The Future of Food, Agriculture, and Aquaculture

User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: The Future of Food, Agriculture, and Aquaculture

Post by caltrek »

Corporate Money Keeps University Ag Schools ‘Relevant,’ and Makes Them Targets of Donor Criticism
by Johnathan Hettinger and Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest; and Dana Cronin, Katie Peikes and Seth Bodine, Harvest Public Media
November 15, 2021

https://investigatemidwest.org/2021/11/ ... criticism/
(Investigate Midwest) A major donor to the University of Illinois wondered what the heck was up.

Robb Fraley, a top Monsanto executive at the time, emailed the dean of the agriculture college in 2018 complaining about a professor saying publicly that one of his company’s flagship products was causing widespread damage to crops. Monsanto was also a major donor.

Fraley accused the professor of being “biased” and “prone to exaggeration.”

U of I officials had spent years courting Fraley, and they had listened to him before when he'd complained about a lack of progress on an endowed chair he’d funded.

But the 2018 episode highlights potentially thorny situations for public universities, which have cultivated powerful agricultural corporations as donors while public funding has stagnated.
Edit: Of related interest: https://investigatemidwest.org/2021/11/ ... -projects/
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: The Future of Food, Agriculture, and Aquaculture

Post by caltrek »

Regenerative Agriculture: A Way To Sequester Carbon
by Carolyn Fortuna
November 12, 2021

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/11/12/re ... er-carbon/

Introduction:
(CleanTechnica) Renew. Repair. Reinvigorate. Restore. Revive. Each of these verbs helps us to understand what regenerative agriculture practices mean. By building organic matter into soils, regenerative agriculture produces stronger yields and nutrient-rich crops. It leads to resiliency — diminishing erosion and runoff, improving water quality on and off the farm, and helping to better withstand climate change impacts like flooding and drought.

Regenerative agriculture is a system of farming principles and practices that seeks to rehabilitate and enhance the entire ecosystem of the farm by placing a heavy premium on soil health, with attention also paid to water management and fertilizer use. Importantly, regenerative agriculture practices help us fight the climate crisis by pulling carbon from the atmosphere and sequestering it in the ground.

In regenerative agriculture, a great deal of emphasis is placed on looking holistically at the agro-ecosystem. Key techniques as outlined at the Climate Reality Project include:
  • Conservation tillage: Because plowing and tillage erode soil and release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, it’s vital for farmers to adopt low- or no-till practices. Farmers minimize physical disturbance of the soil. Over time, soil organic matter increases, creating healthier, more resilient environments for plants to thrive, as well as keeping more and more carbon where it belongs.
  • Diversity: Different plants release different carbohydrates, or sugars, through their roots. Various microbes feed on these carbs, returning nutrients back to the plant and the soil. By increasing the plant diversity of their fields, farmers help create the rich, varied, and nutrient-dense soils that lead to more productive yields.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: The Future of Food, Agriculture, and Aquaculture

Post by caltrek »

Is Too Much Seafood Bad for You? A News Study Challenges Mercury Link
by Nick Keppler
December 1, 2021

https://www.inverse.com/mind-body/is-to ... ad-for-you

Introduction:
(Inverse) RICH IN OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS, vitamin D, calcium, protein, and “good fats,” fish can boost our brains and bodies. Still, tuna and other beloved fish are often maligned for the supposed mercury hazard they pose — the idea here is that too much fish could mean ingesting too much mercury, which is in turn linked to potentially fatal heart issues. But a new study calls this widely-accepted public health wisdom into question.

WHAT’S NEW — In a recent study published Monday in JAMA Network Open, scientists find little correlation between a person’s seafood consumption and blood mercury levels. Further, they find no correlation between high blood mercury levels and cardiovascular disease-related mortality. The study is based on a trove of biobank data involving 17,294 participants in total.

The authors claim this is the first study that estimates the risk of mortality associated with mercury exposure in the general U.S. population.

The study is based on data from a survey begun in the 1960s called the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. It is a large-scale, ongoing health study run by the Centers for Disease Control. Participants periodically answer questions about habits and health and medical outcomes. A nationally representative study group, it gives researchers in the U.S. countless health data points to examine.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: The Future of Food, Agriculture, and Aquaculture

Post by caltrek »

Groups Request That United Nations Food Agency Ditch 'Toxic Alliance' With Pesticide Trade Association
by Kenny Stancil
December 3, 2021

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/ ... ssociation

Introduction:
(Common Dreams) A global coalition of food justice advocates on Friday urged the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to sever ties with CropLife International, a trade association representing agrochemical corporations.

