Op-Eds

Opinion: In D.C., fewer dinners means polite conversation that may lead to beginnings of camaraderie is lost, and with it mutual trust essential to governance by two parties

By Lea Berman

The Washington Post 2011-08-05

Opinion: As commodity prices show, it will be economic impact of climate change and resource limits that will motivate sweeping changes necessary to avert catastrophe

By Paul Gilding

CNN 2011-06-21

Opinion: As supplies of fruits, vegetables remain steady due to work of pollinators, we pay homage to resilience of honeybees and perseverance of their keepers

By Randal R. Rucker and Walter N. Thurman

The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2011-06-22

Opinion: U.S. is transforming Afghanistan's fragile agrarian society into a consumer-oriented, mechanized, fossil-fuel-based economy

By Patricia McArdle

The New York Times 2011-06-19

Opinion: True cost of the 1 billion pounds of tomatoes Florida ships is told in detail and with insight and compassion by Barry Estabrook in his new book, "Tomatoland"

By Mark Bittman

The New York Times 2011-06-14

Opinion: USDA's plate-plus message works better than anything presented before, so now it's time for Congress to fix agricultural policies so they support the recommendations

By Marion Nestle

San Francisco Chronicle 2011-06-05

Opinion: In "The Big Thirst," author's purpose is to create understanding of humanity's relationship to water in hopes of diverting impending water crisis that need not be

By Kathleen Parker

The Washington Post 2011-05-27

Opinion: We need to support sweeping regulatory change to our main chemical safety law, and make chemical companies demonstrate their products are safe before sale to us

By Dominique Browning

The New York Times 2011-05-09

Opinion: We need legal action, not voluntary guidelines that request compliance from a blame-the-victim industry that pushes ultra-processed, unhealthful junk food-like products

By Mark Bittman

The New York Times 2011-05-03

Opinion: U.S. food production system depends upon widespread ignorance, but poor and working people most need new food system; they are sold unhealthiest foods and can least afford resulting medical problems

By Eric Schlosser

The Washington Post 2011-04-29

Opinion: If you're raising and killing 10 billion animals every year, animal abuse is guaranteed, especially with standard inhumane factory-farming practices, lack of actual laws

By Mark Bittman

The New York Times 2011-04-26

Opinion: For 2012 Farm Bill, eliminate corn subsidies and redirect $4 billion annually in federal funds to SNAP and other nutrition programs that target most vulnerable population

By Andrew Schiff Youli Lee

The Providence Journal 2011-03-28

Opinion: Budget is a moral document: We can cut military spending, eliminate corporate subsidies and tax loopholes for the rich, or we can starve the poor. Which side are you on?

By Mark Bittman

The New York Times 2011-03-29

Opinion: Pew poll shows majority in favor of federal role in fighting obesity, but group includes only 41 percent of Republicans, 33 percent of those who agree with tea partiers

By Charles M. Blow

The New York Times 2011-03-11

Opinion: Reform subsidies so they encourage small- and medium-size farms producing food we can touch, see, buy and eat -- apples and carrots -- and shrink handouts to agribusiness

By Mark Bittman

The New York Times 2011-03-01

Opinion: Food price crisis focuses politicians on quick fixes at expense of building long-range agricultural productivity, shift of jobs from farms to factories, skilled city-based service sector

By C. Peter Timmer

The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2011-02-22

Opinion: Government's unwillingness to label genetically modified foods and products that contain them is demeaning, undemocratic; without labeling, we have no say

By Mark Bittman

The New York Times 2011-02-17

Opinion: GOP budget eats America's seed corn to placate base, focusing cuts on programs that pay off in future, like providing extra nutrition to pregnant mothers, infants, and young children

By Paul Krugman

The New York Times 2011-02-14

Opinion: Demand for biofuels is almost doubling challenge of producing more food, but economic studies imply that food prices should come down if we can limit biofuel growth

By Tim Searchinger

The Washington Post 2011-02-11

Opinion: Key factor in soaring food prices is severe weather, expected as rising concentrations of greenhouse gases change our climate; this surge may be just the start

By Paul Krugman

The New York Times 2011-02-06

Mark Bittman, cookbook author, moves to opinion pages to advocate for eaters' rights and to The (NY) Times Magazine for recipe column as "The Minimalist" exits food section

By Mark Bittman

The New York Times 2011-01-26

Opinion: Regulatory system requires balance; we won't shy away from new safety rules for infant formula, or treat saccharin like dangerous chemical if FDA considers it safe to eat

By Barack Obama

The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2011-01-18

Opinion: Over 10 years, ending farm subsidies would save nearly $290 billion; ending subsidies to ethanol and unproven energy technology saves $170 billion, Cato Institute says

By By Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe

The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2010-01-19

Opinion: As parents, educators, nutritionists and marketers, we have to imbue our children with love of fruits, vegetables - the most beneficial food for growing bodies

By George Ball

The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2011-01-03

Opinion: Because humans are social animals, poorest in highly unequal societies suffer more from range of pathologies as stigma corrodes social trust, community life

By Nicholas D. Kristof

The New York Times 2011-01-02

Opinion: Main driving force behind rising commodity prices is demand from growing global middle class with appetite for meat and car-driving; food, oil supplies can't keep up

By Paul Krugman

The New York Times 2010-12-26

Opinion: Obesity is not a Democratic or Republican issue; it is genuine public health emergency, with vast implications for nation's well-being, economy, national security

By Fred Hiatt

The Washington Post 2010-12-26

Opinion: Now, one in five children live in households where food is source of daily anxiety; we hope Congress remembers that costs of failing to protect children will be enormous

By David Rubin and Kathleen Noonan

The Philadelphia Inquirer 2010-12-12

Opinion: Life-saving strategy brings green revolution to Navy, Marines; armed forces using biofuels - minus corn-based ethanol or any fuels that compete with food

By Thomas L. Friedman

The New York Times 2010-12-19

Opinion: For true advancements in food safety - unlike the bill that just passed the Senate - use inspections to help employees become more successful and to solve problems

By Aubrey C. Daniels

The Washington Post 2010-11-30

Opinion: Presenting local food as economic engine is more persuasive than values choice; the right casts food as class-war weapon, pleasing fast-food industry, which is big donor to GOP

By Brent Cunningham and Jane Black

The Washington Post 2010-11-27

Opinion: FDA food safety bill, scheduled for Senate vote, only expands ineffective bureaucracy, offers no common-sense reforms; free market drives innovation, safety

