Food First's blog

By Alexandria Fisher

For those who ask “What is food democracy,” I will outline a definition. It is important to understand food democracy as a framework for making our food system more responsive to the needs of its citizens and decentralizing control.

Kenya is in many ways ground zero in the fight over GM crops on the African continent. A press release from the Kenya Biodiversity Coalition yesterday called out government officials for allowing the import of GMO maize, while the nation's farmers are producing a surplus and struggling with low prices at the farm gate. GM crops have not been approved for release in Kenya.

The Kenya Biodiversity Coalition (KBioC) is a coalition of farmer organizations, consumer rights groups, faith based groups, and community organizations. According to their release:

Today Science Magazine reported widespread resistance to the Bt toxin in genetically modified cotton in India.

Jobs in the restaurant industry have grown significantly faster than jobs in other industries in the past decade, but the benefits of those jobs do not always make it to workers. Some 18% of all jobs in the US are in the food sector, and these are the lowest paid jobs in all industries on the nation.

Par Rick Jonasse et tkerssen [at] foodfirst [dot] org

Outspoken farmers from around the country spoke out against agribusiness concentration Thursday night in Ankeny, Iowa. Watch to find out what big business means to small farmers.

http://bustthetrust.org/blog

By Annie Shattuck

Agribusiness has become the new class of robber barons, but these monopolists have suddenly found themselves under some uncomfortable public scrutiny.

Par Rick Jonasse et tkerssen [at] foodfirst [dot] org

Tanya Kerssen and Rick Jonasse (Cliquez ici pour lire en français)  

Hard lobbying by U.S. corn ethanol and soy biodiesel corporations paid off earlier this month when the Obama administration announced its plan to boost the country's production and consumption of biofuels. The strategy offers little in the way of "change". Rather, it recommits the country to the goal mandated by Congress in 2007 to implement a 36 billion gallon renewable fuel mandate by 2022-more than three times what the U.S. currently produces. 

by Krista Beckley

While farmers in India have been growing eggplant for thousands of years, suddenly their staple isn’t quite sufficient to satiate Monsanto. Considering that if approved Bt bringal (a variety of eggplant) will be the first GM vegetable ever grown for large-scale human consumption in the world, Monsanto has a lot to loose if enough people say no.

By Eric Holt-Gimenez
Originally published on the Huffington Post

The recent announcement by the Obama Administration of renewed support to the bloated biofuels industry has the Brazilians jumping for joy.

The Brazilians? Wait a minute... Yep, here are the latest headlines from UNICA, the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association:

Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Welcomes U.S. EPA's Renewable Fuels Rules

By Zoe Brent

With the sky falling and the ocean rising along central California's
beautifully rugged coastline, the Asilomar Conference Grounds hosted
farmers, retailers, processors, consumers, advocates and sustainable
agriculture enthusiasts this past weekend. The event was sold out and
despite flooded roads and fallen trees, more than 1600 attendees
flocked to the Ecological Farming Association's annual conference in
Pacific Grove, Ca.

By Eric Holt-Gimenez
First published on the Huffington Post

In overthrowing me, you have cut down in Saint-Domingue only the tree of liberty. It will spring up again by the roots for they are numerous and deep.
-Toussaint L'Ouverture

By Krista Beckley

There have been several reports recently about genetic material from GMO corn making its way into soil, animals and insects. (The study these reports refer to appeared in the Journal of Chemical Ecology in July - Hart et. al 2009) The concept of how these genes enter into other organisms and food systems is often convoluted, and worth laying out again for readers who may have questions.