We are most likely stuck with factory farms, given that they produce most of the beef and pork Americans consume. But it is still possible to reduce the animals’ discomfort — through neuroscience. Recent advances suggest it may soon be possible to genetically engineer livestock so that they suffer much less. -- NYTimes cf22010
Animal Antibiotic Overuse Hurting Humans? Katie Couric Investigates Feeding Healthy Farm Animals Antibiotics. Is it Creating New Drug-Resistant Bacteria? -- Uh, newsflash ... YES!!!! cf21710
And here's more great work from Barry Estabrook's Politics of the Plate blog ...
New Research Reveals Why Factory Farms Have Become Superbug Factories–and Why Worse is yet to Come
Salmon Farms: Feedlots of the Sea "Farmed Salmon Exposed" is NOT for the faint of heart, but you'll never eat farmed salmon again! The Atlantic cf21710
"We burn through more of it per capita than any other country; and our appetite for it can only be sated with massive imports. No, not oil—I’m talking about nitrogen fertilizer. With only 5 percent of the world population, the U.S. consumes nearly 12 percent of the globe’s annual synthetic nitrogen fertilizer production. And we’re producing less and less of it at home—meaning that, as with petroleum, we’re increasingly dependent on other nations for this key crop nutrient." the grist cf21710
Sugar Fuels Tumor Growth, Says Major New Study -- AOL news cf21710
"Road to Recovery: Local foods spice up economic picture -- Selling food locally, Ashworth is able to break the hiring cycle that requires workers for a few weeks or months and then sends them elsewhere along the seasonal migration trail. She has eight employees, who get wages and benefits, wear uniforms and have Christmas parties." -- Sacramento Bee cf21710
Check out the USDA's Food Atlas!! -- a great compilation of demographic data, especially in regards to corporate ag in the Midwest, aka "The Heartland," where there are virtually no farms with direct consumer sales, and high children's poverty rates in the San Joaquin Valley, aka "America's Salad Bowl." cf21210
"We burn through more of it per capita than any other country; and our appetite for it can only be sated with massive imports. No, not oil—I’m talking about nitrogen fertilizer. With only 5 percent of the world population, the U.S. consumes nearly 12 percent of the globe’s annual synthetic nitrogen fertilizer production. And we’re producing less and less of it at home—meaning that, as with petroleum, we’re increasingly dependent on other nations for this key crop nutrient." -- the grist cf21210
The Obama administration will begin a drive this week to expel Pepsi, French fries and Snickers bars from the nation’s schools in hopes of reducing the number of children who get fat during their school years. -- NYTimes cf21010
The Indian government said NO to Monsanto! -- Times of India cf21010
Americans love their shrimp. It's the most popular seafood in the country, but unfortunately much of the shrimp we eat are a cocktail of chemicals, harvested at the expense of one of the world's productive ecosystems. Worse, guidelines for finding some kind of "sustainable shrimp" are so far nonexistent. -- AlterNet cf12810
As huge corporations merge and get even huger, we find ourselves yearning for some old-fashioned competition, and maybe a little diversity. -- NYTimes cf12710
"Farm reform groups are in an uproar today over the administration's plans to violate an overt campaign pledge President Obama made to limit federal payments to giant farms." SFGate cf1/710
(p.s. the author, Carolyn Lochhead, is the daughter of the founder of Lochhead Vanilla Company here in Paso Robles.)
A wonderfully cogent piece by Russ Parsons reminding us that "Civil dialogues about food can lead to understanding and change. Let's not join one of the armed camps deeply suspicious of one another shouting past each other." -- LATimes cf1610
Though organic grocery stores and farmers markets have sprung up on San Francisco’s street corners, it remains to be seen whether our current mania for sustainable, local food will positively affect the lower classes, be they farm workers or poor families.-- SF Bay Guardian cf122309
The US Department of Agriculture announced an agreement with U.S. dairy producers to accelerate adoption of innovative manure to energy projects on American dairy farms. The agreement represents a dynamic public/private partnership and is another demonstration of the Obama Administration's commitment to curb the emissions of greenhouse gases. -- ENN cf122309
For the second time this year, a Fresno beef company is recalling thousands of pounds of ground beef contaminated with a drug-resistant stain of salmonella. -- USA Today cf12709
An Apple a Day ... Keeps the Farmers in Business. Need another reason to buy local? How about keeping your taxes down and propping up a sagging economy -- The Daily Greeen cf120309
IN case you wanted another reason to eat organic poultry ... In the run-up to Thanksgiving, a politician has introduced a bill to ban the use of roxarsone in poultry feeds, on the grounds that its arsenic content could harm human health. -- The Poultry Site cf11/3/09
kind of Goliath vs. Goliath, but ... Monsanto Questioned by Justice Department on Rival’s Complaint -- Bloomberg Press
TWICE a month, President Obama’s senior policy advisers gather at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to hash out strategies for improving the health of the country’s children. Among the assistant secretaries, chiefs of staff and senior aides sits an unlikely participant: a bald, intense young man who happens to be the newest White House chef. -- NYTimes cf11309
A Bum Steer: Big Beef Throws Its Weight Around at Cal Poly More about the Harris Ranch/Cal Poly kerfluffle! Politics Daily cf102809
Beef produced in the United States is heavily contaminated with natural or synthetic sex hormones, which are associated with an increased risk of reproductive and childhood cancers, warns Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition. from World Wire, thanks to Let's Be Frank cf102809
Can Biotech Fuel World Hunger? Great round of debate on biotech. NYTimes cf102809
Swedes start counting carbon emissions instead of calories? "New labels listing the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the production of foods, from whole wheat pasta to fast food burgers, are appearing on some grocery items and restaurant menus around the country." -- NYTimes cf102309
Kitchen Table Talks: What You Need to Know About Genetically Engineered Food (VIDEO) -- Civil Eats: a pretty involved site, but lots of info!
