The breadbasket of America: New England?
The Atlantic - 3/22/2010.By Leah Koenig – On a recent Friday morning, Wheatberry Bakery in Amherst, Massachusetts, was humming with activity. Behind hand-built wooden counters set with delicate French tiles, co-owner Adrie Lester dealt a brisk business in organic scones and muffins, loaves of fragrant artisanal bread, soups, and sandwiches. In the bakery's kitchen, her husband, Ben, kneaded a batch of dough, then paused to slip a tray of sourdough baguettes into the oven. |
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Bees face ‘unprecedented’ pesticide exposures at home and afield
Science News - 3/21/2010.By Janet Raloff – San Francisco: For years the news has been the same: Honey bees are being hammered by some mysterious environmental plague that has a name – colony collapse disorder – but no established cause. A two-year study now provides evidence indicting one likely group of suspects: pesticides. It found “unprecedented levels” of mite-killing chemicals and crop pesticides in hives across the United States and parts of Canada. |
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Sturdy transplants take practice, careful planning
Bangor Daily News - 3/21/2010.By Reeser Manley – I can recall a time when the earliest harbinger of spring was the appearance in late March of the long folding table, the kind you see at potluck church suppers, against one wall of the dining room. By early April, it would be covered with trays of cell-packs planted to seeds of sweet peas and nasturtiums, onions and tomatoes, some yet to show signs of life, others sending tiny leaves toward the artificial sun just inches above them. |
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Report: Feds lax in enforcing organic rules
Portland Press Herald - 3/21/2010.Washington: The Agriculture Department has failed to enforce penalties against some who falsely marketed foods as organic, according to an internal department investigation. A report by the agency's inspector general says the agency needs to step up enforcement of those who sell products under the "USDA Organic" label but do not meet government standards to do so. |
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