Garland West

OUR MISSION

Connecting you with our food system and its value in our daily lives — from dirt to dinner.

How Do Wildfires Affect Ag?

The frequency and intensity of wildfires are on the rise, posing significant consequences for an ever-growing number of people and our agricultural system. But what about the impact on our food system?

Climate Change, Food Safety

Return of El Niño Sends Up Red Flags

There’s ample cause to question just how bad the effect of our latest El Niño weather system could be on our planet – and especially our agricultural system. How significant will El Niño impact global food security this season...and the seasons to come?

Climate Change, Food Security

What’s Keeping Food Costs So High?

The cost of the food we put on our tables is still going up and up. What keeps driving up food costs...and is there anything we can do about it? Or is paying more for our food the price we pay for a better, healthier food system? Let's take a closer look.

Food Production, Food Trade

Holy Cow! What happened to Dean Foods & Borden Dairy?

Two significant dairy companies went bankrupt in 2020. Was it because of the influence of plant-based milk or was it because the dairy industry needed some consolidation?

Food Production

Sorting the facts from the quacks

Quackery about our food and agriculture floods our consciousness and makes it more and more difficult to separate good, useful and trustworthy information from the useless and the dangerous. Here's how you separate facts from quacks...

Russian Wheat & Global Food Security

Despite its war on Ukraine, Russian wheat production has demonstrated a surprising rebound from trade disruptions. But is that enough to surmount its perilous political status?

Food Security, Food Trade

Our Daily Bread: Uncertainty in Global Wheat Markets

The world needs wheat for bread, a daily fixture in households across the globe. As significant exporters of this "staple of life", Russia's war on Ukraine affects the world’s wheat supply. Which countries, if any, can step up to fill in the gap...and at what price?

Food Security, Food Trade

The World of Wheat

Wheat is one of the oldest and most important grain crops in the world, grown in 42 U.S. states and 80 countries around the globe. And its value in feeding a growing global population is incalculable.

Food Production

Tufts' Befuddling "Food Compass"

Really smart people have told me that occasional bouts of confusion are normal as we age, and I’ve taken comfort in that. But I’ve got to admit I was thrown for a very serious loop when I came across the Tufts Food Compass Score...

Diet

Garland's Letter from Atlanta

Ever wonder what farmers do when they aren’t planting, tending or harvesting their crops? D2D wanted to find out, so we attended a winter conference to learn a few new things. And pick up a side of gratitude just in time for the holidays, too.

Food Production, Soil and Crop Management

Ukraine Conflict Tops 2022's Ag Headlines

The resulting disruption ripples across every aspect of agriculture, magnifying the importance of global interdependence. We'll also highlight other top stories and questions as we move into 2023. Buckle up.

Food Production, Food Technology, Food Trade

Lost at Sea: Ukraine Struggles to Revive Ag Sector

Uncertainties over Ukraine's ability to export ag products have resurfaced following news of Putin’s decision to withdraw from an international agreement. Trade manages to continue, but once again the stability of the global food system has been called into serious question.

Food Production, Food Security, Food Trade

Fertilizer Restrictions' Unintended Consequences

Want to cut greenhouse gases? Mandate less fertilizer use...right? Farmers and others ask if we know what that really means for our food security. Beware the perils of unintended consequences.

Food Regulations & Policy, Soil and Crop Management

Science or Suspicion: Which Dictates Gene Editing's Future?

The British government’s proposed regulations governing gene editing have reignited the simmering debate. But while talks rage on, the world’s food system still waits and waits.

Food Technology, Future of Food

Global Trade Can't Happen without Ocean Freight

Ocean transportation offers exceptional advantages in cost, efficiency and environmental concerns. But keeping the ships sailing smoothly across busy and sometimes troubled seas takes a lot of effort – in ways we might not always recognize.

Food Trade

Railroads Drive Lower Costs, Fewer Emissions

Each year, railroads provide the enormous carrying capacity needed to efficiently move billions of tons of everyday products...all while releasing fewer emissions.

Food Trade

Why Are Shelves Empty? Ask A Trucker

The effects of the pandemic linger across all industries, but perhaps most with transportation. Difficulties facing trucking show its rippling effects throughout the supply chain. Can anything be done to correct its course?

Food Production, Food Trade

The Caveman Diet: Should Our Diets Really Evolve?

We all care about diet and the important role it plays in our health. But how do we know what choices to make when our heads tell us one thing and our natural instincts might say something very different?

Diet, Health

Ukraine: Quiet Pawn in Quest for Food Security

Current tensions can be traced to its geography, history, and geopolitics. And, surprising to some, its role as a major player in the global food system.

Food Security, Food Trade

Supply Chain, Inflation & Climate Change

We're taking a moment to look back at some of the big issues and news items in 2021 to set the stage for what should be another year of change.

Climate Change, Food Production, Food Technology, Food Trade

How Is Ag Helping Battle Climate Change?

Despite ag's substantial carbon footprint, cropland can offset greenhouse gases and regenerate healthy soil. Few if any other sectors have the opportunity to help battle climate change while reducing costs, improving yields, and boosting farm profits.

Conservation, Soil and Crop Management

The Labor Shortage: Lack of Workers or Lack of Willing Workers?

Labor shortages plague every sector of our current economy, leading to significant supply chain issues affecting everyday products. With available ag jobs growing, why is this happening? And how will we be affected?

Food Production

The Gabels: From Wall Street to little Grassy Creek

Farming can be far more than a profession or a bottom line. Meet two very special people who have traded the traditional model of career success for something they find even more rewarding. Welcome to little Grassy Creek Farm.

