Three years ago, Alma Hasse walked purposely, head down, toward a red brick building. The Jerome County Courthouse held a mountain of files on the county’s dairy CAFOs, or concentrated animal feeding operations, and Hasse wanted a look at them. She and her agricultural watchdog group, Idaho Concerned Area Residents for the Environment believed...
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The local food movement is growing in popularity. Back in 2007, the Oxford English Dictionary declared “locavore” the word of the year. In 2009 and 10, the National Restaurant Association called local food “America’s No.1 restaurant trend.” But popularity breeds polarization. A series of articles and at least one upcoming book have...
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(GH) As mentioned in a previous post, Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” spoke at Washinton State University on Wednesday, January 13th. Here, from the agricultural weekly Capital Press, is an article on what Pollan had to say. By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press PULLMAN, Wash. — Michael Pollan believes farmers may eventually solve three of...
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Michael Pollan, author of Omnivore’s Dilemma, a critique of modern food systems that was named one of the ten best books of the year by both the New York Times and the Washington Post, will speak January 13th at Washington State University in Pullman as part of its annual common reading program. What’s noteworthy...
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A little cosmic convergence of potato news: Last night, PBS ran it’s ambitious 2 hour program “Botany of Desire,” based on Michael Pollan’s popular book about the evolutionary relationship of plants and humans. In the section of the show profiling potatoes (all shot in Idaho), Pollan “points up the peril of trying to control...
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A ruling on Monday could have a dramatic impact on agriculture in Idaho and the Northwest. According to the New York Times: “A federal judge has ruled that the government failed to adequately assess the environmental impacts of genetically engineered sugar beets before approving the crop for cultivation in the United States. The decision...
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There's a drama playing out in an unlikely place: the alfalfa fields of southern Idaho. It pits farmer against farmer in a struggle that could shape the future of American agriculture.
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