"We are three or four generations removed from the farm," said David Fikes, director of consumer affairs for the Food Marketing Institute. "There was a generation of people who said, 'I don't care where it comes from, I'm just glad that someone else is doing it.' That day is over and gone." A panel of
Research by hydrogeologists at The University of Texas at Austin, which appears in the May 11 edition of the journal Nature Geoscience, shows for the first time that virtually every drop of water coursing through 311,000 miles (500,000 kilometers) of waterways in the Mississippi River network goes through a natural filtering process as it flows
A group of scientists offered a new, intriguing theory: The quakes are triggered in part by the pumping of groundwater in the Central Valley, which produces crops that feed the nation. "These results suggest that human activity may give rise to a gradual increase in the rate of earthquake occurrence," said the study published in
A federal judge will let a lawsuit proceed against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after the agency ordered a nursery last year not to farm a wheat field just south of here. U.S. District Court senior Judge Lawrence Karlton pointedly denied the agency’s motion to dismiss the suit filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation,
A near-record dry winter has put California in the grip of its worst drought in decades. While many parts of the state have yet to feel any real impact - no cutbacks, no stiff rationing - that's not the case in the farm towns of the San Joaquin Valley where water is the touchstone of
The State Water Resources Control Board approved the deal granting Merced County farmers more water, said Mike Jensen, Merced Irrigation District spokesman. MID board President Tim Pellissier and Vice President Dave Long said the deal was the best news Merced County farmers have had in the last two years. “I think it’s a really big
An alliance of food manufacturers, retailers and foodservice operators announced a toolkit to help food sector businesses reduce the amount of waste. The Best Practices and Emerging Solutions Toolkit from the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA), a cross-sector industry initiative led by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the National Restaurant
BirdReturns is an example of the growing movement called reconciliation ecology, in which ecosystems dominated by humans are managed to increase biodiversity. “It’s a new ‘Moneyball,’ ” said Eric Hallstein, an economist with the Nature Conservancy and a designer of the auctions, referring to the book and movie about the Oakland Athletics’ data-driven approach to
Organic processed foods are about to become more plentiful and much cheaper at Walmart stores across the nation, including in the Bay Area, and that could change the landscape of California agriculture. The push by the country's largest grocer shows that organics is not just a passing fancy for the rich, say experts, who predict
“We could be looking at future,” he said, “where California is no longer bread basket for the country.” Grocery shoppers may soon need more green in their wallets to afford their next salad. The cost of fresh produce is poised to jump in the coming months as a three-year drought in California shows few signs