Civil Eats

Parched winter months this year have put California agriculture into a tailspin. With a third dry year in a row, the state has been forced to deeply examine its strategies for coping with dry times. Many worry this drought is a harbinger of the long-term impacts of climate change, a concern echoed recently in a warning by U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu that climate change-induced water shortages could lead to the demise of food production in the state. But California’s hardy and innovative growers aren’t going down without a fight. Read More

If you’ve been listening to the news in the past month, you’ve probably heard quite a bit about biofuels. Simply put, they are fuel made out of plants – principally corn and soybeans in the United States.

The new Obama administration is solidly in favor of increased biofuels production. Everyone from his Secretary of Agriculture to his Secretary of Energy has voiced their support for this policy. But the production of biofuel is by no means uncontroversial, and solidly at the center of this controversy is Dr. David Pimentel, Professor of Ecology and Agricultural Sciences at Cornell University. Read More

California’s unfolding drought now three years running may prove to be the worst in its recorded history. Unprecedented action emerging from effective leadership is needed. This crisis will further rock the nation’s staggering economy and food supply. Farms have begun to fail, communities to crumble, food prices to rise, and more people are losing jobs and going hungry. Like the south’s hurricane Katrina, this drought provides a dry run for combined national and local response to global climate change. Read More

“Slowing demand at the retail level along with the food service industry has left growers with more supply than they can sell,” began a market update I received from a local produce supplier. The flyer went on to say that they expected some farmers to send their vegetables to market without a price – that is, they will take what they can get – in an effort to stimulate demand for their fruits and vegetables. Read More