Food and Farming

It's high time we had a supermarket ombudsman, but it needs to be proactive and powerful, says Caroline Lucas

Buying organic cotton doesn't mean you are depriving a farmer in the developing world of food crops, says Eliza Anyangwe of Pesticide Action Network. Rather, it's one action every ethical consumer should take

US officials say they remain ‘surprised and disappointed’ over Europe’s refusal to embrace technologies like genetic modification (GM) and nanotechnology in farming

Forty years ago this month, Robert Allen wrote about the ‘European Con Year’ - the year environmental conservation practices were bleak

Proposed merger between Dupont-owned Pioneer Hi-Bred and Pannar Seeds could spell disaster for local farmers and food security, watchdog claims

Campaigners unite in fury over the failure of the latest attempt to curtail overfishing of the critically endangered bluefin tuna species

Andres Carrasco's research linking a controversial herbicide with birth defects highlighted the potential health dangers posed by GM crop-spraying in Argentina – and led to violence and intimidation for those behind the study

Tuna industry showing disregard for consumers and future sustainability of fish stocks, according to Greenpeace

Increasing demand for meat in the land of the Pyramids is leading to more intensive farming, with serious consequences for food prices, the environment and animal welfare, reports Joseph Mayton in Cairo

EU Commission proposes compulsory environmental measures for farmers in reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) but campaigners fear member states will weaken final agreement

Beekeepers' group ends commercial relationship with pesticide manufacturer whose product killed bees

Widespread use of insecticides affecting bee populations but also causing decline in numbers of birds, butterflies and moths, warns Dutch toxicologist

Campaigners claim the bank has refused to state what environmental assessments were carried out before supplying a mortgage - part of a £13-million land deal - to company behind controversial Nocton proposal. Andrew Wasley reports

Plans for US-style mega-dairy farms in the UK are being heralded for their potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but scaling up may create as many problems as it attempts to solve reports Tom Levitt

Communities on the Isle of Islay are moving forward with plans for tidal energy and renewable fuels while maintaining age old methods of agriculture and whisky distilling