Salon.com*: Q&A with Michael Pollan about the recent revolting-food news, including why he trusts the FDA more than the USDA and why we must “figure out a way to [match] the regulation to the production system” as well as get rid of antibiotics in the meat production chain.
Asbury Park Press: The number of Taco Bell E. coli victims is up to 40.
New York Times**: What E. coli poisoning is like from a victim’s point of view.
CNNMoney.com: In an encouraging sign we might be able to avert the corn-based-ethanol express train to sustainability hell, Minnesota Democrat Colin Peterson, who is expected to become chairman of the House Agriculture Committee in January, has suggested a five-year pilot program to encourage farmers to grow 5 million acres a year of switchgrass and other crops for making cellulosic ethanol.
Salon.com*: Q&A with nutritionist Marion Nestle about New York’s ban on trans fats — what they are, and whether the ban will improve residents’ health.
Wisconsin Ag Connection: The USDA has released a report on farmers markets in the United States, and the news is encouraging. The number of markets is up 7% from 2005, to 4,385 farmers markets; total sales are estimated at about $1 billion for 2005, up from $888 million in 2000.
Seattle P-I: Chris Smith offers additional tips for green gift ideas, including several for the home orchardist.
SF Chronicle: Good riddance to Senator James Inhofe. Although he continues to be a Senator for at least two years, he has conducted his last hearing as chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, where he was a vocal critic of global warming.
Mercury News: Eat your weeds! New Bay Area classes show you how to identify edible weeds, and what to do with them. Also mentions how one weed-promoting group teaches young heifers to eat a range of noxious plants — such as distaff and bull thistles — that despoil West Marin’s grazing lands. Fascinatingly, “once the cows got used to them, they trained their own babies to eat them as well…Eating is a lot about culture, and cows have culture, too.” (Thanks Aunt Biddy)
Sloweb (Slow Food): A peek at what’s in store for the 2008 Slow Food International conference in San Francisco.
New York Times**: A charming, oddball story about the Essex Street Market, the 15,000-square-foot enclosed food hall on the lower East Side of Manhattan, shows that the idea that only yuppies and boomers are interested in fresh, local, and/or artisan foods may be a misconception.
Updates from Britain
We’ve neglected Britain a little since the U.S. Thanksgiving holidays. Here are several updates from the UK.
Times Online: A food fruad task force has recommended to the Food Standards Agency that those who sell suspect meat or pass off low-grade produce as organic or free range should face heavy fines, even imprisonment.
The Guardian: Amusing advice on what to do with some of the mysterious vegetables that appear in one’s veggie box, and good advice for those of us with an excess of squash.
The Guardian: The UK has strict laws on foraging, and the UK Forest Council decided to jail one mushroom forager, Brigitte Tee-Hillman, because she did not seek their permission to pick mushrooms in the New Forest. She in turn brought civil action against the Forest Council. Four years later, the matter has been resolved, and Tee-Hillman is the only person holding a license to pick mushrooms in the New Forest.
BBC: GM potatoes have been approved for two test sites in England. The potatoes will be part of a multi-year study and will not be used for consumption. Promoters of sustainable agriculture view the decision as a loss, and expect cross-contamination of non-GM crops to occur.
The Guardian: Scientists are searching for crops that can withstand the anticipated rise of global temperatures. A an average rise of global temperatures by 3 C (about 5 degrees F) will put 250-550 million people at risk of hunger, while an average increase of 4 C (about 7 degrees F) will jeapordize global food production.
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