By Tom Coburn

USA Today 2010-11-22

Opinion: Industrial meat, egg factories excel at manufacturing cheap food, but evidence shows model is economically viable only because it passes on health costs to public

By Nicholas D. Kristof

The New York Times 2010-09-02

In rebuttal to NYT opinion piece, experts say locavores care for community, biodiversity, local economy, fresh foods, flavor, joy of eating, well-treated workers, fewer wide-reaching food-borne illnesses, public policy, diet-related disease - and food mil

By Tom Philpott

Grist 2010-08-20

Opinion: World split between Too Muchs, Not Enoughs - billowing victims of cheap, brilliantly tasty fat- and sugar-laden provocations, and monks overseen by nutritional priests

By Lionel Tiger

The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2010-08-21

Opinion: Home cooking, storage account for 32 percent of all energy use in food system; energy budget spent on modern farming is one of wisest energy investments we can make

By Stephen Budiansky

The New York Times 2010-08-19

Opinion: As Senate cuts SNAP (with every $1 spent creating $1.70 of economic activity) by $6.7 billion to get less Medicaid, teacher funding than needed, pols push tax cuts for rich

By Ezra Klein

The Washington Post 2010-07-30

Opinion: In Child Nutrition Bill before Congress, our country has major opportunity to make our schools and our children healthier, one too important to let pass by

By Michelle Obama

The Washington Post 2010-08-02

Opinion: Food safety legislation seeks protection for weakest and restraint on unchecked corporate power; no one should lose a child because Senate lacks will, leadership

By Eric Schlosser

The New York Times 2010-07-24

Opinion: Behavioral economics has its limits - with obesity, we focus on food labeling rather than mustering political will to change relative price of healthful, unhealthful foods

By George Loewenstein and Peter Ubel

The New York Times 2010-07-15

Opinion: We need class war to halt subsidies, tax breaks for agribusiness disguised as family farms; Obama's export plan will mostly benefit the likes of ADM

By Ross Douthat

The New York Times 2010-07-12

Opinion: Farm labor isn't for everyone, but it should be honored work, with decent wages and working conditions; farm workers feed the nation

By Douglass Adair

Los Angeles Times 2010-07-10

Opinion: New health care law, with prevention panel, could turn current "sick care" system into one that helps keep people healthy

By John Seffrin, Larry Hausner and Nancy Brown

Politico 2010-06-15

Opinion: As dispersants and oil mix in Gulf, shrimp, zooplankton, phytoplankton are first to experience internal bleeding - and toxins intensify as they move up the food chain

By Susan D. Shaw

The New York Times 2010-05-30

Opinion: For a real difference in country's health, we need a Green Tea Party, modeled after the beverage and full of antioxidants, to cut carbon

By Thomas L. Friedman

The New York Times 2010-04-24

Opinion: Tax junk food to provide school health education under Michigan Model for healthier kids, savings in medical costs

By Lotus Yu

Detroit Free Press 2010-04-05

Opinion: With food and beverage marketers spending $2 billion a year to reach children, we need FTC as cop on beat of wayward marketers

By Katrina vanden Heuvel

The Washington Post 2010-04-06

Opinion: With 70 percent of antibiotics fed to healthy livestock, they're ineffective for sick people; we are brewing a perfect pandemic

By Nicholas D. Kristof

The New York Times 2010-03-07

Opinion: Stealing food to survive after a disaster is accepted by most, but where is the line drawn after that?

By Donald G. McNeil Jr.

The New York Times 2010-03-05

Opinion: As Congress weighs options for child nutrition, it must guarantee implementation of Institute of Medicine school food guidelines

By Ann Cooper

The Washington Post 2010-03-05

Opinion: Why redesign intestine-shaped hot dog when cutting it lengthwise, then into small pieces reduces choking hazard?

By Lenore Skenazy

The Washington Post 2010-02-27

Opinion: Because obesity threatens national security, group of military retirees calls for extra funding to improve school meals, snacks, other nutrition programs

By Johnnie E. Wilson

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 2010-02-08

Opinion: In halls of Congress, "finish the kitchen" becomes metaphor for health-care reform

By E.J. Dionne Jr.

The Washington Post 2010-02-08

Opinion: Politician-as-hunter cliche has run its course; real leaders may hunt, but they don't strut their kill

By Kathleen Parker

The Washington Post 2010-01-24

Opinion: Did industrial agriculture interests override search panel choice for Leopold Center director?

By Rekha Basu

The Des Moines Register 2010-01-17

Opinion: Friendlier immigration policy would translate to better Chinese food

By Adrian Ho

The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2009-12-11

Opinion: Capturing methane is fastest, most effective way to cool Earth's temperature

By Robert Watson and Mohamed El-Ashry

The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2009-12-28

Opinion: To help ourselves, we must help oceans along with forests

By Dan Laffoley

The New York Times 2009-12-27

Opinion: Menhaden, crucial in ocean food chain, enters final losing phase for survival

By Paul Greenberg

The New York Times 2009-12-15

Opinion: Agricultural ecosystems change as planet signals peril

By Thomas Lovejoy

The New York TImes 2009-12-08

Opinion: Maybe health care begins in our plastic food containers

As debate continues on health insurance and mammograms, lingering question is whether our ills have more to do with contaminants in our water or air or in plastic containers. What if surge in asthma, childhood leukemia reflect, in part, poisons we impose upon ourselves? Physicians at cancer symposium say they avoid microwaving food in plastic or putting plastics in the dishwasher, because heat may cause chemicals to leach out; they say avoid plastics numbered 3, 6 and 7. And: Lawmaker pushes for legislation to study links between women's reproductive health and chemicals that may cause hormone disruption (click 'See also').

By Nicholas D. Kristof

The New York Times 2009-12-05

See also 

Opinon: BPA, canned food, plastic containers - and case of the willies

Evidence of harmful effects of BPA (bisphenol A), a synthetic estrogen, isn't conclusive, but justifies precautions. Chemical, found by Consumer Reports in almost all the brand-name canned foods tested, linked to miscarriage, heart disease, diabetes and liver-enzyme abnormalities. We're cutting down on use of plastic containers to store or microwave food, and I'm drinking water out of a metal bottle. In my reporting, I've come to terms with threats from warlords, bandits and tarantulas. But endocrine disrupting chemicals -- they give me the willies. And: Testimony to Congress on BPA vs phthalates (click 'See also').

