Cattle Network: A no-nonsense, Christian, ex-rodeo cowboy talks about his “low input, high profit” ranching strategy — that is, grass-finishing beef.
Associated Press: Tyson Foods has formed a joint venture to create a vertically integrated beef operation in Argentina. So what? Well, “Tyson plans to convert production to grain-fed from grass-fed using cattle from the Cactus-Cresud feedlot, and use the higher-quality meat to export to Asia and the European Union.” Clearly they need to talk to the guy above.
Business Week: We “chip” our cats, soon our cows — what’s next, our children? Yup. David Gumpert writes about two companies that are betting the market for animal RFID chips will soon extend to humans.
Houston Chronicle (via AP): Workers at a hog slaughterhouse in North Carolina owned by Smithfield Foods were warned they will be docked a day’s pay and could be disciplined if they skip work on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Some people will never be free.
World Changing: Want to wear your values, not just eat them? This thought-provoking essay explores the 100-Mile Wardrobe.
San Francisco Chronicle: Surreal Estate columnist Carol Lloyd muses on how and why Bay Area farmers markets, most of which have “sprung up like weeds between cracks in the pavement,” have become such enduring fixtures.
Christian Science Monitor: The grass-roots Marine Aquaculture Task Force has released a report with recommendations for improving sustainability of open-ocean fish farms, as the U.S. government prepares to open a bunch of offshore areas to them. Even with wild fish stocks plummeting, ocean aquaculture raises lots of concerns: pampered and/or genetically modified “farmed fish can escape and breed with wild stocks, rendering wild fish less genetically fit to survive the harsh conditions they face…Farms can undercut the quality of seawater in the area as nutrient levels - as well as antibiotics or other drugs in the feed - increase beyond the ecosystem’s ability to cleanse the water. And fish farming can lead to overfishing of the species used as feed. Growers raising carnivorous fin fish must supply roughly three pounds of fish meal and oil to raise one pound of farmed fish.”
Helsingen Sanomat: Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch? Finnish seals are making meals out of farmed fish — 9 tons’ worth.
Yahoo News: Idaho governor “Butch” Otter plans to kill all but 100 of the state’s gray wolves — at least one of them personally — as soon as the federal government strips them of protection under the Endangered Species Act. If he can’t be stopped, we hope Dick Cheney goes hunting with him and has a few beers first. [Hat tip to La La Linda.]
Technology Review: Part II of Corby Kummer’s opus about Grant Achatz of Alinea.
Food, Farming, & Food Politics events calendar
Humor:
January 12th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
I just want to say three cheers for the seals, and god help the pigs: Genetically Altering Pigs