California’s Food Banks Go Locavore -- NYTimes
Also check out my related story about the Food Bank Coalition of SLO County in the new Edible SLO issue.
Never mind "Where's the Beef?" Where has the beef been? E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection -- The retail giant Costco is one of the few big producers that tests trimmings for E. coli before grinding, a practice it adopted after a New York woman was sickened in 1998 by its hamburger meat, prompting a recall. ... Costco said it had found E. coli in foreign and domestic beef trimmings and pressured suppliers to fix the problem. But even Costco, with its huge buying power, said it had met resistance from some big slaughterhouses. “Tyson will not supply us,” Mr. Wilson said. “They don’t want us to test.” -- NYTimes cf100509
Gardening may be good for you – but only if you don’t use pesticides on the weeds. They increase your chances of developing Parkinson’s disease three-fold. -- HealthyNet cf100109
Three years ago, a technological breakthrough gave dairy farmers the chance to bend a basic rule of nature: no longer would their cows have to give birth to equal numbers of female and male offspring. Instead, using a high-technology method to sort the sperm of dairy bulls, they could produce mostly female calves to be raised into profitable milk producers. Now the first cows bred with that technology, tens of thousands of them, are entering milking herds across the country — and the timing could hardly be worse. -- NYTimes cf092909
New Big Ag Push to Fight World Hunger Misses What Organic Ag Is Already Doing -- Tim LaSalle of the Rodale Institute at Huffington Post
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-lasalle/new-big-ag-push-to-fight_b_295082.htmlWhy I Still Oppose Genetically Modified Crops -- Verlyn Klinkenborg's well-crafted essay points out, among other things, that "These crops close the circle on the farmer’s knowledge, finally eliminating, after 10,000 years, the farmer’s role in the genetics of agriculture. ... This represents the final transfer of the collective farming wisdom of the human race into corporate hands. " -- Yale Environment 360 cf91909
Said as only Dan Barber can say it: "Democratizing the carcass should be the future of food." In short, we need to (re)learn how to cook. -- The Nation, via AlterNet cf91509
Agriculture Commissioners Tell USDA:
–Protecting Farmland for Future Agricultural Use Is of
Utmost Importance to Every U.S. Citizen -- American Farmland Trust cf91509
"... our success in bringing health care costs under control ultimately depends on whether Washington can summon the political will to take on and reform a second, even more powerful industry: the food industry. " -- Michael Pollen, NYTimes cf9/10/09
Food Aid Grows in California's Agricultural Heart
Central Valley Residents Struggle as Recession, Limited Water Supplies Hit Farms; 'This Is the Worst I've Ever Seen It' -- Wall St. Journal cf9/4/09
Ban that Poop! Would you feed animal waste to your dog or cat? Probably not. It’s dirty, disgusting and clearly unsafe. Unfortunately, not all animals are so lucky. In areas of the United States where large cattle and poultry operations coexist, poultry litter is routinely fed to cows. -- FACT (Food Animal Concerns Trust) cf8/21/09
Younger Consumers Exhibit Less Demand for Fresh Vegetables -- USDA study
Since the 1980s, American agriculture has become increasingly concentrated. Today, less than 2 percent of farms account for half of all agricultural sales. The new antitrust division of President Obama's Justice Department has said that scrutinizing monopolies in agriculture is a top priority. -- NPR cf8/20/09
Unless Americans radically rethink the way they grow and consume food, they face a future of eroded farmland, hollowed-out countryside, scarier germs, higher health costs — and bland taste. Sustainable food has an élitist reputation, but each of us depends on the soil, animals and plants — and as every farmer knows, if you don't take care of your land, it can't take care of you.
With the backing of the government, farmers are producing more calories — some 500 more per person per day since the 1970s — but too many are unhealthy calories. Given that, it's no surprise we're so fat; it simply costs too much to be thin. -- Time cf8/20/09
Snorkelling rice 'to feed millions.' A new rice plant has been developed which grows "snorkels" when exposed to floods. -- BBCNews cf8/19/09
Stars Aligning on School Lunches (Let's Hope!!)-- NYTimes cf8/19/09
Does this seem like good business strategy?
Whole Foods Exec Slams Health Care Reform in teh Wall Street Journal, Says People Should Just Eat Whole Foods -- TalkingPointsMemo cf8/14/09
Seeing Through the Food Industry's "Personal Responsibility" Smoke Screen -- Huffington Post cf8/13/09
To be filed under ... WHAT!?!?!?!?!?
