Am I missing something? If so, don't hesitate to send me anything interesting and new. Also, I'd love to hear about what you found or sell at the farmer's market. My e-mail is mmcewen2 @ uiuc.edu

In Champaign-Urbana

The Red Herring hosted a Local Food Day on Wednesday. Shown at left is basil stir fry, which featured eggplant, garlic, and kohlrabi from Blue Moon Farm, volunteer grown chili peppers, Gail Snowden's cabbage, and Carl Reisman's basil. Inset is a bowl of butternut squash and apple soup, which featured squash from Davidson farms, apples from Kleiss Nursery, Blue Moon onions, and volunteer-grown herbs. The corn bread was also local, created from corn meal and whole wheat flour from Moore Farms.

@ UIUC

An Awkward Adolescence in the Organics Industry: Coming to Terms with Big Organic and Other Legal Challenges for the Industry’s Next Ten Years
UIUC professor Bryan Endres has a new paper that examines the maturation of the organic industry. A major focus is thee split between "big organic" and "organics as a religion." Also looks at fraud, commercial aviliability, biotechnology, and labor and employment issues.

In the News

*= Illinois
Thanks to ethanol demand, corn harvest may reach an all-time high of 13.3 billion bushels*

Asian Soybean Rust Found in Southern Illinois*

Is the success of farmers markets hurting farmers?
Blog response to the article about dissatisfied SF farmers I linked to last week. Mentions the growth of farmers markets and difficulties selling at them, as well as alternatives such as CSAs.

U.S. farmers should curb fertilizer runoff: study
An Environmental Working Group has released a report on the failings of current conservation programs. It recommends that the USDA deal more effectively with erosion control in order to prevent the spread of the "dead zone," an area of the Gulf of Mexico polluted by agricultural runoff.

Meet the New USDA Secretary
Mike Johanns resigned from his post in order to run for senate. Gristmill's Tom Philpott muses on his corn-loving replacement.

Editorial: Meat, and athletes, should be drug-free
China is providing special pork for its Olympic athletes because the steroids in regular pork are high enough to possibly cause them to fail drug tests.

Safety Framework for Produce
Senator Tom Harkin, of Iowa, has introduced legislation to establish a food safety framework for fresh produce.

Wendell Berry vs. Freeman Dyson
Agrarian writer Wendell Berry takes on physicist-philosopher Freeman Dyson on the contentious subject of where agricultural biotechnology is taking us.

Biotechnology not a food-safety concern, survey
According to a survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC), not very many people even care whether the food they eat was cloned and they think biotechnology is great...I'd like to see how those questions were worded. See Sourcewatch on the IFIC.

Asparagus: The Movie
Why is US-grown asparagus so hard to find? Find out in this short movie.