By Nicholas D. Kristof

The New York Times 2009-11-08

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Opinion: Avoid processed foods, factory-farmed meat to cut warming

Twenty percent of food system's energy use is farm-related; half of food's greenhouse impact linked to farms. The rest comes from processing, transportation, storage, retailing, food preparation. Prevailing method of producing meat - crowding animals in factory farms, storing their waste in giant lagoons, cutting down forests to grow crops to feed them - cause substantial greenhouse emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides. Eaters can lower their global warming contribution by avoiding processed foods and those from industrialized farms; reducing food waste; and buying local and in season. And: Livestock's long shadow (click 'See also' for UN report).

By Nicolette Hahn Niman

The New York Times 2009-10-31

See also 

Opinion: Feds subsidize causes, treatment of diet-related disease

By not addressing food system reform in health care reform, government is putting itself in position of subsidizing both the costs of treating Type 2 diabetes and consumption of high-fructose corn syrup. One of the leading products of American food industry has become patients for American health care industry. When terms like 'pre-existing conditions' vanish, relationship between health insurance industry and food industry will change. When health insurers can no longer evade costs of treating results of American diet, food system reform movement - farm policy, food marketing, school lunches - will gain powerful, wealthy ally.

By Michael Pollan

The New York TImes 2009-09-10

Opinion: Solving myriad problems requires integrated solutions

Speed at which humans have improved technology has obscured our hard-wired abilities to make natural connections - that plants clean the air and water, that termites initiated mounds in which palm trees now grow in Botswana, to sense meanings in the sand, breeze and thickness of air. To solve array of integrated problems - climate change, energy, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, poverty reduction, feeding a hungry, growing population - we must deal with them in integrated way, the way they occur on the ground, says Glenn Prickett, conservation expert.

By Thomas L. Friedman

The New York Times 2009-08-23

Opinion: Comfort in farmer's habit of naming each cow

Growing up on a diverse, chaotic family farm offered decent, varied lives for us and animals. Insipid, efficient food assembly lines produce unhealthy cheap food, mishandle waste and overuse antibiotics in ways that harm us. And it has no soul. Reassurance is in farmer who runs family dairy of 225 Jersey cows so efficiently that it can still compete with factory dairies of 20,000 cows. He names all his cows; they are family friends as well as economic assets. 'When I lose a cow, it bothers me. I kick myself.'

By Nicholas D. Kristof

The New York Times 2009-08-23

Opinion: With Child Nutrition Act, Congress must keep children's well-being, not industry, in mind

With upcoming reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, which regulates National School Lunch Program, Congress must reform policies that encourage children to eat unhealthy foods and that contribute to obesity epidemic, rising health-care costs. In 2007, the government allocated majority of child nutrition funds to meat, dairy, and eggs, only about 20 percent to fruits, vegetables. And: Primer on the bill, and how to get involved (click 'See also').

By Susan Levine

McClatchy-Tribune News Service; The Miami Herald 2009-08-02

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Opinion: Obesity epidemic demands prime-time address, slice in subsidies

When a quarter of your population has diabetes or is at risk, that screams for prime-time address. Obama has made no dent in farm subsidies that help agribusiness overproduce worthless calories, help Coke, Pepsi, McDonalds rank among most profitable companies for trash food and drinks. Capitol Hill must cut fat of subsidies, impose taxes on trash food producers, support cities and suburbs in redesigning streets, parks to support people who want to cycle or go out for a run and children who want to play outside.

By Derrick Z. Jackson

The Boston Globe 2009-08-01

Opinion: Factory safety lapses - fatal or not - no joking matter

Instead of pointless puns in bad taste, those writing about death of 29-year-old temporary worker in New Jersey chocolate factory (click 'See also') should have used their influence to highlight risks of injury in food factories and how they can be minimized. Helping to prevent even just one fatality would be magnificent achievement. Fifty-one deaths in food manufacturing were reported last year.

By Mike Stones

nutraingredients.com/Decision News Media 2009-07-13

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Opinion: Recession tosses poor to fraying safety net of friends, family

Friends, family form safety net for growing number of newly poor - until poverty depletes entire social networks. One couple moved in with the wife's mother while awaiting Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (still called welfare) and after their 7-year-old's response of school assignment - what she would wish of genie - was deemed too disturbing to be displayed: Her wish was for her mother to find a job because there was nothing to eat in the house.

By Barbara Ehrenreich

The New York TImes 2009-07-11

Opinion: Changing the food system, one meal at a time

Solutions to myriad problems with industrial food system aren't simple, and they may mean paying more for what we eat. But that could mean costs savings for fewer cases of diabetes, other diet-related diseases. We have power, the film, 'Food, Inc.' points out: 'You can vote to change the system three times a day.'

By Nicholas D. Kristof

The New York Times 2009-06-20

Opinion: Losing ability to tax 'entertainment' edibles

Idea that junk foods (those high in salt, fat and empty carbohydrates but low in nutrients) can escape tax category of entertainment products like cigarettes or booze gives unfair tax and price advantage to non-nutritious edibles over real food. Joining feds' scheme that harmonizes provincial and federal sales taxes means Ontario is giving up a cost-neutral way to shift behavior toward healthier choices, lower medical expenses. 'Pseudo-foods' account for about 31 per cent of supermarket sales.

By Wayne Roberts

Now Magaine (Toronto) 2009-04-08

Putting food on the table between poverty, destitution

In stations between poverty, destitution, rural poor turn increasingly to 'food auctions,' which offer items that may be past sell-by dates. Others supplement diet with urban hunting, shooting squirrels and rabbits and eating them stewed, baked and grilled; in Detroit, retired truck driver has brisk business in raccoon carcasses, which he recommends marinating with vinegar and spices.

By Barbara Ehrenreich

The New York Times 2009-06-14

Opinion: Fighting malnutrition of poverty with fortified foods

Chronic malnutrition in West Africa worsened by high food prices, less money sent home from workers abroad. Lack of micronutrients - iron, zinc, vitamin A, iodine - last year may have caused extra 44 million children permanent impairment. Americans typically get micronutrients from fortified foods; same strategy possible in Africa. And: Adding iodide to salt could increase global IQ 1 billion points (click 'See also').

By Nicholas D. Kristof

The New York Times 2009-05-26

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Opinion: Line crossed with university president's Monsanto job

Opinion: Line crossed with university president's Monsanto job

Conflict-of-interest line crossed when South Dakota State University president took part-time job on Monsanto board for nearly $400,000 annually. David Chicoine likens new job to consulting work of professors at public universities for publicly held companies. In fiscal years 2008 and so far in 2009, Monsanto has paid SDSU about $421,000 and has been paid about $216,000. Monsanto contributes millions for agricultural research and infrastructure at Land Grant universities around nation.