One-third of National Wildlife Refuges in the Southeast U.S. are growing genetically modified crops with approval from the official tapped by the Obama White House to head the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, according to agency records obtained today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Planting GM crops on a wildlife refuge is illegal without full prior environmental and public review under a federal court ruling won by PEER and allied groups last year, but none of the Southeastern refuges have undertaken the required reviews. -- PEER cf 8/10/09
Do Seed Companies Control GM Crop Research?
Scientists must ask corporations for permission before publishing independent research on genetically modified crops. That restriction must end. -- Scientific American cf8/10/09
Here’s the unhappy twist: the explosion of home gardeners — the very people most conscious of buying local food and opting out of the conventional food chain — has paradoxically set the stage for the worst local tomato harvest in memory.
So what do we do?
For starters, if you’re planning a garden (and not growing from seed — the preferable, if less convenient, choice), then buy starter plants from a local grower or nursery. A tomato plant that travels 2,000 miles is no different from a tomato that has traveled 2,000 miles to your plate. It’s an effective way to help local growers, who rely on sales of these plants before the harvest arrives. It’s also a way to protect agriculture. If late blight occurs in a small nursery it’s relatively easy to recognize, as straightforward as being able to see the plant, recognize its symptoms and isolate it before it has a chance to spread. -- Dan Barber NYTimes cf8/9/09
Are Dairy Farmers A Dying Breed? The recession has hit the U.S. dairy industry hard, and in California — the nation's No. 1 milk-producing state — dairy farmers are taking an especially big blow. -- NPR.org cf8/9/09
There is fresh hope that the world's depleted fisheries can be saved from collapse, say a team of researchers. -- BBC News (cf7/30/09)
The Problem with Farmed Atlantic Salmon -- Chile, which provides most U.S. farmed salmon, uses massive amounts of antibiotics, endangering wild fish and marine ecosystems. That's just part of the problem. -- The Daily Green (cf7/29/09)
On tiny plots, a new generation of farmers emerges
--- USAToday (cf07/15/09)
Bread Basket Blues: Hidden Kitchens -- NPR
California's Central Valley produces many of the fruits and vegetables consumed in America. It is also one of the poorest areas of the country. There are high rates of malnutrition and obesity, and residents have little access to fresh produce themselves.
In Fresno, there was actually a zoning ordinance that prohibited the establishment of farmers markets!!!
updated 7/10/09
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How the Food Makers Captured Our Brains
When it comes to stimulating our brains, Dr. Kessler noted, individual ingredients aren’t particularly potent. But by combining fats, sugar and salt in innumerable ways, food makers have essentially tapped into the brain’s reward system, creating a feedback loop that stimulates our desire to eat and leaves us wanting more and more even when we’re full. -- NYTimes
updated 6/24/09
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Urban Farming, a Bit Closer to the Sun
Aeries are cropping up on America’s skylines, filled with the promise of juicy tomatoes, tiny Alpine strawberries and the heady perfume of basil and lavender. High above the noise and grime of urban streets, gardeners are raising fruits and vegetables.
-- NYTimes
updated 6/19/09
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updated 6/12/09
Forget buckets of blood. Nothing says horror like one of those tubs of artificially buttered, nonorganic popcorn at the concession stand. That, at least, is one of the unappetizing lessons to draw from one of the scariest movies of the year, “Food, Inc.,”..." -- NYTimes
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updated 6/1/09
Celebrity restaurant Nobu tells diners not to eat its endangered tuna dish -- London Telegraph
85% of the World's Oyster Reefs Are Gone (and the Remaining 15% Are Imperiled)Like to dine on this superfood? Enjoy it while you still can. -- Daily Green
Both times Mrs. Obama missed a great opportunity to get people talking about a crucial yet neglected aspect of the food discussion: cooking. Because terrific local ingredients aren’t much use if people are cooking less and less; cooking is to gardening what parenting is to childbirth. -- NYTimes
DRINK ORGANIC!!!
Organic Dairies Watch the Good Times Turn Bad -- NYTimes
Maine has become the sixth US state to ban extreme confinement. Gestation crates for sows and crates for veal calves will be prohibited from January 2011. -- The PigSite News
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updated 5/23/09
(Artificial) Sweeteners Linger in Groundwater -- Discovery News
The current pandemic is linked to the way we produce food—in factory farms, via vertically integrated business. Experts say the global food industry, like the global banking industry, is too big and out of control. It needs to be fixed. -- Down to Earth Magazine
Author Michael Pollan's New Advice on Buying Food: "Don't Buy Any Food You've Ever Seen Advertised" He was recently a guest on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman.
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) today released its position paper on Genetically Modified foods stating that "GM foods pose a serious health risk" and calling for a moratorium on GM foods. Citing several animal studies, the AAEM concludes "there is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects" and that "GM foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health."
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updated 5/13/09
WHEN Jessica Prentice, a food writer in the San Francisco Bay area, invented the term “locavore,” she didn’t have Lay’s potato chips in mind. -- NYTimes
If you eat like a vegan until dinnertime, you can protect your health and help save the planet; how we eat — and certainly what we eat — has a real impact on both our bodies and the Earth. -- Mark Bittman
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updated 5/6/09
Could Monsanto Be Responsible for One Indian Farmer's Death Every Thirty Minutes?
