Agriculture
Chair: Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
- Max Baucus (D-MT)
- Michael Bennet (D-CO)
- Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
- Bob Casey (D-PA)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
- Pat Leahy (D-VT)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
- Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
- Mike Johanns (R-NE)
- Dick Lugar (R-IN)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Pat Roberts (R-KS)
- John R. Thune (R-SD)
Appropriations
Chair: Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: Herb Kohl (D-WI)
- Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
- Dick Durbin (D-IL)
- Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Tim Johnson (D-SD)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Jack Reed (D-RI)
- Robert Bennett (R-UT)
- Christopher Bond (R-MO)
- Sam Brownback (R-KS)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions
- Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Agriculture
Chair: B Collin Peterson (D-MN)
V. Chair: B Tim Holden (D-PA)
B Joe Baca (D-CA)
- John Boccieri (D-OH)
B* Leonard Boswell (D-IA)
- Bobby Bright (D-AL)
B* Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
- Travis Childers (D-MS)
B Jim Costa (D-CA)
- Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
- Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA)
B Brad Ellsworth (D-IN)
- Debbie Halvorson (D-IL)
B Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD)
- Steve Kagen (D-WI)
- Larry Kissell (D-NC)
B Frank Kratovil (D-MD)
- Betsy Markey (D-CO)
B Jim Marshall (D-GA)
P Eric Massa (D-NY)
B Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
- Walt Minnick (D-ID)
B Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)
- Mark Schauer (D-MI)
- Kurt Schrader (D-OR)
B David Scott (D-GA)
B Zachary Space (D-OH)
- Timothy Walz (D-MN)
- Frank Lucas (R-OK)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- K. Michael Conaway (R-TX)
- Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
- Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
- Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
- Sam Graves (R-MO)
- Timothy Johnson (R-IL)
- Steve King (R-IA)
- Robert Latta (R-OH)
- Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
- Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
- Jerry Moran (R-KS)
- Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Mike Rogers (R-AL)
- Jean Schmidt (R-OH)
- Adrian Smith (R-NE)
- Glenn Thompson (R-PA) *=House Organic Caucus member B=Blue Dog Democrat
Appropriations
Chair: Dave Obey (D-WI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: P Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
- Sanford Bishop (D-GA)
* Allen Boyd (D-FL)
- Lincoln Davis (D-TN)
*P Sam Farr (D-CA)
*P Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
P Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
P Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
- Jack Kingston (R-GA)
- Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
- Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
* Tom Latham (R-IA) *=House Organic Caucus member
P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
Education and Labor
P Chair: George Miller (D-CA)
- Jason Altmire (D-PA)
- Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
- Timothy Bishop (D-NY)
P Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
- Joe Courtney (D-CT)
- Susan Davis (D-CA)
P Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
P Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
P Phil Hare (D-IL)
- Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
P Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Rush Holt (D-NJ)
- Dale Kildee (D-MI)
P Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
P Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
- Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
P Donald Payne (D-NJ)
- Jared Polis (D-CO)
- Robert Scott (D-VA)
- Joe Sestak (D-PA)
- Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)
P John Tierney (D-MA)
- Dina Titus (D-NV)
- Paul Tonko (D-NY)
P Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
- David Wu (D-OR)
- Buck McKeon (R-CA)
- Judy Biggert (R-IL)
- Rob Bishop (R-UT)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- Michael Castle (R-DE)
- Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
- Luis F Fortuno (R-PR)
- Brett Guthrie (R-KY)
- Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)
- Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA)
- John Kline (R-MN)
- Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
- Tom McClintock (R-CA)
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
- Thomas Petri (R-WI)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
- Tom Price (R-GA)
- Mark Souder (R-IN)
- GT Thompson (R-PA)
- Joe Wilson (R-SC) P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
Well how's this. Now McDonalds is claiming that its local. Now, if you go to that link, you'll see the particular ad (claiming that the French fries are made from local potatoes) is located in the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard, a neighborhood I've visited. And I'd like to think that Ballard residents are smarter than that, given that they've got a kickass farmers' market, a restaurant with a roof garden, and a really awesome group called Sustainable Ballard. Sounds like a bunch of French fry eating, drive thru shopping McDonald's customers, huh?
That particular McDonald's campaign seems to be confined to a small area, but around here I've noticed an awful lot of heavy advertising. Some of it is the same old, obnoxious stuff, like a picture of an egg next to an Egg McMuffin that says "Breakfast... Out of its shell." And what's up with their ridiculous coffee ads. The ads near me say that if coffee is Joe, consider McDonald's coffee Joseph. Umm... I'd probably consider it right on par with Nescafe, which I will not drink. But then I went to Los Angeles and noticed two new trends.