By Alan Guebert

Lincoln Journal Star (NE) 2009-04-26

Opinion: Reform health care by preventing diet-related chronic disease

Treating diet-related chronic disease accounts for 75 cents of every health care dollar, or $1.65 trillion in 2007, and 83 percent of Medicaid, 96 percent of Medicare. Nearly half of Americans have one or more chronic diseases; productivity loss is $1 trillion-plus per year. Though programs that reduce childhood obesity will cost money today, they will prevent heart disease 30 years later; feds must expand current 10-year time frame to determine true impact of healthier choices.

By Tommy G. Thompson

Politico 2009-04-30

Opinion: EPA must rescind OK of fungicide label touting

EPA must reverse its OK of supplemental label on soy, corn fungicide that suggests product improves 'plant health' in face of climate change stresses. Agency should demand proof of claims before approving any label, or programs to help farmers use fewer pesticides will be sabotaged. Label also will encourage massive applications of potent chemical on land where it isn't needed. And it opens floodgates for manufacturers of similar products.

By James E. McWilliams

Slate 2009-04-21

Opinion: Siphoning spectacular profits from Florida's aquifers

Despite water shortage, Florida state water managers allow Nestle, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and the like to siphon and bottle nearly two billion gallons annually from fresh springs, aquifers for puny fee, then sell it for a huge per-unit profit. Although agriculture draws billions of gallons from the same sources, few ranches or farms enjoy spectacular profits that water bottlers do. And: Bottling cash in Florida (click 'See also').

By Carl Hiaasen

The Miami Herald 2009-03-08

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Opinion: Food marketing a slow-motion tragedy for our children

Obama and Congress should, with urgency second only to oncoming regulation of tobacco, enact emergency federal rules to ban trash-food marketing that is consuming our children. Federal nutrition programs are feeble whisper against trash food marketing; 44 top food/beverage companies in 2006 spent $1.6 billion in marketing mostly soda, fast food, and cereals to youths. Voluntary marketing limits are the wink of wolves.

By Derrick Z. Jackson

Boston Globe 2009-04-11

Opinion: Revamp school lunches to reflect diet-health link

As politicians debate bonuses and bailouts, surely we can agree that improving children's health is best investment for nation's future. Congress should ensure that USDA selects foods for school lunches based on current scientific evidence about role of diet in health. And: Federal nutrition programs are feeble whisper against howling scream of trash food marketing, writes columnist (click 'See also').

By Kathryn Strong

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine/The Miami Herald 2009-04-09

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Opinion: First Garden drives shovel into heart of American icon

With incredible, edible garden, Obamas aren't just eating the view, they are eating the lawn. At 40 million acres, lawns are largest agricultural sector in America. They consume 270 billion gallons of water a week, enough for 81 million acres of organic vegetables. We spend $40 billion a year on seed, sod, and chemicals for them; they are the populist enemy.

By Ellen Goodman

The Boston Globe 2009-03-27

Opinion: Switch from fish to land-based feed for pigs, poultry, pets

To maintain foundation of ocean's life, stop feeding small 'forage' fish to animals (click 'See also'), and farmed salmon, limit land-based livestock to land-grown feed, globally. Pork industry consumes 24 percent of fish meal and oil; poultry takes as much as 22 percent; pets, because chicken in pet food were fed fish, uses 10 percent of global supply. Swine, poultry industries will it costs too much. But once we used whales for fertilizer.

By Paul Greenberg

The New York Times 2009-03-22

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Opinion: ID chips for livestock would cripple local food movement

National Animal Identification System, with high-tech ID chips, would reward factory farms and their use of antibiotics, confinement and unnatural feeding practices by requiring one tag per herd of poultry or swine, while crippling small farms (which supply local food movement) by requiring one tag per animal. Other beneficiaries: Meat exporters, manufacturers of animal tracking systems. Better plan: Limit industrial agriculture, stimulate growth of small farms, backyard food production. And: Mad cow scare of 2003 sped development of NAIS (click 'See also').

By Shannon Hayes

The New York Times 2009-03-11

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Opinion: One cost of cheap bacon may be fiery saucer-sized lesions in people

Doctor in tiny town sees link to hog farms and fiery, saucer-sized lesions of MRSA (superbugs, or flesh-eating bacteria) in too many patients. Infections likely came from routine overuse of antibiotics in feed. Our model of agriculture produces cheap bacon but evidence is building that shows it risks our health. And: Factory-farm pigs are infused with huge range of antibiotics and vaccines and doused with insecticides so they can survive in confined spaces; they are in state of dying until they're slaughtered (click 'See also').

By Nicholas D. Kristof

The New York Times 2009-03-12

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Opinion: Replanting White House garden no small potatoes

Opinion: Replanting White House garden no small potatoes

Peter Sellers as Chance the gardener in Jerzy Kosinski's 'Being There.

Just as Chance the gardener inspires country in 'Being There,' so did Eleanor Roosevelt's planting of Victory Garden. Barack Obama could show similar wisdom by replanting edible garden on White House lawn. We grew $2,200 of produce in our modest garden last summer; more than 50 million American households with similar yards could be making homegrown savings of their own.

By Roger Doiron

Chicago Tribune 2009-03-01

Opinion: Splitting the check for fresh school lunches

Opinion: Splitting the check for fresh school lunches

ANP

Click 'See also' for youtube video.

New, fresh school lunch program should funded by Department of Education, USDA. It would bring long-term savings, benefits to society in areas of hunger, children's health and dietary habits, food safety, environmental preservation and energy conservation. And: Lobbyists outnumber scientists at recent Institute of Medicine school lunch meeting (click 'See also').

By Alice Waters

The New York Times 2009-02-19

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Opinion: School lunch program gives agribusiness chokehold on children

Ties between feds and commodities industry, abetted by poor nutritional choices made by state and local food service officials, results in chicken nugget-pizza menus at school. With renewal of Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act, we must improve nutrition and quality of school food requirements; weaken school lunches-commodities markets link; and educate school officials, regulators and public. And: Primer on upcoming bill (click 'See also').

By Kathleen Rogers

San Francisco Chronicle 2009-01-30

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Opinion: FDA fails us in oversight of food supply safety

FDA regulatory breakdowns are systemic, result of divided attention, lack of communication and executive branch support, understaffing. To make government work (click 'See also'), Obama must fix food safety. Move food monitoring to DHS; create Commissioner of Food and Nutrition Policy; add inspectors; give FDA authority to regulate industry, bestow harsher penalties.

