Blog
2014 Year in Review
It's been another eventful year in 2014. This year there have been 215 posts on this site that have received over 52,000 page views.
The most accessed posts this year have been:
1) Multiplicity of Farm Programs
2) Why are Beef Prices so High?
3) The Organic Food Subsidy Myth (this one's from 2012)
4) Ted Talks and GMOs (this one's from 2013)
5) Information Manipulation Revisited
7) Might Consumers Interpret GMO Labels as a Warning?
9) GMOs and the Precautionary Principle
11) Why are Beef and Pork Prices so High?
Aside from that above, some of my favorites included
What's the problem with personal responsibility
Cost of calories and protein from meat
Organic vs conventional crop yields
Is GMO aversion a left-wing phenomenon?
Assorted Links
Vilsack abandoning duplicative beef checkoff proposal
Oregon is considering a 7 cent subsidy for schools to buy local foods. My question (that is not at all considered in their economic impact analysis): Where does the 7 cents come from and what are opportunity costs of that money? See my recent comments on this sort of thing for more.
Does Europe need to ban potatoes, bread, and coffee?
New GMO Alfalfa more nutritious for cattle
A cow and her clone win Grand and Reserve Grand Champion at World Dairy Expo
Assorted Links
I watched part of the live stream of the Intelligence Squared debate last night on GMO foods. The "pro-GMO" side won the audience vote handily. I'll link later to the video/podcast when it is put up. You know the debate went bad for the "anti-GMO" side when their own supporters throw them under the bus afterward.
A new report warning again about livestock and climate change. While they do mention possibility to address the problems with improved technology (something I've previously argued), it is only done so dismissively.
I really enjoyed this NPR: Planet Money podcast on cattle rustling in Oklahoma
Assorted Links
Pollan, Bittman et al. opine on desire for national food policy in a Washington Post editorial (I agree with their call to eliminate current farm subsidies, though they don't seem to really understand their effects; the rest is full of platitudes and ill-conceived policies that are unlikely to withstand a serious cost-benefit analysis. It's this kind of writing that led to the Food Police)
USDA approves a new, healthier GMO potato
I was surprised at this statistic: the most recent water withdrawals data show that withdrawals in 2010 were lower than at any time in the past 40 years back to 1970 (not only are we using less water today, but apparently what is used is much more productive - we're getting more from it).