Author Archives: Vern Grubinger

FSMA: A Serious Law with Serious Flaws (The Joy of Regulation, Part II)

A few weeks ago, our post The Joy of Regulation: Part I offered a general primer on regulation in the United States. It focused on how an agency like the FDA gained so much power to write, enforce, and adjudicate … Continue reading

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The Importance of H-2A at Sam Mazza’s Farm

Hepburn Montague has been working at Sam Mazza’s fruit and vegetable farm for 27 years, even though he lives about two thousand miles away. Hepburn is from Manchester, Jamaica, and every year he travels to and from the same farm … Continue reading

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Resilience and Sustainability in the Food System

Resilience and sustainability are complementary, essential attributes of a healthy food system. One addresses relatively short-term responses to disturbances and the other addresses holistic management for long term stability. There’s no bright line between these two concepts but they aren’t … Continue reading

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A Closer Look at Farm Labor

Everyone knows that working on a farm work is hard work, but not many people know who is doing that work. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, hired farmworkers make up less than one percent of all wage and … Continue reading

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Tomatoes Are Growing in Vermont Greenhouses

There’s nothing quite like a totally ripe tomato, picked fresh from your garden or a local farm field. In Vermont, the window for this experience is pretty short, typically during August and part of September, until the first frost. The … Continue reading

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