News from Mother: Cultivating Better Agriculture

Image Gallery Homegrown 'Trust' tomatoes AMY KLIPPENSTEIN & PAUL LACINSKI

The culture, creature comforts and democratic society we enjoy today are all made possible by the fact that many centuries ago, humans found ways to produce more food than their families needed. Having surplus food, and discovering ways to store and protect it, meant that some people could turn their attention to activities beyond subsistence farming, and our “advanced” civilizations are the result.

Yet today, some of us have too much food, while others still die of starvation. Soil damage, deforestation, depleted water supplies and pollution from agriculture are severe problems around the globe. And to boot, the industrialization of agriculture is steadily reducing the nutritional content and flavor of our food (see our groundbreaking report, “Shocking News About Meat”).

Our online reader surveys tell us you are very interested in food quality and agriculture issues (everybody has to eat, right?), and that’s why we’ve assembled a special section on these topics. It begins with an essay by Barbara Kingsolver about the value of knowing the farmers who grow your food, from her newest book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Next is a viewpoint about How Farm Policy Affects Us All, plus an op-ed by Farm Aid president Willie Nelson, followed by a report on the controversial National Animal ID System.