Press release: One for the “Because We Can” files — a team of scientists from the USDA and a Spanish university have come up with an edible food wrapper that will kill E. coli, even the recent deadly strain. It’s a combination of apple puree and oregano oil — essential oils have long been known to be antimicrobial, apparently — that killed over 50 percent of sample bacteria in 3 minutes. They haven’t yet worked out yet how it could be applied to spinach, or why we shouldn’t just concentrate on, oh, you know, reducing the amount of E. coli that gets into our food in the first place.
Washington Post: Every year, the USDA issues a report that measures Americans’ access to food. Usually it uses the word “hunger” to describe those without enough food, but this time, those folks are experiencing “very low food security.” (We have to ask: Is the USDA thus passing the buck to the Dept. of Homeland Security?) Food economist Parke Wilde has more on his blog.
Grist: The Cornucopia Instiute is suing Wal-Mart for misrepresenting conventional items as organic.
Daily Star (Lebanon): Lebanon’s farmers went to Terra Madre and came back armed with a mighty new movement, “Make Food Not War: Plant Seeds for Peace.”
WashPost Checkout blog: Anys Shin says 2006 was the year of the industrial food chain, citing “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” the the spinach outbreak, the premiere of Fast Food Nation tomorrow and “Our Daily Bread” next week. There’s not much new in her post, but readers are weighing in fast and furious.
Agriculture Online: Incoming Senate Ag Committee Chair Tom Harkin outlines the programs he supports for the 2007 Farm Bill, including country-of-origin labeling, greater bargaining rights for livestock producers, restoring funding for conservation, and expanding the school lunch program to include free snacks of fruits and vegetables.
Guardian (UK): Bad news for U.S. rice farmers — the UK’s Food Standards Agency found illegal genetically modified strains in 10% of American long grain rice samples tested.
Minnesota Daily: Op-ed urging Minnesotans to have a more local Thanksgiving feast, even if their farmers markets are shuttered for the winter.
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