Animal Welfare and Health, Soil and Crop Management

Keeping Score on Biden's Ag Initiatives

Six months into the Biden Administration, Washington claims a mixed scorecard of fulfilling the promises made during the 2020 campaign. Let’s take a look at some of the food and ag-related hits and misses recorded so far.

Food Regulations & Policy

Drought: The “Hidden Global Crisis”

The United Nations recently called drought “a hidden global crisis”. What causes drought, and what can we do about it? And should we worry about its effects on our food supply?

Climate Change, Food Security

The Protein Blues: Confessions of a Confirmed Carnivore

Join Garland's journey as he forages through the implications -- and inconveniences -- of all the modern-day protein options.

Food Production, Food Technology

Why are my groceries so expensive right now?

We’re seeing the largest increases in inflation in years. It’s happening across the board in apparel, vehicles, housing, insurance, recreation - you name it. And, needless to say, our food supply isn't immune to these increases, either...

Food Regulations & Policy, Food Security

Are Farmer Protests in India a Cautionary Tale for Americans?

India aims to provide subsidies for farm producers while maintaining artificially low food prices, but it's created an explosive situation. It's a cautionary tale for all food systems to keep policy and economics aligned.

Food Regulations & Policy, Food Security

Regenerative Ag in Your Own Backyard

To an expanding array of people from the inner city to suburbia and beyond, the ideas behind the regenerative ag movement are changing our thinking about the role we play in sustaining our food system...and the health of our environment.

Soil and Crop Management

What Do the Suez Canal and Covid Have in Common?

More than you'd think. The blockage may be over, but the after-effects will linger. As we saw during Covid, significant disruption to the global supply chain extends all the way to consumers. So what should we prepare for?

Food Trade

Don’t Look Now, But They’re Gaining on Us

U.S. ag is one of the most productive, efficient, and well-developed systems on the planet. But Brazil and Argentina have quickly and impressively developed complex global food & ag systems. What does this mean for us?

Food Production, Food Trade

What is the Biden Era Agricultural Agenda?

Congress and the new Biden Administration are targeting social issues and climate change, but Covid, the farm economy, and trade relations with China must remain front and center. With all of these critical issues in the balance, what ag policy changes can we expect?

Climate Change, Food Regulations & Policy

Digging into the Biden Era Agricultural Agenda

The 2020 elections ushered in a new era of leadership – and a different set of priorities – for food and agriculture. Expect to see a much more aggressive focus on social issues and climate change from both Congress and the new Biden Administration. While Covid, the farm economy, and trade relations with China also will remain front and center on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, don’t look for radical change in agricultural policy that will substantively change the food picture for American consumers or foreign customers.

Food Regulations & Policy

Around the World at My Local Restaurant

Whoa - I traveled much farther than down the block for this delicious meal...

Food Trade

Learning to live with - or without - Ethanol Click for poll results!

What is ethanol, and why is it such a big deal? And should we act to preserve an established program important to farmers, rural America and environmentalists, or look for other ways that make better economic sense?

Food Regulations & Policy

China Assumes Central Role in Global Trade Picture

With the U.S.-China relationship fraught with geopolitical issues, how will our supply-demand connection affect food security?

Food Trade

If You Can't Say Anything Nice...

Here are some of our favorite stories that make our official “Covidiot” list. We advise you not to try any of these at home – we don’t want to add any more shockingly silly actions to our expertly refined list of absurdity.

A Farmer's Life on the U.S.-Mexico Border

Farmers, ranchers, and the industry at large depend on an immigrant workforce to help with food production every year. But how can we continue to fortify an agricultural workforce while protecting farmers at the border?

Agricultural Labor

Dairy: An Industry in Quiet Turmoil

Dairy has been hit hard recently, but the truth is that the U.S. dairy sector has had problems long before COVID. The pandemic has only made things worse. A lot worse...

Food Production

Where is our Food?!

It’s enough to make anyone concerned. Maybe even a bit worried. What is happening to our food supply during the pandemic?

Food Production, Food Security

A Virtual Happy Hour with Vegan Wine

With social distancing, we're not at the mercy of a small wine list at a local pub. So should we start our virtual happy hour with something vegan? But aren't grapes an inherently vegan product? Animal products have a role in wine production, and vegan consumers should be aware.

Food Ingredients, Food Production

Coronavirus and Our Food: Should We Be Scared?

As coronavirus COVID-19 spreads globally, how concerned should we be for our safety? And should we fear transmission of the virus via our food, especially among imported products?

Food Regulations & Policy, Food Safety

Public Opinion: A Misguided Discussion on GMOs

It started as pleasantries in a small-town parking lot, but when GMOs came up, the conversation took a turn for the worse. What happens next is a clash between science, opinion, and its effect on our food system.

Food Technology

2 Trade Deals and Plant Food in a Pear Tree: Top News in 2019

2019 has been a wild ride! News about our food and how we get it – from dirt to dinner – have had us on the edge of our seats...

Animal Welfare and Health, Food Production, Food Regulations & Policy, Food Safety, Food Trade, Soil and Crop Management

Our Agricultural Extension Service: From Gardening to Food Safety

Our agricultural extension services program is designed to teach people not just how to farm productively, but how we all can benefit, from gardening to food safety practices. And just in time for a few tips before Thanksgiving!

Soil and Crop Management

The African Swine Fever Epidemic: Are We at Risk?

Many of us are unaware of issues affecting our food supply. But what if the pork products we place in our grocery carts became harder to find? The devastating disease, African Swine Fever, has made this a potential reality in Asia.

Food Safety, Food Trade

Back to Business: D2D News Recap

With summer winding down and kids returning to school, it’s time once again to catch up on some food & ag news from around the world. It’s been a busy time, with lots of news we at Dirt-to-Dinner found to be important, interesting, sometimes outrageous and occasionally funny. Here it is, in case you missed it...