Revolting food news roundup:
New York Times*: Maybe there’s not shit in the meat after all … this time. Taco Bell today removed green onions from 5,800 of its restaurants, suspecting they were the culprit in the recent E. coli poisonings; no word yet where the green onions were grown. Four new cases have been reported in PA. Somehow, parent company Yum Brands’ stock is actually up.
Scientific American (Reuters): A whopping 83% of chicken sold in U.S. grocery stores may contain sickening bacteria, according to tests conducted by Consumers Union — up 34 points from 2003. Industry groups and the USDA are calling the study “junk science.” Yo, whatever, wash your cutting boards carefully anyway.
Chicago Sun-Times*: Jamba Juice is warning consumers that smoothies sold at stores in Arizona, southern Nevada and Southern California Nov. 25-Dec. 1 may have contained strawberries from Salinas that were contaminated with Listeria.
San Jose Mercury News: What do you do with a “spent” laying hen? In Northern California, producers mass-euthanize them and then throw them on the compost heap. Some have been seen crawling out of the compost piles — ewwww — earning them the name “zombie chickens.” So far, there’s no better economic solution of what to do with them. [Via Edible Nation]
Other items of interest:
New York Times: Kitchen chemist Harold McGee has debuted a new occasional column, The Curious Cook, that we’re very excited about. And although the first installment is a bit rambly initially, it winds up with a classic McGee explanation of why some garlic purees turn blue.
L.A. Times: Less than a week after its epic Mark McAfee profile in the magazine, the L.A. Times has another great feature on a local farmer. This time the subject is Phil McGrath, who has big plans for the fifth-generation incarnation of his family’s farm — if he can resist the relentless pressure from developers.
Grist: Another installment in Grist’s top-notch series on biofuels explores the impacts of their production on the land.
Motley Fool*: Sneak a peek at how Big Ag thinks — Monsanto’s fiscal 2006 revenues were up 17%, but the Fool says if the stock is to keep pace, Monsanto needs to go on a “charm offensive.”
For food-politicos:
Chicago Tribune: Sen. Charles Schumer says that a better price-support program for dairy farmers is likely, since Democrats assuming key positions are longtime boosters of dairy interests.
Reuters: The U.S. Senate rejected $4.8 billion in disaster aid for U.S. farmers and ranchers on Tuesday, derailed by New Hampshire Republican Judd Gregg who said it would send money to some growers who did not need it.
Des-Moines Register: In yet another sign that Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack — who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president in 2008 — is not politics-as-usual, he told reporters yesterday that Congress should shift money away from subsidizing agricultural commodities and into payments that improve environmental practices. As the Register points out, “the prospect of a farm-state candidate seeking cuts in farm subsidies would raise eyebrows and pit him against leading farm organizations such as the Farm Bureau.”
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