foods movement. If they go through, these regulations may force… Read more »
New CSA Drop Site Web Map
Just in time for the Seward Co-op CSA Fair this weekend, LSP has revamped its interactive map of drop sites for CSA farms that deliver to the Twin Cities. Click… Read more »
Monochemicals + Monocrops = Mucho Problems
The National Research Council’s announcement this week that “genetically engineered crops benefit many farmers” and is in general good for the environment came with a big fat caveat: overuse of… Read more »