Tag Archives: food quality

Call for articles: Nutritional values and family farming

Posted on June 16, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on AGRICULTURE BLOG…..:
Farming Matters | 30.2 | June 2014 We are told of the great advances that have been made in ‘modern’ agriculture in the last 60 years. Yet there are more hungry and malnourished people on…

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged access to food, agroecology, biotechnology, cash crop, conservation, crop, development, family farm, farmer, fertiliser, finance, food, food availability, food loss, food quality, food security, food sovereignty, food waste, forest, genetic modification, Green Revolution, intensive, iron, knowledge, land use, local community, nutrition, obesity, poverty, rural, smallholder, trade, tradition, Vitamin A, woodland, yield, young person | Leave a comment

Revisiting the “eat local” Idea

Posted on June 15, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Thought + Food:
I just came across this review of a book called “The Locavore’s Delusion”, and yes, it is a nod to that other book, in case you were wondering! The authors of the book tried to…

Posted in food, knowledge transfer | Tagged access to food, biotechnology, climate-ready crop, flood, food, food availability, food quality, food safety, food security, food sovereignty, genetic modification, grain, grocery, local breed, local community, local variety, marker assisted selection, plant_monocot, Scuba rice, selective breeding, staple food, sustainable, trade, transport | 3 Comments

Rising levels of CO2 could exacerbate malnutrition

Posted on May 16, 2014 by argylesock

argylesock says… Climate change is happening. We humans caused it. Here’s yet another way that climate change threatens people, especially poor people. [Edit] I looked up the original paper (behind a paywall, but my University library has a subscription) and … Continue reading →

Posted in food, human health, weather and climate | Tagged America, Asia, biofortification, carbon dioxide, child, climate, corn, crop variety, field pea, food quality, grain, iron, legume, maize, nutrition, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, poverty, research, rice, selective breeding, sorghum, soya, staple food, vegetable, wheat, zinc | 2 Comments

What Is “Natural”?

Posted on September 2, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on Food (Policy) For Thought:
If you enter a grocery store and see an item claiming to be “100% natural”, what associations do you make? Would you assume it’s less processed? Healthier? Possibly even organic? At least if…

Posted in food, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged food, food processing, food quality, grocery, label, law | Leave a comment

It’s not natural! Intensive farming, synthetic food and synthetic genes

Posted on June 20, 2013 by argylesock

Is it natural? Whatever ‘it’ might be. We live in a world where genes are synthesised routinely and synthetic food isn’t far away. I don’t think there’s much point even asking about ‘natural’ any more. The US Supreme Court has … Continue reading →

Posted in knowledge transfer | Tagged biotechnology, DNA, farm, food, food quality, gene, genetic modification, intensive, laboratory, law, livestock, meat, research, welfare | 1 Comment

New rice in Tanzania to boost production

Posted on April 23, 2013 by argylesock

In Eastern and Southern Africa, people want rice to be more productive. People want the grain to store well, too, and people want it to taste good. Here’s some science about rice breeding to improve African productivity. The International Rice … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, breeding, crop, crop variety, development, farmer, food, food quality, genetic modification, grain, plant_monocot, research, rice, seed, selective breeding, staple food, storage, yield | Leave a comment

Labels Unveiled: Grass-Fed and Pasture-Raised

Posted on April 6, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on Food (Policy) For Thought:
Continuing with our mini-series, after our first installment, let’s turn to a buzzword that has gotten a lot of attention in the last years: grass-fed and/or pasture-raised animal products. What is the label’s…

Posted in agriculture, food | Tagged farm, food, food quality, grocery, label, livestock, pasture, welfare | 2 Comments

When the drugs don’t work: Antibiotics in farming and medicine

Posted on April 3, 2013 by argylesock

Remember penicillin? If you’re old enough to remember that, you’re not young. The days are long gone when that wonder drug could cure diseases. Because bacteria are clever. Hit them with a chemical cosh and they evolve to resist it. … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, human health | Tagged academia, antibiotic, bacterium, disease, drug, drug resistance, evolution, farm, feed, finance, food, food quality, livestock, research, sustainable, welfare | 4 Comments

British red meat industry responds to Horsegate

Posted on March 12, 2013 by argylesock

The English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX) says that when we in Britain buy red meat, we can know that it isn’t horsemeat. EBLEX saya that we can rely on the Red Tractor label and the Quality Standard Mark. Here’s … Continue reading →

Posted in food | Tagged equid, food, food quality, grocery, horse, label, meat | 5 Comments

Flogging a dead horse: genetics and the UK horsemeat scandal

Posted on March 11, 2013 by argylesock

Posted in agriculture, food | Tagged DNA, equid, food, food quality, history, horse, meat, PCR | Leave a comment