Commentaries

Is famine the new normal?

Minneapolis, February 7, 2011 — When global food prices spiked in 2007-08, a hundred million people were added to the ranks of the world’s hungry, pushing the total number over 1 billion for the first time in history. Now, just two years later, we are seeing another food price hike, and more famine is likely to follow.

Farmers’ new normal

Minneapolis, September 29, 2010* — The Minnesota River near Jordan is expected to reach its fifth-highest crest at 32.7 feet on Tuesday. Jordan and much of the rest of southern Minnesota were hit with some 10 inches of rain last week—flooding houses, farm fields, and shutting down highways and bridges.

The war on antibiotics: Without strict new regulations, U.S. beef, poultry and pork production could rob us of effective antibiotics

Minneapolis, July 30, 2010* — Would you like some antibiotic-resistant bacteria with your grilled chicken at your backyard barbecue? Of course not. But that likelihood continues to grow unless the government makes industry change the way most American farm animals are raised.