Will other states dive in by 2016? After months of consumer and activist comments, picketing at the Attorney General’s Office, and winning a lawsuit against Monsanto who tried to overturn the original law, Vermont has just become the first state to have mandatory GMO labeling. Vermont became the first state to become GMO-labeled (a step toward […]
Minnesota Takes Aim at Egg Farmer Co-op Member for Third Time
FA Note — Another barage by the unholy alliance between Big Ag and government, designed to eradicate your freedom to grow/buy your food as you will, puting the lie to “sustainable” agriculture. Minnesota simply cannot get enough of Alvin Schlangen. An egg farmer who tends to and volunteers with a fresh food co-op. Two counties in particular (MDA) have tried […]
The Free Market is Solving the GMO Problem
When Justin Dammann enters his southwestern Iowa cornfield this month, the 35-year-old farmer will sow something these 2,400 acres have not seen in more than a decade — plants grown without genetically modified seeds. The corn, which will head to a processor 20 miles down the road this fall, will likely make its way into tortilla […]
Editorial — The Incredible Raisin Heist
Stealing is illegal, unless the government is the thief. On Wednesday the Supreme Court will hear a case on whether the government can seize a chunk of a business’s product to regulate prices. This is a big one. Like much government mischief, Horne v. USDA has its roots in the Great Depression and federal programs to […]
House Bill Would Give Land Trusts Power Over Private Forestlands
Unsuspecting property owners may find themselves on the outside looking in A seemingly innocuous, bipartisan House bill introduced in late March could subject unsuspecting landowners to the whims of power-hungry environmental groups, eager to usurp the property rights of those who fall into their clutches. At risk are owners of private forestlands, who may soon […]
Contract Extension Could Leave Landowners Flapping in the Breeze
Critics say a proposed legislative fix violates the spirit of the law against special legislation for corporations and undercuts options for landowners who may rethink their involvement with wind developers. The controversy focuses on the 82-megawatt Black Oak wind farm — on the drawing board in Stearns County since 2008. State law requires that wind energy projects […]
Using the Global Warming Hoax to Destroy America
When President Obama announced on March 31 that he intends to ensure that the U.S. will slash its “greenhouse gas emissions” 26% below 2005 emissions levels by 2025 in order to keep pledges made to fulfill the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, he failed to mention that such levels would be comparable to what […]
Seed Laws that Criminalise Farmers: Resistance and Fightback
Peasant seeds – the pillar of food production – are under attack everywhere. Under corporate pressure, laws in many countries increasingly limit what farmers can do with their seeds. Seed saving, which has been the basis of farming for thousands of years, is quickly being criminalised. What can we do? A new booklet and poster […]