Over 1,500 farmers in the agricultural Indian state of Chattisgarh have committed suicide after being driven to debt by crop failure. The state was hit hard by falling water levels. Bharatendu Prakash, of the Organic Farming Association of India, said that, "Farmers' suicides are increasing due to a vicious circle created by money lenders. They lure farmers to take money but when the crops fail, they are left with no option other than death."
Local food is delicious, but the problem-and perhaps the solution-is global. -- Worldwatch Institute
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North Carolina Town Prints Own Currency to Support Local Business -- One North Carolina town is trying to become more self-sufficient by moving toward being able to feed, fuel and finance itself. The town of Pittsboro houses the nation’s largest biodiesel cooperative, a food co-op, a farmers’ market and, most recently, its own currency, the Pittsboro Plenty. Pittsboro is one of a number of communities across the country printing their own money in an attempt to support local business. -- DemocracyNow
Farm Workers’ Rights, 70 Years Overdue
The goal is to win basic rights that farm and domestic workers were denied more than 70 years ago, when the Roosevelt administration won major reforms protecting other workers in areas like overtime and disability pay, days of rest and union organizing.
That inequality is a perverse holdover from the Jim Crow era. Segregationist Southern Democrats in Congress could not abide giving African-Americans, who then made up most of the farm and domestic labor force, an equal footing in the workplace with whites. President Roosevelt’s compromise simply wrote workers in those industries out of the New Deal. -- NYTimes
Dr. Anderson at first couldn’t figure out why he was seeing patient after patient with MRSA -- drug resistant staph infections -- in a small Indiana town. And then he began to wonder about all the hog farms outside of town. Could the pigs be incubating and spreading the disease? -- Nicholas Kristhof, NYTimes
At a time when diseases like mad cow and bird flu have made consumers worried about food safety, being able to quickly track down the cause of an outbreak seems like a good idea. Unfortunately, the plan, which is called the National Animal Identification System ... would end up rewarding the factory farms whose practices encourage disease while crippling small farms and the local food movement. -- NYTimes
It’s Organic, but Does That Mean It’s Safer? -- NYTimes
The Food Lobby Goes to School -- ANP: Who decides what our children are eating? (Check out the identifying logos about 3 minutes in.)
The Curious Cook, Harold McGee
How Much Water Does Pasta Really Need?
By using less water, "My rough figuring indicates an energy savings at the stove top of several trillion B.T.U.s. At the power plant, that would mean saving 250,000 to 500,000 barrels of oil, or $10 million to $20 million at current prices. Significant numbers, though these days they sound like small drops in a very large pot." -- NYTimes
Mercury was found in nearly 50 percent of tested samples of commercial high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), according to a new article published today in the scientific journal, Environmental Health
How Meat Contributes to Global Warming
California Organic Acreage Jumped In 2008 -- American Vegetable Grower
How much does it really cost to eat a healthy diet? -- NYTimes
Eat this with that: How food works in tandem to boost nutrition -- Chicago Tribune
A sustainable global food system in the 21st Century needs to be built on a series of "new fundamentals", according to a leading food expert.
Tim Lang warned that the current system, designed in the 1940s, was showing "structural failures", such as "astronomic" environmental costs. -- BBC News
Dr. (David) Bronner: Comparing USDA & EU 'Organic', 'Made with Organic' & 'Natural' Standards on Body Care Products -- Organic Consumers' Union
Prince Charles warns GM crops risk causing the biggest-ever environmental disaster -- Telegraph
Let he (or she) who is without fat cast the first stone!
"Instead of blaming India and other developing nations for the rise in food prices, Americans should rethink their energy policy — and go on a diet. ... the money spent in the United States on liposuction to get rid of fat from excess consumption could be funneled to feed famine victims." -- NYTimes
Good reasons to support local farmers ... It's about transforming and democratizing the food system. It's about increasing access to high-quality, nutrient-rich food and making it available and affordable to all people. -- Seattle PI
Alternative Fuel Frenzy Leading to Extinction of Grassland Birds? -- The Daily Green
Consumers who would like to be able to buy local fruits and vegetables not just at farmers’ markets, but also in the produce aisle of their supermarket, will be dismayed to learn that the federal government works deliberately and forcefully to prevent the local food movement from expanding. And the barriers that the United States Department of Agriculture has put in place will be extended when the farm bill that House and Senate negotiators are working on now goes into effect. -- NYTimes
Consumption of fish and meat is growing fast worldwide, but producing these in huge livestock-raising operations generates enormous health and environmental problems. Alternative ways of meeting demand for meat and fish can protect the environment and small farmers. -- WorldWatch Institute
Some corn seed produced by Dow AgroSciences and grown in Iowa has been contaminated with small amounts of an unapproved biotech variety since 2006, the company and government officials disclosed -- Des Moines Register
Michael Pollen speaks with Amy Goodman on DemocracyNow
The peer-reviewed study found that the urine and saliva of children eating a variety of conventional foods from area groceries contained biological markers of organophosphates, the family of pesticides spawned by the creation of nerve gas agents in World War II. When the same children ate organic fruits, vegetables and juices, signs of pesticides were not found. -- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Big Food Companies Fear Pressure and Criticism from Environmental Activists -- ENN News
As supplies dry up, growers pass on farming and sell water -- Press Enterprise
What Will We Eat as the Oil Runs Out? -- Richard Heinberg
The real beneficiaries of cloning are the nation’s large meatpacking companies — the kind that would like it best if chickens grew in the shape of nuggets. -- NYTimes editorial
Are you eating? Here's a few statistics to chew on: In the US, restaurants are the top electricity consumer among retail businesses. 33% of it. Each restaurant produces an average of 50,000 pounds of waste. Eat up, unless you want to add to that last figure. That is, unless you happen to be dining at a restaurant certified by the Green Restaurant Association, which aids member restaurants in achieving a near zero waste status.
