I’ve spent many years wondering why the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been so slow to curb the rampant overuse of antibiotics in agriculture. Read More
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Weaker Antibiotic Regulation: Another Problem with FDA’s Voluntary Cooperation Program
February 25th, 2013
Negotiating with Drug Companies: The Horse-Trading Behind the FDA’s Voluntary Program
February 1st, 2013
After decades of dragging its feet on the issue, the FDA has finally acknowledged that the ongoing massive use of antibiotics in food animal production poses a public health risk that demands a response. Read More
Place-Based Food Right Here at Home
December 17th, 2012
In my last post I discussed the wonderful Danish restaurant Noma, which is out there on the cutting edge of international place-based food.
I will long savor that experience, but my excursion into the world of high-end cuisine was a rare treat. Of course, I didn’t have to go to Copenhagen for action on the place-based food front. There is a lot going on right here near my home in Washington, D.C. Read More
Get Really Smart About Antibiotic Use: Don’t Ignore Animals
November 15th, 2012
“Although previously unthinkable, the day when antibiotics don’t work is upon us. We are already seeing germs that are stronger than any antibiotics we have to treat them.”
Those are the words of Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, Associate Director for Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Healthcare Associated Infection Prevention Programs, as the CDC kicked off Get Smart About Antibiotics Week 2012, this year’s installment in the agency’s campaign to reduce the use of antibiotics in human medicine. Read More
The Transition To Crop Rotation: How Do We Get There?
October 30th, 2012
Recently, we have seen a flurry of stories about studies done on Iowa State University’s Marsden Farm demonstrating the power of crop rotation as an engine of modern sustainable agriculture. The study documented high yields and handsome profits on farming plots employing long crop rotations: three-or four-year rather than the usual two-year corn-soy rotations. In addition to high yields and high profits, the long rotations controlled weeds with only sparing use of herbicides and maintained productivity without excessive use of chemical fertilizers. Read More
Rachel Carson’s Nightmare: Herbicide-Tolerant Weeds
October 12th, 2012
It is ironic that a new scientific paper documenting U.S.agriculture’s mounting dependence on chemical pesticides should appear only weeks after the 50th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. Read More
Reasons to Buy Organic: Let Us Count the Ways
September 12th, 2012
No more peaches, no more blackberries! As my colleague, Jeff O’Hara, and I pore over the list of fruits and vegetables coming in our shared community supported agriculture (CSA) delivery, we are facing the sad fact of seasonal eating. Seasons end. Yes, we will still get tomatoes and butternut squash—but oh what a summer this has been for berries and peaches. Read More
Coping With Drought: How to Build a More Resilient Agricultural System
August 8th, 2012
Although I live on the East Coast far from the current drought, I get periodic reports from the front lines from my sister, who lives with her husband in eastern Kansas on 70 acres of grass and woodland. When I visit them next week, I’ll see for myself the brown expanse of grass that used to be their lawn and the ever-lower water level in the catfish pond. They have harvested their hay field early and stored it to help feed their three horses, especially important now that local hay supplies are tight and prices are skyrocketing. Read More
