Discovery of mad cow in US was stroke of luck
Kennebec Journal - 4/25/2012. Hanford, Calif. – A non-descript building in the heart of California's dairy country has become the focus of intense scrutiny now that mad cow disease has been discovered in a dead dairy cow. This is the first new case of the disease in the U.S. since 2006 – and the fact that the discovery was made at all was a stroke of luck. Tests are performed on only a small portion of dead animals brought to the transfer facility near Hanford. |
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Organic foods industry creates more than a half million jobs
Organic Trade Association - 4/25/2012. Washington – Producing U.S. foods organically creates thousands more jobs than if that food were produced using conventional agricultural methods, according to a new economic study released today here at the Organic Trade Association's (OTA's) Policy Conference. |
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Organic farming is rarely enough
Nature News - 4/25/2012. By Natasha Gilbert – An analysis of the existing science, published in Nature, suggests that organic farming could supply needs in some circumstances, but that yields are lower than in conventional farming. Cereals and vegetables need lots of nitrogen to grow, suggesting that yield differences are attributable to nitrogen deficiencies in organic systems, says the report's author. |
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Draft report on food security and climate change falls short
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy - 4/24/2012. By Doreen Stabinsky – Climate change will have significant impacts on world food security in our lifetimes. Indeed, we have already begun to feel the impacts from extreme events – droughts, heat waves, torrential rains leading to floods, with consequent impacts on crop production in Russia, Texas and the U.S. Midwest, Pakistan, Thailand, to name a few recent high-profile locations. |
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