Environment
Never seed shop when hungry
It is an odd thing to look at newly plowed field and get hungry imagining all the wonderful food that will soon grow there. This weekend our task was to purchase the seeds for our upcoming CSA. Wise advice is never to grocery shop when hungry and I would make the suggestion never to seed shop while hungry.MORE »
Do we need a U.S. Department of Food?
If we want to fix our broken food system -- a system that isn't working for farmers, consumers or the environment -- changing government policy is essential. In the U.S., policy set by Congress and implemented by government agencies deeply affects what, and how, food is produced and consumed.MORE »
What makes jobs green?
As Minnesota and the rest of the country move toward a sustainable economy, there has been a lot of talk about "green jobs." So, what is a green job? The short answer is that we don't know. Identifying green jobs has been problematic, as we will see. The goal here is to given a longer, more considered answer that will advance Minnesota's public policy.
It is imporMORE »
Growing China's local food movement
IATP President Jim Harkness is blogging from China this week.
On Tuesday I had dinner with two rising stars of the Chinese sustainable agriculture movement, Cheng Cunwang and Shi Yan. Cheng was in the U.S.MORE »
The secret case against Carrie Feldman
UPDATED JANUARY 26, 11 P.M.MORE »
Since November, animal rights activist Carrie Feldman has been held in an Iowa jail for contempt of court for refusing to testify in a grand jury. Feldman was subpoenaed twice to the grand jury, and each time she refused to speak, opting to invoke the Fifth Amendment. The court granted her immunity, and jailed her when she continued to refuse.
Green approach to cleaning can save money and the environment, new report says
Twin Cities building owners could save up to $10 million a year - and benefit workers and the environment - by switching to daytime cleaning, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Blue Green Alliance and SEIU Local 26.MORE »
A long, cool summer
The end of January may not be the best time to whine about the unusually cool summers we've been experiencing in these parts ("Seventy degrees in August? I'm freezing!"). But at the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society earlier this week, two fascinating studies linked cooler, wetter summers to our massive conversion of Midwestern real estate to row crops like corn. MORE »
Time to produce ‘plug-in’ cars in St. Paul, groups say
Could electric cars save the Twin Cities Assembly Plant from closing? Leaders of the United Auto Workers think so. At the UAW Local 879 Hall on Wednesday, the union joined representatives of environmental groups and the solar-energy industry in calling on lawmakers to work with the Ford Motor Company on a plan to transition the Highland Park plant from production of Ranger trucks to production of electric vehicles. MORE »
Organic agriculture and climate policy
Organic agriculture stores more carbon in the soil than conventional agriculture. It has fewer greenhouse gas emissions than conventional agriculture because it doesn't use fossil fuel-intensive pesticides or fertilizers.MORE »
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