Oregon Legislature Convenes; BPA, Plastic Bag Bans To Be Considered

by: JayinPortland

Mon Feb 01, 2010 at 09:02:34 AM PST

Other issues under consideration include extension of state unemployment benefits, [PDF] SB 1009, which would prohibit grocery and other stores in Oregon from using plastic bags, SB 1032, which would ban the sale of BPA-containing reusable food and beverage containers for children under 3, and a permanent extension of Oregon's offshore oil and gas drilling ban, which expired last month.  

Governor Ted Kulongoski is also going to ask the legislature to put kicker reform to a statewide vote in November, in order to create a financial emergency cushion for the state in the case of any further future massive budget shortfalls, like the one we just saw which was mostly fixed by last week's passage of Measures 66 and 67.  Sadly, it looks like the legislature probably won't act on that, though.  As for the BPA bill, it seems relatively weak and uninspired, but I guess it's a start.  If you're in Oregon, you can contact your state legislators here and share your thoughts.

The current composition of the Oregon House is 36 D, 24 R; and the makeup of the Oregon Senate is 18 D, 12 R.  Democrats hold 'supermajorities' in both chambers, and Governor Ted Kulongoski is also a Democrat.  February 11 is the day to watch for what will and what won't receive a vote during this special session -

Legislative leaders have set rigid deadlines to ensure adjournment by the end of February. That means the pace will be like a regular session on steroids. Of the approximately 200 bills drafted so far, those that don't get a hearing by Feb. 11 are likely dead.

Tales from a D.C. School Kitchen, Part 5: Food Service Turns a "Green" School into an Enviro Hog

by: euclidarms

Sat Jan 23, 2010 at 03:10:45 AM PST

I recently spent a week in the kitchen at H.D. Cooke Elementary School here in the District of Columbia observing how food is prepared. This is the fifth in a six-part series of posts about what I saw.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

The Palm Oil Atrocity

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Sun Dec 20, 2009 at 10:41:56 AM PST

Now, thankfully (and quite possibly because of "gentle pressure"), we have the globe's two biggest food firms, Nestlé and Kraft, who have launched internal investigations after a Greenpeace report claimed both purchase palm oil from Indonesian company PT Smart whose parent group Sinar Mas allegedly engages in widespread illegal deforestation and peatland clearance in Indonesia.

One great poster here, rossl, has written extensively on the palm oil debacle and it is worth taking a look at the first of a series of diaries.                                        

"Healthy Schools" Pushes Food Gardening

by: euclidarms

Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 07:45:52 AM PST

Sampler Platter 12.01.09

by: JayinPortland

Tue Dec 01, 2009 at 05:09:29 AM PST

• Consumer Reports brings us some disturbing news about store-bought chicken. Two-thirds of fresh, whole broilers "harbored salmonella and/or campylobacter".  The amazing thing is that this is actually an improvement over their last survey in 2007.

• It's time for the 2009 Holiday Ale Festival here in Portland!  The event begins tomorrow and goes on through Sunday, Downtown in Pioneer Courthouse Square.  If you come on the right day I might just pour you one myself!  The O brings us a Q&A with one of the event's organizers.

• Go Oakland!  A local blogger writes about a new produce market which recently opened on Telegraph in the city's Temescal neighborhood.

• Staying in Oakland for one more, here's a piece on City Slicker Farms' plans for two small parks in West Oakland.

• Food stamp purchases at New York City's Greenmarkets have increased 125% over the past year.

• Now these are some holiday gift ideas I can support!  "The sweetest gifts of all come from your own kitchen"...

• After massive and high-profile failures in Texas and Indiana, the federal government is warning states not to privatize food stamps.  Now if only they would use their power to do more to dissuade same besides simply writing "strongly worded letters"...

• Are urban hunting clubs the next step in the local foods movement?

• A new video shot by Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife officials confirms the existence of a pack of at least 10 gray wolves in Eastern Oregon.

Privatized Water: The Writing is on the Wall

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Sat Nov 28, 2009 at 09:37:32 AM PST

"The Noblest of the elements is water." Pindar, 476 B.C.

What does have the privatization of water in Italy got to do with the rest of the world, you may ask.
Plenty is the answer.