First, free wifi at McDonalds. Which kind of cracks me up to imagine a businessperson in a suit sitting in plastic swivel chairs using a laptop while eating greasy fries and slurping a triple thick shake through a straw. I didn't think it would happen. Someone told me that I was wrong. I haven't set foot in a McDonalds in years, but apparently, it's a popular place to use wifi.
Second, "right-sized" meals. This is a trend that allows you to pay more (per calorie, per ounce, etc) to get a smaller portion of the same junk and then presumably feel less guilty about eating it. Of course it's still rotten for you, but you just ate less of it... and got ripped off in the process. It offers would-be health foodies a happy medium between eating no McDonalds at all and ordering a supersized double cheeseburger value meal.
Honestly, McDonald's recent marketing campaigns most reminds me of the flu's ability to adapt each year, outwitting the previous year's vaccines and all of the people who have evolved immunity to prior strains of the disease. Recently, a Jack in the Box exec told me that their target market was young adults whereas McDonald's target market is everybody, more or less from cradle to grave. Clearly, McDonald's has its eye on every single trend in the entire food industry and they are trying it all to see what works.
Sorry for the harsh language, but I believe it is warranted. CSPI has called on McDonalds to stop giving out toys with Happy Meals. And I can't agree with them more. One of the biggest eating problems in the U.S. today is that we choose what we eat (and how much we eat) for reasons other than "I'm hungry." Teaching children at such a young age to choose their food based on toy give-aways is entirely insidious. And it has the effect of exposing them to absolutely awful-for-you food that, for some people, can trigger truly out of control eating throughout their lives (see the book The End of Overeating by David Kessler).
As a parent, the toys are crap and don't get played with very often once they come home (the exception being that stupid Kidz Bop CD they gave away, which our kids still listen to nonstop), but the variety of prizes and constant advertising of something new entices the kids to ask for Happy Meals over and over, always having a reason why they need one NOW ("But I haven't gotten that new toy yet!!!"). And they make anything a parent cooks for the kid automatically less fun because it doesn't come with a toy.
So what was McDonald's response?
"Happy Meals are a fun treat, with right-sized, quality food choices."
You've gotta be kidding me. A study by CSPI found that 93% of kids meals at McDonalds contain too many calories for children ages 4 to 8. Many are also too high in saturated fat and sodium. But did anyone really need a study to prove that McDonald's doesn't serve "right-sized, quality food choices" in its Happy Meals?
It turns out Subway will soon have more locations than McDonalds in America. I guess the combination of Jared (good publicity) and Supersize Me (bad publicity) have had a real effect. Either that, or Subway just plain old has a different franchising model than McDonalds. I haven't done my homework on Subway, so I can't say for sure how their finances are doing compared to McDonalds. All I'm saying is - were it the case - it wouldn't be the first time a company expanded faster than the market could bear (think Boston Market or Starbucks).
I was asked to comment on whether Subway was truly healthier than McDonalds and whether Subway lived up to its slogan "Eat fresh." My response was: it depends on what you order. And for what it's worth, I've never known anyone who got food poisoning from McDonalds... I can't say that about Subway. But if you want to eat fresh, fast food chains aren't the places to do it. You might have to spend a few extra bucks to get a good, fast meal somewhere, but I always say that delicious healthy food is cheaper than the open heart surgery I would someday need if I didn't eat well. If your choice is crappy food or starvation, I understand choosing crappy food. Otherwise, it pays to spend a little extra on your food. If you must spend now on food or spend later on health care, spending on food is by far the better deal.
PARIS - French culture and American convenience will come together in December - thanks to plans by the McDonald's restaurant chain to hang its shingle in the shadow of the Louvre.
McDonald's is delighted at the prospect of feeding hungry culture vultures. But not everyone is happy about mixing high art and fast food.
The McDonald's will be installed in the food court of the underground mall adjoining the museum, known as the Carrousel du Louvre, as the fast food chain fetes its 30th anniversary in France, McDonald's France said.
Wow...! Scary. You may now be able to view the finest art in the world while eating the ___ food in the World. (Or a more cynical view, the food that destroyed the World).
This is one big difference between agribusiness and health insurance. Other countries actually want to import our dangerous ideas when it comes to agribusiness. No one wants our health insurance model.
European art and what passes for American cuisine have crossed paths before. The former chief of Italy's McDonald's chain, Mario Resca, now supervises that country's chain of illustrious museums.
That's suspicious... or in McDonalds terms, it's convenient.
Between the tiny Dakotan hamlets of Meadow and Glad Valley lies the McFarthest Spot: 107 miles distant from the nearest McDonald's, as the crow flies, and 145 miles by car!
