By Basil Waugh
Vermont farms have built up a massive phosphorus surplus—one that is growing at an estimated 1,500 tons per year—as farmers continue to import large quantities of animal feed and fertilizer, a new University of Vermont study says.
Animal feed imports are Vermont’s leading source of new phosphorus, adding to the state’s 240,000-ton surplus, and impacting phosphorus reduction efforts. Photo: Flickr/Creative Commons.
Associate Professor Tyler Doggett began teaching the Ethics of Eating at UVM in 2009. Since then, he has written and edited multiple articles and books about the rights and wrongs of the food industry—from labor to consumption to the mixed messages our culture sends about eating.
Phosphorus runoff from farms and other sources is an ongoing problem for Vermont’s lakes. While phosphorus is essential for life, too much of it can lead to toxic algae blooms.
By Mike Dunphy
One thing I’ve always adored about Vermont is how little things change. Having grown up here, but lived much of my adult life abroad, it’s been endlessly gratifying to return for visits and find the Vermont I knew more or less intact. Even if the faces have changed, the uniforms haven’t.
This time, however, there was one very noticeable change in the maple section of the co-ops and organic markets. The usual plastic jugs and maple leaf glass bottles not only feature a new rating system (so long “grade B”) but are being crowded out by altogether swankier packaging not unlike hair tonic bottles in vintage-style Brooklyn barbershops, and perhaps more bizarrely, infusions of everything from makrut leaf and hibiscus to cardamom and elderberry. Still, other bottles claim aging in rum or bourbon barrels.
Photo: Vermont Tourism
As established farmers age and transition out of farm ownership, a vast amount of agricultural land in the United States will change hands in the coming years. As a result, beginning farmers are likely to continue to face numerous obstacles as they try to find and purchase property.
Courtesy Photo/Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing
