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USDA hearings on NAIS
Will they really listen? The Rural Blog reminds us that the USDA is holding "listening sessions" about the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). The last two will be in Storrs, Connecticut on May 27 and Loveland, Colorado on June 1 (location information and a link to the NAIS comment page at USDA).
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“Local” jumps the shark
Co-opetition, not competition: With its brand-new ad campaign touting the "local" potato farmers that grow its spuds, Frito-Lay is the latest big company to try and exploit consumers' newfound food consciousness in pursuit of market share. Processors like ConAgra are citing eaters' concerns over food
Know thy enemy: Smithfield’s porky expansion into Eastern Europe
Portrait of the corporation as sociopath: There's some essential reading about the pork company we love to hate in the Times' business section this morning (thanks Holly!). Facing increasing restrictions in the U.S. about odor control, manure management,
Beef industry not fans of Meatless Mondays, surprisingly
Moderation or abomination?: The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future has called on Obama to re-institute "Meatless Mondays," something previous presidents did in wartime. The Center says it is making the request to promote better health and better environmental practices. The beef industry, of course,
Photos of Granjas Carroll de Mexico pork factory are sickening, even with no flu connection
Updated May 4, 9:30am PST with editor's note and hog farmer's perspective Smithfield, you're forked now: The Observers, a French citizen-journalism site, has reposted
Digest – News: Smithfield’s flu, organic for the masses, Vilsack reserves judgment
They're not confining everything, apparently: MSM's all over the swine flu (SJ Merc) and U.S. hog prices are tanking (Reuters), but few are talking
Digest – News: Perilous pork, the First Lettuce, food safety plateaus
Free-range throwdown: A New York Times op-ed turns the food-fear spotlight on pastured pork, covering a study that finds that "free-range pork can be more likely than caged pork to carry dangerous bacteria and parasites" including potentially-deadly Trichinosis. The author gets in a few more digs with
Digest – Features and blogs: Free-range response, literary seasonality, the Hamburg wish list
Fighting the Averyian Flu: Researchers at Johns Hopkins University look a little deeper at the NYT pork op-ed and find that the study mentioned was funded by the National Pork Board, which represents conventional producers, and that the Trichinosis "positive" pigs tested seropositive, meaning they have
Digest – Features: Hawai’i uh-oh, simplicity sells, anti-union strategizing
Hawaii plays canary: The genetically modified seed industry has become Hawaii's rising star, reports a cover story of the Honolulu Weekly; it accounts for about a quarter of the state’s total farm revenues, eclipsing every other commodity. In the past two decades, the Islands have hosted some 2,252
There are much scarier food safety bills than HR 875 in Congress
If you care about food and farming and you use the Internet, you've probably received this particular e-mail. The title is something like, "BILL WOULD OUTLAW ORGANIC FARMING!!!!" or "MONSANTO'S DREAM BILL!!!!" It appears, inevitably, in all caps. I have upwards of 30 versions in my inbox. Normally, it
Digest – News: Anti-biotics, working for the (corporate) man, and the price of obesity
More squealing from the porkers: The National Pork Producers Council objects to federal legislation introduced Tuesday by Rep. Louise Slaughter (no pun intended, really), the only microbiologist in the U.S. Congress, that would restrict the use of medically-important antibiotics in livestock production.
Digest – News: The California conundrum, Monsanto at large, and tuna testing (not to be tried at home)
A new growth export market - the revolving door: U.S. government agencies are imploring foreign countries to bring their food safety regulations up to the (arguably pretty low) U.S. par, but the buck doesn't stop there: countries like India are being pushed to develop regulations on GM crops, industrial
Rooted in discomfort: Dispatch from the MOSES organic farming conference
Lately I’ve realized that in the midst of distracting sights and sounds, I forget to notice the smells around me. So last weekend at the Organic Farming Conference in La Crosse, Wisconsin, I made an effort to pay
All steriled up: Produce safety guidelines throw sustainability out, keep toxic bathwater
Readers may remember back in November when I announced the first installment of a two-part post on produce safety. It's taken me a few months to get around to it, but here we are: part 2! Photo of a "sterile farm" courtesy of the
Digest – News & Features: Grass-fed emits more CO2 than grain-, wheat threatened, Grandin creates certification
Have you read (or written) something savory lately? Send your Digest tips to dig6 Comments • Read more »