Cross-posted on the Big Orange

The Disappearance of the Bluefin Tuna

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Wed Nov 18, 2009 at 13:35:22 PM PST

A recent analysis of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna population by the WWF shows that the breeding population of the species will disappear by 2012 if the fisheries continue with business as usual, and urges the immediate cessation of fishing this particular species to stop the impending collapse.

"Mediterranean bluefin tuna is on the slippery slope to collapse, and here is the data to prove it. Whichever way you look at it, the Mediterranean bluefin tuna collapse trend is dramatic, it is alarming, and it is happening now." - Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean

You might say, "well, we have the Atlantic and Pacific and we still have fish farming."

Massive Farmed Salmon Jailbreak In British Columbia

by: JayinPortland

Mon Oct 26, 2009 at 17:35:27 PM PDT

As if that wasn't enough of a problem, it seems that the company may have taken their emergency response procedures directly from FEMA's playbook, circa 2005 -

But the recapture vessel was not able to start fishing until Thursday and by that time, gillnetters in areas such as Sointula, about 40 kilometres from the Broughton Archipelago, were reporting catches of Atlantic salmon.

"The response time really troubles me," said Chief Bob Chamberlin of the nearby Kwicksutaineuk-Ah-Kwaw-Ah-Mish band.

"One of the only reasons we found out was because a commercial fishery was going on and they were catching Atlantics."

Marine Harvest, the company who runs this particular salmon farm, has also been responsible for other major previous escapes.  Escaped farm fish have been found in 80 rivers in the province, and over 100,000 farmed salmon escaped into British Columbia's waters in 2008.  Gilford Island, where the escape occurred, is also home to a large First Nations population, many of whom rely upon subsistence fishing in the area.

Chamberlin, who is also secretary-treasurer of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, an organization that's pushing for more First Nations involvement as regulation of fish farms passes from the provincial to the federal government in February, said assurances from the industry that Atlantic salmon won't affect Pacific salmon have been proved wrong.

Sampler Platter 09.25.09

by: JayinPortland

Fri Sep 25, 2009 at 13:00:00 PM PDT

• The State of Oklahoma's lawsuit against the poultry industry for fouling (easy pun passed over, heh) the Illinois River watershed got underway in a Tulsa federal courthouse yesterday.  Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson is suing Tyson, Cargill and nine other companies for violation of numerous state and federal laws.

• Jim Hightower takes on local-washing and corporate-speak.  "Such 'down-home' companies as Unilever and HSBC"... lol!

• The Humboldt jumbo squid that have been swarming the San Diego coastline all summer are now beginning to wash up as far north as the central Oregon Coast; a sardine mystery is being investigated on Oregon's North Coast; and US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco publish an Op-Ed on the government's Northwest salmon plan.

• Here's another piece on the culture clash between the old and the new in New York City street food.

• The City of San Jose, California has just passed what is called the nation's strictest bag ban. The ordinance will prohibit all retailers except for restaurants and nonprofits from giving out single-use plastic bags, and will only allow them to give out paper bags (which must be at least 40% recycled) for a fee.

• Sustainable transportation news roundup: a census survey released today ranks Portland as #1 of America's 30 largest cities in terms of bicycle commuting, with 6.4% of Portlanders getting to work via bike, a jump of more than 50% since 2007; Streetsblog NYC makes the case for openness in MTA data to improve riders' transit experience; and the feasability study on reinstatement of Amtrak's old Pioneer Route (Seattle & Portland to Salt Lake City & Denver via Eastern Oregon and Idaho) has just been released.  Why is it that highways and airports are never expected to be self-sustaining, while rail transit always is?  It's long past time that we stopped leaving most of the West to the tyranny of compulsory private automobile travel.

• The Bend-La Pine School District in Central Oregon is seeking to make its new elementary school one of the greenest public schools in the nation.

From New Zealand Hoki to Peruvian Anchovy

by: JayinPortland

Tue Sep 15, 2009 at 20:00:00 PM PDT

Each year 30 million tonnes of small wild-caught fish -- one third of the global declared catch -- are ground up to feed industrially farmed fish, chicken, and pigs. In light of widespread overfishing and malnutrition, is it ethical to turn one out of every three marine fish into powdered pig feed?

We were dismayed when we heard that the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) announced recently that the process has begun which could lead to the certification of Peruvian anchovies -- a fish which contributes to about a third of the world's fishmeal production.

