BPA In Our Food and In Our Bodies

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Nov 08, 2009 at 13:00:43 PM PST

Consumers Union Holds Out Olive Branch to Sustainable Foodies

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Oct 09, 2009 at 12:00:00 PM PDT

I've found myself caught in the middle of these two viewpoints. Obviously, we need food safety reform. But really - the small, sustainable farmers are not the major problem in our food system when it comes to safety. Can't we have our food safety reform that governs the big guys that make up 95% of our food system while leaving the other 5% alone? Sure, small, sustainable farmers aren't immune from food safety problems, but they simply don't have the capacity to sicken as many people as large operations by virtue of their small size. I believe the benefits they provide us far outweigh their risks, and leaving them alone in order to pass reforms over the rest of the system is well worth it.

Today, I'm pleased to share a statement by Jean Halloran of Consumers Union, who has been banging hard on the drum of food safety reform from the start, where they reach out to sustainable foodies to work together with them toward reform.

The Foodie Infiltration of the USDA Continues

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Jun 04, 2009 at 15:57:44 PM PDT

According to the USDA, here's what her new job entails:

Marketing and Regulatory Programs facilitates domestic and international marketing of U.S. agricultural products and ensures the health and care of animals and plants. The agency also actively participates in setting national and international standards.

Food policy expert Steph Larsen says the following about this appointment:

The Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs has a diverse set of responsibilities, from insuring robust agricultural competition to providing opportunities to sell products in the U.S. and abroad. The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is responsible for insuring that livestock producers are treated equally regardless of their size and that corporations do not engage in unfair competitive practices. I think she is a good choice to implement changes that will increase fair livestock competition, which in turn will help small and mid-sized livestock producers.

Sampler Platter

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Apr 28, 2009 at 15:00:00 PM PDT

• Tom Laskawy comments on the reports that phthalates make us fat(ter). Here are my two cents: The focus on food should continue because crap eating is crap eating whether or not you get fat from it, and the focus on eliminating phthalates (used in PVC plastic) should ALSO continue because we know they do bad things OTHER THAN make us fat.

• Mark Bittman tells how to make sunchoke fritters. I'm a fan of sunchokes, but I've never tried them as fritters. (In fact, being raised in a fat-phobic Jewish family, the only time a year I got anything that remotely resembled a "fritter" was Hanukkah.)

• Alternet takes on marijuana legalization. They say 4 in 10 have smoked it, yet millions still get busted. And among those millions are my own friends and family, and perhaps yours too. The ridiculous war on pot hurts all of us. It's time to call a truce, or maybe even just wave a white flag and admit that pot is the rightful winner.

• This idea of highrise farms gets trotted out every so often as the possible silver bullet to solve all of our problems. I'm a skeptic. What do you think?

• No patents on seeds? Marion Nestle recommends we check out a report that calls for just that.

• Marion Nestle also shares info on banned pesticides in Chilean farmed salmon. One more good reason to say no to farmed fish. Particularly farmed carnivorous fish.

• Good things come in threes, right? I've got a third good one from Marion Nestle. The title is Who needs bioterrorism when we've got manure lagoons. I soooo agree. Osama doesn't need to make us sick from our food supply because we do that all by ourselves.

• Consumers Union speaks up about an issue I've been yelling about on this site - the FDA wants to delay a new "feed ban" rule by 60 days, leaving us open to increased risk of mad cow disease for an additional two months.

• Scary news from Environmental Health News (although not surprising at all): Together, two common pesticides may increase risk of Parkinson's disease.

• And now for some good news: The LA Times reports on hospitals adding fresh, organic foods to their menus. Yay!

Victory in Kansas!!!!!! Gov. Sebelius Vetoes rbGH Labeling Bill

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Apr 23, 2009 at 18:11:57 PM PDT

Kansas farms, consumer groups and businesses Catalpa Grove Gardens, Pretty Prairie, Community Mercantile Consumer Coop, Creek Four Mill, Iwig Family Dairy, Janzen Family Farms, Kansas City Food Circle, Kayala Emu Estates, Hesston, Larson Acres, Little Red Hen Bakery, Norm's Flour, Sierra Club Kansas Chapter, Spring Creek Ranch, Wichitaw Food Coop, AllergyKids, Breast Cancer Action, The Cornucopia Institute, Organic Consumers Association, Center for Environmental Health, Center for Food Safety, Center for Media and Democracy, Consumers Union, Family Farm Defenders, Food and Water Watch, The Humane Society of the United States, Institute for Responsible Technology, National Family Farm Coalition, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, Organic Farming Research Foundation, Sierra Club, and Stonyfield Farm, Inc.