By Caroline Smith DeWaal

Newsday 2009-02-01

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Opinion: Don't force-feed us calorie information

Harping on calories doesn't help when family members do it, and is trite, presumptive, costly when government does. Making restaurants post calorie counts - goal of new Massachusetts program to combat obesity - is ineffective (click 'See also'), infringes on liberties, paves way for warning labels on Oreos and government-dictated diets.

By Jeff Jacoby

The Boston Globe 2009-01-11

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Opinion: Securing agriculture's near, far future

Current agriculture methods unsustainable, as is food supply, which - unlike economy - cannot be salvaged with government money. Farmers must return to crop rotations, use grazing animals, pasture, hay, and perennialize major grain crops. Feds must provide 50-year farm bill to combat soil degradation, fossil fuel dependence, pollution, greenhouse gases, loss of rural jobs.

By Wes Jackson and Wendell Berry

The New York Times 2009-01-04

Opinion: Use science, not ideology to map food, farm policy

Our consumer economy runs on cheap food. Though USDA should support research on sustainable and organic agriculture, embracing science is crucial to long-term food and farm policy that keeps food safe, inexpensive without wrecking environment, say former Sen. George McGovern and Marshall Matz, of World Food Program.

By George McGovern and Marshall Matz

Chicago Tribune 2009-01-04

Opinion: Soda tax, universally adapted, could make us healthier

Diabetes epidemic costs $218 billion each year -- $1,900 per household - and contributes to deaths of 200,000-plus Americans, so risky behavior includes extra-large sodas. New York's proposed 18 percent tax on soft drinks could help make us healthier, just as cigarette tax has lowered lung cancer rates. Nutrition specialist says cola industry will spend vast sums fighting proposed tax. And: How food industry discredits critics (click 'See also').

By Nicholas D. Kristof

The New York Times 2008-12-18

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Opinion: Reframe, reform USDA with secretary of food

Obama needs secretary of food, not USDA - to address health care, climate change, energy independence. 'Department of Food' would give primacy to America's 300 million eaters, cut influence of industrial farm lobby, which inflicts unhealthy food on children through school lunches and exacerbates crisis of obesity, diabetes. And: Petition lists terrific reformist candidates (click 'See also').

By Nicholas D. Kristof

The New York Times 2008-12-11

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Opinion: Tiny changes, big benefits in brainpower

Adding 1 billion points to global IQ is as simple as adding iodine to salt, and Canada leads way with Micronutrient Initiative, which also advocates adding vitamin A, iron, zinc and folic acid to diets. Simple technology improves lives at low cost and in short time, says World Bank.

By Nicholas D. Kristof

The New York Times 2008-12-04

Opinion: Capitalism plus regulatory vacuum tempts scandals

American food supply is flawed but China's present is our past. Tainted milk scandal mirrors New York's in the mid 19th century, when up to 8,000 babies died each year. Large-scale adulteration requires fast-growing get-rich-quick economy coupled with regulatory vacuum. Scandals are symptomatic of a deep failure of politics.

By Bee Wilson

The New York Times 2008-09-30

Opinion: How does Wall Street rate over hungry Americans?

If Congress can conjure up vast sums for Wall Street bailout, why, when we speak urgently of a fraying social net, of charities reeling and empty food pantries, of tens of millions of Americans (the types who clean the likes of AIG and Freddie Mac at night) without food and shelter, is there not a penny available? Our nation's priorities are in the wrong place.

By Joel Berg

The Washington Post 2008-09-28

Opinion: Growing food, conserving water can dovetail

California must work toward planned, efficient agricultural sector, long-term protections for land and water resources, and production of more high-valued crops grown with efficient irrigation systems. State must support farmers by implementing policies, incentives that support water conservation and efficiency.

By Heather Cooley and Juliet Christian-Smith

San Francisco Chronicle 2008-09-08

Opinion: Beyond grief to real food, rights and political demands

To kick fast-food addiction and re-establish relationship with what's good for us and for planet, we must move beyond grief cycle (denial, anger, depression, bargaining, acceptance) and, through actions in our lives, understand that real food is a right. Next step is demanding action from political leaders. And: To comment on the Healthy Food and Agriculture Declaration, click 'See also.'

By Katrina Heron

San Francisco Chronicle 2008-08-17

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Opinion: Solving global food crisis is moral obligation

Opinion: Solving global food crisis is moral obligation

Joe Biden

Food crisis did not come without warning. It's unacceptable morally and unsustainable politically, economically. The U.S. must reinvest in agriculture development, organize institutions to address food challenge, re-examine food policies and consider global compact that eliminates food tariffs for poorest.

By Joe Biden

The Miami Herald; biden.senate.gov 2008-05-23

Opinion: Organic farming needs genetic engineering, and vice versa

To secure future of food, combine genetic engineering with organic farming to grow more with less harm to environment and to farm workers, says plant pathology professor, organic farmer's wife. Pesticides more harmful than genetic engineering, she says. And: Food prices, shortages pressure those who resist genetically engineered crops (click 'See also').

By Pamela Ronald

The Boston Globe 2008-03-16

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Opinion: Thinking inside the box, and green

Wine producers everywhere need to follow Italy's lead and deliver better wine in a box. With U.S. poised to become largest market, consumers need to demand the switch to lighter packaging. It's the environmental and affordable thing to do. Once open, a box preserves wine for about four weeks, compared to a day or two for a bottle.

By Tyler Colman

The New York Times 2008-08-17

Opinion: Toward food security in Latin America

Latin America is major food producer, but sometimes must import to prevent shortages. Political left turn was tied to food problem - Brazil's 'Zero Hunger' plan, Argentina's price controls, Venezuela's land reform. Assuring food security must avoid protectionism and requires new international regime of free trade for agricultural commodities.

By Khatchik Der Ghougassian

Journal of Turkish Weekly 2008-08-18

Opinion: With 100 months left before tipping point, every choice matters

With irreversible climate change expected in 100 months, everything we do matters. Individuals alone can't re-engineer Britain's fossil-fuel-dependent food, transport and energy systems; government must lead. Between 1938 and 1944, economy was re-engineered and there were dramatic cuts in resource use and household consumption. How countdown was calculated (click 'See also').

By Andrew Simms

The Guardian (UK) 2008-08-01

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Opinion: Our right to know nutrition information

Obesity is a public health disaster and is threatening our children. About half of Americans' food budget is spent at restaurants. If we can force oil companies to tell us octane level of fuel for our cars, surely we can demand that fast-food and restaurant chains tell us what we're putting into our bodies.

