Section » Biofuels
Digest: Dairy ads restricted, worrisome hormones in all milk, the Bay Area oyster wars
Like Americans, the Digest just gets fatter and fatter. We'd love to put it on a diet, but there's a lot of good stuff out there, and just as at foodie potlucks, we just can't help but load up our plates. NEWS Checkoff, unchecked: The Federal Trade Commission is asking the USDA and the dairy industry to halt the "Body by Milk" and other national ad
Comments Off • Read more »
More articles
Digest: Pollan issues Farm Bill manifesto, U.S. lags in organic, birds sick, food aid scrutinized
Food Bill of Rights and Wrongs: Michael Pollan attempts to reframe the Farm Bill — that "resolutely unglamorous and head-hurtingly complicated piece of legislation" — as a chance to reform the food system so that it actually benefits the interests of eaters. In his usual clear-eyed, deceptively simple
Comments Off • Read more »
Digest Pt. 1: Chronicle gets Pennywise, NYT on veal, LAT on slow food & fast fuel
There will be two Digests today — one for all the food sections (below) and one later this afternoon for other news. I'm Glad and I Eat Frugally: Carol Ness at the Chronicle heads a great feature package about the upcoming Pennywise
Comments Off • Read more »
Digest: CCD vs. SSDD, food borders awfully insecure, fat-powered initiative
What's the buzz, tell me what's happening: The wires and the blogs are swarming with speculation over yesterday's Independent story suggesting a link between the unexplained bee plague known as "colony collapse disorder"
Digest: Arsenic feed, fuel from packaging, oyster plea
Department of WTF (!?!): Roxarsone and other arsenic-based additives — known carcinogens — are used in the feed of about 70% of America's 9 billion broiler chickens to promote growth, kill parasites that cause diarrhea, and improve pigmentation of chicken meat. Huh? Even Ethicureans can't escape
Digest: What to eat, green tea bandwagon, pet food poison still MIA
The Ethicurean's Dilemma: Sara Deseran has a great feature in 7x7 magazine about the head-spinning choices posed by eating in the Bay Area. She quotes Patricia Unterman, the food writer and co-owner of Hayes Street Grill, who agonizes over what to put on her menu: “It’s a constant battle: what I
Digest: Organic rules changed, irradiation renamed, feed the tank and starve the poor
Bye-bye, organic coffee, sugar, chocolate?: Sam Fromartz reports on a new ruling by the USDA that dramatically changes how non-U.S. farms are certified organic. Previously, only a small percentage of farms in "grower groups" would be randomly inspected, and the group would then police the remainder's
Comments Off • Read more »
Digest: Foolish fuel, no “organic” cloned progeny, toxic fertilizer
Fuel for the fire: Tom Philpott flames corn-based ethanol boosterism for what it is — an agribusiness boondoggle and an economic and environmental disaster in the making. (Gristmill) Related headline: Farmers
Digest: DIY carnivores, urban farms, Puck rehashed, irradiation’s back
Walking the talk: Reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan inspired us to start this blog. That's nothing. It inspired a group of suburban moms and one dad in Davis, CA, to start raising their own cattle, pigs, and ducks. But after killing ducks once, they're now going to outsource the slaughter.
Digest: Pet food case still unsolved, Frankenskeeters, McJobs to be redefined?
Pet food update: Menu Foods of Streetsville, Ontario, the manufacturer that has recalled over 60 million cans and pouches of pet food implicated in sickening or killing many cats and dogs, had begun testing the food Feb. 27 after receiving reports of sick pets. Seven of the 40-50 test animals died. The
Digest: Iowa’s gamble, Quebec ponders GM labeling, animal IDs are COOL
"Fueling Iowa's Future": An informative new series launched today in preparation of the 2008 Iowa caucuses. A number of articles and graphics highlight the state's opportunities — and the serious challenges — as Iowa attempts to become an alternative energy leader for the nation. Des
Digest: Deadly petfood, spinach grower speaks up, end of an era in Chicago
PET OWNERS ALERT: Many cats and dogs have suffered kidney failure and about 10 have died after eating pet food by Menu Foods, which is recalling dog food sold under 46 brands and cat food sold under 37 brands (including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba) at major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger, and Safeway.
Digest: Meaty issues, Gunther on garbage, secrets of seed-free citrus
Not a pig step for mankind, yet: Eliminating sow-gestation crates is just the first tiny step toward humane meat production in this country, says Nicolette Hahn Niman (yes, that Niman) in her op-ed condemning hog factories' typical practices. New
Digest: Say no to nonworking drugs, Rumsfeld and Nutrasweet, cloning debates continue
The chicken AND the egg: It looks like in poultry, antibiotic resistance may be transmitted down family lines — at least in chickens, researchers have found. Banning their use on the farm may be too little, too late. USA Today And
Comments Off • Read more »
Digest: Input overload, Moscow tags GM food, fat pigs happier
Ethanol's big, ugly baggage: With prices for corn and soybeans continuing to rise, farmers this year are expected to "pour on the inputs." That means even more amounts of nitrogen fertilizer (derived from natural gas) and pesticides. Or, "genetically modified hybrids likely will displace some chemicals,"
