Category Archives: Food

Overpopulation? Don’t Bet On It.

Posted on September 9, 2013 by GDS

If you are concerned with overpopulation, you may have noticed that The Bet is back in the news.  The Bet involved Paul Ehrlich who, for those of you too young to remember, was the Stanford biologist who scared the bejeezus … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Food, Population | 12 Comments

Obesogens

Posted on December 9, 2012 by GDS

Multiple choice question:  What does the “Obesity Epidemic” have to do with agriculture? What epidemic?  Obesity is an age old problem, and this “epidemic” is an invention of the press and the diet industry. There’s an epidemic alright, caused by … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Food, Industrial Agriculture | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

The Animal Lover’s Dilemma

Posted on November 26, 2012 by GDS

Today’s guest blog by Elizabeth Vandeventer of Davis Creek Farm, Nelson County, Virginia.  She holds a PhD in Anthropology from Univ. of North Carolina. ************************************************************************************** When Green Mountain College, a sustainable agriculture school in Vermont, recently decided to slaughter their … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Food, Industrial Agriculture | Tagged , , , | 146 Comments

More to the Story — Top 5 GMO Myths

Posted on October 26, 2012 by GDS

When you hear about “Myths About GMO’s” you can usually expect a polemic from an activist.  It may be an anti-GMO activist debunking myths like “GMO’s can help feed the world” or a pro-GMO activist debunking myths like “GMO’s can’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, Food, Industrial Agriculture | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Wilk on Diet Change and Nutritainment

Posted on September 24, 2012 by GDS

Today’s guest blog is from Rick Wilk, a leading scholar of food, consumption, agriculture, and various other topics.  His recent books on food include Home Cooking in the Global Village and Rice and Beans. Rick is Provost Professor of Anthropology … Continue reading →

Posted in Food | 3 Comments

Two Agricultural Donations

Posted on August 23, 2012 by GDS

Since I do research on small farms for a living, I don’t normally find it a cause for celebration to be wrong about small farms.  But I am toasting Caromont Farm’s kickstarter success and my complete wrongness. I described the … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Food, Industrial Agriculture | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

My First Charitable Donation to a For-Profit Business

Posted on July 30, 2012 by GDS

I just made a charitable donation to a for-profit business.  A cheese-maker, to be exact.  This is not something one does every day, and not something I thought I ever would do. This calls for some rethinking about “profit” and … Continue reading →

Posted in Food | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Decide for Yourself

Posted on February 27, 2012 by GDS

The dust has not settled after India’s decision not to approve its first genetically modified food crop.  In fact it has just been kicked up again today, with the prime minister accusing foreign NGO’s of meddling and activists responding that … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, Food, India | 2 Comments

Putting the Germ into Germany

Posted on June 29, 2011 by GDS

A truly frightening outbreak of E. coli food poisoning appeared in Germany in May.  Within a month it had infected more than 2,400 people in 13 countries across Europe, killing 23. The toxic strain of E. coli is being called O104:H4 … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, Food, Industrial Agriculture | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Feeding Hungry Indians

Posted on June 16, 2011 by GDS

News today in the Bombay press about India’s worrisome food imbalance. Too much food. It seems that India’s “buffer stocks” have more than 30 million tons of wheat and rice over what they want or can handle.  Having sucked down … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, Food, India, Population | 17 Comments