By Harold Goldstein and Eric Schlosser

Los Angeles Times 2008-08-05

Opinion: Feeding hungry planet begins with freer trade

Collapse of trade talks indicates revolution in way we see economics of agriculture, and it should be reflected in freer trade. It's time for U.S. to let markets and need determine what farmers grow and how they farm - and lead by example. And: Doha failed after U.S., India and China couldn't agree on farmer protections in developing countries (click 'See also').

By Victor Davis Hanson

The New York Times 2008-08-01

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Opinion: Of respect for animals and childhood on farm

Opinion: Of respect for animals and childhood on farm

www.bird-friends.com

Proposition 2, which would ban factory farms in California from using small pens or cages, brings to mind childhood on Oregon farm. Of animals raised for food, two provided pause: Pigs, with their characters and obvious intelligence; and geese, many of which could overcome panic at slaughter time to step away from flock and comfort a doomed mate.

By Nicholas D. Kristof

The New York Times 2008-07-31

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Opinion: Growing a kitchen garden on White House lawn

Considering rising cost of food, the carbon footprint, the food shortage, the moral queasiness about biofuels, food safety issues and the Midwest floods, activist wants to see next president think global, eat local - from the 18-acre yard of the White House.

By Ellen Goodman

International Herald Tribune 2008-07-04

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Opinion: Not feeding the hungry is a moral issue

From our efficient, automated food stamp program, we have learned that current benefits run out the third week of every month. Price tag of hunger to American society is about $90 billion a year; ending hunger in U.S. would cost $10-12 billion a year. What added moral hazard could a full month of eating create?

By Michael Gerson

The Washington Post 2008-07-09

Opinion: Sustainable farming would help prevent flood disasters

Mother Nature may send us gully washers, but we have added to the devastation by draining wetlands, plowing up waterways and planting only corn and soybeans. Sustainable agriculture, with its ethic of conservation and stewardship, can help prevent future catastrophes.

By Denise O'Brien and Larry Harris

The Des Moines Register 2008-06-22

Opinion: Cheap bananas could soon be only a memory

Opinion: Cheap bananas could soon be only a memory

Big Stock Photo

Virulent banana fungus threatens single variety shipped around the world, but big banana companies have been slow to seek cure or diversify crop by preserving little-known varieties that grow in Africa and Asia. That means bananas could become, to our pocketbooks, the exotic luxuries that they are.

By Dan Koeppel

The New York Times 2008-06-18

Opinion: There's plenty of grain to go around

Feeding the hungry with subsidized American corn shipped in American ships may not be best answer. Despite woes, world has never come close to outpacing its ability to produce food. But success depends on portion control, since most grain grown is eaten by livestock, which in turn is eaten by the affluent and also is craved by growing middle class in China and India.

By Donald G. McNeil Jr.

The New York Times 2008-06-15

Opinion: Look past diet-related disease to real problems of poverty

Childhood obesity may be caused from overeating, but more often it signals malnutrition and/or inadequate availability of fresh food in their neighborhoods, or unsafe play spaces, dysfunctional relationships at home, lack of health care, or parents who are uneducated about nutrition principles or time/meal planning.

By Laura Scott

The Kansas City Star 2008-05-30

Opinion: For future of salmon, stop eating it

Wild salmon collapse sends message: Don't eat it. Farm-raised is no better: Offshore net-cages dot long stretches of the west coast of the Americas. In Chile, overcrowding in those feedlots led to epidemic salmon anemia, fatal to millions of fish; in Canada, which supplies U.S. with 40 percent of its farmed salmon, sea-lice - a type of parasite - breed on farmed fish and then infect wild pink salmon.

By Taras Grescoe

The New York Times 2008-06-09

Opinion: Tending the ecosystem to feed the food system

Despite crisis, there is little attention to underpinning of all of our food systems - biodiversity and services provided by ecosystems, such as soil, water and resilience to disasters. We must change food systems from existing manufactured model to more environmentally-friendly inputs. Other complications: inequitable trade rules, agricultural subsidies and marginalization of small producers.

By Gonzalo Oviedo

BBC News 2008-06-02

Opinion: Plowing a solution to the food crisis

As world grows hungrier, the Conservation Reserve Program, the ethanol mandate and the ban on drilling in the Arctic Natural Wildlife Refuge increasingly are out of step. Arable land is an economic and humanitarian resource. President Bush should tell USDA to set aside the "set asides" and let America's farmers make hay while the sun is shining.

By Ashby M. Foote III

The Clarion-Ledger (MS) 2008-05-25

Opinion: That which must not be mentioned

Obesity, beyond health risks including diabetes, joint pain, congestive heart failure, strokes, back pain, sleep apnea and depression, is also about root causes and society's denial. As a physician, let me 'not fail to see what is visible.' If obesity is not going to be confronted honestly in a medical setting, where will that difficult conversation take place?

By Jeremy Brown

The Washington Post 2008-05-25

Opinion: Turn oven on, TV off

We may be a busy nation, but the same American who has just 30 minutes for the kitchen is somehow finding 240 minutes each day to watch TV. If we're serious about reclaiming control of our food from industrial companies and giving food the priority it deserves, the kitchen is where we have to start.

By Paul Roberts

Los Angeles Times 2008-05-21

Opinion: Icing on the cake

Farm/food bill will protect sugar industry from free trade. Bill also will require government to buy sugar at inflated rates and sell it cheaply for ethanol production. Sugar policy estimated to cost taxpayers $1.9 billion a year in high prices, plus another $1 billion-plus in the next decade for other programs used to prop up prices.

By Jay Hancock

The Baltimore Sun 2008-05-16

Opinion: Eating for the war

When we buy Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Coca-Cola, or Oscar Mayer hot dogs, all of which are typical defense department contractors, we are supporting growing civilian-oriented military economy and growing militarized civilian economy. More companies are going to war, and, by the flow of our dollars, ever more of us are going to war with them.

By Nick Turse

Los Angeles Times 2008-05-09

Opinion: Flavoring the revolution

Great cooking requires good farming and a healthy environment, because care required for sustainable agriculture yields good flavor and nutrition. To increase demand for good food, we must consider cost per nutrient value, not cost per quantity. Small farms are not a nostalgic notion; the high cost of oil requires a graceful move into a post-industrial agriculture economy.

