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Opinion: The US Doesn’t Grow Enough Food – But We Could

Modern Farmer

Despite having nearly a billion acres of prime farmland and a population of only 330 million people, the U.S. agriculture system, often claimed to be able to feed the world, can no longer feed its own population. At the same time, small and mid-sized farms are being driven out of existence. The number of U.S. Angela Huffman.

Food 134
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Black Earth: A Family’s Journey from Enslavement to Reclamation

Civil Eats

In the months before Patrick Brown was born in November 1982, his father, Arthur, lay down on a road near the familys farm to prevent a caravan of yellow dump trucks from depositing toxic soil in his community. Patrick currently operates Brown Family Farms on the land that Byron worked as a sharecropper once he was freed.

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Ask a Scientist: What Value Do Wetlands Provide?

The Equation

By destroying wetlands, industrial agriculture robs communities of natural flood protectionsjust as climate change fuels more frequent and severe floods, like those in the summer of 2024 that devastated communities, destroyed crops, and claimed lives in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota. STACY WOODS: Yes. We estimated that the 30.4

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The Truth about Industrial Agriculture 

Trimble Agriculture

Industrial agriculture is a term often used negatively, but is it the villain it’s made out to be? The debate surrounding industrial agriculture and farm consolidation is complex and multifaceted. The topic of farm consolidation is closely tied to this term, as one typically leads to more of the other.

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Across Farm Country, Fertilizer Pollution Impacts Not Just Health, but Water Costs, Too

Civil Eats

When Jeff Broberg and his wife, Erica, moved to their 170-acre bean and grain farm in Winona, Minnesota in 1986, their well water measured at 8.6 These nitrogen-based compounds, common in agricultural runoff, are linked to multiple cancers and health issues for those exposed. ppm for nitrates. coli poisoning in their water. “I

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Op-ed: The Food System Cannot Become Another Fossil-Fuel Industry Escape Hatch

Civil Eats

Irrigation and farm equipment also depend on fossil fuels. By one estimate, the industry benefits from $7 trillion in subsidies annually, making inputs like synthetic fertilizer and pesticides artificially cheap and therefore possible to use on a vast scale. Meanwhile, we collectively pay the true cost.

Food 110
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On the Ground with the Farmers Producing Antibiotic-Free Meat

Modern Farmer

Nearly four decades ago, Ron Mardesen and his wife Denise stopped using antibiotics on their hog farm, A-Frame Acres, in Elliot, Iowa. As the owner of a multi-generational farm, Mardesen has seen industrial agriculture and factory farming take increasing control over meat production in the last few decades.

Cattle 144