Today's editorial says: "The claim that U.S. agriculture “feeds the world” is not a harmless myth. It provides a moral justification for continuing practices that have harmed Iowa’s environment and led to low prices for farmers. It also can be used as political ammunition." https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/editorials/2016/10/09/editorial-dont-expect-iowa-farmers-feed-world/91735242/?hootPostID=ae4802f80eb8b818c9e57407af733e3c This kind of discourse also hides the fact that 1 in 8 Iowans are food insecure, and 1 in 5 Iowa children does not have enough to eat. Our natural environment has taught us that diversity builds resilience. The leaders of the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust believe we can build more resilient Iowa communities through [...]

The Food and Drug Administration, while testing samples of U.S. food for the presence of glyphosate, found residues of this weed killer in honey samples from various locations. The glyphosate reside levels found were double the limit allowed in the European Union (there is no legal tolerance level for glyphosate in honey in the United States). Read more about this study and how the FDA only recently started testing food for glyphosate residues here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/carey-gillam/fda-finds-monsantos-weed_b_12008680.html Farmers on the SILT board of directors and members of our advisory council have developed a set of guidelines that provide farmers a way to move from less sustainable [...]

More and more farmers are diversifying their crop mix and growing vegetables. This allows them to avoid the price volatility of corn and soybeans. Last week, the Des Moines Register published an article showcasing crop farmers who had decided to diversify. "During the Agriculture Department’s census released in 2012, the federal government estimated that more than 47,000 Iowa farms had corn and 41,000 had soybeans. Together, the two commodities were grown on 23 million acres. By comparison, 962 farms raised vegetables spread across 7,700 acres, and even fewer produced fruits, according to the most recent data for the specialty crops." Read more  here: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2016/08/19/iowa-farmers-planting-fruits-vegetables-over-corn-soybeans/88569432/ [...]

An increasing number of studies highlight the positive economic impact of buying directly from farmers. To close off National Farmers Market week, we'd like to introduce a recent study that once again proves the benefits of keeping land in healthy agricultural production. *** As a past board member at the Davis farmers market, Shermain Hardesty knows that people who buy fruits and vegetables directly from producers show up week after week and voice support for local businesses. Now, the UC Davis agricultural economics professor Shermain Hardesty just released a study that shows a dollar of sales for a direct-market fruit or [...]

SILT helps farmers grow healthy food. A recent study shows that with a plant and dairy-based diet, "agricultural land in the contiguous U.S. could have the capacity to feed up to 800 million people — twice what can be supported based on current average diets" Read more about the study here: https://www.morningagclips.com/dietary-changes-and-land-use-study/