Wildlife Numbers Decline as Desperate Refugees Seek Meat -- ENN News
Europe’s Appetite for Seafood Propels Illegal Trade -- NYTimes
Food and Fuel Compete for Land -- NYTimes
"So Little Time, So Many Charities to Feed" -- NYTimes
"Food Pantries Struggling With Shortages." -- USNews via NewsVine
"Market leading pork producer Smithfield Foods, says it will not produce or use pork from cloned animals. It says the technology is, as yet, unproven and requires further investigation." -- PigSite News
"Abundant Evidence to Warn People Against GE Crops" -- ENN News
"Farmers in developing world hurt by 'eat local' philosophy in U.S." -- SF Chronicle
"Proposed Ban on Genetically Modified Corn in Europe." -- NYTimes
"A look at how federal subsidies cause a salad to cost more than a Big Mac." -- Good Medicine Magazine
"Agricultural Antibiotics May Be The Cause Of Super-Bugs." -- NewsTarget.com
"Germ Fighters May Lead to Hardier Germs" -- NYTimes
Here are a number of all-purpose cleaners that are gentler on human health and the environment -- The Green Guide
"Sugar’s Sweetheart Deal" -- NYTimes
"Very soon, a farmer and his son will come to the farm to kill our two pigs. If that sentence bothers you, you should probably stop reading now — and you should probably also stop eating pork." -- NYTimes
"Adult Weight Gain Raises Breast Cancer Risk" -- ENN
"Obesity becoming a global problem" -- ENN
"The Globalization of Hunger" -- Madre
"But do food miles -- the distance edibles travel from farm to plate -- give an accurate gauge of environmental impact, especially where greenhouse gas emissions are concerned?" -- Reuters via ENN
"Corporations are rushing to meet the demand for food products that meet social and environmental standards." -- NYTimes
"The Blessings of Dirty Work" -- Barbara Kingsolver, Washington Post
"... an unimpeachably neutral group has joined the ranks of those who prefer organic foods over foods produced with the help of synthetic chemicals. That group is 40 Swiss rats." - Harold McGee, NYTimes
"Help Wanted: Young Farmers" -- Edible Nation
"A PB&J will slow global warming. Next time you have one you'll reduce your carbon footprint by saving the equivalent of 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over an average animal-based lunch like a hamburger, a tuna sandwich, grilled cheese, or chicken nuggets." -- The PBJ Campaign
"Can vegetarianism prevent bird flu?" -- Worldwatch Institute
"The trouble with factory farms is that they are raising more than pigs. They are raising drug-resistant bugs as well." -- NYTimes
"Despite the fact that, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, at least one breed of livestock has become extinct every month for the last seven years, most burger-eating, milk-drinking consumers in the U.S. and Europe haven’t taken notice." -- WorldWatch via ENN News
"Common food additives and colorings can increase hyperactive behavior in a broad range of children, a study being released today found." -- NYTimes
"Farmers today can grow two to three times as much grain, fruit, and vegetables on a plot of land as they could 50 years ago, but the nutritional quality of many crops has declined." -- Worldwatch Institute
"Activists continue to apply increased pressure on antibiotic use in food-producing animals, and activists’ messages are being more than heard." -- The Fish Site
"Biofuel experts are already looking beyond grains for cheaper feedstocks such as straw or corn stover. But there is a price to be paid when you remove biomass that normally goes back to the soil." -- New Farm
" ... only 3.5 cents of every dollar goes to the farmer when food is purchased at the grocery store, according to the Sustain AgriFood Network [pdf] versus the 80 to 90 cents on the dollar that goes to the farmer when food is purchased at a farmer's market."
