By
"Federal officials investigating conditions at the two Iowa mega-farms whose products have been at the center of the biggest egg recall in U.S. history found filthy conditions, including chickens and rodents crawling up massive manure piles and flies and maggots 'too numerous to count.' Water used to wash eggs at one of the producers tested positive for a strain of salmonella that appears to match the variety identified in eggs that have sickened at least 1,500 people, according to preliminary Food and Drug Administration reports of inspections at facilities operated by Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms of Iowa Inc..."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-eggs-20100831,0,7203070,full.story
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
AP Article - Livestock industry debates antitrust issues
By Catherine Tsai
August 27, 2010
"FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Meatpackers, feeders and hundreds of ranchers from around the country are attending a workshop Friday on proposed federal rules that would place the sharpest limits on meat companies since the Great Depression. Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack are also attending the daylong workshop at Colorado State University, one of five the administration set this year to hear about competition in a consolidating agriculture industry. The Obama administration has proposed new antitrust rules for meat companies that reflect a willingness by the USDA to shift the balance of power between farmers and processors and to regulate an industry long dominated by a handful of corporate giants..."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hEAluUa2hn-UazwhP9xFiT4QWPZAD9HRTGE00
August 27, 2010
"FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Meatpackers, feeders and hundreds of ranchers from around the country are attending a workshop Friday on proposed federal rules that would place the sharpest limits on meat companies since the Great Depression. Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack are also attending the daylong workshop at Colorado State University, one of five the administration set this year to hear about competition in a consolidating agriculture industry. The Obama administration has proposed new antitrust rules for meat companies that reflect a willingness by the USDA to shift the balance of power between farmers and processors and to regulate an industry long dominated by a handful of corporate giants..."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hEAluUa2hn-UazwhP9xFiT4QWPZAD9HRTGE00
Food Safety News Article - UK Updates Food Hygiene Rating Scheme
By Michelle Greenhalgh
August 27, 2010
"The United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency has written to all local authorities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to inform them of an update to the Food Hygiene Rating System. The Food Hygiene Rating System helps consumers choose which eateries to go to and which grocery stores to shop at by providing information about the hygiene standards in restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways, hotels, supermarkets, and other food establishments..."
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/08/uk-food-hygiene-rating-scheme-update/
August 27, 2010
"The United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency has written to all local authorities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to inform them of an update to the Food Hygiene Rating System. The Food Hygiene Rating System helps consumers choose which eateries to go to and which grocery stores to shop at by providing information about the hygiene standards in restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways, hotels, supermarkets, and other food establishments..."
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/08/uk-food-hygiene-rating-scheme-update/
Food Politics Post - Egg industry response to recalls (in translation)
August 26, 2010
Click here to read Marion Nestle's "translations" of the egg industry's public statements about the recent massive egg recall, as featured in an ad placed in major newspapers last week. Nestle follows with a reworded message that the egg industry should have made - if only they did take that much responsibility! As she says in the post, "I can dream, can't I?"
Click here to read Marion Nestle's "translations" of the egg industry's public statements about the recent massive egg recall, as featured in an ad placed in major newspapers last week. Nestle follows with a reworded message that the egg industry should have made - if only they did take that much responsibility! As she says in the post, "I can dream, can't I?"
