Pot Luck

by: JayinPortland

Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 19:00:00 PM PDT

Obesity and Smoking Trends Over Time

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 18:06:20 PM PDT

I'll give you the raw data I've been able to find thus far, but as you'll see, we're going to need some real experts to sort out what diet actually has to do with disease.

The E. Coli Vaccine

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 15:44:37 PM PDT

That's how we should deal with food safety. Not with condoms and birth control pills but by decreasing risky behaviors and preventing the spread of disease and the contamination of our food, AND by following that up with testing. In the case of E. coli, we could do that. Don't keep the cows in feedlots. Let them graze on pasture. Or - still better than what we've got now - keep them in the feedlots but let them eat grass for the last few days of their lives. And even then - even if there is E. coli 0157:H7 in the cow's gut, it's STILL not in the meat until somebody screws up at the slaughterhouse. But we allow slaughterhouses to run so fast (to maximize profits, at the expense of animal welfare, worker safety, and food safety) that occasionally somebody at the gut table screws up and splatters manure everywhere. Now, if E. coli 0157:H7 was in the cow, it's in the meat. And that meat might get mixed up with many other animals and sold in one big tainted batch as ground beef.

So what's our plan? Raising the cows in cleaner, healthier, safer conditions? Slowing down the line speed in slaughterhouses? Nope. An E. coli vaccine for cows. Which is - if anything - a very short term fix. If the cows are still in filthy conditions, and the manure's still getting into the meat, it's only a matter of time before some new bug comes along that can harm us. Going back to safe sex, I got the HPV vaccine but that's not a get out of jail free card to go out and have unprotected sex. Even with the vaccine, I'm still susceptible to all other STDs - and the cows and meat will still be susceptible to all kinds of pathogens even after being vaccinated for E. coli.

I'm not saying the E. coli vaccine is a bad thing. If it works, great. I mean, when given the choice, I got the HPV vaccine. But it's not a substitute for preventing disease by keeping the cows in healthier conditions, just as the HPV vaccine doesn't mean I can take home a new guy from the bar every night to have unprotected sex (umm, not that I would, or would want to). Nor does it mean we don't need to test the meat for pathogens (just like my vaccine doesn't mean I no longer require annual pap smears).

And yet, the USDA tests ground beef up to 4 times per month but STILL doesn't have the legal authority to shut down a plant that consistently fails its tests. And who knows how often the processing plants actually test for pathogens - or if they actually throw out tainted meat when their tests find any. We know from the peanut and pistachio salmonella outbreaks earlier this year that those companies still sold the tainted nuts even AFTER they tested positive for salmonella.

Once the food safety bill passes (assuming it does) food companies regulated by the FDA will be required to report positive test results to the FDA - but beef falls under the USDA and so they won't be affected by the new law. Pathetic.

Recipes for Noxious Trolls!

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 14:40:59 PM PDT

An Interesting Debate

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 11:00:16 AM PDT

Here's my specific remark that she took issue with:

To her, this [the decline in spending on food as a percent of disposable income] is proof that Americans want their food to be cheap and convenient. I would cite it as evidence of how we are being squeezed by the society we live in, in which productivity has risen but wages remained stagnant; in which many parents have no option to stay home to raise their children and many people work more than one job to make ends meet. Americans are doing what they must do to survive, but that doesn't mean they prefer it (nor is it healthy for them, as evidenced by our epidemic rise in diet-related chronic illness).

In the first few decades after World War II, our middle class was growing and many families did live on one income with the other parent staying home to raise children. Yet, even then, Abigail notes that Americans were already spending less and less on food. She's right. According to a 1999 article in Monthly Labor Review, consumer spending on food was more than 1/3 of all spending in 1935-36, under 25% of all spending in 1960-61, a little over 20% in 1972-73, and 16% in 1996-97.

At what point did the obesity epidemic start? The CDC's data begins in the 1980's, and they don't gather data from every state for the first few years. But if you look at their data for 1990, you see that no state has over 15% obesity and some are under 10%. By 2007, only Colorado had under 20% obesity, and some are over 35%.

A point where I think Abigail and I agree is that obesity doesn't necessarily equal poor health. You can be overweight and healthy, and you can be skinny and unhealthy. What we really need to look at is longitudinal data on the rates of diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, stroke, and certain cancers that are linked to diet. That's not data I have handy but that a more accurate way to evaluate our diets, rather tha simply looking at obesity.

Another area where I think Abigail and I agree is that there are trade-offs between cheap, convenient food and whatever we're trading it for (environmental degradation, poor health, inferior taste, etc). My hunch is that she thinks people have a more active role in making those choices than I do.  