In a letter addressed to FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu and attached to a petition signed by more than 187,300 people from 107 countries, nearly a dozen groups wrote that "CropLife's sole purpose is to advocate for use of its members' products."
Text of the Letter:
We are writing to express our deep concern over your plans to strengthen official ties with CropLife International. We strongly urge you to reconsider this alliance. This collaboration with CropLife, an association of corporations which produce and promote dangerous pesticides, directly undermines FAO’s priority of minimizing the harms of chemical pesticide use worldwide. Reliance on hazardous pesticides undermines the rights to adequate food and to health for present and future generations. More than one third of CropLife member company sales are Highly Hazardous Pesticides that pose the highest levels of risk to health or the environment.

Recent estimates show that there are 385 million cases of acute pesticide poisonings each year, up from an estimated 25 million cases in 1990. This means that about 44% of farmers and agricultural workers around the world are poisoned each year by an industry dominated by CropLife members. Pesticide products produced by CropLife member companies decimate pollinator populations and are wreaking havoc on biodiversity and already fragile ecosystems.

CropLife’s sole purpose is to advocate for use of its members’ products — which are both antiquated chemical solutions and techno-fixes (genetically modified seeds) that lock farmers into ever-escalating use of pesticides, in conjunction with proprietary seeds that have systematically undermined the rights and welfare of the majority of the world’s food producers. A partnership with CropLife represents a perpetuation of this deeply unjust and unsustainable system. It undercuts your agency’s critical — and urgently needed — support for agroecology, which FAO itself notes “can support food production and food security and nutrition while restoring the ecosystem services and biodiversity that are essential for sustainable agriculture.”

We strongly urge you to continue to support the transition to people-led agroecology, and discontinue this deeply inappropriate alliance with an industry that places the interests of profit above that of public welfare and the planet.
Link to letter: https://www.panna.org/sites/default/fil ... _FINAL.pdf
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: The Future of Food, Agriculture, and Aquaculture

Post by caltrek »

Independent Cattle Ranchers Continue Fight Against National Checkoff Program
by Madison McVan
December 7, 2021

https://investigatemidwest.org/2021/12/ ... f-program/

Introduction:
(Investigate Midwest) For 28 years, rancher Kyle Hemmert ran cattle auctions out of his sale barn near Oakley, Kansas. He had a front-row seat as the industry changed over the decades, and he didn’t like the direction it was going.

The number of buyers at the auctions dwindled over the years, and sometimes, only a couple placed orders. Cattle prices were dropping, and, with less competition, Hemmert found it harder to sell cattle at market price.

For each head of cattle sold, Hemmert and his staff were required to take $1 out of the seller’s payout and send it to the national beef checkoff program, which funds beef promotion and research.

He estimates that his barn channeled $1.3 million to the checkoff over the years, but he didn’t see the funds solving any of the industry’s problems.
Some ranchers, including Hemmert, say the checkoff isn’t achieving its intended purpose. Instead of benefiting producers, they argue, it’s channeling profits to a handful of powerful meat companies, who are in turn driving down cattle prices and producer revenues.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: The Future of Food, Agriculture, and Aquaculture

Post by caltrek »

New Venture Capital Cash for Indoor Vertical Farming
by Ben Geman
December 17, 2021

https://www.axios.com/indoor-vertical-f ... b8ef2.html

Introduction:
(Axios) The Europe-based vertical farming startup Infarm has reeled in $200 million to fuel its expansion and entry into new markets.

Driving the news: The Series D round includes investment from Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The company plans to enter Middle East markets, in addition to expanding in Asia, the U.S., Japan and Europe.
  • Plans include a "growing center" in Qatar in 2023 for tomatoes, strawberries, herbs and more.
Why it matters: Indoor, stacked farming holds the promise of more climate-friendly agriculture, avoiding land clearance and enabling food to travel shorter distances.
  • "Because crops are grown directly in cities, they ... require 90% fewer food miles to get to consumers’ plates," Infarm said.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: The Future of Food, Agriculture, and Aquaculture

Post by caltrek »

Full Harvest Targets Food Waste by Finding Homes for Imperfect, Surplus Produce
by Christine Hall
December 17, 2021

https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/17/full- ... ood-waste/

Introduction:
(TechCrunch) Food waste is a $2.6 trillion problem globally as some 40% of food is wasted annually. Full Harvest believes this is a distribution problem that can be solved by digitizing the produce supply chain.

