Most recent documents

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Title A-Z Z-A	Author A-Z Z-A	Date 1-9 9-1
Harvesting Fuel - Cutting Costs and Reducing Forest Fire Hazards Through Biomass Harvest	Don Arnosti, Dr. Dalia Abbas, Dr. Dean Current, Dr. Michael Demchik	June 20, 2008
6468k Document summary A series of test forest biomass harvests from the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota indicate that such harvests could reduce the cost of fire prevention management while providing work for loggers and fuel for renewable energy facilities.
How the Food Processing Industry is Diversifying Rural Minnesota	Katherine Fennelly and Helga Leitner	June 12, 2008
499k Document summary Diversification of rural Minnesota is largely the result of the restructuring of the food processing industry, and the subsequent recruitment of low wage laborers.
10 Myths From the Mainstream Media on U.S. Farm Policy	IATP	June 12, 2008
129k Document summary The mainstream media often misunderstands how farm policy works in the real world.
10 Myths From the Mainstream Media About Farm Policy	Ben Lilliston	June 11, 2008
129k Document summary Created for the 2008 National Conference for Media Reform. Ten common farm policy misconceptions.
Minnesota Memorandum of Understanding on Organic Agriculture	Minnesota Legislature	May 30, 2008
60k Document summary Ten state and federal agencies Wednesday signed a commitment to Minnesota’s organic agriculture sector, promising to increase the impact of each agency’s organic programs and foster innovative partnerships.
Ownership of Life	Martin Teitel, Ph.D. and Hope Shand	May 28, 2008
8570k Document summary Genetic patenting
FAMILY FARMERS LAMBAST WASTED OPPORTUNITY OF FARM BILL	National Family Farm Coalition	May 27, 2008
125k Document summary The National Family Farm Coalition today criticized Congress and the recently enacted Farm Bill for failing to address the growing global food crisis occurring abroad and here at home.
Child Labor Monitoring and Verification Program for Agricultural Imports	Child Labor Consultative Group	May 27, 2008
12k Document summary The Managers report explained the purpose of Sec. 3205 of the farm bill as s the development of “a voluntary, third-party certification effort is designed to reduce the likelihood that products produced with forced labor or child labor are imported into the United States as directed in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2005."
Summary of the 2008 Farm Bill’s Energy Title and Other New Clean Energy Development Provisions	Environmental Law and Policy Center	May 27, 2008
118k Document summary With the Senate's veto override of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, the new Farm Bill is now law. It builds upon the first-ever Energy Title of the 2002 Farm Bill, providing new programs and a stronger federal commitment to farm-based energy.
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.