"Raising poultry the new-old way." It's more work than you think! -- SF Chronicle
"Eating Local Isn’t Always the Greenest Option" -- The Texas Observer
"Sometimes buying local food helps in the battle against climate change. Sometimes it doesn't. And sometimes, it's just too confusing to decide." -- Boston Globe
"China to use more non-grain biofuels to replace oil" -- Reuters via ENN
"Why imported produce may be better for the earth than local." -- NYTimes
"The recent New York Times op-ed suggesting that local food isn’t the be-all and end-all of sustainability generated quite a bit of discussion around the Worldwatch office. Many of us who are committed to eating local food agreed with the author, James McWilliams—himself an admitted locavore—on many points." -- WorldWatch Institute
"Local food networks reflect progress and potential." -- New Farm/Rodale Institute
"America's top pork producer churns out a sea of waste that has destroyed rivers, killed millions of fish and generated one of the largest fines in EPA history. Welcome to the dark side of the other white meat." -- Rolling Stone
"One day, we may be using cellulosic ethanol, the kind derived from grasses. For now, the ethanol boom is all about corn. And the real question is whether that will finally kill American farming as we know it." -- NYTimes
"Skyrocketing farmland prices are stirring optimism, but for young and small-scale farmers, the news is grim." -- NYTimes
"Microwaves may be to blame for kick-starting the obesity epidemic, a UK scientist suggests. " -- BBC
"The U.S. government has shortchanged minority farmers, providing them with a fraction of the aid given to their white counterparts, Oxfam said in a report on Thursday, as the aid and advocacy group pushed Congress to craft legislation reversing decades of exclusion." -- Reuters
"Organic farming can yield up to three times as much food as conventional farming in developing countries, and holds its own against standard methods in rich countries." -- Organic Consumers Association
"38 Non-Organic Ingredients Found In ‘USDA Organic’ Foods: What They Are, How They’re Used, And Why They Made The List" ALSO -- perhaps more interesting and surprising -- who is petitioning! -- The Daily Green
"Shoppers are in the dark about where much of their food comes from despite a five-year-old law requiring meat and other products to carry labels with their country of origin ... The Agriculture Department never put in place the labeling requirement because then-majority Republicans repeatedly delayed it, most recently to 2008." -- AP via SacBee
"A kilogram of beef is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution than driving for 3 hours while leaving all the lights on back home." -- New Scientist
"Indiana study shows correlation between ag chemicals and fetal impacts, from pre-term births to children's school performance." -- New Farm
"For reasons that we don't understand, the prevalence of food allergies has doubled in the last 15 years." -- Washington Post
"Solar ovens utilize nature's rays for energy-efficient, everyday cooking -- even in foggy San Francisco" -- SF Chronicle
"The Two Americas of Food: Reflections on the 2007 Farm Bill" -- Anna Lappé on The Huffington Post
"Urban Farming: Why It’s Not an Oxymoron" -- Growers & Grocers
"Genetically modified food sold in the U.S. is not currently required to sport GMO labels. Which means that most Americans are eating GM food, without knowing it, every day." -- Culinate
"The numbers are in, and as predicted back during spring's corn-planting frenzy, it seems that the ethanol boom has been a boon for genetically engineered corn. " -- Chewise
"The Dark Side of Soy: Is America's favorite health food making us sick?" -- Utne Reader
"Nutrition education fails test: Dozens of studies show federal programs don't influence kids' food choices." -- AP via Monterey Herald
"How is it, then, that this pink, gelatinous throwback to the 1930s (SPAM) has sold more than 6 billion cans — and is still selling strongly in the United States and abroad? Who is still eating this canned good that detractors have dubbed "Something Posing As Meat" or "Special Parts After Mutilation"? -- NPR
"Did you know that genetically modified, or 'transgenic' crops are now commonplace on North American farms?" -- David Suzuki
"America's rice farmers didn't want to grow a genetically engineered crop. Their customers in Europe did not want to buy it. So how did it end up in our food?" -- Fortune
"In addition to falling grain supplies, global fisheries are faltering. Reports in respected journals Science and Nature state that 1/3 of ocean fisheries are in collapse, 2/3 will be in collapse by 2025, and our ocean fisheries may be virtually gone by 2048. Aquatic food systems are collapsing, and terrestrial food systems are under tremendous stress." -- RCE Saskatchewan
"A new breed of genetically modifed crops could provide cheap drugs and vaccines for the developing world. Only one problem: what if they get into the food chain?" -- The Guardian
"Pumped-Up Poultry Not ‘Natural,’ Says CSPI" -- The Poultry Site
"Picking out a chicken at the supermarket is a guessing game, according to the professionals at Cook’s Illustrated. The terms fresh, organic, free-range, all natural and lean rarely indicate good flavor or texture, or good price. Instead, they’re just confusing." -- Cooks Illustrated via The Poultry Site
"The latest battle over what can be called organic involves beer and gelatin, food colorings and casings for sausage. The Department of Agriculture, the final arbiter of all things organic, is poised to approve a list of nonorganic ingredients that can be used in food stamped with its green-and-white organic seal." -- NYTimes
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"(Shrimp is) America's favorite seafood, but at what cost to the environment?" -- SF Chronicle
To be filed under dare we hope ... "(WalMart) is requiring shrimp farms that have been ravaging the coast of Thailand to change their aquaculture practices or lose the retailer's business." -- SF Chronicle
"While the frozen fish imported from China was labeled monkfish, the company said it is concerned that it may be pufferfish because this toxin is usually associated with certain types of pufferfish." -- AP via Newsvine
"The ground beef in my new burgers had been through a process known as 'modified atmosphere packing.' " -- Chicago Tribune
Richard Bernstein, chief investment strategist for Merrill Lynch, has introduced a new term -- agflation --to describe the rising food prices facing America today thanks to increasing food supply constraints, a shift in food demand, and new energy technology that relies on agricultural commodities.
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The following are some quotes from the recent "Earth Friendly Cuisine: The Farmer, Chef, and You!" event at Santa Barbara City College ...
