Civil Eats

I have to hand it to Monsanto. A company representative on Twitter recently engaged me in a dialog about whether labeling products containing GMO food would do any harm, and, if so, to whom.

While the dialog felt like another cut-and-paste debate between me and previously published Monsanto paraphernalia, it offered just enough information about how Monsanto defends against mandatory GMO labeling. Clearly, anyone informed about consumer sentiments regarding GMO food knows that such labeling would devastate Monsanto and other GM seed companies’ bottom line. Which explains the vigorous, even suffocating effort by Monsanto to control the conversation. Read More

Sustainable Agriculture Chat (#sustagchat) is back again this week on Sunday night on Twitter, with the question: What are the possibilities for urban ag? Read More

Sustainable Agriculture Chat (#sustagchat) is back again this week on Sunday night on Twitter, with the question: how are you engaging with your community around food? Read More

Sustainable Agriculture Chat (#sustagchat) is back after a break for Memorial Day weekend, and ready to discuss the upcoming films (Food, Inc., FRESH, etc), the new television series by Mike Judge poking fun at greenies The Goode Family, and our first Supreme Court Nominee interested in talking about food — Sonya Sotomayor, in a 1 1/2 hour discussion beginning this Sunday the 31st at 8pm ET. We hope you can come out! All are welcome to join the chat, just please announce yourself at the beginning by telling everyone your name and affiliations, and use the #sustagchat tag on your tweets in order to create a searchable dialog. You are welcome to send questions and comments to our moderator, @sustagchat. Read More

Sunday, there will be a new sustainable agriculture chat on Twitter. The focus of the two hour-long chat will be education and the messaging around sustainability. We will begin at 8pm ET and last until 10pm. All are welcome to join the chat, just please announce yourself at the beginning by telling everyone your name and affiliations, and use the #sustagchat tag on your tweets in order to create a searchable dialog. Nicole de Beaufort is this week’s moderator, and for the sake of transparency, no one had paid for her to perform this service. She comes by her own desire to discuss these issues. You are welcome to send questions to the moderator, @sustagchat. But here is how the chat will proceed, including questions to get you thinking about the topic written by Nicole: Read More

Tonight, the focus of an hour-long sustainable agriculture chat on Twitter will be defining sustainability. The chat will begin at 8pm/5PT. All are welcome to join the chat, just please announce yourself at the beginning by telling everyone your name and affiliations, and use the #sustagchat tag on your tweets in order to create a searchable dialog. I am moderating tonight’s chat, and for the sake of transparency, no one had paid for me to perform this service. I come by my own desire to discuss these issues. You are welcome to send questions to the moderator, @sustagchat. But here are some questions to get you thinking about the topic: Read More

On Tuesday night, I stumbled onto a phenomenon brewing on Twitter, an “agchat,” featuring a regular discussion open to those interested in talking about agriculture, run by Michele Payn-Knoper, a media consultant representing clients like Pfizer Animal Health, Monsanto, Feed & Grain Magazine, and many other boards, councils and bureaus representing almost every commodity interest across the US.  On her blog, she discusses many of the same issues we discuss in the sustainable food world, but with an obvious bent towards agribusiness. Read More