Agriculture

IATP has been advocating for fair and sustainable agriculture and food systems for more than 35 years. Learn more about our agriculture work on our Agriculture & Food Systems page.

An official thumbs-up for organic ag in China

IATP President Jim Harkness is blogging from China.

Jim Harkness on consumer cooperatives in China

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy President Jim Harkness talks about a meeting on consumer cooperatives in Beijing, China.

River subsidy sidelines Minnesota agriculture

Currently, the navigation infrastructure on the Mississippi costs the federal government an estimated $100 million a year to maintain—a subsidy that supports the export of Minnesota's agricultural products. Now, the navigation industry is pushing for more: nearly $270 million.

Don't give up on Minnesota's agriculture innovation

Minneapolis, May 26, 2010* — Say the federal government used federal dollars to take development opportunities away from Minnesota and instead create jobs and processing facilities in other countries.

Senate vote on historic financial reform critical for agriculture

Minnnneapolis – The Senate’s approval of an historic financial reform bill last night is a first step toward preventing the excessive financial speculation that has wreaked havoc in agricultural commodity futures contracts over the last several years, according to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).

Where does the BIGMAP lead?

BIGMAP is not an overweight atlas, but rather an acronym for Biosafety Institute for Genetically Modified Agricultural Products. Their seventh annual symposium, entitled “Food, Feed, and Fuel for the World: Seed and Biotechnology” was held on April 27–28 in southern LA (Lovely Ames, Iowa). This symposium is open to all registrants at no cost.

Supremely important: Genetically engineered crops

Minneapolis, May 17, 2010* — Fifteen years after farmers and agribusinesses began planting genetically engineered crops in our nation’s fields, we still know very little about their long-term environmental, economic and social consequences.

Appropriate tech, safe chemicals and the state of nanotechnology

The power of new technology is undeniable. If adopted blindly, however, technology can carry with it a multitude of risks: to health, the environment or to a broad range of sociopolitical considerations. In the latest episode of Radio Sustain, we assess the potential and pitfalls of new technology.

Testing the food revolution

In the Huffington Post last week, IATP's Mark Muller addressed both fans and critics of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution pointing out that Oliver's efforts—

The “quiet room” of lobbying: The killing floor of reform

The U.S. Senate debate to regulate over-the-counter (OTC, off-exchange and largely unregulated) derivatives enters its third week. Everybody, it appears, is now a proponent of “reform,” especially erstwhile acolytes of deregulation.

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