Neil Young: Don't Forget Farmers in Bailout

USDA says small farms are becoming more popular even as large farms grow

(AP) - Most evenings, Gary Mithoefer can be found at the end of a long gravel driveway off a busy highway, tending two garden plots filled with white sweet potatoes, squash, cabbages, and a dozen other vegetables still thriving in early fall. The 62-year-old, who gardens after his workday ends at his state highway job, is one of a growing number of Americans rolling up their sleeves and digging into the dirt to raise crops or livestock on a small scale. More»

(NEWSER) - Matchmaking just might save the family farm, the AP reports. States such as Iowa, Virginia, and Washington have started programs pairing would-be farmers with those aiming to retire, in the hopes of beefing up independent agriculture and keeping rural areas populated. "I thought I may never get a chance like this in my life," one farmer-in-training says. "I knew there was no way I could do this on my own." More»

Fixing food will save health and environment

(NEWSER) - Just because Barack Obama has a lot of issues to deal with once he's sworn in, he shouldn't leave food reform off the table. Putting a bulk of the stimulus package toward local and regional food systems will cut costs and bring us back from the edge, Tom Philpott, founder of Maverick Farms, writes in Grist. Benefits: decreasing our oil dependency, bolstering an ailing environment, and lessening the cost of health care. More»

With Americans eating 17% of annual output today, planning ahead is crucial

(NEWSER) - Ever wonder how the grocery store bins fill up with so many turkeys come late November? Lots and lots of planning, explains Nina Shen Rastogi in Slate. Americans will eat about 46 million birds today—that accounts for 17% of all turkeys raised in the US in a given year. Farmers meet this huge single-day demand by planning way ahead—and manually “milking” male birds for semen. More»

Open letter to prez candidates calls for overhaul—now

(NEWSER) - Americans touch it everyday and it’s a matter of national security, but John McCain and Barack Obama haven’t raised the issue while campaigning: America’s food system is in dire need of an overhaul, Michael Pollan writes in an open letter to the candidates in the New York Times. The system is critical to energy, health care, and environmental reform, he writes: “Food is about to demand your attention.” More»