Agriculture

Do we need industrial agriculture to feed the world?

Okay, only fair to warn you. I do not answer the question here. Second, the subject is not really one for a blog, more for a book. But it's important to say short things as well as long. Third, I have a bias. We all do. In this case, it matters that I like Michael Pollan's writing and that I believe there is much wrong with conventional agriculture as practiced in the United States.

Smart Guide Hormones in the Food System

Hormones are routinely used in meat and dairy production as growth promoters, given to dairy cows to increase milk production, hormone -active pesticides are sprayed on crops, are used in plastic food packaging and can be found in the industrial chemicals and byproducts, used in industrial processes, which also make their way into the food chain.

Transportation and sustainable food systems: an open policy window?

IATP is exploring the roles that different federal departments and agencies play in America’s food system.

Letter to Congressional Leadership Calling for Aggregate Position Limits

IATP, along with other members of the Commodity Markets Oversight Coalition (CMOC), sent this letter to the Congressional leadership calling for the same aggregate position limits for all market participants along with other measures in order to level the playing field.

How Are Your Tomatoes?

Devin Foote is a 24-year-old beginning farmer at Common Ground Farm in Beacon, New York. Throughout the growing season, Devin will be chronicling his experiences as a young farmer growing for a local food system.

Letter to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission

IATP helped draft and signed this letter to advocate regulatory action to prevent excessive speculation and extreme price volatility in the commodity futures markets.

Letter to U.S. Congressional Leadership

IATP helped draft and signed this letter to advocate regulatory and legislative means to excessive speculation and extreme price volatility in the commodity futures markets

Free Trade in Agriculture: A Bad Idea Whose Time is Done

The July–August issue of the Monthly Review features IATP's Sophia Murphy and her essay "Free Trade in Agriculture: A Bad Idea Whose Time is Done;"  an examination of the original promises of free trade in agriculture and what ac

WIC Gets an Upgrade

The Women, Infants and Children Nutrition program (WIC) is one of the most important government programs for low-income families. WIC's food package provides vouchers for milk, eggs, cheese, cereal and other food items.

Fueling Resistance? Antibiotics in Ethanol Production

Introduction The epidemic of antibiotic resistance globally poses a severe threat to human and animal health. Deaths and infections caused by “superbugs,” which are unresponsive to treatment with multiple antibiotics, are the human face of this problem.