Energy and Food Independence

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 08:39:56 AM PDT

It seems fitting that the same week we celebrate the independence of our Nation, the House passed historic climate change legislation. In theory, this bill should bring us closer to the goals of oil independence and freedom from the disastrous future of a warming, melting planet. If America is to prosper in the 21st century, then we must take immediate action to reduce our role in causing the climate crisis. And yet, the bill left those of us who care about our shared environment shaking our heads. Is the Waxman-Markey bill is even slightly better for the planet than the status quo, or will it pave the way to increased, legalized pollution? Perhaps the most tragic part of the bill was the compromise with agribusiness interests that was required to secure its passage through the Agriculture committee.

Site Outage & Our Birthday

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 08:31:29 AM PDT

At any rate, if you are reading this, then you know that the site is back up again. And now we can celebrate our first birthday! Woohoo!

Pot Luck

by: JayinPortland

Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 19:00:00 PM PDT

Was down in the beautiful Sellwood / Westmoreland neighborhood here in SE Portland earlier this evening (yeah, I changed my mind and hit a different market.  Yes, way!) for a midweek market haul.  Haven't hit this one yet this year, it's bigger than I remember!  Had a lot of fun.  Music, great people, a stroll down Milwaukie Avenue checking out all the cool little shops and restaurants while waiting for the bus back home, and everything else...

Wednesday Moreland Farmers' Market Haul:

• 1 pint blueberries (yeeearrgh!  my first of the year)
  
• 1/2 pint raspberries
  
• 1 lb. broccoli
  
• 1 cucumber
  
• 1 zucchini
  
• 1 lb. new potatoes
  
• 1 sweet onion
  
• 1 pint snap peas

I also drooled over the feta.  I believe, when my vegan thingy is up, the first thing I will have (August 1!) will be a gigantic tomato, greens and feta salad.

Pot Luck is an open thread.  Share with us whatever happens to be on your mind, food-related or not...

Revolving Door Profile: Michael Torrey

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 16:50:15 PM PDT

Torrey began his career way back in 1987 when he worked for the Kansas Grain & Feed Association. From there, he went into government work as a staffer for Republican Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum from 1990-93. In 1993, he left governmet for the private sector as the Vice President of the Kansas Grain and Feed Association and Kansas Fertilizer Association.

Then he went back to government, as legislative assistant to Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole from 1993-95. In 1996 he worked on Dole's Presidential campaign and he worked as a legislative assistant for Senator Sheila Frahm. Then he got a job at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission where he stayed until 1998.

In 1998, he went into lobbying, as the VP of Legislative Affairs for the International Dairy Foods Association (a group hated by most dairy farmers I know). He stayed there until 2003, when he got a job in the Bush Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations at the USDA. In 2004, he changed jobs within the USDA to become Deputy Chief of Staff. In 2005, he left the USDA to found his own lobby firm.

In the 2008 election cycle, Torrey gave $21,200 in political contributions. That includes:

$3000 to Jerry Moran for Congress (R-KS)
$3000 to Todd Tiahrt for Congress (R-KS)
$2500 to Restore America PAC, Inc (Sam Brownback's PAC)
$2300 to John McCain for President (R-AZ)
$2300 to Sam Brownback for President (R-KS)
$2300 to Lynn Jenkins for Congress (R-KS)
$2300 to Elizabeth Dole for Senate (R-NC)
$1000 to Mike Johanns for Senate (R-NE)
$1000 to the North Carolina Federal Senate Committee (Republican)
$1000 to Friends of John Boehner
$500 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee

The Insanity of Bottled Water

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 15:21:01 PM PDT

The pic above is from environmental artist and photographer Chris Jordan, check his website for reality checks on pollution, it is mind-boggling. And extremely depressing.

The Bullshit We're Up Against

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 14:38:06 PM PDT

So this week, I got my first bad review. It wasn't anything that I expected. It was written by somebody who clearly didn't even read the entire book. They assumed that my arguments for sustainable food were simplistic and poorly informed. And they were clearly opposed to sustainable food altogether. Naturally, that person - whoever it was (there was no name on the review) - hated my book.  

Sampler Platter

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 13:50:05 PM PDT

• The United States just got a little bit fatter. This is tragic, tragic news. A new study found that obesity rates among adults rose in nearly half of U.S. states and didn't decline anywhere. I'd like to separate the simple measure of "obesity" from "unhealthy habits" and "poor health" because I think it's misleading to only examine obesity - there are plenty of skinny people who eat poorly and don't exercise and just because they fit in size 4 jeans doesn't make them healthy - but obesity is obviously easier to measure than food consumption habits. And, given all of its limitations in measuring health, this rise in obesity is not a good thing.

• Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley speaks out for health care reform, including a public option! Yay! Now we just need 59 other Democrats who agree with him and we're all good.

