Says the Guardian: "...food manufacturers and grocery stores have to comply with a new federal law that requires "Country of Origin Labeling," or COOL, on beef, pork, chicken and lamb. The new labels will tell consumers whether their food came from animals raised in the U.S. or another country. The law also covers perishable items, such as fruits and vegetables and a variety of nuts." Multiple countries may be listed, and a huge loophole that exempts processed foods still exists....
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In today's New York Times Michael Pollan nails politicians on both sides of the aisle for their collective abdication on the farm bill currently being debated in Congress. Once again (at least for the most part) the forces of regressive food policy, the commodity subsidies paid to agribusiness interests supported by entities like the Farm Bureau, have triumphed over the interests of eaters like you and me. But Pollan suggests that change is afoot, and the forces of farm policy evil are beginning to feel the heat....
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The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has posted an easy-to-understand visual on its site that shows which foods U.S. tax dollars go to support under the nation's farm bill. It's titled "Why Does a Salad Cost More Than a Big Mac?" and depicts two pyramids—subsidized foods and the old recommended food pyramid. It's interesting to note that the two are almost inversely proportional to each other....
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Last week officials from the California Department of Food and Agriculture, along with local police, arrested a California couple on "felony cheese manufacturing charges" after they were found with 375 pounds of illegally-manufactured soft cheese at a market in San Bernadino County. "Bathtub cheese," as it is known on the street, is made by unlicensed cheesemakers (whether in a tub or in a stockpot) and can cause some serious food-poisoning (listeria, E. coli, salmonella) if manufactured under less than sanitary conditions. The cheeses seized included panela, queso fresco and queso oaxaca, and in fact "bathtub cheese" is quite common in Latin American communities. In fact over the years there have been several outbreaks of food poisoning associated with homemade Mexican...
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Thirty years ago, leafy spinach wasn't the green enemy and contaminated Odwalla juice hadn't killed a kid yet. These and other food policy issues were discussed at last week's 30th annual National Food Policy Conference in downtown D.C., where Serious Eats was on the scene with a room full of scientists, congressional members, strategists from Tyson and Kraft foods, and the conference BMOCs—the "ag" crowd (the USDA and FDA). 'In my day, we didn't die trying to eat PB and J.' Experts discussed issues like contaminated Peter Pan peanut butter, healthier school lunches, and the farm bill. Snarkiest among panelists was molecular biologist and Kansas State University professor Douglas Powell, who said media wasn't doing enough. In his web forum,...
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"This is not just a farm bill. It's a food bill, and Americans who eat want a stake in it." —Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa After reading about the new farm bill before Congress, it's clear that food lovers everywhere need to do whatever they can to support this bill. Why? Because for the first time maybe ever the farm bill actually tries to do something for the people who grow our fruits and vegetables, the caretakers of our land, and for people who love food. Consider the coalition supporting the changes in the farm bill: Changes in the farm bill are being supported by the Bush administration and an unusual alliance that includes the American Heart Association, Environmental...
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A tale of raw milk intrigue from Brooklyn, New York. It turns out it's legal to possess and drink raw milk. But it's a crime to sell it. Sounds like a case for one of those dismissed U.S. attorneys....
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