Huffington Post Article - Meet Your Meat: Why We All Should Care Where Our Burger Comes From
By Sam Schabacker
August 26, 2010
"I grew up next to a factory farm near Longmont [Colorado]. It was an industrialized turkey farm, covering several acres and comprised of metallic silos full of crowded birds. The family of my best friend in elementary school operated it and lived next to it. We used to play baseball in his front yard, dodging manure and mud that would fly off the wheels of the trucks that picked up the birds, and we rounded the bases as the smell of manure wafted about. My friend's dad worked hard to make a modest living on that turkey farm for his family. Until one day the company shut down this factory farm--moving its operations and taking its jobs with it. The county eventually bought the derelict facility in order to decommission it. This childhood story is a case study of our current food system: We are consuming food produced, packaged, distributed, advertised, and controlled by a handful of large corporations as never before. As the story above illustrates, it is a food system that doesn't work except for the few who are reaping massive profits off of it, while it is bad for our health, our environment, and our wallets..."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-schabacker/meet-your-meat-why-we-all_b_695997.html
August 26, 2010
"I grew up next to a factory farm near Longmont [Colorado]. It was an industrialized turkey farm, covering several acres and comprised of metallic silos full of crowded birds. The family of my best friend in elementary school operated it and lived next to it. We used to play baseball in his front yard, dodging manure and mud that would fly off the wheels of the trucks that picked up the birds, and we rounded the bases as the smell of manure wafted about. My friend's dad worked hard to make a modest living on that turkey farm for his family. Until one day the company shut down this factory farm--moving its operations and taking its jobs with it. The county eventually bought the derelict facility in order to decommission it. This childhood story is a case study of our current food system: We are consuming food produced, packaged, distributed, advertised, and controlled by a handful of large corporations as never before. As the story above illustrates, it is a food system that doesn't work except for the few who are reaping massive profits off of it, while it is bad for our health, our environment, and our wallets..."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-schabacker/meet-your-meat-why-we-all_b_695997.html
Civil Eats Post - Egg Gaps Illustrate Fractured Food Safety System
By Helena Bottemiller
August 25, 2010
"As consumers scramble to check their egg cartons and federal officials investigate two Iowa farms at the center of a half-billion egg recall, it’s becoming clear that no one was overseeing egg safety in Iowa. In a piecemeal federal system many consider illogical, the Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture share jurisdiction over the safety of the food supply–and eggs fall into the divide. The FDA, responsible for the safety of table eggs, says it has “no inspectional history” with either Hillandale Farms or Wright County Egg, who together have recalled 550 million eggs for Salmonella Enteritidis contamination in the past two weeks..."
http://civileats.com/2010/08/25/egg-gaps-illustrate-fractured-food-safety-system/
August 25, 2010
"As consumers scramble to check their egg cartons and federal officials investigate two Iowa farms at the center of a half-billion egg recall, it’s becoming clear that no one was overseeing egg safety in Iowa. In a piecemeal federal system many consider illogical, the Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture share jurisdiction over the safety of the food supply–and eggs fall into the divide. The FDA, responsible for the safety of table eggs, says it has “no inspectional history” with either Hillandale Farms or Wright County Egg, who together have recalled 550 million eggs for Salmonella Enteritidis contamination in the past two weeks..."
http://civileats.com/2010/08/25/egg-gaps-illustrate-fractured-food-safety-system/
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The Colbert Report - Better Know a Lobby: American Meat Institute
See Stephen Colbert interview J. Patrick Boyle, President of the American Meat Institute (national trade association that represents meat and poultry associations). Colbert asks Boyle about food borne illness, target meat consumption, climate change, and with the growing concern about how much meat Americans are consuming and its effect on our health and the environment, Colbert suggests we eat each other - for the record, AMI does not recommend cannibalism.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Better Know a Lobby - American Meat Institute | ||||
| ||||
Artificial meat? Food for thought by 2050
By John Vidal
August 16, 2010
"Artificial meat grown in vats may be needed if the 9 billion people expected to be alive in 2050 are to be adequately fed without destroying the earth, some of the world's leading scientists report today. But a major academic assessment of future global food supplies, led by John Beddington, the UK government chief scientist, suggests that even with new technologies such as genetic modification and nanotechnology, hundreds of millions of people may still go hungry owing to a combination of climate change, water shortages and increasing food consumption...."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/16/artificial-meat-food-royal-society
August 16, 2010
"Artificial meat grown in vats may be needed if the 9 billion people expected to be alive in 2050 are to be adequately fed without destroying the earth, some of the world's leading scientists report today. But a major academic assessment of future global food supplies, led by John Beddington, the UK government chief scientist, suggests that even with new technologies such as genetic modification and nanotechnology, hundreds of millions of people may still go hungry owing to a combination of climate change, water shortages and increasing food consumption...."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/16/artificial-meat-food-royal-society
Eatocracy Post - Food Inc. director on food safety standards
August 23, 2010
See video below, in which CNN's John King talks to the director of the documentary "Food, Inc." about the safety of food produced in the U.S.