... and me) have been asking Sebelius to veto this bill since it passed the Kansas state legislature a few weeks ago. I, for one, did not expect her to actually veto it. I am THRILLED that she did veto it and even more thrilled that a public servant who obviously listens to citizens' opinions as well as science will soon take the reins at the Department of Heath and Human Services, which overseas the FDA. The FDA is the agency that legalized the growth hormone rbGH in the first place and I hope to see that decision reversed under Sebelius based on all of the facts that have been revealed since the hormone was first legalized in the early 1990s.

Sebelius' statement from her veto as well as several reactions from various leaders in the food community are posted below.

Consumers Union's Food Safety Wishlist

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 08:00:00 AM PDT

Consumers Union to Vilsack: We Want Better Meat Labels

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Feb 27, 2009 at 08:00:00 AM PST

1. Withdraw the "naturally raised" label - CU criticizes the current naturally raised claim because it only means that the animal was raised without certain antibiotics, animal byproducts, and growth promotants. In a poll, consumers want the label to mean the animal:
   • Had a diet free of chemicals, drugs and animal byproducts (86%)
   • Was raised in a natural environment (85%)
   • Ate a natural diet (85%)
   • Was not cloned or genetically engineered (78%)
   • Had access to the outdoors (77%)
   • Was treated humanely (76%)
   • Was not confined (68%)

2. Close loopholes in Country of Origin Labeling (COOL)

3. Close loopholes in "grass fed" standard - In November 2007, a new standard for a "grass fed" label went into effect. However, any company already using a "grass fed" claim was grandfathered in and allowed to continue making the claim, even if they didn't meat the standards.

4. "Harmonize" meat marketing claims across meat, poultry and dairy items - Consumers get confused when labels mean different things on meat, dairy, and eggs. For example, the grass fed standard currently only applies to ruminants (cud-chewing animals like cows) but the label also appears on poultry, milk, and eggs.

5. Define "raised without antibiotics" label claim:

   While most consumers believe that this claim means no antibiotics or antimicrobial drugs were administered, there is in fact no standard for the term.

6. Ensure consistency of "organic" label to scope of products covered - Mostly this is a request for the USDA to clean up the standards for "organic" farmed fish. This standard is currently in progress and quite frankly, it stinks. The current standard the USDA is considering allows "organic" fish to eat non-organic food. WTF?

7. Maintain "treated with irradiation" labeling for meat from irradiated surface cuts - The USDA is currently considering a request from the American Meat Institute to allow meat irradiation without labeling. Please, oh please, USDA - don't do this!

"Organic" Fish: A Bad Decision by NOSB

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Nov 19, 2008 at 14:30:50 PM PST

Consumers Union sums up the problem with the new standards as follows:

Fish to be fed food other than 100% organic feed-the gold standard that must be met by other USDA-certified organic livestock;

Fishmeal used to feed farmed fish from wild fish-which has the potential to carry mercury and PCBs; and

Open net cages to be used-which flush pollution, disease and parasites from open net fish farms directly into the ocean, adversely impacting wild fish supply, sustainability and the health of the oceans.

When you eat an organic apple, you can feel good that you aren't biting into a bunch of pesticides or other toxins. When you drink a glass of organic milk, you can feel good that you won't be drinking antibiotics and growth hormones. But if this recommendation by NOSB becomes a reality, you will have no such assurances if you eat a "USDA Certified Organic" fish.

While some members of NOSB admitted they were under pressure to OK this from the aquaculture industry, it's clear what American consumers want:

Just this week, a Consumers Union Poll revealed that 93 percent of Americans think that fish labeled as "organic" should be produced by 100 percent organic feed, like all other organic animals. Nine in 10 consumers also agreed that "organic" fish farms should be required to recover waste and not pollute the environment and 57 percent are concerned about ocean pollution caused by "organic" fish farms. Nearly 30,000 signatures have been collected in favor of maintaining strong standards for the organic label for fish.

Something Fishy About Organic Standards

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Nov 17, 2008 at 00:11:30 AM PST

With wild-caught fish the reason is quite simple: if the fish was wild, who the hell knows what it ate? I'd assume it probably ate food that was more natural than anything a fish might eat in captivity, but then there's the question of what kind of pollutants we lovely humans may have added to that wild fish's food. Hmm.

For farmed fish, here's the issue:

But under the proposed standard, farm-raised fish would be considered organic, even if what they eat includes fish meal, which is feed spiked with ground up wild fish.

So a wild fish is not organic, but farmed fish that eats wild fish is? How about not. I'll add to that my own personal concern with this that one of the major problems with some kinds of farmed fish is that it keeps the fish at the top of the food chain throughout their lives, whereas wild fish start lower down on the food chain and only achieve "top of the food chain" status in adulthood. This is significant because the higher you are on the food chain, the more pollutants you accumulate.

One more problem is:

The USDA requires that feed for cows, chickens and the like be 100 percent organic. But under the fish standard, non-organic feed initially would constitute up to 25 percent of the diet of an organically raised fish.

Perhaps NOSB should skip certifying fish and instead allow the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) continue to provide the gold standard of seafood certification.