"Why does good change always take so long?"
-- Greg Brown (ok, this was just a line from a song I heard on my way to SBCC, but still relevant.)
"Good food is an opportunity for happiness three times a day."
-- Laurence Hauben, SB Slow Food Convivium Leader"
" 'Sustainability' for me is having a connection between the farmer and the community."
-- Tom Shepherd, Shepherd Farms
"The intention of what organic 'is' has become quite distorted."
-- Sam Edelman, manager of SB Certified Markets
"Every school needs a kitchen."
-- Laurel Lyle, chef at Peabody School"
It ought to seem risky to eat fruit from countries where you wouldn't drink the water."
-- Joan Gussow, as shared by Ann Cooper, nutrition director for Berkeley Unified School District
Notable statistics from Cooper's presentation ...
-- Agriculture is responsible for 10% of the US oil consumption
-- 10 companies control 90% of our food supply
-- In one year, food giant Unilever bought both SlimFast AND Ben & Jerry's.
-- 70% of all the antibiotics in the US are used in the practice of animal husbandry
-- We now have more prisoners in this country than farmers.
-- Forget Generation X, we are raising Generation XXL. 50 % of all school children will be clinically obese by the year 2010 ... just 36 months away.
-- and, fyi ... "cold pasteurized" = irradiated
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"Pork Held In Melamine Scare Will Go To Market" ... feel free to pig out? -- The Daily Green
Who's Watching What We Eat? -- NYTimes
"Judge Breyer Orders Complete Environmental Review of Monsanto's Gene-Altered Alfalfa" -- Center for Food Safety
"U.S. proposal to allow chicken imports from China raises health concerns." ... ya think? -- International Herald Tribune
"Mexican farmers have signed an agreement with biotechnology giant Monsanto to buy and plant genetically modified (GM) maize." -- SciDev Net
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. -- a $7 billion global business with broad brand recognition and a 59 percent market share -- is suing TerraCycle Inc. -- a fledging startup with $1.5 million in annual sales and an infinitesimal share of the market Scott's is accusing TerraCycle of copying its look and falsely claiming that its organic products are better than synthetic ones like Miracle-Gro. -- ENN News
Here's the TerraCycle website & where you can contribute to their legal defense fund
"Scottish farmers are being forced to use pesticide-free animal feed from Ukraine and Kazahkstan to keep up with the demand for organic meat." -- The Scotsman
"Researchers are taking an active interest in how genes and diet influence our susceptibility to obesity and diseases like diabetes and cancer. Eating a diet that is right for an individual's genetic heritage can be healthier, they are finding." -- National Geographic Green Guide
"Shousun C. Szu, a scientist at the National Institutes of Health, says the best way to prevent people from being poisoned by deadly E. coli would be to vaccinate all infants against the bacteria." -- NY Times
OR ... maybe we could drastically change our food delivery mechanisms???!!!
"Like most of the orange juice it produces, the U.S. food system is highly concentrated. ... Throughout most of the nation, local-food infrastructure has withered away, and the few remaining small farmers aren't making enough spare cash to make the necessary investments." -- The Grist
"There isn’t a guarantee that buying locally grown food will prevent any food safety issues. However, shopping lower on the food chain (i.e., buying locally) does allow you to at least get to know your farmer (or food producer) and their operation." -- OrganicSchmorganic
"FDA Was Aware of Dangers of Food. Outbreaks Were Not Preventative, Officials Say." -- Washington Post
"Genetically engineered, pharmaceutical rice is not a safe or cost-effective solution for infants suffering from diarrhea, concludes an exhaustive report released today by the Center for Food Safety, as the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) considers whether to allow planting of the rice in Kansas this spring." -- Center for Food Safety
"Preserving Fossil Fuels and Nearby Farmland by Eating Locally" -- NYTimes
"Green has not yet replaced red or white or even pink as the most important color in deciding which wines to buy, but people have started to think about it." - NYTimes
Monsanto's at it again -- this time trying to punish milk producers that label their milk rBGH-free. -- Organic Consumer's Organization
Perhaps because ... "Eighty percent of consumers want milk produced without the hormone rBGH to be labeled as such, according to a poll released today by Food & Water Watch."
"How to Confine the Plants of the Future? A new generation of genetically engineered crops that produce drugs and chemicals is fast approaching the market — bringing with it a new wave of concerns about the safety of the global food and feed supply." -- NYTimes
"One in Three US Children Born in 2000 Will Develop Diabetes." -- JAMA via WorldHealth.net
"Sons born to women who ate a lot of beef during their pregnancy have a 25 percent below-normal sperm count and three times the normal risk of fertility problems, researchers reported ..." -- SF Chronicle
Immigration reform may just yield the better peach -- thoughtful commentary from a farmer in the Contra Costa Times
Flying fish? When pigs fly? WIll the cow be able to jump over the moon? "A team of NCSU scientists and engineers says it has developed a biofuels technology capable of converting animal fats - including lipids from dead chickens, hogs and cattle - into fuel for commercial airliners and fighter jets. " -- thePigSite.com
"... a Federal Court has ruled, for the first time ever, that the U.S. Department of Agriculture failed to abide by federal environmental laws when it approved a genetically engineered crop without conducting a full Environment Impact Statement (EIS)." -- Center for Food Safety
But, too early to celebrate? "Monsanto Co. has asked a San Francisco federal court to allow it to continue selling its genetically modified Roundup Ready Alfalfa while the USDA conducts a court-ordered environmental impact study." -- Washington Post
"Research conducted by the Institute for Food and Development Policy, or Food First, has found that throughout the world smaller, diversified farming systems are upwards of 1000% more productive in terms of the overall amount of food produced than large scale industrial farms." -- CommonDreams.org
"While to some it may seem like voodoo viticulture or marketing gimmickry, others find that biodynamics not not only has changed the way they grow grapes but the way they live their lives." -- Seattle Post Intelligencer
"A group representing more than 200 Sacramento Valley rice farmers is warning that any outdoor planting of genetically modified rice could jeopardize the state's $400 million rice industry.
