By Erik Eckholm
September 14, 2010
"...Dispensing antibiotics to healthy animals is routine on the large, concentrated farms that now dominate American agriculture. But the practice is increasingly condemned by medical experts who say it contributes to a growing scourge of modern medicine: the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including dangerous E. coli strains that account for millions of bladder infections each year, as well as resistant types of salmonella and other microbes.Now, after decades of debate, the Food and Drug Administration appears poised to issue its strongest guidelines on animal antibiotics yet, intended to reduce what it calls a clear risk to human health. They would end farm uses of the drugs simply to promote faster animal growth and call for tighter oversight by veterinarians...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/us/15farm.html
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Take Part Post - Ocean Dead Zones Spreading in U.S. Waters
By Ben Murray
September 14, 2010
"The image of an ocean dead zone is stark: a barren, underwater desert of silt, littered with the bodies of suffocated crabs and asphyxiated fish. Caused when agricultural runoff feeds huge algae blooms that suck oxygen out of the water when they decay, so-called hypoxic zones are increasingly common in U.S. waters, a recent government study finds. Thirty times more common, in fact. In a report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a White House commission September 3, researchers said the 30-fold increase has occurred since 1960. At least 300 U.S. waterways now have 'stressful' or hypoxic zones...."
http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/09/14/ocean-dead-zones-spreading-in-us-waters
September 14, 2010
"The image of an ocean dead zone is stark: a barren, underwater desert of silt, littered with the bodies of suffocated crabs and asphyxiated fish. Caused when agricultural runoff feeds huge algae blooms that suck oxygen out of the water when they decay, so-called hypoxic zones are increasingly common in U.S. waters, a recent government study finds. Thirty times more common, in fact. In a report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a White House commission September 3, researchers said the 30-fold increase has occurred since 1960. At least 300 U.S. waterways now have 'stressful' or hypoxic zones...."
http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/09/14/ocean-dead-zones-spreading-in-us-waters
NY Times Article - Nutrition: Risky Additions to a Low-Carb Diet
By Roni Caryn Rabin
September 13, 2010
"Atkins-style low-carbohydrate diets help people lose weight, but people who simply replace the bread and pasta with calories from animal protein and animal fat may face an increased risk of early death from cancer and heart disease, a new study reports. The study found that the death rate among people who adhered most closely to a low-carb regimen was 12 percent higher over about two decades than with those who consumed diets higher in carbohydrates...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/health/research/14nutrition.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
September 13, 2010
"Atkins-style low-carbohydrate diets help people lose weight, but people who simply replace the bread and pasta with calories from animal protein and animal fat may face an increased risk of early death from cancer and heart disease, a new study reports. The study found that the death rate among people who adhered most closely to a low-carb regimen was 12 percent higher over about two decades than with those who consumed diets higher in carbohydrates...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/health/research/14nutrition.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
Take Part Post - 5 Health Foods That Aren't as Healthy as They Seem
By Megan Bedard
September 11, 2010
"At a time when the first lady is calling for whole grains in the White House, and Jamie Oliver might pop up to swap your yolks for egg whites, the pressure is on to eat well. Maybe you have been. Between downward dogs and spin classes, perhaps you’ve maintained some saffron-spiced shred of dietary integrity. If so, congrats. But before you get healthier-than-thou with your junk-food gobbling pals, be sure you’re really chewing on kudo-worthy sustenance. Here, five health food items that aren’t what they seem...."
Click here to find out what those five foods are, along with suggestions for better alternatives.
September 11, 2010
"At a time when the first lady is calling for whole grains in the White House, and Jamie Oliver might pop up to swap your yolks for egg whites, the pressure is on to eat well. Maybe you have been. Between downward dogs and spin classes, perhaps you’ve maintained some saffron-spiced shred of dietary integrity. If so, congrats. But before you get healthier-than-thou with your junk-food gobbling pals, be sure you’re really chewing on kudo-worthy sustenance. Here, five health food items that aren’t what they seem...."
Click here to find out what those five foods are, along with suggestions for better alternatives.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
NY Times Editorial - Reforming Meat
September 7, 2010
"Early in the last century, the federal government tried to create competition in the meatpacking industry by breaking up the five corporations that controlled it. The result is that four big corporations control it now: JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and National Beef Packing. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wants to try again, and we fully support him. In fact, we’d like to see him go much further...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/opinion/08wed3.html?_r=1
"Early in the last century, the federal government tried to create competition in the meatpacking industry by breaking up the five corporations that controlled it. The result is that four big corporations control it now: JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and National Beef Packing. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wants to try again, and we fully support him. In fact, we’d like to see him go much further...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/opinion/08wed3.html?_r=1
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
NY Times Recipes - For the Vegetarians at the Cookout
By Martha Rose Shulman
August 30, 2010
"Over the Labor Day weekend, many of you will be squeezing in a last picnic or barbecue before school starts, so this week I’m focusing on vegetarian dishes you can pack in a picnic basket or throw on a grill..."
