Food and Human Rights
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by Ben Lilliston • 11/14/08 • How would our global food system be different if we started with a human rights perspective that guarantees everyone the right to adequate food? Continue Reading
A perfect storm: Bretton Woods revisited as G-20 Summit convenes
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by Dale Wiehoff • 11/10/08 • Later this week, President Bush will hold a G-20 summit to discuss the deepening financial and monetary crisis besetting the world’s markets. Some have likened the November gathering to the historic 1944 Bretton Woods conference.
The impetus for the Bretton Woods meeting was obvious to all—years of drought and famine followed by the Great Depression and World War II had destroyed any semblance of a world economy. Continue Reading
Hope-bama!
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by Anne Laure Constantin • 11/6/08 • Hope around the world
“And all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world—our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.”
These words, excerpted from Barack Obama’s acceptance speech on the night of his election are perhaps those that struck me most when I finally was able to play the video of his speech on a jammed youtube.com
Eat! Grub
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by Allison Page • 11/4/08 • When I was growing up, the word “grub” meant only two things: a thick-bodied larva that burrowed beneath my parents’ grass, and food. But for Bryant Terry—eco-chef, author, Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow, and food justice advocate—and Anna Lappé, “grub” refers to food that is healthy, local and sustainable, and that supports community and justice. Continue Reading
African immigrants finding a home in rural Minnesota
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by Ben Lilliston • 10/31/08 • Minnesota has always attracted new immigrant populations. The wonderful movie Sweetland tells the more traditional immigrant story of the Minnesota plains and the culture clashes of the 1920s. Over the last decade, the state has become one of the country’s most popular destinations for African immigrants, now estimated at 80,000 people. Continue Reading
Can green purchasing change the world?
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by Ben Lilliston • 10/30/08 • Shifts in the marketplace toward more environmentally friendly products are happening because larger institutional buyers are demanding it. Continue Reading
Bill Clinton’s confession
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by Ben Lilliston • 10/27/08 • Last week was a time for confessions. Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress that his 40-year faith in the self-correcting power of free markets had been misplaced, and declared himself in a “state of shocked disbelief.”
Think Forward is a blog written by staff of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy covering sustainability as it intersects with food, rural development, international trade, the environment and public health. Continue Reading
Creating an allergic food environment?
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by David Wallinga, M.D. • 10/24/08 • The first federal report on the issue documents an apparent rise in food allergies in American kids, now affecting about 3 million children.
Speculation by researchers that greater parent awareness may account for the increase makes me laugh. Continue Reading
Health and Environmental Risks of Sludge Use in Food Production
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by Ben Lilliston, 10/14/08 • Consumers should choose foods produced without sludge and avoid use of sewage sludge-based fertilizer products in home gardens, concludes a new guide by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).
Agriculture lessons from Wall Street bailout
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by Ben Lilliston • 10/9/08 • A few weeks ago, IATP’s Mark Muller wrote about a few lessons Wall Street investors might learn from the local foods movement. There are a lot of similarities to the debacle on Wall Street and what we have seen in farm country: in both cases government has largely deregulated the market and the ensuing volatility has caused enormous pain for people caught in the middle.