Young Farmers Face Huge Obstacles to Getting Started - NYTimes.com
What a horrible USDA farm loan officer. My dad is a USDA farm loan officer and what these young farmers wanted to do (sustainable vegetable production) is EXACTLY what my dad wants to help make happen. At least we know Southwest Wisconsin has committed people.
ORGANOPONICO! AN AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION (via laraboglione)
Organopónicos are a system of urban organic gardens in Cuba. They often consist of low-level concrete walls filled with organic matter and soil, with lines of drip irrigation laid on the surface of the growing media. Organopónicos provide access to job opportunities, a fresh food supply to the community, neighborhood improvement and beautification of urban areas.
Organopónicos first arose as a community response to lack of food security after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They are publicly functioning in terms of ownership, access and management, but heavily subsidized and supported by the Cuban government.
AMAZING. Just… amazing.
(via How the Supercommittee Could Kill New Farmers Markets | Mother Jones)
Swapping out one crappy subsidy program for another crappy subsidy program with a new name is NOT budget cutting. Look out for proposed giant cuts to anti-hunger and sustainable farming programs with minuscule cuts to industrial agriculture. #occupycornfields
Above, part of the University of Minnesota correspondence about the Troubled Waters documentary.
Molly Priesmeyer continues to drive the Troubled Waters coverage. Her latest piece draws 3 crucial points from more than 2,500 documents released last week Friday. Points that salaried journalists covering the same story have mostly missed:
- The University was so deeply concerned with negative reactions from the agriculture community that College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Sciences (CFANS) Dean Al Levine distributed the film to donors and prominent figures associated with big agriculture for feedback in April.
- Vice President for University Relations Karen Himle at first did not respond to requests from CFANS to view the film and participate in their “crisis management,” but then was responsible for pulling the film in September, though the U emails reveal a PR team intent on confusing that fact.
- Some U staff and faculty, including CFANS Dean Al Levine, were concerned that donors would object to the film, but also believed Himle’s pulling of the film equated to University censorship.
She goes on to provide the big picture:
Beyond the question of Himle’s personal interests lies the question about the University of Minnesota’s institutional financial interests and how those interests came into play. Documents reveal that the film met the standards of the U’s scientific review. However, the additional review process that began in April, involving agricultural interests and donors, was a non-scientific, non-academic review, though it apparently was led by an academic department—CFANS. The “crisis” plan that evolved out of fear of offending big donors led University Relations to make a decision that threatened academic freedom at one of the biggest land-grant institutions on the country
The Liberator Magazine | Blog: Will the Real Pan-Africanists Please Stand-Up?
this applies not only to africa, but to the entire world.
