Despite calls from health professionals worldwide to curb the use of farm-animal antibiotics, Vermont’s conventional dairy industry -- dominated by concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) – continues to use the antimicrobial drugs extensively, including non-therapeutic uses to prevent diseases caused
The great poet and sage, Gary Snyder, wrote: “When making an axe handle, the pattern is not far off.” And so it is with reforming agriculture. The pattern is not far off. It was only 60 years ago that Vermont
These are harrowing times for the nearly 1,500 migrant workers laboring on Vermont’s largest dairy farms. These farmworkers, predominantly from Mexico, are forced to live in the shadows, where their farm bosses harbor them in exchange for long hours, low
Blast from the Past: It was twenty years ago that we first published our warning to the organic farming community about the impending corporate takeover of its movement, beginning with federal standards that would, over time, weaken standards in service
Vermont’s agricultural economy has been wrecked by its over reliance on a failed and destructive factory-farm dairy model, where an overproduction of cheap milk is enriching milk buyers like Ben & Jerry’s and Cabot Cheese but bankrupting our small farm
By Michael Colby Vermont’s agricultural narrative is overdue for a change. The tale of family farmers, grazing cows, thriving communities and across-the-board artisan quality is almost a museum piece at this point. While the images still dance in our
Originally published in the VTDigger by Mike Polhamus. Pleasant Valley Farms built one of the state’s largest farming operations last year, in one of Vermont’s most polluted watersheds, without a permit, according to documents obtained by VTDigger. The only action taken
Ending its three-year stall on publishing statewide pesticide usage data, Vermont’s Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets finally released the information in January in response to a public records request. The newly released data covers the years 2014-2016, and
By Michael Colby. It was a powerful showing at Lake Carmi last month, as nearly 50 citizens showed up on a snowy evening just before Thanksgiving to offer water-quality testimony to a joint hearing of the Vermont Senate, convened by
By Michael Colby Not so long ago, summers at Vermont’s Lake Carmi didn’t mean fighting for water quality. And it was only about 100 years ago that Lake Carmi was called Silver Lake, a reflection of its purity at the
