A recently introduced bill would make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to commit entirely to renewable energy sources for electricity, heating and transportation.Called the 100 Percent Renewable Energy Act, the measure has already garnered the support of 53 House and Senate members — more than a quarter of the legislators on Beacon Hill, said Ben Hellerstein, state director with Environment Massachusetts. [node:read-more:link]

Choices magazine this month focuses on opportunities and challenges of contemporary food systems in general, with a particular focus on aspects that are more common in urban systems. Urban agriculture issues are especially relevant given that over 50% of the world’s population resides in urban areas. In the United States, the share of the population in urban areas is even higher, at 80% (World Bank, 2016). [node:read-more:link]

Raw milk is back on the legislative menu this session, with a majority of the House signing onto a farm bill that Westport Rep. Paul Schmid said would benefit legislative districts from the urban cores to the rolling pastures and forests far from Boston.  The Senate passed a similar bill 36-1 last year, and with more than 60 percent of the House already endorsing Schmid's bill, the horizon appears bright for an omnibus agriculture bill this session. [node:read-more:link]

A South Dakota State University lab has been working to find solutions to livestock diseases for nearly 50 years, including a bird flu outbreak in 2015.  But the building that houses the lab is making this a difficult task. This is where a new bill comes into play. The Senate Appropriations Committee introduced the “State Animal Health Lab bill”, or SB 172, which would fund renovating the existing 63,000 sq. ft. facility and constructing an additional 80,000 sq. ft. building. [node:read-more:link]

Teaming with the Humane Society of the United States, Folio can now screen out companies involved with factory farms, which have come under increasing criticism from animal rights advocates for the overcrowding and mistreatment of their livestock.  “We are very interested in allowing people to invest in a way that alligns with their values,” said Greg Vigrass, president of Folio Institutional. “Working with filters for investments has always been in our DNA and we recently stepped up the commitment.”  The Humane Society maintains a list of firms that engage in factory farming. [node:read-more:link]

A recent column (Dec. 19) denouncing the significance of biomedical research that uses animals and encouraging the University of Montana to abandon such projects was grossly misleading with respect to the true need and value of animals in research, including their treatment and care. [node:read-more:link]

As more and more states use “big data” for everything from catching fraudsters to reducing heath care costs, some highway patrols are tapping it to predict where serious or fatal traffic accidents are likely to take place so they can try to prevent them. [node:read-more:link]

Many industries, such as health care and retail, make use of information-sharing services, but Agri Stats provides chicken producers with a rare level of detail, in uncommonly timely fashion. The company’s reports, portions of which Bloomberg Businessweek reviewed, contain exhaustive data about the internal operations of the nation’s biggest poultry corporations, including bird sizes, product mixes, and financial returns at participating plants. According to a 2011 presentation prepared by Agri Stats, the company gathers information from more than 95 percent of U.S. [node:read-more:link]

A pesticides ban in Europe could soon be overturned on the grounds that it was based on unreliable data. Meanwhile, revelations that one of the scientists behind the ban was also involved with a nongovernmental organization that campaigns against pesticides continue to undermine the ban’s integrity.  Two European chemical companies, Bayer and Syngenta, appeared before the European Court of Justice this week to argue that the European Union should revoke a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides. “Neonics,” as these sprays are known, were introduced in the 1990s as a safer, greener alternative. [node:read-more:link]

After hundreds of arrests of undocumented immigrants by immigration police, the Trump administration’s increased focus on immigration enforcement has some of the country’s largest farm groups worried.  Undocumented immigrants make up a significant portion of the country’s agricultural workforce. A 2016 Pew Research Center study showed undocumented workers are in about 26 percent of the nation’s farm jobs, the highest percentage among all occupations Pew included in the study. [node:read-more:link]