By Dan Barber

The New York Times 2008-05-11

Opinion: One order of protection, please

As Burger King spying case shows, we need a Bill of Rights that defends us against irresponsible corporate power. The fast-food chain says it obtained information about a college group to prevent violence. But it is a pacifist nonprofit inspired by Martin Luther King Jr., and supported by Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation, Presbyterian Church and a Catholic peace movement.

By Eric Schlosser

The New York Times 2008-05-07

Opinion: No lunch for poor children?

Feeding hungry children, always a priority in poor countries, is urgently needed now. Why is Congress reducing program funding by 90 percent while increasing overall farm/food bill spending by billions? School lunch program increases attendance rates and student productivity; girls marry later and birthrates are reduced.

By George McGovern and Bob Dole

The Washington Post 2008-05-06

Opinion: Garden for homeland security

Food again is vital to our national security. We don't want a repeat of food riots that occurred during the Civil War, the Panic of 1893, and the Great Depression. As it did in World War I, government should allocate funds to promote national school, home and community gardening. Back then, Uncle Sam said, "Garden!" and millions of Americans picked up their hoes.

By Daniel J. Desmond and Rose Hayden-Smith

Ventura County Star 2008-05-04

Opinion: Fixing food

U.S. must invest appropriately in farmers at home and in agricultural development in the developing world, and open world markets to more liberalized food trade to create stable and affordable food supply and stable income for farmers around the world. Congress must replenish wheat stocks, OK crisis food aid and 'buy local' pilot plan, and strive for greener biofuels.

By Jake Caldwell

The Washington Post 2008-04-30

Opinion: Hunger and a policy mistake

As food prices rise, wheat rust spores blow in the wind and threaten a crop that provides 20 percent of the food calories for the world's people. We all lose if U.S. ends support for international agricultural research centers that study this and other problems. It is tantamount to the United States abandoning its pledge to help halve world hunger by 2015.

By Norman E. Borlaug

The New York Times 2008-04-26

Opinion: Two views on diner duty

Waffles and sausage, Philly cheese steak and pancakes: Barack Obama keeps carbo-loading to connect to the common folk, but it's clear he is yearning to get back to his organic scrambled egg whites. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is a woman who drinks shots of Crown Royal, a luxury brand that at least one pundit thinks is another name for Old Prole Rotgut Rye (click 'See also').

By Maureen Dowd

The New York Times 2008-04-23

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Opinion: What we sow

Tell everyone in Congress that they should vote on the farm/food bill as if the nation's health, future and security is at stake - it is. If proposed bill becomes law, agribusiness gets the most subsidies despite its damage to our health and the environment. Consider payments of $450,000 for construction of lined "lagoons" to hold factory farms' animal sewage; $4 billion for 'disasters' for those who plant corn, wheat in drought- and erosion-prone land.

By Daniel Imhoff

Los Angeles Times 2008-04-10

Opinion: Baby faces of hunger

Food, energy prices affecting our most vulnerable children; increase seen in anemic and underweight babies in cities, indicating later limits on their educational achievement and impaired ability to work. Food stamps won't pay for a healthy diet. Policies that help low-income children succeed belong on all candidates' agendas.

By Mariana Chilton and John Cook

The Inquirer (PA) 2008-04-01

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Opinion: Food crisis

Feeding the hungry is priority in food crisis, but cheap food may be gone. Problem was caused by long-term trends, bad luck and bad policy. Iraq war has reduced oil supplies. China is hungry for meat, which requires more grain. Australian drought is likely linked to climate change inaction. Biofuels craze is speeding deforestation and taking food acreage.

By Paul Krugman

The New York Times 2008-04-07

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Opinion: Budgeting willpower

Belt-tightening may lead to weight gain, since willpower is depleted when people control themselves, when they modify behavior, or when their blood sugar drops. In one study, those who ate radishes before attempting an impossible puzzle quit earlier than those who ate chocolate chip cookies. Foods that maintain blood sugar levels (those containing protein or complex carbohydrates) might enhance willpower for longer periods.

By Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang

The New York Times 2008-04-02

Opinion: Too much consolidation

In rush to consolidate beef packing industry, there's the danger of scale. Cautionary tales: First, Tyson, with overseas poultry production, causing a consortium of smaller producers to lobby for Country of Origin Labeling. Second, glyphosate weed killer production in China that drove all but Monsanto's Roundup out of business. Third, Monsanto now has monopoly on the weed killer, as well as genetically modified seeds.

By Eric Nelson

The Prairie Star (MT) 2008-03-27

Opinion: Silent cost of global growing

Opinion: Silent cost of global growing

Marie Read/Cornell Lab of Orthinology

Bobolink populations have dropped by half in 40 years; pesticides are suspected.

Our appetite for year-'round vegetables and grains is killing our songbirds with pesticides. In Latin America, pesticide use, much of it banned in U.S., is up fivefold since the '80s; one application can kill seven to 25 songbirds per acre. Fruits, vegetables from Latin America are three times as likely to violate EPA standards for pesticide residues as the same foods grown in U.S. Best bird-safe buys? Organic coffee, bananas, and nothing imported from Latin America that's not organic.

By Bridget Stutchbury

The New York Times 2008-03-30

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Opinion: Worth of a child

The grinding work of fighting climate change is expensive and a distraction from needs of today, and children usually get stiffed (they are poorer than the elderly). But it is insurance against the chance of an unfathomable future of environmental disruption, species extinction and hunger.

By Eduardo Porter

The New York Times 2008-03-14

Opinion: It's not the tainted meat, it's the meat

Problems with meat don't stem from one slaughterhouse, but beef recall is chance to re-think school lunch. The USDA buys millions of pounds of surplus beef, pork, chicken and other high-fat meat products to distribute to schools, and not enough fruits, vegetables and other plant-based foods. Report predicts that by 2010, nearly half our children will be overweight or obese. As diet-related disease takes hold, they run risk of being the first generation to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.

By Roberta S. Gray, M.D.

The Sun (CA) 2008-02-26

Opinion: This bill's not for us

Kansas Senate committee considers anti-labeling bill for dairy products, led by agribusiness and biotech giant Monsanto, which manufactures the genetically engineered growth hormone rbST. Critics say that shoppers are looking for more information, not less, about their food, down to which farm provided which pound of hamburger.

By Mike Hendricks

The Kansas City Star 2008-02-28

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Opinion: Illicit eggplant?

Opinion: Illicit eggplant?

Karla Cook/thefoodtimes

Despite demand for local foods, government punishes farmers who usually grow subsidized corn, soybeans, rice, wheat and cotton if they plant fruits and vegetables instead. Those farmers must forfeit their subsidy, are fined the market value of the illicit crop and run the risk that those acres will be permanently ineligible for subsidies. Local and regional fruit and vegetable production will languish anywhere this program has influence.