See video below, in which CNN's John King talks to the director of the documentary "Food, Inc." about the safety of food produced in the U.S.
CNN Article - Nationwide meat recall announced
August 24, 2010
"Zemco Industries in Buffalo, New York, has recalled approximately 380,000 pounds of deli meat that may be contaminated with bacteria that can cause a potentially fatal disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday. The products were distributed to Wal-Marts nationwide, according to the USDA's website...."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/24/meat.recall/
"Zemco Industries in Buffalo, New York, has recalled approximately 380,000 pounds of deli meat that may be contaminated with bacteria that can cause a potentially fatal disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday. The products were distributed to Wal-Marts nationwide, according to the USDA's website...."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/24/meat.recall/
Monday, August 23, 2010
USA Today Article - FDA chief on salmonella: agency needs more authority
By Elizabeth Weise
August 23, 2010
August 23, 2010
"Food and Drug Administration chief Margaret Hamburg said Monday her agency is limited by law to a mostly reactive stance on food safety and argued that it needs a more 'preventive approach.' Giving a series of network interviews in the wake of the egg and salmonella breakout, Hamburg said the FDA is taking the issue 'very, very seriously.' At the same time, she said Congress should pass pending legislation that would provide her agency with greater enforcement power, including new authority over imported food...."
Sunday, August 22, 2010
NY Times Article - Fixing a World That Fosters Fat
By Natasha Singer
August 21, 2010
"Why are Americans getting fatter and fatter? The simple explanation is that we eat too much junk food and spend too much time in front of screens — be they television, phone or computer — to burn off all those empty calories. One handy prescription for healthier lives is behavior modification. If people only ate more fresh produce. (Thank you, Michael Pollan.) If only children exercised more. (Ditto, Michelle Obama.) Unfortunately, behavior changes won’t work on their own without seismic societal shifts, health experts say, because eating too much and exercising too little are merely symptoms of a much larger malady. The real problem is a landscape littered with inexpensive fast-food meals; saturation advertising for fatty, sugary products; inner cities that lack supermarkets; and unhealthy, high-stress workplaces. In other words: it’s the environment, stupid...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/business/22stream.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
August 21, 2010
"Why are Americans getting fatter and fatter? The simple explanation is that we eat too much junk food and spend too much time in front of screens — be they television, phone or computer — to burn off all those empty calories. One handy prescription for healthier lives is behavior modification. If people only ate more fresh produce. (Thank you, Michael Pollan.) If only children exercised more. (Ditto, Michelle Obama.) Unfortunately, behavior changes won’t work on their own without seismic societal shifts, health experts say, because eating too much and exercising too little are merely symptoms of a much larger malady. The real problem is a landscape littered with inexpensive fast-food meals; saturation advertising for fatty, sugary products; inner cities that lack supermarkets; and unhealthy, high-stress workplaces. In other words: it’s the environment, stupid...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/business/22stream.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
Thursday, August 19, 2010
NY Times Article - Egg Recall Expanded After Salmonella Outbreak
By William Neuman
August 18, 2010
"An Iowa company on Wednesday broadened a nationwide recall of its eggs to 380 million after some of its facilities were linked to an outbreak of salmonella that has sickened hundreds of people across the country. The outbreak, which federal officials said was the largest of its type related to eggs in years, began in May, just weeks before new government safety rules went into effect that were intended to greatly reduce the risk of salmonella in eggs...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/business/19eggs.html?ref=health
August 18, 2010
"An Iowa company on Wednesday broadened a nationwide recall of its eggs to 380 million after some of its facilities were linked to an outbreak of salmonella that has sickened hundreds of people across the country. The outbreak, which federal officials said was the largest of its type related to eggs in years, began in May, just weeks before new government safety rules went into effect that were intended to greatly reduce the risk of salmonella in eggs...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/business/19eggs.html?ref=health