The Tyee piece is really worth a read, as it sums up quickly and concisely exactly what the problems are with letting the commercial fishing industry regulate itself, and define what is "sustainable" through the Marine Stewardship Council, a creation of the World Wildlife Fund and Unilever, which just so happens to be one of the world's largest seafood retailers.  The reasoning for Unilever's participation in the creation of the MSC was that...

[Unilever] wanted to source all of their fish from sustainable sources by 2005.

...and since nations are hesitant to get into defining 'sustainable' fisheries, what better way to accomplish that goal than to create an industry certification scheme with a little bit of environmental credibility (teaming up with WWF) to do your bidding?  WalMart, btw, is also currently basking in the MSC's "green showers" for much of the fish that they sell.

At first, MSC was only able to certify small, actual sustainable fisheries using real science.  Of course, that didn't aid in reaching industry's goals (which are unsustainable by definition - there is simply no possible way for corporations whose only concern (by law) is profit, to be able to work with the earth at the expense of a few pennies for shareholders)... so MSC has lately been acting as a Rubber Greenwashing Stamp for Big (Sea)Food.

There's nothing at all "sustainable" about grinding up millions of tons of fish for animal feed, when such fish could of course just be used to feed people in the first place.  Especially in Peru, where the anchovy caught just off their coast could go quite a way towards eradicating hunger and malnutrition amongst the Peruvian people themselves, in a much more efficient manner than turning the fish into pellets or powder for industrial pig and salmon farms thousands of miles away ever could.

Global Illegal Fishing Treaty Agreed Upon

by: JayinPortland

Tue Sep 01, 2009 at 20:00:00 PM PDT

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, which brokered the talks, said the treaty will make it harder for illicit catches to be brought ashore and sold on the market.

This should reduce the incentive for activities such as fishing without a license, using banned gear, disregarding fishing seasons and making catches that are illegal or undersized. Such behavior can threaten endangered species and damage the legitimate fisheries industry.

More below the fold...

Sampler Platter 08.31.09

by: JayinPortland

Mon Aug 31, 2009 at 11:12:31 AM PDT

• Here's an excellent High Country News piece on the dangers faced by immigrant workers in the West's dairy industry.

• I really like this idea, and wonder how widespread it is?  The city of Orange, New Jersey replaces cash with cards for everybody in the school lunch line.

• This one's another great idea - Neighborhood University, neighbors coming together, sharing knowledge and building stronger communities.

• A Vancouver, B.C. journalist and urban farm consultant visits Havana, and asks what we can learn from their post-Soviet-collapse urban farming transformation.

• This piece on a Somerset County, NJ garden for the hungry reminds us again of the sad fact that hunger is everywhere, even in the fourth wealthiest county in the United States.

• Hoping fresh produce stands in stadiums catch on everywhere... but as Michael Hurwitz, director of the Greenmarkets in NYC mentions in the article, it's disappointing that right now during their season, the peaches for sale at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx come from a Los Angeles-based international produce importer and distributor.

• A Dutch engineer has developed a water footprint equation.

• From Youffraita:  Here's how some Lancaster County, PA Plain Sect farmers are coming together to form their own co-ops.

Good drinks: home-brewed tea and tap water

by: CookforGood

Tue Aug 25, 2009 at 08:12:55 AM PDT

Ironically for me, several major brands of bottled water are made from my local tap water. That means if I choose the right brand, I am still drinking local ... just at an outrageously high price. But you may be drinking my city's water hundreds of miles away.

Killing Our Frogs, a look back at "The Thin Green Line"

by: Eddie C

Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 15:33:11 PM PDT

Since my original posting of The Thin Green Line, the video that Magnifico posted in that diary From Silent Spring to Silent Night has been verified by Nicholas Kristof's It's Time to Learn From Frogs and the harmful effects of Atrazine are reaching beyond frogs.

Those deformed frogs and intersex fish - not to mention the growing number of deformities in newborn boys - should jolt us once again.

Balancing Fisheries on the Backs of Workers

by: JayinPortland

Mon Aug 03, 2009 at 09:07:30 AM PDT

With too many boats chasing too few crab, fishermen started going broke. They also -- literally -- started going under. In the scramble to catch as much of the quota as possible, boats frequently sailed into fierce Bering Sea storms, and some never returned. Between 1989 and 2005, 10 crab boats sank in the Sea, taking 51 men with them. Another 34 men were lost overboard or killed.

Let's talk about this below the fold...