Commentary

Count me in as one of the many who think New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's decision to limit the container size of sodas is totally asinine.

Editor-in-chief Rebecca Miller reflects on past trips to Kenya and how politics are handled there, pondering whether there's a parallel to U.S. politics.

Editor Susan Crowell encourages farmers not to ignore trends in her commentary this week. "Agriculture is an industry that is ripe for massive change and disruption," says futurist Jim Carroll.

Maybe the ag industry needs to listen more and talk less. Maybe we need to bring in more outsiders, and ask them, "what would a customer think about this?" We might have seen the pink slime push-back coming.

Shaena Mallett, director, said they wanted to strike a balance. “… That’s something I wanted to be honest about with Farmsteaders — farming is beautiful and hard,” she said. “I wanted to share the perspective that hard isn’t bad, and in fact some of the most worthwhile endeavors we could possibly take on may also be the most difficult.” Agriculture seems to be the topic du jour these days — for politicians, entertainers and, well, everyone. That’s why Mallett’s storytelling struck me. It’s poignant without being pretentious.

We cannot be so narrow-minded to think that there is only one way to be successful, to be sustainable, in farming today.

Adolescents can be significantly influenced by factors in their homes, schools and communities. And 4-H participation can be a huge difference-maker.

I love the 1990 fairy tale movie Pretty Woman that stars Richard Gere and Julia Roberts (although I admit a prostitute is not standard...

Hunger, poverty and insecurity are at the core of global instability, but a 2008 World Bank report identified agriculture as the primary driver to abate hunger and reduce poverty.

Every day, a routine farm task — one someone has possibly done “a thousand times” — turns into a farm accident because we just don’t think the unthinkable will ever happen to us.