Grist Article - What U.S. citydwellers really spend on food and drink
By Bonnie Azab Powell
August 18, 2010
"Americans spend less per capita on food than any other industrialized nation -- slightly less than 10 percent of our annual incomes, according to figures oft-cited by Michael Pollan and others. Of that, we spend only 5.7 percent of our incomes on food consumed at home, USDA data reports -- the lowest rate of any country in the world, and that figure even includes money spent on alcohol and tobacco. That's not because we're cheap, exactly -- it's because U.S. food is artificially cheap, propped up by government subsidies and low-wage labor (or even slavery, as Grist's Tom Philpott has chronicled).But that's the national average, and residents of U.S. cities vary widely in their spending...."
http://www.grist.org/article/food-what-us-citydwellers-really-spend-on-food-and-drink/
August 18, 2010
"Americans spend less per capita on food than any other industrialized nation -- slightly less than 10 percent of our annual incomes, according to figures oft-cited by Michael Pollan and others. Of that, we spend only 5.7 percent of our incomes on food consumed at home, USDA data reports -- the lowest rate of any country in the world, and that figure even includes money spent on alcohol and tobacco. That's not because we're cheap, exactly -- it's because U.S. food is artificially cheap, propped up by government subsidies and low-wage labor (or even slavery, as Grist's Tom Philpott has chronicled).But that's the national average, and residents of U.S. cities vary widely in their spending...."
http://www.grist.org/article/food-what-us-citydwellers-really-spend-on-food-and-drink/
Monday, August 16, 2010
Huffington Post Article - Why Quick, Cheap Food Is Actually More Expensive
By Mark Hyman
August 14, 2010
"I was in a grocery store yesterday. While I was squeezing avocados to pick just the right ones for my family's dinner salad, I overheard a conversation from a couple that had also picked up an avocado. 'Oh, these avocados look good, let's get some.' Then looking up at the price, they said, 'Two for five dollars!' Dejected, they put the live avocado back and walked away from the vegetable aisle toward the aisles full of dead, boxed, canned, packaged goods where they can buy thousands of calories of poor-quality, nutrient-poor, factory-made, processed foods filled with sugar, fat, and salt for the same five dollars. This is the scenario millions of Americans struggling to feed their families face every day...."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/why-quick-cheap-food-is-a_b_681539.html
August 14, 2010
"I was in a grocery store yesterday. While I was squeezing avocados to pick just the right ones for my family's dinner salad, I overheard a conversation from a couple that had also picked up an avocado. 'Oh, these avocados look good, let's get some.' Then looking up at the price, they said, 'Two for five dollars!' Dejected, they put the live avocado back and walked away from the vegetable aisle toward the aisles full of dead, boxed, canned, packaged goods where they can buy thousands of calories of poor-quality, nutrient-poor, factory-made, processed foods filled with sugar, fat, and salt for the same five dollars. This is the scenario millions of Americans struggling to feed their families face every day...."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/why-quick-cheap-food-is-a_b_681539.html
Thursday, August 12, 2010
NY Times Article - Farmers Lean to Truce on Animals' Close Quarters
By Erik Eckholm
August 11, 2010
"Concessions by farmers in [Ohio] to sharply restrict the close confinement of hens, hogs and veal calves are the latest sign that so-called factory farming — a staple of modern agriculture that is seen by critics as inhumane and a threat to the environment and health — is on the verge of significant change...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/us/12farm.html?_r=2&hp
August 11, 2010
"Concessions by farmers in [Ohio] to sharply restrict the close confinement of hens, hogs and veal calves are the latest sign that so-called factory farming — a staple of modern agriculture that is seen by critics as inhumane and a threat to the environment and health — is on the verge of significant change...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/us/12farm.html?_r=2&hp
Atlantic Article - The Deadstock Dilemma; Our Toxic Meat Waste
By James McWilliams
August 11, 2010
"For all the environmental angst being expressed over livestock, we rarely mention its counterpart: deadstock. Most of a slaughtered farm animal cannot be transformed into edible flesh. About 60 percent of it—offal, bones, tendons, blood, and plasma—becomes abattoir waste and, as such, has to be either recycled or disposed of. Despite our earnest efforts to better understand our increasingly complex food system, deadstock reminds us that the highest costs of food production are often hidden in places we rarely venture as we track our food's journeys from farm to fork...."
