The Green Fork is the official blog of the Eat Well Guide. Click here to Find Good Food.

Processing —> Depression? A new study from London’s University College indicates that a diet high in processed foods may lead to depression.
Processing —> Diabetes? Diets high in processed meats “may increase the risk of developing type-2 diabetes by 40 per cent, according to a new meta-analysis from Norway and the US.” This article suggests that [...]

[Read more →]

No H1N1 here, but who would know? The Washington Post reports that pork producers are testing less for swine flu (as well as other infectious ailments, like MRSA) than they were before the virus made its global debut last spring. Hat tip to Tom Philpott @ Grist.

Welcome to Farmville, Pop: 62 million If your experience with the Facebook sensation is anything like mine, it’s been limited to “hiding” notices about friends’ wandering cows, and apparently, we’re missing out on something. Takeaway: Online faux farmers outnumber actual farmers 60 to 1.

[Read more →]

When I got there, I took a “field trip” out of Des Moines to a number of farms and I was struck by the conflicting feelings that the visual of miles upon miles of corn evoked in me. On the one hand, a pastoral wholesomeness that rang with my heart, though not with my head. On the other, the cliche: Children of the Corn. To be sure, while the Midwestern landscape is bereft of the overstimulation of the city and full of some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, there is also some creepy stuff going on there, namely an unhealthy amount of genetically modified corn and soy, a staggering number of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and a lot of industry influence.

[Read more →]

Can Local Food Fix the Economy? Wayne Roberts makes a strong case in the affirmative at Alternatives.

A COOL Introduction for US Dairy Farmers Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), along with Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) have introduced the Dairy COOL Act, which would add dairy products to the list of foods required to display Country of Origin Labeling. As the dairy industry has struggled to survive this year, signs point to a surge in imported dairy as one culprit in flagging prices.

[Read more →]

Touché! Last week, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa took his reaction to Time magazine’s recent article “Getting Real About the High Cost of Cheap Food” (frankly, some of the best reporting I’ve seen from Time on food issues) to the Senate floor.  This week, the Center for a Livable Future let loose a fiercely factual [...]

[Read more →]

We ingest and absorb all kinds of potentially toxic ingredients every day in our food, in the products we use, in our air and water, and the scariest part is that even the ‘experts’ really don’t know what it’s doing to us. Avoiding suicidally bad-for-you junk foods like the donut- encased cheeseburger may be a no-brainer, but how do well-intentioned parents keep their children from falling under the spell of those golden arches?

[Read more →]

Amongst many of the people he would call “agro-intellectuals,” James McWilliams is known simply as a “contrarian,,” but not in the positive sense of the word, as someone who thinks independently. No, he seems to be one of the more garden variety – someone who takes a contrary position simply to raise their own profile.

[Read more →]

A More Moral Compass Late last week, in what Eric Schlosser has deemed “the greatest victory for farmworkers since Cesar Chavez” and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis called “a huge victory,” the Coalition of Immokalee Workers signed with Compass Group to the tune of 1.5 cents/lb of tomatoes, a half a cent more than any [...]

[Read more →]

USDA Left Schoolkids Vulnerable The Government Accountability Office has found that the USDA didn’t tell public schools of food safety recalls quickly and may have caused school cafeterias to inadvertently serve tainted foods.
Municipal Water Systems A-gush “Major blowouts” in local water systems are on the rise in cities like LA and Baltimore, hinting at an [...]

[Read more →]

USDA is Loco for Local: Everyone’s excited about the new Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative (henceforth to be known as KYFx2) the USDA rolled out this week, which includes a focus on rural development and direct marketing, the opening of the new farmers’ market near the White House and funds for farm-to-school programs and community food projects. Tom Philpott brings us back down to earth.

[Read more →]