The group, the Rice Producers of California, released a report Tuesday that said exports to Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Turkey and other countries could be put at risk if so-called transgenic rice contaminates the state's crops." -- from AP reports
"Stepping into the middle of a growing debate, a freshman assemblyman has introduced legislation that would make companies developing genetically engineered crops liable for damages if their work results in contamination of other fields." -- San Diego Union-Tribune
"It’s shocking that the average European cow receives more in government subsidies every day than half the world’s population earns in wages." -- Common Ground
"A recent bold statement by UK supermarket Tesco ushering in "carbon friendly" measures has had environmentalists dancing in the fresh produce aisles, but has left African horticulturists confused and concerned ... For Kenya, horticulture is the country's second biggest foreign exchange earner after tourism." -- BBC News
"The real problem with corn-based ethanol ... If you plant a field of transgenic corn destined solely for ethanol production, that corn will interbreed with other fields of corn. Barring further advances in gene containment technology that have yet to be perfected, energy crop corn will get into the food supply. This is not alarmist anti-GMO propaganda. It is fact. Everyone involved with the production and regulation of transgenic corn is well aware of this." -- Salon.com
"Recently, scientists from the United States, Canada, and northern Europe warned about the impact of livestock operations on human health. One key finding, among six reports published by the National Institutes of Health in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, was that the routine use of antibiotics in livestock production contributes to the rise of antibiotic-resistant germs in human medicine.
By one credible estimate, 70 percent of all the antibiotics used in the United States are used as feed additives for chicken, hogs, and beef cattle. " -- Boston Globe
"A federal judge ruled yesterday (2/13/07) that the Agriculture Department violated the law by failing to adequately assess possible environmental impacts before approving Monsanto’s genetically engineered alfalfa." -- NY Times
BUY WILD SALMON! "In 1980, 1 percent of the world salmon supply was farm raised. The share of farmraised salmon produced worldwide rose to 32 percent by 1992 and exceeded 60 percent in 2002." -- TheFishSite.com
"Shrimp harvest shows possibilities of aquaculture in Missouri" -- SE Missourian
"Fish farming in the desert may at first sound like an anomaly, but in Israel over the last decade a scientific hunch has turned into a bustling business." -- International Herald Tribune
Greener Eggs and Ham: The Benefits of Pasture-Raised Swine, Poultry, and Egg Production -- Union of Concerned Scientists
"It’s not so easy for small farmers to get their animals slaughtered." -- Chowhound.com
"Humane treatment of animals is the new frontier in American meat and poultry. At least four competing labels now tout humane treatment -- but they all hold meat producers to different standards." -- SF Chronicle
Now for some good news ... "Tomales Farm & Dairy is an exciting new agricultural collaboration between Ted Hall of Long Meadow Ranch and John Williams of Frog’s Leap Winery. The project will include a new dairy and creamery for the production of artisan cheeses."
Caveat emptor -- "Buy a greenwashed product and you’re buying a specific set of healthy environmental and socially correct values. If the package does its work, then the food inside doesn’t actually have to be organic, only organic-ish." -- NY Times
"According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation." -- Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN
"As discomforting as most Americans find the idea, the Food and Drug Administration's tentative approval for allowing the sale of cloned meat and milk makes a certain kind of sense. The plan is a logical extension of an industrialized food system that treats plants, animals and nature with an often-reckless disregard."
"A new study supports what sustainable agriculture advocates have been saying for years: small-scale livestock operations are healthier."
"Over the past 40 years, the industrialization and centralization of our food system has greatly magnified the potential for big outbreaks. Today only 13 slaughterhouses process the majority of the beef consumed by 300 million Americans" … Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) does it again!
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved the genetically engineered rice variety that illegally contaminated the U.S. food supply and shipments to export customers."
Curing meats a lost – and now illegal – culinary art.
"Now, in an ironic twist, new cutting-edge technologies have made gene splicing and transgenic crops obsolete and a serious impediment to scientific progress. The new frontier is called genomics and the new agricultural technology is called marker-assisted selection (MAS). The new technology offers a sophisticated method to greatly accelerate classical breeding. A growing number of scientists believe MAS - which is already being introduced into the market - will eventually replace GM food. Moreover, environmental organisations that oppose GM crops are guardedly supportive of MAS technology."