Groups opposing the proposed fish rules are Consumers Union, Food & Water Watch, Living Oceans Society, and the Center for Food Safety. I've included a statement from them below.

Friday Night Happy Story: Thanksgiving!

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Nov 14, 2008 at 20:31:35 PM PST

So that everyone can participate, Eat Well Guide and Consumers Union are giving out a number of tools to help. Starting with, of course, Eat Well Guide itself. It's a website I rely on as a Google (and Google Maps) of food. Put in your zip code, and it returns where you can buy local, organic food. Or, use their travel tool: enter where you are and where you're going, and they will tell you where to eat along the way.

Then, anyone who participates is encouraged to share their recipes and stories. I've already entered in my recipe for baked delicata squash, which I first made when I received a delicata squash from my CSA a few years ago.

Celebrity chefs have kicked off the recipe-sharing by sharing a few of their own. Alice Waters shared a chard gratin recipe. Scroll down on the page to see recipes from Dan Barber (brussel sprouts) and Mario Batali (butternut squash). Below, I've included a pumpkin soup recipe from my friend Destin, director of Eat Well Guide.

ACTION: Demand better organic standards for farmed fish!

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 18:21:33 PM PDT

The board recommends that fish can be labeled 'organic' even if they've been fed wild fish, which come from polluted environments and are high in mercury and PCBs. Potentially toxic organic fish? That defeats the whole purpose.

And the board recommends fish raised in open ocean net pens be eligible for the organic label. This type of fish farming is highly polluting, as large amounts of waste are released into the environment.

Please sign the petition and then take action on the Center for Food Safety's site too. The deadline for commenting is MONDAY, November 3.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Check out this article on farmed salmon and sea lice. Also, I strongly recommend checking out Marion Nestle's book What to Eat. She goes into why farmed fish can be higher in PCBs and other toxins than wild fish. It's because essentially the farmed fish live their entire lives at the top of the food chain, where they take in much more contaminants than wild fish who do NOT start their lives at the top of the food chain.

Reflections on the Consumers Union Activist Summit

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 22:20:02 PM PDT

If you're working on a cause that benefits consumers, they will hold your hand as much as you need. Several of the people I met at the Summit have testified before Congress (often with the help of Consumers Union). One girl I met lost her husband to a drug side effect. He was given a free sample of a drug and five weeks later he was dead. She's been an absolute pit bull working for drug safety ever since, and she HAS made a difference. There are laws on the books in this country because of the people I met at the Summit. And they are just regular people like you or me.

The only thing that didn't sit well with me was the use again and again of the word "consumer." Now, I realize they are Consumers Union and we are there for consumers' rights. But I care about human rights. I need Humans Union. I wish the Democratic Party or the American government were Humans Union but they are not. And Consumers Union has all of the purity that I could ever hope for... they are 100% pro-consumers' rights and they never sway from that. But what about the things that I don't buy?

I don't buy meat, for example. I'm not a meat consumer. But whether I buy it or not doesn't change the fact that factory farms pollute the environment I live in. My life is worse off because of the [mainstream] meat industry and I haven't been their customer in years. My issues are broader than just "consumers' issues."

Today I was very glad that my concern was addressed by the keynote speaker (whose name I don't have handy because I was bad and showed up late). She was an amazing, dynamic speaker who drove home the fact that we are fighting for human rights, not just consumers' rights. Amen to that! So apparently Consumers Union isn't blind to that concept... I was glad it was recognized in such an official capacity during the Summit. And I recognize that their scope is focused on consumer issues and it is a large enough scope to keep them plenty busy for years to come.

If you have been hurt by a product, any product, please, please get involved with Consumers Union. Or get involved even before you have a bad experience that forces you to do so. They are a fantastic organization and they will support you all the way.

Pure Cane Sugar, Now Part of a Balanced Breakfast

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Oct 03, 2008 at 22:05:40 PM PDT

Cheerios, Kix, Honey Nut Cheerios (all General Mills), and Life (Quaker Oats) earned points for relatively lower sugar and higher dietary fiber, the two categories we weighed as most important. Cheerios topped the list with only 1 gram of sugar and a healthful 3 grams of fiber per serving.

That's the good news. Here's the bad news:

There is at least as much sugar in a serving of Kellogg's Honey Smacks and 10 other rated cereals as there is in a glazed doughnut from Dunkin' Donuts. Two cereals, Kellogg's Honey Smacks and Post Golden Crisp, are more than 50 percent sugar (by weight) and nine are at least 40 percent sugar. And that's not the only issue. Although Kellogg's Rice Krispies has only 4 grams of sugar per serving, it got only a Fair rating, largely because it is higher in sodium and has zero dietary fiber.

The worse news? Who eats just one serving of cereal? If you fill up a large bowl with one of these sugary cereals, you could end up eating an entire CUP of sugar.