This week’s Friday Link Roundup includes a story on the innovative way Baltimore is getting groceries to residents in ‘food deserts’ via libraries; an interesting article by a University of California student arguing against locavorism (always good to see both sides of any issue); another student on the locally-sourced food options at Pomona; stories from CT farmer Dina Brewster and LA farmers Kurt and Karen Unkel on their experiences; and much more about what’s going on the food world. Enjoy!

• Food Safety News reports that the Office of Inspector General found that the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program has failed to fully enforce federal laws governing organics In California specifically, many of the state’s 2,000 so-called organic farms could by flying under the regulatory radar.
• The Baltimore Sun reports on the city’s Virtual Supermarket Project that allows residents in ‘food deserts’ to order groceries online and pick them up the next day at local library branches.
• An inspiring story of a rooftop farm in Brooklyn is featured in the Atlantic.
• For those that like bitter coffee, this report from NPR suggest climate change may be in your favor.
• If you’re low on space but high on gardening, check out this yardshare program from Hyperlocavore, an online community that brings together food growers and those that have space to grow it.
• An article published by a student at the University of California in the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics states that locavorism would increase costs of food production and feels modern agriculture is getting a bad rap.
• Hidden in the healthcare bill is Section 2572 that will require every big restaurant chain in the nation to post calorie information on menus and drive-throughs. The legislation also requires labels on food items in vending machines.  Tom Philpott ponders the passage of the healthcare bill and what lessons can food and agricultural policy can learn from the healthcare industry.
• Federal agencies in California are investigating the possible causal relationship between an increase in pesticide use and disappearing honeybees.
• In an OpEd piece in the San Francisco Chronicle, Rebecca King talks Farm Bill and what the Beginning Farmer and Rancher program has to offer.
• A thesis from a Pomono College student investigates the locally-grown, ecologically-sound food options in the university cafeteria… or lack there-of.  She actually found that the packaged bread available contains an additive called Azodicarbonamide, a flour-bleaching agent  banned in Europe and Australia.
• The rise and fall of the American butcher is now at an upswing.  This article by Josh Ozersky rationalizes why.
• Jill Richardson tackles the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act which moved forward with $40 million for Farm to School, but only $4.5 billion in new money over 10 years (less than half of what Obama originally called for).
• The Sustainable Table relays 31 simple messages from Growing Markets for Sustainable Meat and Dairy Production, a conference organized by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.
• Debra Eschmeyer discusses her experiences at the Drake Forum, a two-day national policy conference to identify innovative policies and projects at the federal, state, and local levels to support new and beginning farmers.
• If you enjoy personal stories from a farmer’s point of view, check out Dina Brewster, a Connecticut farmer who launched a successful CSA program and sustains over 115 varieties of vegetables, fruit, pigs, laying hens, and meat chickens; or, Kurt and Karen Unkel, rice farmers in rural Louisiana who decide to grow brown rice without pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
• Barbara Damrosch at the Washington Post reports on housing developers offering residents a working farm to help anchor the community.
• State legislation moves forward to help set standards of care for animals, as well as to help ensure the safety of tomato crops.