ASAP Site

Sierra Club Job Opening

Illinois

Land Connection Challenge
The Land Connection is looking to raise $10,000 by December 31. If they can, ASAP friend Dr. Jack Paxton will match it.

Local Food Restaurant's in CU
A map created by Dan Anderson.

Morals, tradition lead to students' vegetarianism
Illinois students talk about local restaurant The Red Herring and why they chose vegetarianism.

Movement seeks rise in local food
More and more resources are being offered for farmers who want to grow locally in Illinois.

Seed Controversy Sprouts
Farmers in Illinois get a break on federal insurance premiums for planting Monstanto GM corn because it is "low risk."

Food and beverage retailer alliance plans to sue Chicago over bottled-water tax
This new year, Chicago will levy a five-cent tax on every bottle of water purchased in the city. Beverage trade associations are fighting the new tax.

Supporting Local Food Systems: Actions You Can Take
Local matters, a Southern Illinois Food Blog,  outlines 15 things you can do.

Donation Times Ten: Giving to the Eastern Illinois Food Bank
Rising food costs have left many food banks with a deficit. Learn how you can make a difference at Smile Politely, a new local e-zine that features many local food articles.

Organic Dairies Fuel Feed Frenzy
The growing popularity of organic milk, coupled with the ethanol boom, has led to organic feed shortages in many areas of the country.

National

The Eat-Local Backlash
Some articles in important publications like The Economist and The New York Times have questioned the logic behind eating local, but according to Grist ag policy reporter Tom Philpott, they may be missing the point.

Consumers Won’t Know What They’re Missing
Pennsylvania is banning "free of artificial growth hormones" labels on milk. Ohio is considering a similar ban.

Senate farm bill gets mixed reviews
Senate farm bill post-mortem
What on Earth happened to the farm bill? These two articles lay out some of the good and bad news.

"We were pushing for the Dorgan-Grassley amendment that would have put a modest cap on subsidy programs. But that got voted down," said Bridget Holcomb, ag policy coordinator for the Rochester-based Illinois Stewardship Alliance. "(That amendment) would have placed a $250,000 limit on farm payments, but some senators from farm states didn't think that was enough."

Our Decrepit Food Factories
Michael Pollan's latest editorial addresses the signs of unsustainability in our agricultural system from MRSA to colony collapse disorder.

Tomato Picker's Wages Fight Faces Obstacles
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers' fight for better wages runs up against big business tactics.

Recycling in its purest form -- among the worms
Eco-friendly burials, ranging from biodegradable coffins to natural-fiber shrouds, are becoming more popular in the US. Submitted by Dr. Jack Paxton.

Science

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization in pigs and pig farmers

New strain of influenza contains avian, swine flu genes