Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released its annual “Guide to Pesticides in Produce,” also known as the “Dirty Dozen” list. This publication analyzes data from tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Food and Drug Administration on 47,510 samples of 46 fruits and vegetables. This year, EWG determined that 75% of all […]

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has awarded 26 Choose Iowa Value-Added Grants totaling $463,000. These cost-share grants, which match up to $25,000 per project, were created to assist Iowa farmers, businesses, and nonprofits in increasing or diversifying their agricultural product offerings, expanding markets, and shortening supply chains. This year’s grants will support […]

A study led by an assistant professor at MIT and published in the journal Nature Climate Change showed that properly managed grazing can increase the amount of carbon that gets stored in the ground and sequestered. However, grazing too intensely causes soil erosion that results in grazing land becoming a net carbon source, rather than […]

Exploring Soils: Resources to understand the role of soil health in sustainable food systems is a new soil health curriculum available from the Integrated Rocky Mountain-region Innovation Center for Healthy Soils (IN-RICHES). The 16-page publication provides a starting point from which to think critically and holistically about the soils as the foundation for sustainable and […]

The Rhode Island Food Policy Council has released a first-of-its-kind resource designed to help Rhode Islanders make sense of critical trends affecting the state’s food system. The RI Food System Factbook shares data on over 40 different indicators across five areas of food system health and well-being: Food Economy, Food Access & Security, Agriculture & […]