By Jack Hedin

The New York Times 2008-03-01

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Opinion: Tainted beef and systemic problem

It's time to put the health and well-being of America's eaters, animals and food industry workers first. The $70-billion-a-year meat business is largely controlled by four corporations with political clout that shows in: blocking universal testing for mad cow disease; coaxing regulators to speed up processing lines, and reducing the role and number of inspectors in plants.

By Christopher D. Cook

Los Angeles Times 2008-02-24

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Opinion: We, the obese

Opinion: We, the obese

robertstjohn.com

As Mississippi legislators consider a bill that bans obese customers from eating in restaurants, restaurateur and writer predicts he and other fat people will scout out the non-weighing restaurants (likely all-you-can-eat buffets), which would give those spots an unfair competitive advantage. But he does want a quota on green-bean casseroles for covered-dish suppers.

By Robert St. John

The Meridian Star 2008-02-06

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Opinion: Toward rational discourse

Our failure to face GMO technology on level beyond rhetorical passion comes with failure to bring its benefits to those who might benefit most, professor writes. Cloning, too, could produce products that are safer, healthier and tastier -- bacon that has heart-protective Omega 3's, say, or milk from stronger cows that need fewer antibiotics.

By James E. McWilliams

The New York Times 2008-02-05

Opinion: Hunting for approval

Literature of localism omits hunters, the original locavores, who manage and harvest a sustainable, healthful food supply from the lands we love. Maintaining the ability to cull semi-rural and suburban deer herds, which annually injure 29,000 people in deer-vehicle collisions, and infect 13,000 Americans with Lyme disease, is just one of our challenges.

By Steven Rinella

The New York Times 2007-12-14

Opinion: Dickens-worthy

Burger King, lauded for its animal welfare position on chickens and hogs, refuses to go along with penny a pound pay increase for migrant tomato pickers in South Florida, and suggests that if they want better pay, they should apply to work at restaurants.

By Eric Schlosser

The New York Times 2007-11-29

Opinion: Fat problem

Regarding the government's report on food insecurity, know that it's not the same as true hunger, that most occurrences are episodic, and that many people reporting food insecurity are obese, not because they can't afford beans or milk, but because they eat too much sugary, fatty food and exercise too little.

By Robert Rector

National Review 2007-11-21

Opinion: Choice-free in PA

Bucking consumer demand and aligning himself with big dairy farmers and the chemical manufacturer, Monsanto, Pennsylvania agriculture secretary announces crackdown on "absence labeling" on milk. He bans labeling of dairy products not containing rBST, the artificial growth hormone. Ohio considers similar measure.

By Andrew Martin

The New York Times 2007-11-11

Opinion: Coming hunger

China and India, with burgeoning populations, face changing climate, water shortages and diminishing farmlands, and must boldly address pollution problems and infrastructure needs or they will be big customers on the world commodities market in 30 years.

By Hari Sud

United Press International 2007-11-06

Opinion: Food access

To combat "food deserts," where low-income residents have no full-service grocery store within a half-mile of home, apply the same policies some cities use to create affordable housing - as part of any development or expansion, a company must build in underserved areas or pay into a fund to subsidize retailers that will.

By Amanda Shaffer and Robert Gottlieb

Los Angeles Times 2007-11-05

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Opinion: Funding Twinkies

Existing farm/food bill fosters obesity and diabetes by subsidizing cheap junk food and fast food and encourages land, water and meat pollution by rewarding feedlot production of livestock and fence-row to fence-row cultivation of only a few crops. Then, its authors comfort critics with extra funds for nutrition programs and environmental cleanup.

By Michael Pollan

The New York Times 2007-11-04

Opinion: Hunger relief

Food aid, a key provision of the farm/food bill, saves lives in natural disasters and emergencies, but it also addresses chronic hunger and fosters long-term development overseas and needs half the funds reserved for those projects, say Catholic archbishop and bishop.

By Wilton D. Gregory and J. Kevin Boland

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 2007-11-02

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Opinion: Again?

This federal relic of a farm bill should be disavowed by Republicans because it's against free markets, self-reliance and small government, and shunned by Democrats because bit payouts are going to the rich. But agribusiness lobbyists fund politicians' campaigns, so politicians promise dollars.

By Victor Davis Hanson

Chicago Tribune; Tribune News Services 2007-11-02

Opinion: Fish vs kids

A report that encourages pregnant women to increase fish consumption was a "classic example of industry-driven marketing under the cloak of scientific research," according to aquaculture advocate, who argues that the research mistakenly downplayed risk of exposing a fetus to mercury.

By Andrea Kavanagh

Los Angeles Times 2007-10-31

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Opinion: Strategic thinking

To ensure success of bloated and antiquated bill that fills coffers of richest farmers, simply link it to the bill that helps 25 mostly urban and suburban million people with emergency food aid annually and the 4 million who rely on food pantries and soup kitchens every week, author says.

2007-10-22

Opinion: Label it

Bill requiring labels for cloned meats and milk is a small step in the right direction; FDA's movement toward no-label approval based on part, from biotech company data, is a slippery slope toward other questionable biotech products including human genes.

By Osagie K. Obasogie and Pete Shanks

San Francisco Chronicle 2007-10-05

Opinion: Water woe

Scrutinizing food ingredients is crucial, but because the water we drink is the same as the water in our toilets, we tolerate the presence of chemicals that would be banned as food additives; it's time to filter drinking water for all.

By Robert D. Morris

The New York Times 2007-10-03

OPINION

Current agricultural policies distort food costs, waste billions of taxpayer dollars, and subsidize a handful of large farming operations that raise a few selected crops - and subvert subsistence farmers across the globe by dumping cheap surplus goods at below-market prices.

By Senator Richard Lugar and Representative Ron Kind

The Modesto Bee (CA) 2007-07-15

OPINION

Diet rich in high-fat, low-nutrient junk food and meals made outside the home, plus parents' extra hours of work are combining to shorten and widen our children in comparison to others in developed countries around the world, study suggests.

By Paul Krugman

The New York Times (may require subscription)

Opinion: Cash bind

In food/farm bill dilemma, cash-free approach for farmers' markets offers vast benefits for those requiring public assistance, but it puts small growers in a bind -- card readers and infrastructure are prohibitively expensive to buy and maintain.

By Corby Kummer

The New York Times 2007-05-10