According to an article in Ananova online, McDonald's fast food chain in Britain is making strong moves to supply their customers with organic food. The global multi-national, famous for its processed food and golden arches, says the change is in response to customer demand. Next month, the company will start selling organic produce in its restaurants and will replace all cartons of non-organic milk with organic milk. According to Ananova, the news comes as the fast-food giant "warns it will make a quarterly loss for the first time in its 47-year history for the period ending December 31, 2002. It is in the process of closing restaurants around the world, including at least six sites in London."

With family farmers around the world reeling from the negative economic effects of trade globalization, the split in the agricultural sector regarding trade policy grows bigger. While the Bush Administration is moving full-speed ahead trying to remove all tariffs internationally, many farmers are concerned about the effects of such policy. On one hand the American Farm Bureau Federation, the grain trade and the pork packers are all in agreement with the Administration. However, as reported in Agnet (1/13/03) many in the sugar, dairy and beef sector are "increasingly concerned that agreements made by the White House could lead to more global competition and lower prices for their commodities."

According to AgNet the "Bush administration has come up with a divide-and-conquer strategy to open foreign markets to U.S. products, but farmers across the country are divided as to whether it's a good idea. The goal is to get a worldwide agreement to lower tariffs and other trade barriers and the administration has decided to pursue a series of bilateral trade agreements with Australia and a handful of countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia."

Sprawl, the beast which devours farmland and species habitat equally, is related more to changed in household structure than population growth, according to a new article in the journal "Nature." Ecologists looked at population and household trends in 76 countries containing biodiversity hotspots that are considered rich in native species but threatened by human activity. They found that the level of threat was highest where the number of households was increasing faster than the rate of population increase. Changing demographics, such as increased divorce, "empty-nesters," and staying single longer have resulted in many more households with fewer occupants. The smaller, more numerous households are still occupying fairly large houses, resulting in continued sprawl pressure in rural areas and natural areas like the Florida Everglades.

The Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers' Association has teamed with the University of Wisconsin and the World Wildlife Fund to build a better way of growing potatoes. Traditional methods of growing potatoes in the state have relied heavily on toxic pesticides such as the insecticide albicarb. Recognizing that these pesticides posed risks to farmer health, drinking water, trout streams and endangered wildlife, the groups began to collaborate to find a better way to manage pests on potatoes. The group initially developed better pesticide management and application tools, and has moved toward a more biointensive "Integrated Pest Management" approach. The group is also developing market incentives to promote the sale of low-pesticide potatoes. In 2001 a new ecolabel, Protected Harvest, owned by an independent non-profit organization was introduced. Wisconsin potatoes are the first product certified under the Protected Harvest label and are marketed under the brand "Healthy Grown."

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