http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2010/08/the-deadstock-dilemma-our-toxic-meat-waste/61191/
August 11, 2010
"For all the environmental angst being expressed over livestock, we rarely mention its counterpart: deadstock. Most of a slaughtered farm animal cannot be transformed into edible flesh. About 60 percent of it—offal, bones, tendons, blood, and plasma—becomes abattoir waste and, as such, has to be either recycled or disposed of. Despite our earnest efforts to better understand our increasingly complex food system, deadstock reminds us that the highest costs of food production are often hidden in places we rarely venture as we track our food's journeys from farm to fork...."
http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2010/08/the-deadstock-dilemma-our-toxic-meat-waste/61191/
LA Times Article - Choose foods, not nutrients
By Shari Roan
August 10, 2010
"The U.S. Dietary guidelines -- the advice that Americans are issued to help us eat healthier -- aren't working very well judging by the number of people who are overweight, obese or have nutrition-related illnesses. That may be because the guidelines aren't paying enough attention to food, according to a commentary released Tuesday. The dietary guidelines and recommended dietary allowances, or RDAs, were formulated about 70 years ago to target illnesses related to nutritional deficiencies, such as vitamin D and rickets. But nutritional deficiencies that cause rickets and scurvey and beriberi aren't as common today. And, the authors noted: 'the greater the focus on nutrients, the less healthful foods have become.'..."
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-food-20100810,0,697947.story
August 10, 2010
"The U.S. Dietary guidelines -- the advice that Americans are issued to help us eat healthier -- aren't working very well judging by the number of people who are overweight, obese or have nutrition-related illnesses. That may be because the guidelines aren't paying enough attention to food, according to a commentary released Tuesday. The dietary guidelines and recommended dietary allowances, or RDAs, were formulated about 70 years ago to target illnesses related to nutritional deficiencies, such as vitamin D and rickets. But nutritional deficiencies that cause rickets and scurvey and beriberi aren't as common today. And, the authors noted: 'the greater the focus on nutrients, the less healthful foods have become.'..."
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-food-20100810,0,697947.story
Food Safety News Article - Farmers Markets Up 16 Percent Nationwide
By Helena Bottemiller
August 5, 2010
"The number of farmers markets across the country has grown 16 percent this year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data released yesterday. The 2010 National Farmers Market Directory lists 6,132 operational farmers markets, in 2009 the agency counted 5,274. The 2010 results are being released as part of National Farmers Market Week declared by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack between Aug. 1-7, 2010...."
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/08/farmers-markets-up-16-percent-nationwide/
August 5, 2010
"The number of farmers markets across the country has grown 16 percent this year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data released yesterday. The 2010 National Farmers Market Directory lists 6,132 operational farmers markets, in 2009 the agency counted 5,274. The 2010 results are being released as part of National Farmers Market Week declared by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack between Aug. 1-7, 2010...."
