Digest: The almond band, pork scandal widens, Michigan fed up with shit

Sheesh! The Digest takes a break for a few days and the New York Times Dining section blooms green with a vengeance for its post-Earth Day edition yesterday, while the Chronicle continues to impress with its excellent, SOLE-informed coverage. It'll take us ages to catch back up, but here are some of the major links since Monday:

News

Raw deal: The FDA's move to pasteurize raw almonds has small farmers and consumers hopping mad. San Francisco Chronicle

Plastic flavored pork: An estimated 6,000 hogs from New York to California were likely given feed containing melamine. Reuters

Michigan battles manure tsunami: Michigan has introduced bills to cut down on factory farm pollution in the state, where concentrated animal feeding operations spread more than 4 billion pounds of untreated manure on farm fields each year. (Michigan Live)

Mites smite Hawaii bees: The tiny varroa mite has been confirmed in bee colonies across Oahu. Containing it will require regular applications of pesticides, and may mean the end of Hawaii's organic honey production. (New York Times)

But don't worry, it's safe to eat: Workers at factories that make food flavorings are at risk of a rare and life-threatening lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans. Reuters

Panel suggests junk food ban in schools to help fight obesity; Harkin wants to put in Farm Bill (New York Times)

A cold spring in the Northeast is affecting meat producers as well as fruit and vegetable farmers (Washington Post)

Features

Who loses at monopoly: Tom Philpott describes how, "like most of the orange juice it produces, the U.S. food system is highly concentrated" — and what that seemingly unstoppable trend is doing to small farmers in both the meat and vegetable industries. (Grist) Over at Gristmill, he has a post on which possible policy changes at the federal level could help undo it.

Going loco for local: Locavores (and localvores) hit the big time, in the form of a New York Times feature on the original 100-Mile Dieters, Barbara Kingsolver's new book about eating locally, and Jessica Prentice and the Locavore's challenge. New York Times

Fat chance: Foie gras makers struggle to please critics and chefs — and everybody's doubting the Spanish company that claims it's made gavage-free foie gras. The discussion over whether a new, flexible tube for force feeding is more humane truly drives us batty: can we please talk about the millions of chickens, cattle, and pigs raised in equally if not more inhumane conditions as standard practice in this country? New York Times

On the clam: Locally farmed shellfish are a booming business in the Bay Area — and they're good for the water, too. San Francisco Chronicle

Future King of organic: The left-leaning food elite, from Alice Waters to Eric Schlosser, has Prince Charles fever. New York Times

Pouring green: A growing number of producers who practice some form of natural grape growing and winemaking do so not just because they see it as environmentally responsible but because they believe these methods make better wine. (New York Times) But our e-mail pal Dr. Vino sent out a truthiness alert, educating us that Asimov failed to mention another difference between "organic" and "made from organically grown grapes": the latter only has to use 70% such grapes to qualify.

A prince among king salmon: Q&A with Orri Vigfússon, whose North Atlantic Salmon Fund has raised money to buy netting rights from commercial fishers and create economic alternatives to the salmon business. Grist

Slaughtering hogs: Volunteering at a matanza on Even' Star Farm — an annual pork fest, named for the Spanish custom of community merry-making around the slaughter of a large animal. (Edible Nation)

Tray, tray bad Why school lunches are loaded with fat — and the beef and dairy industries are making sure it stays that way. (Nation)

Ethanol triple threat: In previous digests and posts, we've covered the threat that ethanol plants pose to air (coal-fired plants, waivers from EPA regulations), land (growing very input-intensive corn, often without crop rotation), and water (blue baby syndrome and Gulf of Mexico dead zone). Now the Ground Water Protection Council is raising alarms about depletion and contamination of ground water resources by ethanol plants. The story recounts an ironic twist of an ethanol plant that received a permit only after arranging for a reduction in water use on farmlands about 15 miles away. Sounds a bit cannabalistic. (Energy Washington Week via Ag Observatory)

The backlash against the new fad for tap water in restaurants (Slate)

Q&A with the creators of the 100-Mile Diet, authors of the new book "Plenty" (Grist)

Briefs

Rachael Ray's foundation launches campaign for healthier kids (NC Times, AP)

Organic gardening tips (National Geographic's Green Guide)

U.S. marijuana grade stronger than ever (Reuters)

The changing seasonal taste of grassfed milk (Boston Globe)

"I'd hate to be an Oregonian when it's Transvestite Awareness Week" (The Onion)