Health

Farm to Fork Dilemmas for Food Safety

Farmers markets and community supported agriculture (CSAs) are the ultimate in food traceability. But they make up only a tiny portion of the food system. The rest is more difficult. There's been a decade-old global push for an integrated food safety system from farm to fork.

Farmers and the Health Care Debate

Farming is one of the most dangerous jobs out there, with a fatality rate nine times higher than the average job. Farm families, including children, are also at risk for injuries and death. So, the stakes are particularly high for farmers in the current debate over national health care.

David Wallinga, M.D. on hormones in the food supply

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's David Wallinga, M.D. discusses the presence of hormones in the food system.

Honeybees, High Fructose Corn Syrup and Us

New science published on July 31st is the first to look closely at levels of HMF, or Hydroxymethylfurfural, in high fructose corn syrup used as a feedstock for commercial honeybee operations.

Leave PVC Off the Back-to-School List

Believe it or not, August is already here and the first day of school is just around the corner! Parents are gearing up for the school year and literally “gearing up” their kids with all the implements their class lists require.

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.

Ethanol Industry Explores Options to Antibiotics

Earlier this month, IATP reported on the widespread and unnecessary use of antibiotics by the ethanol industry. IATP's Julia Olmstead visited a Wisconsin ethanol plant last week that is using a hops-based alternative to antibiotics to manage bacteria growth in the fermentation process.

Getting Antibiotics Out of Ethanol

Unnecessary antibiotic use in livestock production is a massive contributor to the growing specter of antibiotic resistance. But in a study released today, we report on a lesser known source of non-therapeutic antibiotic use: the ethanol industry.

When the Fly in Your Soup May Carry Superbugs

The rise in illnesses due to antibiotic resistant bacteria has always been both easier and harder to understand than scientists have led us to believe.

The AMA Targets Healthy Food

Few things are as fundamental to good health as healthy food, grown well. And yet the reality of our times is that the easiest, most available, most "affordable" food is typically the least healthful. I'm talking about packaged and heavily processed foods high in calories, additives and saturated fats and low in nutritional value.