Table of Contents

July/August 2007

Cover Story

Forage: Lifeline for farm animals and pets. Forage is food that underpins food. Today there are more horses than milk cows in America. Visiting Standlee Hay Company, one of the nation’s most progressive forage farms, offers perspective with gravity.

Feature Stories

"Food to Bank" On Program: Zachary D. Lyons interviews a group of Northwest communities who are intervening directly into food banking, sustainable farming and saving farmland. It is a creative effort that is seeding the world for constructive change.

2007 (Eaters) Farm Bill:Michael Pollan explores current farm policy to expose how it supports foods that lead to obesity and poor health. Rather than the farm bill being something for farmers, Pollan makes the case that it should be the chief concern of eaters.

Gardens of the Ancients: Date palms are one of the most mysterious foods. Their origins are lost in antiquity, and they are today much like they were almost 7,000 years ago. Benjamin Gisin explores how these seeds are part of a new discipline called Bio-Archeology.

Women of the Ranch: Aimee Chudy, a farmers market manager and food cooperative finance manager is grass-roots connected to local foods. She takes us to the Hulsman Ranch, which since 1914 has been owned by the women of the family, who take their stewardship and responsible ranching serious.

Genetically Modified Foods: Investigative journalist, Jeffrey Smith delves into the little publicized risks of GMO foods and how they may produce herbicide (the chemical used to kill weeds) inside our intestines.

More Features

Rescuing Food From Power Outages: Elizabeth Andress explains how summer’s unpredictable weather can cause power outages, including some practical tips for saving your frozen foods.

Pesticides In Foods: The Environmental Working Group's list of the worst and best of foods according to pesticide loads.

Hotlips Pizza: Susan W. Clark interviews owner David Yudkin on how to raise the bar for environmental stewardship, sourcing local ingredients, and social responsibility.

Bombs Beans & Dirt Part II: Mike Amaranthus, Arden Andersen and Gerald Wiebe explain the symbiotic relationship between beneficial soil bacteria and the health of our soils and food.

Raw Milk Comes To Town: Few foods are more consumer-driven than raw milk. Benjamin Gisin visits Johnson’s Acres to find out why.

Real Foods: An update on Touch the Soil's cover story of one year ago that focuses on raw milk.

Farming In the City : Lester Brown shows how this global activity is positioned to move into more affluent countries.

Biofuels: John Ikerd explains how biofuels will not be effective in curbing America’s dependence on foreign oil.

Regular Features

Grass-Roots Viewpoint: Forage and corn are in the spotlight this month.

Book Review: David King reviews "The Worst Hard Time."

Food Sleuth: The film "King Corn" comes to theaters this summer. Hemmelgarn reviews one of the most impacting farm documentaries of our time.

Global & Domestic Food Outlook: Biofuels Blunder: Lester Brown's testimony in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works exposes the risks of trying to farm crops for energy. It risks destabilizing global food security.

Economics Outside the Box: BerkShares take the spotlight. Discover how a New England community invigorates its local economy with its own money and saves money by not having to pay interest on its currency.

Internet Resource Guide: Resources that connect you to the larger world of local food first, sustainable agriculture, responsible organics, and food security. [Also available online at www.touchthesoil.com/resources/internet_resources.html.]

Peter Puffin and Freddie Frog: Inside back cover, Peter and Freddie discuss oil, congestion and farmland.