Humans should only be eating animals raised under humane conditions. Sounds perfectly innocent doesn’t it? After all who wants to think of animals suffering just so that he/she can have a cheap burger or chicken patty? This is essentially the argument cleverly proffered by Pete Letheby in the article “Farmers team up with the Humane Society on behalf of animals” published in the Fall 2015 edition (p. 24) of Ag in Action by the Lewistown News-Argus (Lewistown, MT). The problem with this article … [Read more...]
Sixpence None the Richer
Ever dreamed of living like royalty? Count your blessings: If you can afford this magazine (WORLD, where this article was originally published), you're already much better off economically than most kings ever were. Reginald Labbe, an English farmer better off than most in his time, died in the year 1293. His will listed the following possessions: one cow and one calf two sheep and three lambs three hens a bushel and a half (about 90 pounds) of wheat a seam (about 400 pounds) of barley a … [Read more...]
A Nation of Plenty: Food Insecurity vs. Hunger
The United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet some of its citizens still go hungry, some are homeless, some fall through the cracks. Many people who are not suffering are still counted among the 48 million the U.S Department of Agriculture claims are “food insecure.” How is that possible? Simply stated, it’s not. Capitalism has created immense prosperity within the U.S., and most people have sufficient food. What’s more, as CO2 increases, global greening occurs … [Read more...]
The Renewable Fuels Standard Is Bad Stewardship
In 2005, Congress and President Bush created a “renewable fuels standard” (RFS) This is a rule that requires that fuels such as ethanol be used as a substitute for petroleum-based fuel. The idea was supposedly to reduce oil imports, though it also had other effects. For one, it created a huge benefit for corn farmers, since corn is the primary ingredient in ethanol. And, as corn has been used for fuel instead of food for humans or animals, the RFS has driven up food prices. Lately, there has … [Read more...]
Remembering an Agricultural Hero Amid Local Food Shortages
This article was originally published on Townhall.com. World Grain just reported that the east African countries of Kenya and Uganda are currently facing severe localized food insecurity. Food “is restricted to specific areas due to various factors including an influx of refugees, a concentration of internally displaced persons, or a combination of crop failure and acute poverty. The situation in Kenya, which has about 1.5 million people mainly in north-eastern pastoral areas staring at severe … [Read more...]
Big Green at it Again: Deciding Scientific Outcomes Before Doing Research
As if Climategate wasn’t enough, the pseudo-scientific community has now given us BeeGate. Environmentalists blame neonicotinoid pesticides for bee colony collapse, an assumption already disproven by scientific research and field studies. This is not to say that more studies could not or should not be done, but in the case of BeeGate there is an ideology at work that decided the outcome. According to a memo released Tuesday, four European scientists decided they wanted to stop the use of … [Read more...]
End Federal Ethanol Policy’s Harm to the Poor and the Environment
To borrow a phrase from another debate (where it is misused), the science is settled. So is the economics. As Peter Suderman points out, the federal Environmental Protection Agency proposes reducing from 18.5 billion to 15.2 billion gallons the amount of renewable fuel (essentially, ethanol, almost all from corn) it requires refiners to mix into total U.S. gasoline production each year. Well, the longest journey begins with a single step. But this journey could be completed in one fell … [Read more...]
Climate Hubs Stepping Stone To Broader Climate Legislation
The Obama Administration decided last month that it would placate the “Green” lobby by telling our nation’s farmers how to do their job. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the creation of seven Regional Climate Hubs for Risk Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change. These Hubs match climate change knowledge with local farmers using current networks including local extension agents. This announcement by the Obama Administration was a stepping stone to this month’s announcement of … [Read more...]
Norman Borlaug: Still Feeding the World
Norman Borlaug just turned 94 – and is still going strong. During the “Eat This” segment of their docu-comedy series BS, Penn Jillette beat Teller in a round of their “Greatest Person in History” card game. Penn needed just one card: Norman Borlaug. This Iowa farm boy and University of Minnesota agriculture graduate lived Thomas Edison’s maxim to the fullest. “Invention,” Edison once remarked, “is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Dr. Borlaug did most of his 99% in the sweltering fields of … [Read more...]
ISA announces launch of Cornwall Network at Senate luncheon – Driessen
Thank you for coming to this important event. I am here today not only as a representative of CORE, the civil rights organization that James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were working for when they were brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1964. I’m also here as an Eagle Scout, outdoorsman, Earth Day organizer – and former Sierra Club member and environmental activist. I say former, because (based on long personal experience) I have concluded that today’s environmental movement is … [Read more...]
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