Is the McDonalds 365Black site an indication of McRacism? I think it's pretty disgusting that one of the biggest and best-known (if not THE biggest and best known) peddlers of junk food is targeting an ethnic community that already suffers from higher than average diet-related health problems. The site 365Black isn't new, but the attention it's getting is. Here's what the blog Prostituted Thoughts had to say:
Have you guys heard about 365 Black? McDonald new attempt to celebrate the being of African Americans. I am just discovering it with the help of SteelCloset. Cas, one of there writers there talks about a "lack of tact." Well...to put it simply, I'm offended. I am well aware that McDonalds has a minority agency (if not multiple) that does some hardcore minority focused work. I gave them a pass for the ridiculousness that was the R&B Themed 10 Piece Nugget spot. I actually laughed with them. I looked the other way for the double fist pump. I said to myself, "If they think this is the way to Market to Minorities...good luck to them." But this 365 Black initiative rocks the boat a little too much in my opinion. Is that really Keith Sweat talking about sharing his love of Chicken McNuggets? Is the love of Chicken McNuggets what you mean when you say, We Are Deeply Rooted In the Community? Who cares if Laurie Anne Gibson, a dancer from a reality know best for sayin "BOOM-BOOM-CAT" and being fired by Diddy, worked at McDonalds?
On The Today Show, Matt Lauer hosted dietitian Elizabeth Ward to discuss how to make "healthy" food choices on a road trip. Virtually the only measure Ward used to evaluate what was healthy was how many calories is in it.
She started out with breakfast at McDonalds, stating she was a big proponent of eating eggs. She recommended scrambled eggs and an English muffin. (This item doesn't actually appear on the menu, but these ingredients are served at McDonalds -- maybe she was suggesting making a special order, or throwing out the rest?)
For the record, scrambled eggs at McDonalds, which one could easily mistake for being comprised of well, eggs, actually contain the following:
Pasteurized whole eggs with sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid and monosodium phosphate (added to preserve color), nisin (preservative). Prepared with Liquid Margarine: Liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, soy lecithin, mono-and diglycerides, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene (color).
The article goes on to talk about her recommendations at KFC, Taco Bell, and Burger King. For the record, you can find healthy food during road trips by using the travel tool at Eat Well Guide. I'm driving from Pittsburgh to Vermont today and I used that site to find a few natural foods stores and restaurants along my way.
Food safety lawyer and blogger Bill Marler has been reporting about hepatitis A at McDonald's on his blog. 20 cases are linked to a Milan, IL McDonald's (including 11 hospitalizations). In fact, this isn't the first time McDonald's has given its customers McHepatitis A. I suppose that's part of the value meals? Marler says (of McDonald's): "How Many Times Does Lightening Need to Strike Before You Wake the Hell Up?" and points out they could vaccinate all employees for about $50 apiece.
They found just over half of pupils had eaten at fast food restaurants such as McDonald's up to three times in the last week. One in 10 had eaten fast food between four and six times and two per cent visited restaurants four or more times daily.
In total, children scored between 58 and 181 points in the reading tests, gaining an average score of 141.5. But after taking other factors into account, pupils who ate fast food between four and six times a week scored almost seven points below average. Children snacking once a day fell 16 points, while pupils indulging three times a day dropped by 19 points.
Similar trends were noted in maths. In total, children scored between 47 and 151 points in the test, with average results of 115. But those pupils eating fast food dropped by between 6.5 and 18.5 points.
The other day I noted that the Humane Society was congratulating Wendy's for switching a mere 2% of their eggs to cage-free. Turns out Wendy's isn't alone. Burger King, Hardee's, Quizno's, Carl's Jr. and Denny's are each going to buy about 5% of their eggs as cage-free. I interpret this as a "shut up and get off my back" move by the fast food chains to placate the Humane Society without getting bad press and protests at their restaurants. It seems that McDonald's wasn't even willing to go that far to get HSUS to back off - they'd rather "study the issue" for 2 years first.
In fact, the VP of Corporate Social Responsibility at McDonald's had the chutzpah to say "I have been to our laying facilities and I am proud of them. The birds are protected well." Protected by cramming 10 of them into each battery cage, giving each hen less room than a sheet of paper? Oh they are protected all right. In huge, windowless rooms with 100% protection from the elements and from coyotes or any other critter that might want to harm a chicken. You might say that prisoners in maximum security prisons are "protected well" too.
Quite frankly, I'm disappointed that the Humane Society is going to settle for this - any of this. If they care about the chickens so much, don't they care enough to keep negotiating for more than just a 5% switch?
