Monthly Archives: December 2011

organic agriculture in the news

Posted on December 31, 2011 by admin

Organic agriculture has been featured in two articles in New York Times in the past week, and both discuss the impact of growth in consumer demand on the market. The first article discusses organic milk. Unlike most other organic products, … Continue reading →

Posted in organic food, small farms | 1 Comment

it is back to work for me!

Posted on December 29, 2011 by admin

Our Christmas dinner of the organic roast was excellent, and my 20 year old daughter was kind enough to eat the meat off of my plate; this was to deflect comments about “the price of the meat” that I didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Food studies, food system, shared value | 1 Comment

one meal at a time?

Posted on December 21, 2011 by admin

I tend to do things on a grand scale: my life goals include not merely viewing the Grand Canyon, but hiking from the north rim to the south rim. My “think big” perspective drives nearly all of my behavior. This … Continue reading →

Posted in food availability, Food studies, small farms, sustainable agriculture | Leave a comment

the farm bill and money

Posted on December 17, 2011 by admin

The fall semester ended on Friday; while my students are busily finishing their final papers, I have a while to sit and reflect on the semester.  In addition to thoroughly enjoying my food systems courses (one international and one domestic), … Continue reading →

Posted in food policy, sustainable agriculture | Leave a comment

more on food access and sustainable agriculture

Posted on December 9, 2011 by admin

I’ve been thinking about a recent post, where I mentioned the tension between increasing  food access to low income households and the increased use of sustainable farming practices. The cause of the tension between the two is food prices: low … Continue reading →

Posted in cost of food, food policy, organic food, small farms | 2 Comments

food system change in action

Posted on December 5, 2011 by admin

Today I had the great fortune of visiting the Snug Harbor Heritage Farm in NYC (Staten Island.) Along with several of my colleagues and students (Jenny Berg, Christina Ciambrello, Jeanne Koenig – all of NYU Food Studies, and Yemi Amu … Continue reading →

Posted in Food studies, NYC, organic food | Leave a comment

are green payments the answer?

Posted on December 3, 2011 by admin

The solution of providing financial incentives to encourage farmers to engage in desirable behavior is not new.  Consider organic agriculture: the US regulates organic agriculture, but provides no incentives for a farmer to transition to organic.  Europe, however, takes a … Continue reading →

Posted in food policy, organic food | 1 Comment

first thoughts on policy levers to change the food system

Posted on December 2, 2011 by admin

My students created a long list of policies they would like to see implemented, with the goal of encouraging a shift in the food system. A dominant theme was related to changing farm policy, through a mix of “carrots and … Continue reading →

Posted in food availability, food policy, small farms, sustainable agriculture | Leave a comment

incremental or transformative changes?

Posted on December 1, 2011 by admin

Tonight, my food system class will discuss the May 2011 Science article on Transforming U.S. Agriculture. I find this article fascinating because it reflects the underlying motivation for the food movement, and also because I have high regard for the … Continue reading →

Posted in organic food, public health, sustainable agriculture | Leave a comment