As 2016 winds down, Teresa and I want to share a few of our favorite things that appeared in UC Food Observer this last year. While we love “raindrops on roses and …
The voice of rural America roared in this election. Rural Americans have been talking, but we haven’t always heard…or listened. I suspect more will listen now. The urban-rural divide has …
Head to Farm to Understand Today’s Chaotic Political Scene
The urban-rural divide has been a source of tension in American political, economic and sociocultural life throughout much of our nation’s history. As an historian, some of my work explores …
Norway is building a “highway” for bees
Erin Blakemore (@heroinebook) is an author and historian. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications including mental_floss, NPR’s This I Believe, The Onion, Popular Science, Modern Farmer and …
“Not eating edible weeds is food waste. On farms, these plants are watered and fertilized accidentally, picked deliberately, then composted or discarded. They volunteer in yards, in parks and public …
Conflict over nitrates in water, soil puts Iowa “nice” to a test
Des Moines Water Works, which provides drinking water to nearly 500,000 Iowa residents, has sued three adjacent rural Iowa counties over a nitrates issue. The suit alleges that nitrate runoff …
Q & A: UC’s Doug Parker on California’s drought
“I find it rather disturbing that some people see this as an urban vs. agriculture issue. The California Constitution states that water belongs to the people of the state. It is …
Changing demographics: Will fewer farmers be able to deliver political punch?
Sara Wyant from Agri-Pulse (@agripulse) has put together a fascinating piece on the politics for power. As America’s demographics change, can farmers still influence national politics? America has always suffered …
Food Stamp use in rural America challenges stereotypes
Background: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a USDA program that offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families; it was previously called the “food stamp” …
Op-ed: Urban-rural split is threat to farm and food policy
In an op-ed appearing in the Huffington Post, former USDA Secretary Dan Glickman describes the partisan split between rural and urban America, and how it jeopardizes in significant ways the …