Sustainable Agriculture & Food Policy

The sun is strong, the sky Hollywood-set blue, but the wind is brutal. This is confounding the work of Wade Elmer, chief scientist for the Department of Plant Pathology and Ecology at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. At the CAES farm in Hamden, he and a small contingent of grad students, lab assistants, and other researchers are busy transplanting eggplant seedlings and chasing empty seed containers across the blustery, one-tenth of an acre that Elmer likes to call the “death bed.”

The Organic Center was part of a group of agricultural experts, researchers and academics that participated in the United Nation’s Forum on Sustainable Agriculture Development. Jessica Shade, director of science programs for the center, focused on sustainability solutions at the July 6 event in New York, with a presentation titled “Organic: Innovations in Sustainability.” Read more

Donald Trump has made no secret about desires to rollback a wide range of regulations. While the extent to which he can be successful long term is still to be determined, there are important questions to consider as the regulatory reins are loosened.

The U.S. agricultural system is highly productive, yet many current practices are associated with degradation to water, air, soil and biodiversity. This can change. Studies show that organic farming practices can reduce negative environmental impacts and also can be applied within conventional operations to improve sustainability. Let’s be aware of the facts and use that knowledge to work together to produce food in a way that does not stress our environment, but that nourishes and fosters the health of our world and of our world’s population, writes Fellow Jessica Shade.

The competition, in partnership with the Center for Responsible Business at the University of California-Berkeley Haas School of Business, invites graduate students from interdisciplinary backgrounds to help Patagonia address an issue chosen by the hiking and outdoors equipment company. Patagonia targets about 40 MBA programs, especially those with agricultural elements; in fact, while most teams have MBA members, many also have graduate students in the sciences.

Abstract

Dr. Nathan McClintock is an Associate Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University. He is a geographer whose primary focus is on urban agriculture policy and practice, and how they articulate with political economy, race, class, and gender.

California Institute for Rural Studies (CIRS) received two years of Switzer Leadership Grant support to launch a new staff position for Ildi Carlisle-Cummins as Director of the Cal Ag Roots program. Cal Ag Roots, created by Ildi, aims to put historical roots under current California food and farming movements by telling the stories of California's agricultural development in innovative, useful, and relevant ways.

Farmers seeking to invest in crops with limited environmental impact should read up on a new report suggesting mushrooms are among the friendliest on the planet. A summary of the two-year study says it takes just 0.7 lb. of CO2 equivalent emissions to produce 1 lb. of mushrooms, according to researchers at sustainability technology platform SureHarvest in partnership with the Mushroom Council, the trade association of the U.S. fresh-mushroom industry. ...