News
April 14, 2011
The World Bank has warned that rising food prices, driven partly by rising fuel costs, are pushing millions of people into extreme poverty. Read more
News
April 22, 2011
If all goes as planned for the G-20 this year, leaders of the world's most powerful economies will convene to issue bold proclamations, talk past each other, and quietly agree to do virtually nothing. The stakes might be a little higher now,... Read more
News
April 12, 2011
The House Appropriations Committee has released a detailed list of budget cuts as part of the deal to avoid a government shutdown, and it looks like agriculture and food programs are getting hit pretty hard. The USDA budget will be cut by $2.6... Read more
News
April 12, 2011
It's April 5, the end of the financial year, and 100 people - mostly strangers - have their arms linked in a massive circle, occupying the heart of Canary Wharf, the hyper-real maze of steel and plate glass that is the home of Britain's financial... Read more
News
March 30, 2011
The New York Times reports that food companies are embarked on a "stealth" strategy to hike prices by significantly shrinking packages without changing the price. For example, canned vegetables are down to thirteen from sixteen ounces (one shopper... Read more
News
March 23, 2011
For two days, people poured into the streets of Cairo, burning buses and trams, government buildings, and expensive cars. In Tahrir Square, troops fired tear gas at the demonstrators. Cairenes cheered from balconies and rooftops while their... Read more
News
March 22, 2011
The traditional union approach to budget politics is to accept the limits of what's possible-typically defined by politicians and lobbyists-and push for the best deal we can within those fiscal constraints. Read more
News
March 18, 2011
It is time to make local passe. It is time to make regional the new local. Enough of farmers markets, CSAs, and direct on-farm sales. Yes, they are exciting -- they feel like they are getting us somewhere. Read more
News
March 17, 2011
The last couple of days have been gloomy ones. I kept checking in with the vague and dire reports from the nuclear-power bleeding edge in Japan. For part of the time I was also immersed in a post about truly awful things going on in the U.S.... Read more