Sunday, October 28, 2007 By Ron Cammel The Grand Rapids Press SPARTA TOWNSHIP -- It's hard to imagine the west side of the township being anything than what it is: rolling land where crops, cows and orchards mix with old homes, barns and stands of trees along lightly traveled roads. Sunday, October 28, 2007 By Ron Cammel The Grand Rapids Press SPARTA TOWNSHIP -- It's hard to imagine the west side of the township being anything than what it is: rolling land where crops, cows and orchards...

The fact that land Herbert Clark purchased in 1886 remains the Clark Brothers Orchard in 2007 is due to a combination of luck, skill, a helpful microclimate, and, in recent years, the same kind of cooperative marketing agreement that seeks fair prices for small Latin American producers selling bananas. The fact that land Herbert Clark purchased in 1886 remains the Clark Brothers Orchard in 2007 is due to a combination of luck, skill, a helpful microclimate, and, in recent years, the same...

In late July, the House passed its reauthorized version of the bill a massive, $290 billion spending plan that would keep existing agricultural subsidies in place through 2012, while also adding new ones: for growers of specialty crops, the settlement of discrimination suits, and an expansion of the food stamp program, among other things. In late July, the House passed its reauthorized version of the bill a massive, $290 billion spending plan that would keep existing agricultural subsidies...

By Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer November 12, 2007 Some Ventura County farmers are ripping out acres of ho-hum orange groves that produced fruit crated off to supermarkets, and instead are planting lucrative crops such as strawberries, and designer pomelo and jujube orchards, that fetch good money from Los Angeles area foodies. By Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer November 12, 2007 Some Ventura County farmers are ripping out acres of ho-hum orange...

The path to this year's awards started in 2002, when Eiswerth, an environmental scientist, formed a program for teens in Tucson's Jefferson Park Neighborhood that would help them - through the study of mapmaking and geography - identify skills they could use later in careers. The path to this year's awards started in 2002, when Eiswerth, an environmental scientist, formed a program for teens in Tucson's Jefferson Park Neighborhood that would help them - through the study of mapmaking and...

Government financial support spurs farmers to plant certain crops, creating an abundant, cheap supply of fat-producing soybean oil and high-fructose corn syrup. When lawmakers wrote a new bill this year, health advocates hoped to see subsidies for fruits and vegetables to offset subsidies for corn, soy beans and other crops. While both add extra money to promote fruits and vegetables in school lunches, neither adds new subsidies for most fruits and vegetables. As the Senate prepares to...