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/08/farmers-markets-up-16-percent-nationwide/
NPR Story - Campaign Aims to Make Meatless Mondays Hip
By Allison Aubrey
August 9, 2010
"There's a movement afoot aimed at changing the way we eat one day a week. The Meatless Monday campaign is backed by public health advocates, chefs and suburban moms who want to tackle the problems of cholesterol and heart disease. One risk factor for these chronic conditions is consuming too much saturated fat — the type of fat found in meat...."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129025298
August 9, 2010
"There's a movement afoot aimed at changing the way we eat one day a week. The Meatless Monday campaign is backed by public health advocates, chefs and suburban moms who want to tackle the problems of cholesterol and heart disease. One risk factor for these chronic conditions is consuming too much saturated fat — the type of fat found in meat...."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129025298
NY Times Article - At Vegans' Weddings, Beef or Tofu?
By Douglas Quenqua
August 6, 2010
"Weddings are all about compromise. City or country? June or November? My religion or yours? For Chelsea Clinton, a vegetarian, it was the decision to serve meat to the guests at her July 31 wedding. (Short ribs, specifically, though there were rumors of Angus steak.) For some couples, that is a concession too far...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/fashion/08vegan.html?_r=1
August 6, 2010
"Weddings are all about compromise. City or country? June or November? My religion or yours? For Chelsea Clinton, a vegetarian, it was the decision to serve meat to the guests at her July 31 wedding. (Short ribs, specifically, though there were rumors of Angus steak.) For some couples, that is a concession too far...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/fashion/08vegan.html?_r=1
Wall Street Journal Article - A Dozen Eggs for $8? Michael Pollan Explains the Math of Buying Local
By Ben Worthen
August 5, 2010
"Michael Pollan, author of Omnivore's Dilemma and other popular books, has become a figurehead for the local-food movement, which advocates buying in-season produce from nearby farms. Proponents say such food is healthier and that the way it is grown and shipped is better for the environment. But it often is more expensive. Mr. Pollan says the real problem is that subsidies keep the prices of some, largely mass-produced foods artificially low. Still, he tries to strike a middle ground between advocate and realist. In his Berkeley living room, the 55-year-old Mr. Pollan discussed where he shops for food and why paying $8 for a dozen eggs is a good thing...."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704271804575405521469248574.html
August 5, 2010
"Michael Pollan, author of Omnivore's Dilemma and other popular books, has become a figurehead for the local-food movement, which advocates buying in-season produce from nearby farms. Proponents say such food is healthier and that the way it is grown and shipped is better for the environment. But it often is more expensive. Mr. Pollan says the real problem is that subsidies keep the prices of some, largely mass-produced foods artificially low. Still, he tries to strike a middle ground between advocate and realist. In his Berkeley living room, the 55-year-old Mr. Pollan discussed where he shops for food and why paying $8 for a dozen eggs is a good thing...."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704271804575405521469248574.html
NY Times Recipe - Spinach Omelet With Parmesan
By Martha Rose Shulman
August 2, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/health/nutrition/06recipehealth.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
August 2, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/health/nutrition/06recipehealth.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
NY Times Article - Audit Finds Problems in Cattlemen's Spending
By William Neuman
August 2, 2010
"An influential cattle industry group misused money raised from ranchers and farmers for promoting beef sales and violated federal rules by spending some of it to support lobbying activities, according to an outside financial review...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/business/03beef.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=business
August 2, 2010
"An influential cattle industry group misused money raised from ranchers and farmers for promoting beef sales and violated federal rules by spending some of it to support lobbying activities, according to an outside financial review...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/business/03beef.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=business
Huffington Post Article - Cheap Protein: Are You Stuck in the Drive-Thru Lane?
