A new decade brings new opportunities and challenges. The interaction between diet and health received significant attention during “The Aughts.” What will we do during this next decade to respond to the call for action for a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle? This is the fourth in a continuing series highlighting 10 ways you can help this [...]

This week, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced plans to drastically change the nation’s food aid policy.  As Reuters reported, he said the U.S. will focus more resources on helping developing countries increase their agricultural capacity, as opposed to relying on emergency food aid grown on U.S. soil.
 “‘It is a more comprehensive, holistic view of food [...]

Aaron French’s commentary yesterday on the Civil Eat’s blog raises this issue of how prepared the sustainable food movement is to take its seat at the table in Washington. An important question given the receptivity the current administration has shown of late. It seems some more organizing is necessary. Case-in-point: a statement from Obama, as [...]

I was privileged to spend the past few days at the Inaugural Meeting of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), a well-organized group of stakeholders from around the country ranging from farmers to policy wonks (who are sometimes one in the same) working in coalition on important issues. In addition to learning an incredible amount [...]

The Washington Post reports that efforts by Eat the View  and TheWhoFarm to get food grown again on the White House lawn have made it into the top 30 ideas submitted to the change.org contest. The idea is one of over 7000 proposals submitted.
Ideas for Change in America is a nationwide competition to identify the best [...]

Here’s an issue we don’t pay enough attention to: providing affordable health care for farmers. Steph Larsen, Rural Policy Organizer for the Center for Rural Affairs, discusses this in yesterday’s edition the The Ethicurean blog. “When we talk about local food, it means more than just proximity to a farm,” she writes. “We associate supporting ‘local [...]

Today leaders in the sustainable agriculture community, organized by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, briefed members of the Obama transition team on priorities.  It was great to have the transition team’s ear, and to hear so many positive action ideas for the administration’s initial work.  CLF director, Dr. Bob Lawrence spoke of the [...]