The Industrial Food System is Failing Us – What Now?
Cornucopia Institute, May 13, 2020

"Get big or get out" has been the rallying cry for US food policy since the 1950s, leading to the ever-increasing centralization of conventional food production and processing. The quest for unyielding growth, consolidation, and the cheapest ingredients has made our food supply brittle.

Activists have noted for decades that we have a food distribution problem, not a lack of food. Regional infrastructure is rare and access is inequitable. Pantries and food banks across the nation suffer from a shortage of nutrient-dense foods.

For the past 15 years, The Cornucopia Institute has championed authentic organic farmers in policy matters and in the marketplace. We have highlighted the ramifications of industrial agriculture, sharing stories about pollution of waterways and air, insect apocalypse and biodiversity loss, animal welfare issues, negative human health outcomes, and horrific working conditions for farmworkers.

COVID-19 magnifies these failings. The USDA appears poised to continue the efficient bailout of conventional, subsidized agriculture without imposing price floors that could ensure farmers a living wage. No surprise, given the familiar pro-industrialization stances of USDA Secretaries from Earl Butz to Sonny Perdue. In the absence of federal policies to encourage resilience in our food system, Cornucopia is redoubling efforts to ensure a viable market for our most vulnerable farmers – the authentic organic farmers who have a made a lifestyle out of not taking the easy way out.

Read the full story  Cornucopia Institute

Industrial fish farms: "All natural" smoked salmon is nothing but hot air
by Damon Hines, June 11, 2020

Smoked Atlantic salmon products are made from salmon raised on massive industrial fish farms, salmon that are fed with processed feed and treated with medicine and chemicals to combat disease, sea lice, and other infestations. Claims that popular smoked Atlantic salmon brands like True North, Blue Hill Bay, and Ducktrap River of Maine are "all-natural" is nothing but smoke, mirrors, and hot air.

Read the full story  NaturalHealth365