• Obama Foodorama picks up the slack for the USDA by telling us which retailers sold the E. coli-tainted recalled beef. The US government is required to report this information to the public but in this most recent recall, to the best of my knowledge, they have not done so yet. Thank goodness for bloggers.

• Good lord. The latest in school food news is interesting - but not good. It's a write up of the heavily-corporate-funded School Nutrition Association's food expo, which F is for French Fry describes by saying: "Imagine if Las Vegas built a Costco-themed hotel with a particular emphasis on chicken nugget samples and then filled the building with lunch ladies."

• Don't miss this fantastic write-up by Deb Eschmeyer about the hard work and delicious rewards of organic farming.

• Fooducate gives us the dirt on phosphoric acid (aka "that chemical in Coca-Cola").

• Here's my favorite headline of the day: "Screwing up environment not so great for economy, studies find." Hmm, Al Gore's been saying that for years.

• Grist reviewed six dairy-free ice creams. While they focus on taste, I tend to focus on labels. Some of these "treats" contain absolutely disgusting ingredients, so gross that no matter how good they might taste, I won't buy them. My favorite by FAR is Luna & Larry's Coconut Bliss. I don't buy it often, however, because I have a problem. Once I taste it, I can't stop eating it. I can easily put away a whole pint in one sitting.

• This week in beekeeping: Who knew that bees were such a frickin' soap opera?

• Who owns seeds? Check out this fantastic diagram of the seed industry. As you may have guessed, Monsanto owns much of the industry, but it's not without heavy competition from other major plays like DuPont and Syngenta. Still, the industry is alarmingly consolidated. (H/t Mark Bittman)

• Well, holy shit. Dean Foods was already a thorn in the side of organic dairy farmers with its bullshit organic brand Horizon. Now it's even worse, undercutting organics with a new 'natural' brand. What the hell does natural mean anyway? It's just a feel-good term to slap on labels without any sort of standards or regulatory oversight. No wonder Dean likes it.

Ending Childhood Hunger by 2015

by: James Weill

Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 12:18:01 PM PDT

During the presidential campaign, President Obama pledged to end childhood hunger in America by 2015. It's an ambitious pledge and one that he's clearly standing behind. According to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the president instructed him that "what I want you to do first, the most important thing in this job, is to make sure America's kids are well fed."

As a nation we have only six years to reach this goal of ending childhood hunger and it will not be easy. But the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) has described the essential strategies needed to make the 2015 pledge a reality. They are the measures required if we're serious about ending the scandal of childhood hunger in the U.S. and bolstering the health and futures of our children.  

New limits on winter manure application take effect in Iowa

by: desmoinesdem

Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 11:35:56 AM PDT

You'll be pleased to know that amendments greatly improved Senate File 432 before the final version passed the Iowa House in April. Governor Chet Culver then signed the bill into law, and it takes effect today along with a bunch of other measures approved during the 2009 Iowa legislative session.

On principle I dislike legislative efforts to interfere with DNR rulemaking. However, knowledgeable people tell me that the new law includes tougher restrictions on liquid manure application than the rules that the DNR would have eventually produced. So, this law is on balance good news for water quality in Iowa and downstream from us.

It's important to note that these restrictions apply only to liquid manure, which comes from hogs. Iowa's cattle farmers face no new limits on spreading solid manure over frozen or snow-covered ground. I've been told that cattle farmers turned out in large numbers for the DNR's public hearings on the winter application rules.

Policy wonks can find the full text of Iowa Senate File 432 and bill history here.

A Review of Recipe for America

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 21:46:10 PM PDT

These days it's hard to pick up a fork and not wonder if you're making the best choice for you and the planet, which is why Jill Richardson's new book, Recipe For America, couldn't have arrived at a better time.  An incredibly thorough, yet accessible guide to the complex issues surrounding the food we eat, Jill shows us how our food system is broken, and perhaps more importantly, guides us towards sustainable solutions.  You may already be familiar with Jill's entertaining and resourceful, all-things-food blog La Vida Locavore, and if you aren't, I suggest you bookmark it immediately.

You may also be familiar with some of the issues that Jill address in Recipe for America if you've read Omnivore's Dilemma, watched Food, Inc. or paid remote attention to the multitude of recent news stories that reveal ugly truths about where our food comes from.  But even if you have been keeping tabs on the issues, Jill breaks them down in a succinct, digestible (couldn't resist) way and then arms you with the tools to take action.  From industrial farms to farmers markets and from school cafeterias to Capitol Hill, Recipe For America deftly covers the issues that affect us all, and whether you consider yourself a food activist or just a concerned eater, I highly recommend you order yourself a copy.

The book ships from the printer on July 14. As I've noted here before, you can use the PayPal link in the Ads column of this site to pre-order an autographed copy.