Section » Labeling
Digest – News: New label controversy, Chipotle toots humane horn, FDA still rumored to approve cloned food
"Naturally raised," our confined ass: Both the USDA and the FDA are reviewing and soliciting public comments for a proposed new label, "naturally raised," as distinct from "natural." The former would attest that the meat came from an animal free of antibiotics and growth hormones, which would be a plus (the existing label
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Digest – Features: Big local, organic Apple; Temple Grandin on the ‘guest test,’ proposed new nutrition label
Local food, 365 days a year: Kim Severson on the possibility that New York will build a large, permanent farmers market featuring local and seasonal produce, cheesemongers, butchers, and a selection of staples. Guess Whole Foods isn't doing the trick. (New
Digest – Blogs: Lawyer eyes raw milk wars, reporter eyes pasteurized milk outbreak
Marler for the cause: We've been enjoying the blog of personal-injury lawyer Bill Marler, aka the E. Coli Avenger, right up until when he started talking about raw milk as if it were a weak
Digest – News: Tomato pay raise endangered, Smithfield rejects clones, organic fish debated
Forgive us readers, for it has been a record 12 days since the last Digest. But we're back, with an incomplete list of links both moldy and fresh. Smell before you click. What's "un-American" is virtual slave labor: The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has fought for years to persuade McDonald’s
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Are locavores hurting African farmers?
Are the locavores — those who strive to eat a diet of locally produced foods — responsible for the ruination of poor African farmers? The headline — "Farmers in developing world hurt by 'eat local'
Digest – Features: Locavore hit Parade, ethical certifiers, attack of the Chinese tomatoes
Praise Jesus. And call Oprah!: Parade magazine — mainstream America's bible — has a story on seeking out locally grown foods for Thanksgiving. Now if we can just get him
“Locavore” chosen as word of the year
Our friend Derrick alerts us that the New Oxford American Dictionary has selected "locavore" as the word that best reflects "the ethos of the year" and has "lasting potential as
Digest – Features: Food labeling follies, Madison reflects, “King Corn” hits Iowa
Serious and/or funny takes on food labeling: “It seems to imply there is a safe, nonsafe dimension”: Pennsylvania and Ohio are cracking down on "absence labeling" in milk, that is, touting its lack of artificial hormones, antibiotics, etc. We *love* that the Times has given reporter
A food-values pyramid for Ethicureans
A few weeks ago, after the announcement of the USDA's new standards for grass-fed meat, I came up with a lame little graphic to depict how I place different approaches to food production on a bummer-better-best continuum. I should
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Digest – News: AgSec threatens Farm Bill veto, farmworkers win pesticide lawsuit
Farm Bill follies: Continuing her outstanding Farm Bill coverage, Carolyn Lochhead reports on how Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is calling the bill a "historic reform," even as critics denounce it as obscene. (San
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Digest – News: New AgSec nominated, organic food is superior (duh), meat zombies
Due to a road trip to remote Oregon with non-Ethicurean parental units and deadline pressures, there has not been a full Digest for over a week. (Sorry.) Some of these links are thus a little moldy, but we need'em for the archives, so just hold your noses.
Living with Ed, maybe: President Bush
Digest – Features: A woman’s place, corn-grower Q&A, Farm Bill failure looms
Uber-mom Frau Farmer: A profile of the very appealing sounding (to us anyway) Shannon Hayes, who is a third-generation farmer as well as a "newly minted paradigm, an exemplar of the pastoral." (New York Times) And don't miss
Hey Californians — like your raw milk? Drink fast.
About one year ago, my mom, son, and I attended the rally in which Mark McAfee announced the end of the Organic Pastures recall for E. coli 0157:H7. So many interesting people were there. I met families from the Bay Area and Southern California. I shared mountain-blackberry water kefir out of the trunk
Ruminating on the grass-fed label backlash
I'm a product of the post-Watergate era, which I guess is to say pragmatic verging on cynical. Maybe that's why I believe the U.S. government serves its citizenry best by making and enforcing laws, not morals. There are people who prefer it handle both, but
Digest – News: Farm Bill “compromise,” mystery spray clouds, John Edwards gets rural
Not bloody likely: What's up with the Farm Bill? Carolyn Lochhead has a clear, concise summary of all the back-room wheeling and dealing that's been going on. The story's (mis) lead says there's been a "breakthrough," thanks to a couple billion "found" for California fruit and vegetable
