Sustainable food & ag list-servs have been sputtering for the past few days over the news that the Barack Obama campaign was apparently considering asking a Republican, Ann Veneman — executive director of the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF — to be his vice-presidential running mate. (Politico.com was the happy recipient of the leak trial balloon.) Not because of her GOP affiliation, but because she was the secretary of agriculture in Bush’s first term.

Senator Barack Obama introduced a food safety bill in the Senate on Tuesday that outlines his intent to increase food surveillance, create a working group of stakeholders (including consumers) to examine implementation, encourage academic research on detection, and evaluate the effectiveness of the existing food safety plan.

Although we Ethicureans occasionally invite you to examine the contents of our refrigerators, to check out our gardens, and even laugh at our cooking mistakes, this is not a “personal” blog. Or it’s not supposed to be, anyway. So I am hesitant to explain why I have not been a visible presence here of late: […]

On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report (PDF) showing that 44 major food and beverage marketers spent $1.6 billion in 2006 to convince children under 17 to buy their products. The FTC reports that food marketing appears in many forms: as direct TV or print advertisements, on the internet, in contests, as “advergames”, or as a tie-in to a movie or television program.

At the rate food prices are increasing, maybe we don’t need to worry about people overeating, but a report by Youfa Wang, Lan Liang, Benjamin Caballero and Shiriki Kumanyika released today says 86 percent of Americans are going to be overweight or obese by 2030. Their study, “Will All Americans Become Overweight or Obese? Estimating […]

Do the Europeans know something we don’t, or are they just more willing to act on it?
First the European Union urged caution on the marketing of cloned animals, and now it’s — can you believe it? — actively encouraging organic farming and foods through its “Organic Farming: Good for Nature, Good for You” campaign announced […]

Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers reports that four lawmakers from Florida have introduced legislation that will compensate tomato growers for their losses during the salmonella crisis. Two subcommittees in the House will be giving critics of the current food safety system and of FDA’s handling of the salmonella outbreak a platform next week.

There’s something about caring for a tomato plant that brings out every nurturing instinct in me. I am literally in constant motion during peak season, in a long, choreographed dance of pruning, irrigating, mulching, deworming, and finally, harvesting — my own version of tomato salsa. But there may be another living being that likes tomatoes more than I.

The International Herald Tribune reports that the European Food Safety Authority has declined to give milk and meat from cloned animals a greenlight in its final report published yesterday.

Written by David Zinczenko, the editor-in-chief of “Men’s Health” magazine, “Eat This, Not That” is highly accessible and fun to read. The premise is simple: You don’t have to change your lifestyle to lose weight. Don’t eat less. Keep eating out. Fast food is OK. Just make some simple food swaps and you’ll shed pounds, be healthier, feel better, and ultimately be more successful.

On July 17, the Food and Drug Administration lifted its warning about raw tomatoes after their investigation determined that tomatoes currently in the marketplace are free of the carrying the Salmonella Saintpaul strain that has sickened over 1,200 people across 42 states. Now their attention is turning to raw jalapeño and raw serrano peppers.

On my post about food miles vs. food choices, commenter Mike wondered how much energy is used in the “cold chain” of the food system.
The answer: Quite a bit.
A report from the Center for Sustainable Systems (CSS) at the University of Michigan (ref. 1 below) provides a breakdown of the energy used in the U.S. […]

While the ink is barely dry on the new farm legislation, the campaign for the 2012 Farm and Food Bill has already begun. Critics have likened the farm bill wins to “crumbs” because they represent a small part of the overall Farm Bill loaf. The relative merits of incremental change can be debated endlessly. But for people serious about changing the food system, the $14 billion of funding won in the new bill for programs that support everything from beginning farmers to organic production to conservation on working land represent real reforms that can benefit real people doing some really good things on/for the land and in their communities.

Big, volunteer-powered projects like the Victory Garden have the potential to unleash a wave of human energy. I could feel this energy during the event — there’s a desire to make things happen.

Got a little time to explore the dining scene of Portland, Maine?

Change your plans: you’ll actually need lots and lots of time to do it right. Word on the street is that the East Coast Portland is second only to San Francisco in restaurants per capita. We’re not talking Applebee’s, either.