Click here to read the rest of the article, and to see the following BBQ-potluck-veggie-friendly recipes:
August 30, 2010
"Over the Labor Day weekend, many of you will be squeezing in a last picnic or barbecue before school starts, so this week I’m focusing on vegetarian dishes you can pack in a picnic basket or throw on a grill..."
Click here to read the rest of the article, and to see the following BBQ-potluck-veggie-friendly recipes:
- Ratatouille
- Creamy Potato Salad with Yogurt Vinaigrette
- Turkish Bean and Herb Salad
- Grilled Mushrooms in Foil Packets
- Grilled Leeks with Romesco Sauce
Happy Labor Day cooking!
Washington Post Article - A meatless Labor Day dinner
By David Hagedorn
August 31, 2010
"What images come to mind when you plan a menu for Labor Day? Hot dogs and juicy, fist-size burgers dressed in condimental finery? Lightly charred pieces of poultry shellacked with barbecue sauce? Two-inch-thick rib-eye steaks crusty and burned on the outside, purple-rare on the inside? That might be how things will play out at your house, but not at mine. This year, the chuck wagon will be replaced by a bandwagon pulling a load of vegetables. There won't be a morsel of meat on it..."
Click here to read the rest of the article, at the end of which are these yummy-sounding recipes:
August 31, 2010
"What images come to mind when you plan a menu for Labor Day? Hot dogs and juicy, fist-size burgers dressed in condimental finery? Lightly charred pieces of poultry shellacked with barbecue sauce? Two-inch-thick rib-eye steaks crusty and burned on the outside, purple-rare on the inside? That might be how things will play out at your house, but not at mine. This year, the chuck wagon will be replaced by a bandwagon pulling a load of vegetables. There won't be a morsel of meat on it..."
Click here to read the rest of the article, at the end of which are these yummy-sounding recipes:
Huffington Post Article - Ninety Years On, Will the Feds Finally Break Up the Meat Monopoly?
By Regina Weiss
August 30, 2010
"In 1919 the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported to President Woodrow Wilson on a months-long investigation that produced seven volumes of evidence related to anti-competitive practices in the meat packing industry, at that time dominated by the 'Big Five' companies Armour, Swift, Morris, Wilson and Cudahy Packing. That investigation revealed 'an intricate fabric of monopolies, controls, trusts, combinations, conspiracies or restraints [of trade]' underpinning the 'huge profits' of the Big Five and, two years later, resulted in Congress passing the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA). While the Act gave the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) the authority to regulate the meatpacking industry in order to 'protect farmers, ranchers, and consumers,' the major change from 1919 until now has been an increase in consolidation, with the 'Big Five' mega-meatpacking companies currently reduced to just four - JBS (a Brazilian company that in 2007 purchased Swift, then the third largest US meat packer), Tyson, Cargill and National Beef - that today control more than 80 percent of the beef and pork produced in the United States and beyond...."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/regina-weiss/ninety-years-on---will-th_b_698921.html
August 30, 2010
"In 1919 the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported to President Woodrow Wilson on a months-long investigation that produced seven volumes of evidence related to anti-competitive practices in the meat packing industry, at that time dominated by the 'Big Five' companies Armour, Swift, Morris, Wilson and Cudahy Packing. That investigation revealed 'an intricate fabric of monopolies, controls, trusts, combinations, conspiracies or restraints [of trade]' underpinning the 'huge profits' of the Big Five and, two years later, resulted in Congress passing the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA). While the Act gave the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) the authority to regulate the meatpacking industry in order to 'protect farmers, ranchers, and consumers,' the major change from 1919 until now has been an increase in consolidation, with the 'Big Five' mega-meatpacking companies currently reduced to just four - JBS (a Brazilian company that in 2007 purchased Swift, then the third largest US meat packer), Tyson, Cargill and National Beef - that today control more than 80 percent of the beef and pork produced in the United States and beyond...."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/regina-weiss/ninety-years-on---will-th_b_698921.html
Michael Pollan on egg recall and the high costs of cheap food
As posted in a Grist article that comments on the video below, see Michael Pollan speak to CNN's Sanjay Gupta about how the recent salmonella outbreak is a symptom of a larger problem with food production.
This quote sums it up: "We all like cheap food. But when we're spending billions to deal with a salmonella outbreak, it isn't really as cheap as it seems."
This quote sums it up: "We all like cheap food. But when we're spending billions to deal with a salmonella outbreak, it isn't really as cheap as it seems."
Food & Water Watch - Smart Seafood Guide
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For all you seafood lovers, check out this new resource created by Food & Water Watch, which addresses such factors as sustainability, food safety, and the socio-economic impact of many different kinds of seafood.
This new guide is being released at a critical time, when many people have questions and concerns about the availability and safety of seafood following the BP oil spill.
According to their website, Food & Water Watch "analyzed over 100 different fish and shellfish to create the only guide addressing not only the human health and environmental impacts of eating certain seafood, but also the socio-economic impacts on coastal and fishing communities.
Visit this website to download the guide and for more information, including a list of the Dirty Dozen, a Smart Seafood Glossary, Regional Guides, and more.
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