Most recent documents

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Title A-Z Z-A	Author A-Z Z-A	Date 1-9 9-1
Farm Bill a Missed Opportunity	R. Dennis Olson/IATP	May 13, 2008
114k Document summary The 2008 Farm Bill is a missed opportunity to address the problems caused by market deregulation.
Oil and Tar Sand Basics	Bureau of Land Management	May 13, 2008
175k Document summary The Oil Shale and Tar Sands Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) evaluates potential impacts associated with oil shale and tar sands resources development on lands administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Based upon the information and analyses developed in this PEIS, the BLM will amend land use plans for these areas.
Minnesota's Bubble Economy: The Critical Need to Prevent our Farmland Boom from Busting	Lee Egerstrom	May 9, 2008
4755k Document summary Minnesota agriculture is riding high -- perhaps too high to be sustainable. Clearly, price bubbles are forming around farmland and commodities that threaten the long-term health of Minnesota's huge food and agriculture economy. A report from Minnesota 2020
Food, Water and Climate Challenges	Shiney Varghese/IATP	May 8, 2008
100k Document summary It is time for us to get serious about understanding the way climate change affects water resources for food production and conversely the way agricultural water use is leading to climate change.
Biofuel and Global Biodiversity	Dennis Keeney and Claudia Nanninga/IATP	May 6, 2008
755k Document summary Increasing production of crops for biofuels is exacerbating agriculture’s impact on biodiversity in many parts of the world.
Biomass-to-Liquid Biofuel Plant Opens in Germany	USDA -- GAIN	April 24, 2008
24k Document summary On April 17, 2008, the world's reportedly first commercial biomass-to-liquid (BtL) plant opened in Freiberg, Saxony in Eastern Germany. The owner company Choren Industries GmbH projects that it will take 8 to 12 months for the plant to reach its full annual capacity of 18 million liters. The plant will run on forest residue wood and waste timber. While BtL can be produced from cellulosic material, it is distinctly different from cellulosic ethanol, another second generation biofuel.
The Effects of Ethanol on Texas Food and Feed	David P. Anderson, Joe L. Outlaw, Henry L. Bryant, James W. Richardson, David P. Ernstes, J. Marc Raulston,	April 14, 2008
2285k Document summary A study by Texas A&M’s Agricultural and Food Policy Center illustrates corn prices have had little to do with rising food costs.
Patent Reform Letter to the Senate	18 farm groups including IATP	April 11, 2008
40k Document summary A letter to Senate leaders urging the passage of the Patent Reform Act of 2007, which would help level the playing field for farmers defending themselves against dubious claims of patent infringement.
Immigration Advocates Network (IAN)	IAN	April 3, 2008
30k Document summary Call to join a new national immigration network.
Farmer's Share	Farmers Union	March 26, 2008
6308k Document summary A chart showing what portion of the consumer food dollars goes to the farmer on selected products.
Self Employment in Rural America: The New Economic Reality	Stephan J. Goetz	March 25, 2008
1086k Document summary Self-employment is the new reality for a growing segment of the U.S. labor force, and more so in rural than in urban areas. Although self-employment potentially holds many opportunities for rural economies, earnings of the rural self-employed lag significantly and increasingly behind those of traditional workers. Without more coordinated supports and policy intervention, an economy built on self-employment may threaten a middle-class way of life.
The Emerging Water Crisis in the U.S.	Shiney Varghese/IATP	March 24, 2008
81k Document summary I am amazed: since last summer, almost every day we see at least one news story on another water crisis in the U.S.
Global Politics of Eating	Rachel Schurman	March 17, 2008
153k Document summary Course syllabus. This course is built on two key premises: first, that the production, distribution, and consumption of food involves power relationships among different groups of actors, and second, that one can gain great insights into these relationships through a sociological and political-economic analysis of food.
Impact of the Wal-Mart Phenomenon on Rural Communities	Kenneth E. Stone	March 13, 2008
72k Document summary There is strong evidence that rural communities in the United States have been more adversely impacted by the discount mass merchandisers (sometimes referred to as the Wal-Mart phenomenon) than by any other factors in recent times. Studies in Iowa have shown that some small towns lose up to 47 percent of their retail trade after 10 years of Wal-Mart stores nearby (Stone 1997).
Diversity Coalition in Rural Minnesota Communities	Tamara Downs Schwei and Katherine Fennelly	March 10, 2008
467k Document summary Diversity coalitions as organizations that are open to community members and that have programs that aim to improve relations between U.S.- and foreign-born residents.
A Profile of Latinos in Rural America	Rogelio Saenz	March 10, 2008
157k Document summary Latinos are increasingly found outside of places where they have traditionally resided. Because they are younger and giving birth at higher rates than their non-Latino counterparts in nonmetropolitan america, Latinos represent a significant growing segment of the nation’s rural population. This brief uses recent data from the Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community survey (ACS) to present a snapshot of the Latino population in the nonmetropolitan United States.
Rural Youth are More Likely to be Idle	Anastasia Snyder and Diane Mc Laughlin	March 10, 2008
149k Document summary Approximately 10 percent of young adults (aged 18-24) today are idle, that is, they are not in postsecondary school, the workforce, or the armed Forces.1 among high school dropouts the shares are even higher, at 30 percent. idle youth are not following the typical pathways from adolescence to adulthood. They are not gaining adequate educations, are not gaining work experience, and they have no obvious sources of earned income.
Minnesota vs. $100 Barrel Oil	Don Arnosti/IATP	February 27, 2008
60k Document summary Minnesota has a chance to break away from $100 oil toward greener fuel and energy that creates jobs, protects the environment, slows climate change, and establishes the state as a national and international leader.
Cattle Abuse, Beef Recall, Highlight Systemic Weaknesses	Steve Suppan/IATP	February 21, 2008
58k Document summary The recent recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef represents a systemic breakdown in U.S. food safety inspection.
Estimates of Selected Immigrant Populations in Minnesota: 2004	Barbara J. Ronningen	February 21, 2008
228k Document summary Minnesota State Demographic Center report on selected immigrant populations in Minnesota.
Immigration in Minnesota; Africa: Focus on Somali	Minneapolis Foundation	February 21, 2008
65k Document summary Overview of immgration issues in Minnesota from the Minneapolis Foundation.
Ethanol and Land Use Changes	David Morris	February 15, 2008
448k Document summary Dr. Morris challenges the findings of two reports published February 7 in Science that examined the greenhouse gas impact of land use changes caused by the growing demand for biofuels.
Who Benefits	Friends of the Earth	February 13, 2008
877k Document summary Genetically modified (GM) crops have led to a large increase in pesticide use and have failed to increase yield or tackle world hunger and poverty.
Farmer Agreement Offers Alternative to NAFTA's Failures	R. Dennis Olson/IATP	February 4, 2008
237k Document summary NAFTA's threat to sugar farmers in Mexico and the U.S. is so dire that it has provided the impetus for an historic agreement between farmers in the two countries.
Developing a Rural Strategy	Ana Greenberg and Dave Walker	February 1, 2008
74k Document summary Memo outline conditions in US rural communities.