Agritourism trail spotlights Black farms in Southwest Georgia - AJC
This article is pretty much exactly what the headline indicates: it’s about a tour of Black owned farms near Albany, Georgia, complete with on farm and culinary experiences. The article also highlights the great work of Shirley Sherrod – a name you should be familiar with. This tour is just another one of Sherrod’s many contributions to Georgia agriculture.
One interesting nugget here is that you can book this tour through AirBnB. No excuses now!
Food Deserts Are Deliberate, But Black Farmers Are Fighting Back - Word In Black
Great article that highlights Bobby Wilson of Metro Atlanta Urban Farm. This article explains how redlining worked and what the long term ramifications have been for Black communities – specifically in health and wealth outcomes – in simple terms, while highlighting folks like Bobby who are doing their best to counter the harmful effects.
Georgia Organics celebrates 25 years - AJC
Congrats to our friends at Georgia Organics! They’re celebrating their 25th anniversary this weekend with “Roast & Toast” from 3-6 p.m. June 26. As part of their celebration, they will also give out some awards to some fine folks in organic agriculture - including our dear friend, drummer and arborist Robby Astrove. Here’s more info and a link to buy tickets.
Fewer meat packers threatens our national security - Fox News
There are so many reasons why fewer meat packers are bad for the country – they hurt the economy, push small farmers and ranchers out of business, create environmental problems, have serious labor issues, and on and on. This argument is a bit of a new one, for me anyway, and gets at a core question: who controls your food?
Here’s the key point: “If present trends continue, in the not-too-distant future, Americans will rely on foreign-owned corporations to feed their families.”
This article was co-written by a former CIA officer and a fourth-generation rancher. Pretty strong pedigree for making such an argument.
Federal Court Holds Glyphosate Registration Unlawful, Cites Cancer Risks, Endangered Species Risks - Center for Food Safety
This headline is a bit of a word salad, but basically it says the EPA can’t ignore evidence that glyphosate – the main ingredient in chemical herbicides like RoundUp – poses a cancer risk. The EPA will also be required to redo their environmental analysis. In a unanimous decision, the court agreed that "EPA did not adequately consider whether glyphosate causes cancer and shirked its duties under the Endangered Species Act."
And, in news that broke later in the week, the Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Bayer to shut down lawsuits claiming that Roundup causes cancer. Boom goes the dynamite.