By Chris Elam
August 2, 2010
"Time to start thinking outside the chicken-bun. The sales of KFC's notorious (and bun-less) Double Down are, well, down. They're immaterial according to KFC's CFO. Fear not, friends, other fast food purveyors are happy to step into the void. Taco Bell has introduced its $2 meal, McDonalds and Burger King are holding firm with their $1 burgers, while Denny's has developed belly-ballooning meals at $2, $4, $6 and $8. Sweet, you say! Who doesn't want to save cash? The only problem is this brand of cheap comes at an astonishingly high cost -- to us all...."
As cited in this article, Dawn Jackson Blatner, author of The Flexitarian Diet, "put together the following handy swap chart [click on it to zoom in] to make it easy for you to see how you can get all the protein you need -- plus necessary fiber, vitamins and minerals -- with these simple tasty substitutions."
August 2, 2010
"Time to start thinking outside the chicken-bun. The sales of KFC's notorious (and bun-less) Double Down are, well, down. They're immaterial according to KFC's CFO. Fear not, friends, other fast food purveyors are happy to step into the void. Taco Bell has introduced its $2 meal, McDonalds and Burger King are holding firm with their $1 burgers, while Denny's has developed belly-ballooning meals at $2, $4, $6 and $8. Sweet, you say! Who doesn't want to save cash? The only problem is this brand of cheap comes at an astonishingly high cost -- to us all...."
As cited in this article, Dawn Jackson Blatner, author of The Flexitarian Diet, "put together the following handy swap chart [click on it to zoom in] to make it easy for you to see how you can get all the protein you need -- plus necessary fiber, vitamins and minerals -- with these simple tasty substitutions."
Food Safety News Article - First Lady Calls for Action on Child Nutrition
By Helena Bottemiller
August 3, 2010
"With the expiration date on the child nutrition program quickly approaching, First Lady Michelle Obama is again calling on Congress get moving on the pending reauthorization bill. Mrs. Obama penned an op-ed in the Washington Post yesterday, A Food Bill We Need, asking Congress to act 'as soon as possible' on the legislation...."
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/08/flotus-calls-on-congress-to-move-on-child-nutrition/
August 3, 2010
"With the expiration date on the child nutrition program quickly approaching, First Lady Michelle Obama is again calling on Congress get moving on the pending reauthorization bill. Mrs. Obama penned an op-ed in the Washington Post yesterday, A Food Bill We Need, asking Congress to act 'as soon as possible' on the legislation...."
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/08/flotus-calls-on-congress-to-move-on-child-nutrition/
LA Times Article - Fatty Foods Still Big Sellers
By William Weir
August 3, 2010
Why are extreme foods so popular in a health-conscious nation?
"These are not so much menu offerings but dares, and they're thriving at a time when there's probably more awareness of nutrition and the dangers of obesity than ever. In fact, it might be this awareness that's spurring on the so-called 'stunt foods.' Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy, says these extreme meals are singling out a specific customer. 'They want to appeal to young men and to the contrarians who don't want to be told what to eat by nutrition people,' he says...."
http://www.latimes.com/news/health/sns-health-fatty-foods-selling,0,4745552.story
August 3, 2010
Why are extreme foods so popular in a health-conscious nation?
"These are not so much menu offerings but dares, and they're thriving at a time when there's probably more awareness of nutrition and the dangers of obesity than ever. In fact, it might be this awareness that's spurring on the so-called 'stunt foods.' Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy, says these extreme meals are singling out a specific customer. 'They want to appeal to young men and to the contrarians who don't want to be told what to eat by nutrition people,' he says...."
http://www.latimes.com/news/health/sns-health-fatty-foods-selling,0,4745552.story
Eating Green Calculator
The Center for Science in the Public Interest has a new site featuring an "Eating Green Calculator" - a clever resource for consumers along with a way to promote their book, Six Arguments for a Greener Diet. As described on Epicurious' blog, the Eating Green Calculator "lets you figure out the effect your diet has on the world and how making small changes - such as cutting down the amount of animal products you eat - reduces that impact. The calculator also gives you nutritional breakdowns for your food choices, highlighting the calories, grams of fat, and fiber in those foods."
