Farm & Field
What if just one agency was in charge of food safety?
Walking through the warehouse of food processor Heartland Gourmet in Lincoln, Neb., shows how complicated the food safety system can be. Pallets are stacked with sacks of potato flour and the smell of fresh baked apple-cinnamon muffins is in the air. Heartland Gourmet makes a wide range of foods from muffins and organic baking mixes…
Art to taste and touch (and talk about)
Kernza is as close as we have to a local wheat celebrity. But if you’re not a baker, there’s a good chance you may not have heard of the perennial wheat that was developed by The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. Now, the grain is part of a new exhibit combining science, baking, art, and conversation.
Checkoff debate stirs clash within organic food industry
A battle is brewing in the organic food industry. The largest trade association for organic farmers, marketers and processors wants growers to help pay for promotional campaigns, using a decades-old funding model that paid for iconic ads like “Got Milk?” and “Beef: It’s What’s For Dinner.” But deciding how to spread the organic message is…
Anticipating the benefits of a trade deal in the Pacific
After years of negotiations, a dozen countries – from New Zealand up to Canada –are on the verge of a trade agreement that could be worth billions of dollars to the U.S. agriculture industry. Many American farmers and ranchers are eager to see the expected benefits of the Trans Pacific Partnership, or TPP. A free…
The labels on the meat you eat
You’ve probably seen, but may not have noticed, labels on the meat at your grocery store that say something like “Born, Raised, & Harvest in the U.S.A.” or “Born and Raised in Canada, Slaughtered in the U.S.” These country of origin labels, as they are known, are part of an ongoing international trade dispute that has swept up Midwest ranchers. And they may not be long for store shelves.