The San Francisco-based company’s produce business-to-business marketplace provides a way for produce buyers and sellers to quickly close deals on surplus or imperfect crops in just a few clicks. It also creates an additional revenue stream for farmers.

Founder and CEO Christine Moseley told TechCrunch that a majority of produce companies are still using pen, paper and fax machines to do business.

“This is one of the most important industries, and we wanted to automate and bring the industry online to solve things that haven’t been solved before,” she added. “For example, there is a ton of paperwork involved in buying and selling, but by automating the onboarding process, that process that used to take weeks now take minutes.”

So Full Harvest got busy developing some technology that includes a spot marketplace with a matching algorithm and visibility so that buyers could see what suppliers had available. It also created a third-party audit and verification process to provide consistent specifications to reduce the average amount of rescued produce that is turned away. The industry average stands at 10%, while the company’s rejection average is 1% to 2%, Moseley said.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
Ken_J
Posts: 241
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 5:25 pm

Re: The Future of Food, Agriculture, and Aquaculture

Post by Ken_J »

I had misfit market deliveries here on the east coast. they would give you a grab bag assortment of mostly organic produce that was oddly shaped or imperfect from stores in the area. reasonably good stuff for prices that were cheap enough to compete with the standard stuff off a walmart produce section. the hardest part for me was the grab bag nature of it meaning you never knew what you'd get until you got it and then as a single individual trying to use it up in some dishes before it went bad. If I were a family of 4, with no issues with some foods, it would be a good supplemental produce program for me.

but it was nice to support a program that aimed to reduce the waste from irregular foods.
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: The Future of Food, Agriculture, and Aquaculture

Post by caltrek »

Building Community One Fruit Tree at a Time
by Jim Hightower
December 22, 2021

https://otherwords.org/building-communi ... at-a-time/

Introduction:
(Other Words) Some years ago, a young, hippyish couple knocked on my front door. They had noticed that I had fig trees in the yard, laden with summer fruit. If I wasn’t going to pick them all, they asked, could they harvest some figs?

Since I was about to take a trip, I said: Sure, have at ’em.

Upon my return, as I stood at the door fumbling for my keys, I looked down — and there were two jars of delicious fig jam awaiting me.

A little common neighborliness can be deeply enriching, in so many ways.

I remembered my happy fig exchange recently when I read that a fast-growing, underground fruit economy is spreading in cities across America. Well, the movement is underground, but, naturally, the fruit is above ground and — like my figs — in plain sight
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: The Future of Food, Agriculture, and Aquaculture

Post by caltrek »

Food Flavours: India's First Box Packed Wellness Diet Product Launched In Kerala
by Shweta Singh
December 17, 2021

https://thelogicalindian.com/sustainabi ... rala-32671

Introduction:
(The Logical Indian) In a first, Food Flavours, A Kochi based start-up, has launched India's first box packed wellness diet products, which includes ready to cook chapatis with moringa leaves and ragi.

This has come in as a boon for fitness buffs all set to devour nutrition-packed food. The company is also ready to roll out tortilla wraps and millet-based noodles with the same range of wellness ingredients and will launch frozen variants of its products.

Five Variant Of Ready To Cook Chapatis Food Flavours, promoted by a techie-turned foodpreneur partnered with a homemaker-turned-chef and launched the box-packed wellness diet products that include five variants of whole-wheat ready-to-cook chapatis with moringa leaves, ragi (finger millet), flaxseeds, palak(spinach)and thena ( foxtail millet).

As reported by Deccan Herald, Ranjith George, Managing Director of Food Flavours, had test-marketed these Fresh Start brands of wellness chapatis in northern Kerala for the last one and half years.

He said that the wellness diet received a good response and was catching up fast since the coronavirus pandemic but developing new wellness products was not fluid.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
Post Reply