Let these restaurants know that we can spot hypocrisy when we see it:
McDonalds, perhaps the single biggest affront to biodiversity in the world (next to Monsanto), claims that it is "going green." And I would like to say: No, it isn't going green. It's going from being an enormous affront to any and all efforts for sustainability to a slightly less enormous affront to any and all efforts for sustainability. I am sorry, but when your entire business revolves around selling factory farmed beef, nothing you can do short of going out of business would be a substantial improvement. Not even using unbleached napkins that save energy, wood, and water (as McDonalds is doing in Canada).
As you can see from the GOOD magazine chart above, this is clearly a case of McGreenwashing. Would you like fries with that?
I've been hibernating the past few days. My internet's still broken and my dad's mailing me my old laptop to see if that will fix the problem. In the meantime, I am writing this post from an internet cafe and I am very (VERY) annoyed. I'm sitting next to a woman with big hair who smells like hair care products and a family with a million small kids just came in. The kids are going crazy. In addition to internet, this place's main business is gelato. Anyway, here's what's on my plate besides mocha rum crunch gelato:
Here's a fantastic interview with Curt Ellis of King Corn fame. I got to meet him last week. I was very impressed.
Check out this article on planting trees in Anacostia, a poor neighborhood in Washington, D.C. I got all excited when I read the title, and then realized once I read the article that they weren't talking about fruit trees. But that's OK. Any trees at all are better than no trees, even if they don't produce food.
Here's an absolutely fantastic not to miss post about Food Inc, the new documentary coming out in a few months. By the way, the blog that posted the terrific article on the film is a blog for another upcoming documentary on food, The Greenhorns, a film about young farmers. Last week I met the incredible Severine Fleming, the film's directors. I definitely recommend checking out her blog and her film.
Great news! Baltimore is planting a vegetable garden that is nearly twice the size of the White House garden. The food will go to a local shelter, and Baltimore claims they aren't copying - they had the plans in place long before Michelle Obama announced her garden. (Hat tip Roger Doiron)
Bad news from Ohio. Pro-rbGH advocates won their court case that argued against the legality of labeling milk "rbGH-free." It's been a rough week for rbGH-free labeling, because Kansas has been up to all kinds of anti-labeling mischief too.
The Atlantic tells about the magic of unheated greenhouses. I'm certainly interested. Even the Amish farm I visited heated its greenhouse when the weather got cold.
April is Grilled Cheese month according to the LA Times. Hmm. Do they really live only a few hours north of me? Around here I'm getting geared up for stone fruits not grilled cheese :)
McDonalds might take steps to reduce pesticides in their potatoes. Call me a skeptic, but even though this might be good news it still doesn't make me want to eat their fries.
Authorities say a Florida woman called 911 three times after McDonald's employees told her they were out of McNuggets. A police report said 27-year-old Fort Pierce resident Latreasa L. Goodman told authorities she paid for a 10-piece last week but was later informed the restaurant had run out.
She says she was refused a refund and told all sales were final. A cashier told police she offered Goodman a larger portion of different food for the same price, but Goodman became irate.
OK, first of all. McDonald's? For god sake's, you should have given her her money back. When a customer is clearly batshit crazy, you just give them their money back so you don't end up in news stories like this.
Second of all, I think western society has reached some new kind of low. A woman couldn't get her nasty, industrial food and thought it was so important she called 911. And if that isn't bad enough, another man (also in Florida - what is it with Florida?) called 911 when Burger King ran out of lemonade. WTF. What's next? Call 911 when Wendy's runs out of Frosty's? Or Hooters runs out of wings?
Here are a few locavore food emergencies I want to call 911 for:
The humane pasture raised egg guy sold out of eggs before I woke up for the farmers' market
There are no sustainable dairies nearby and I want raw milk
I don't like that some vendors drive to my San Diego market from Fresno and that's not local
Apricots are out of season and I WANT APRICOTS
My market doesn't accept credit cards.
Some douche (aka the market manager) let Jamba Juice have a booth at the farmers' market
The line for crepes at the farmers' market is too long
I wish I didn't have to pay for a membership to the co-op.
Yep, that's it. Next time I have a problem with my food, I'm calling 911.
McDonalds paid 1000 people to line up for a new burger. Yes, PAID. They even paid 20-30 people to camp out overnight in anticipation of the quarter pounder with cheese, available for the first time in Kansai region, Japan. So what does it pay to stand in line for crappy food? 1000 yen (about $11) per hour, plus a free burger. Although I wouldn't even feed that free burger to a dog.
