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An Iowa Fertilizer Plant Purchase Spurs Antitrust Concerns

Civil Eats

When farmer Joshua Manske heard about the acquisition of an Iowa fertilizer plant by Koch Industries in December, he saw it as a “microcosm of what’s going on nationally.” Because corn requires nitrogen fertilizer to grow, Manske is concerned that further consolidation of the fertilizer industry will drive his input prices up more.

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Book Review – Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry

Daily Yonder

Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry by Austin Frerick Island Press (March 26, 2024) Few books about America’s industrial agriculture system and food industry uncover the billionaires behind its biggest corporations. And it is no accident.

Food 132
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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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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. Tesdell’s is 80.

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Our 2024 Food and Farming Holiday Book Gift Guide

Civil Eats

Through captivating case studies, Thurow’s hopeful book showcases farmers who have boldly gone against the grain of modern agriculture orthodoxy and are instead embracing regenerative practices—like agroecology and permaculture—that restore soil health, enhance biodiversity, and promote resilience against climate change.

Food 137
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Our Summer 2024 Food and Farming Book Guide

Civil Eats

Brazil’s national requirement that 30 percent of school food ingredients be sourced from local and regional family farms helps empower and fund women agroecological producers. In On Gold Hill , Moyer weaves together her attempt to grow the grain with the story she unearths of her family through the generations.

Food 145