After entering my food quantities into the calculator, I was given the following results for the environmental burden of the animal products I eat in a year: 0.1 acres of grain and grass needed for animal feed, 0.0 pounds of pesticides used to grow animal feed, 4.9 pounds of fertilizer used to grow animal feed, and 674 pounds of manure created by the animals I eat (and that's dairy alone!).
Check out the Eating Green Calculator here.
Grist Article - More corn for meat and ethanol, less habitat for Gulf fish
By Tom Philpott
August 2, 2010
"Deep in the Gulf of Mexico, plumes of dispersed oil linger, wreaking unknown damage on one of the globe's most productive ecosystems. But BP's oil isn't the only destructive substance that gushed into the Gulf this year. This summer -- and every summer since the early 1970s -- a large amount of fertilizer leached out of Midwestern corn fields and into streams that drain into the Mississippi, eventually making its way to the Gulf. Once there, it feeds gigantic algae blooms that, as they decompose, suck up oxygen and squeeze out sea life. Scientists call this process 'hypoxia.' Researchers from Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium have been measuring the Gulf's hypoxic zone since 1985. Every year, they gauge the size of the 'dead zone' by heading out on a research ship called the Pelican to measure oxygen levels near the Mississippi's mouth. The team has just filed its report [PDF] for this year. Their verdict: 'one of the largest ever.'..."
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-08-02-more-corn-for-meat-and-ethanol-less-habitat-for-gulf-fish/
August 2, 2010
"Deep in the Gulf of Mexico, plumes of dispersed oil linger, wreaking unknown damage on one of the globe's most productive ecosystems. But BP's oil isn't the only destructive substance that gushed into the Gulf this year. This summer -- and every summer since the early 1970s -- a large amount of fertilizer leached out of Midwestern corn fields and into streams that drain into the Mississippi, eventually making its way to the Gulf. Once there, it feeds gigantic algae blooms that, as they decompose, suck up oxygen and squeeze out sea life. Scientists call this process 'hypoxia.' Researchers from Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium have been measuring the Gulf's hypoxic zone since 1985. Every year, they gauge the size of the 'dead zone' by heading out on a research ship called the Pelican to measure oxygen levels near the Mississippi's mouth. The team has just filed its report [PDF] for this year. Their verdict: 'one of the largest ever.'..."
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-08-02-more-corn-for-meat-and-ethanol-less-habitat-for-gulf-fish/
Huffington Post Article - Is There More in Your Burger than Meat?
By Christina Pirello
August 2, 2010
"When we think of summer, we think of a lot of things: the beach, baseball, tennis, boating, golf, picnics. But nothing has taken over the American dream of summer life quite like barbecue; burgers sizzling on grills all over the country fill the air with the scent of charred meat. And for most people, that is a perfume like no other. We have seen complete ad campaigns showing men standing over their grills, euphoric with joy, yelling out "meat!" Grilling has become synonymous with summer fun. But wait! What about all the saturated fat, growth hormones, steroids and other nasty stuff that causes heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes lurking in that juicy flesh we love so much? Can we have our burgers and eat them, too?..."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christina-pirello/is-there-more-in-your-bur_b_663540.html
August 2, 2010
"When we think of summer, we think of a lot of things: the beach, baseball, tennis, boating, golf, picnics. But nothing has taken over the American dream of summer life quite like barbecue; burgers sizzling on grills all over the country fill the air with the scent of charred meat. And for most people, that is a perfume like no other. We have seen complete ad campaigns showing men standing over their grills, euphoric with joy, yelling out "meat!" Grilling has become synonymous with summer fun. But wait! What about all the saturated fat, growth hormones, steroids and other nasty stuff that causes heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes lurking in that juicy flesh we love so much? Can we have our burgers and eat them, too?..."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christina-pirello/is-there-more-in-your-bur_b_663540.html
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