I’ve Been Pollan-ated
Several groups teamed up to bring Michael Pollan to the University of Vermont for a question and answer session and book signing this past Thursday evening, and I was lucky enough to attend the event.
industrial food system
The Energetic Evolution of the US Food System
Before 1900 the US food system likely delivered more calories of food than it required as energy inputs in the form of fuel and labor. Only as our food system industrialized did today’s energy deficit emerge.
It’s the Sugar, Stupid: A Review of the Documentary ‘Fed Up’
The messages we hear in advertisements have a huge impact on our food choices. This reality is the starting point of the documentary Fed Up, produced by Katie Couric and Laurie David and directed by Stephanie Soechtig.
Treating Food as an Investment
We need to rethink our calculus on food spending. Rather than looking at food as an expenditure with no long term implications, we instead need to view our food spending as an investment.
Agriculture in a Changing World
"Agriculture is the oldest environmental problem," the Land Institute’s Wes Jackson tells us early in this 27-minute video.
Why Grassfed Is Best
“Eat less red meat” is the most frequent response I hear at conferences when a distraught member of the audience asks a presenter “What’s the one thing I can do for the planet?” What the presenter should have said is “Eat less feedlot meat.” A lot less, in fact.
How Big Food Creates an Illusion of Choice at the Supermarket
A new analysis shows that the top four or fewer food companies control a substantial majority of the sales of each item, and they often offer multiple brands in each type of grocery, giving consumers the false impression they are choosing among competing products.
Why Food Should be a Commons not a Commodity
Food is treated as a private good in today’s industrial food system, but it must be re-conceived as a common good in the transition toward a more sustainable food system that is fairer to food producers and consumers.
Food ENERGY: Processing
It is difficult to say whether our eating habits are driven by changes in the food system or vice versa.
Food Fight!
Vandana Shiva goes hip-hop!? A serious message is packed into this comedic musical video. Warning – this might make you choke on your breakfast.
Hate eating corporate food? Democracy is the best recipe
We may be able to agree that much of our food system is broken, but how we begin to fix it is much harder to understand. Wenonah Hauter, director of Food and Water Watch, takes on this challenge in her new book, Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America.
Breaking up the Foodopoly
While many of us hope our farmers market purchases are helping repair a broken food system, let’s face it: all the locally grown organic broccoli in the world will only get us so far. Our dollars are valuable to the farmers at the market, but the domination of the American foodscape by a few powerful corporate players continues to limit consumer choices while squeezing out small and sustainable farmers and food producers.