Food label claims have become about as rare as air molecules. Seemingly, every food item in the grocery store is either free range, free run, humanely raised, organic, GMO-free and of course, gluten-free. But a label officially launched in March and now on the market might generate more controversy than any of the previous claims.Yesterday, Leaf & Love Lemonade, made by a California company, became the first product in America to be certified as “Glyphosate Residue Free.” [node:read-more:link]

A new report from the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) concludes that the level of enforcement of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act varies dramatically by state, and says repeat violators are a major problem. [node:read-more:link]

Contamination by bacteria capable of affecting public health was found in eight meat samples from two processing facilities investigated in Brazil's corruption probe “Operation Weak Flesh,” the country's Ministry of Agriculture said Thursday. Other unrelated problems found in two meat processing facilities owned by Peccin, and in a third plant by Central de Carnes Paranaense, located in Colombo (Paraná state), led the government to order the cancellation of their Federal Inspection Service (SIF) registrations, closing them permanently. [node:read-more:link]

Witnesses at a House Agriculture Committee hearing on opportunities for tax reform in rural America declined Wednesday to take a position on the proposed border adjustability tax while saying that a range of current farm and ranch tax breaks should remain in place. [node:read-more:link]

Imagine a backyard barbecue where the parents grill burgers and chicken kebabs they've grown from single cells using a home meat-making machine.  Meat is essentially muscle tissue, so if it grows naturally from a just few cells into a thick chunk, why can't the same process happen in the lab? Over the past few years, scientists have made progress in figuring out how to use self-renewing cells to grow this tissue outside the body, and some hope to scale it up for mass production soon. [node:read-more:link]

A U.S. government program designed to convert farmland to wildlife habitat has triggered the spread of a fast-growing weed that threatens to strangle crops in America's rural heartland.The weed is hard to kill and, if left unchecked, destroys as much as 91 percent of corn on infested land, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It is spreading across Iowa, which accounts for nearly a fifth of U.S. [node:read-more:link]

If you love animals, are prepared to work hard and long for the bucolic lifestyle, Stephen Overbury has a proposition for you. [node:read-more:link]

Virtually all farms could significantly cut their pesticide use while still producing as much food, according to a major new study. The research also shows chemical treatments could be cut without affecting farm profits on over three-quarters of farms.  The new research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Plants, analysed the pesticide use, productivity and profitability of almost 1,000 farms of all types across France. [node:read-more:link]

Dairy workers are using an annual ice cream giveaway day by Ben and Jerry’s to bring awareness to the long, hard hours and low wages that many in the industry face. [node:read-more:link]