La Vida Locavore is the blog for anyone whose crazy life includes planting, growing, weeding, fertilizing, raising, picking, harvesting, processing, cooking, baking, making, serving, buying, selling, distributing, transporting, composting, organizing around, lobbying about, writing about, thinking about, talking about, playing with, and eating food!
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
Today I received an exciting email about H.R. 2190, the Mercury Pollution Reduction Act, a bill sponsored by IL Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. The bill passed the subcommittee on June 3, 2009 and it would be before the full Energy and Commerce Committee for markup today. That is, it was going to be - until the committee took it off of today's agenda.
There is more than one way for chlor-alkali plants to manufacture chlorine and caustic soda. One such way uses mercury, and only four remaining plants in the U.S. use that technology. The bill gives these plants 2 years to change over to a technology without mercury. It seems likely that during the committee markup, this 2 year deadline will be extended to some date in between 2 and 20 years from now. Let's hope they go with something closer to 2. If you recall previous news of very slight mercury contamination in high fructose corn syrup, that is because HFCS is made using caustic soda, which can be contaminated with mercury if mercury is used in its production process. You can read about a previous hearing on this bill here.
I called the House Energy and Commerce Committee and after they removed this bill from today's agenda, they did not reschedule the markup for it (yet). The bill has 44 cosponsors so far (which is more than double the 19 it had on the day of the hearing). You can also see more information about this bill and an action alert to call your representatives here. Given the fact that the markup's been rescheduled, I recommend emailing or faxing your reps instead of calling. If you would like to do more, then call (don't email) other members of Congress, particularly the ones named in the action alert (especially if they are from your state).
As previously reported here, there are tiny but detectable amounts of mercury in HFCS. It happens because some chlor-alkali plants use mercury to make caustic soda. Caustic soda is then, in turn, used in the manufacturing process for HFCS. But the good news is that the House has a bill that will fix the problem. And they held a hearing on it in the Energy & Commerce committee on May 12.
The manufacturing process for chlorine and caustic soda also emits mercury pollution into the atmosphere, where it gets into our waterways and our fish. While this bill entirely fixes the mercury in HFCS problem, it will only reduce the amount of mercury in fish. But - that's better than nothing and it's an important step in the solution.
I'm not sure what the chances of this passing are because the Energy & Commerce committee has a LOT on its plate (most prominently, the climate change bill, which it just passed out of committee, and also food safety legislation). But the chair of the committee, Henry Waxman, is a bulldog ("the mustache of justice") so maybe he'll get something done on this issue.
Remember the news about mercury in high fructose corn syrup? Well, recall that it gets into the HFCS because it's used to manufacture caustic soda, which is used to separate the corn starch from the kernal. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky introduced HR 2065, the Mercury Pollution Reduction Act, a bill to phase out the use of mercury in the manufacture of chlorine and caustic soda. In other words - a bill that would get the mercury OUT of HFCS.
So far she's got 15 co-sponsors:
Rep. Grace Napolitano [D-CA]
Rep. Lynn Woolsey [D-CA]
Rep. Raul Grijalva [D-AZ]
Rep. Barbara Lee [D-CA]
Rep. Phil Hare [D-IL]
Rep. Howard Berman [D-CA]
Rep. David Price [D-NC]
Rep. Joe Sestak [D-PA]
Rep. Frank Pallone [D-NJ]
Rep. Gerald Connolly [D-VA]
Rep. Diane Watson [D-CA]
Rep. Sam Farr [D-CA]
Rep. James Moran [D-VA]
Rep. Russ Carnahan [D-MO]
Rep. Mazie Hirono [D-HI]
If you don't see your rep's name listed here, give them a call and ask them to co-sponsor it.
I've got a message for everybody from Powell Tate (the PR and lobby firm that famously went to bat for the tobacco industry) on behalf of the Corn Refiners Association. Yesterday, in my Alternet article, I referenced an IATP study that found mercury in about 1/3 of high fructose corn syrup. There's another study you should know about.
The second study was sponsored by the Corn Refiners Association and conducted by ChemRisk, which was founded by Dennis Paustenbach. He's a former Bush appointee to CDC's National Center for Environmental Health and an expert witness who testified against Erin Brockovich in her famous PG&E case from the movie (follow-up research reveals that Erin Brockovich was right, by the way). One friend wrote to me:
I am reading an excellent book by David Michaels called Doubt is their Product about the chemical industry's deception, and ChemRisk is listed in the index no fewer than 10 times. 'nuff said.
Anyway, the ChemRisk study found that IATP's study was flawed. So, I wanted to share that with you. I am sorry for only sharing one side of the argument in my article yesterday.
Hat tip to U.S. Food Policy for spotting the HFCS industry's response to the mercury in HFCS news! From HFCSFacts.com:
The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) today challenged the relevance and accuracy of information published by Environmental Health asserting that certain tests found measurable levels of mercury in high fructose corn syrup.
"This study appears to be based on outdated information of dubious significance. Our industry has used mercury-free versions of the two re-agents mentioned in the study, hydrochloric acid and caustic soda, for several years. These mercury-free re-agents perform important functions, including adjusting pH balances," stated Audrae Erickson, President, Corn Refiners Association. "For more than 150 years, corn wet millers have been perfecting the process of refining corn to make safe ingredients for the American food supply."
"It is important that Americans are provided accurate, science-based information. They should know that high fructose corn syrup is safe," continued Erickson. "In 1983, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration formally listed high fructose corn syrup as safe for use in food and reaffirmed that decision in 1996."
"High fructose corn syrup contains no artificial or synthetic ingredients or color additives and meets FDA's requirements for the use of the term 'natural.'" Erickson said.
Bring up mercury on a listserv of foodies and you'll receive a wide range of opinions in response. That's exactly what I did this morning, with a question prompted by Curtis Abbey, who asked whether the amount of mercury found in the high fructose corn syrup was really a big deal.
After all, canned albacore tuna has an average of .353 ppm (parts per million) mercury, whereas foods containing HFCS tested only as high as 350 ppt (parts per trillion). The tuna has over 1000 times more mercury than the HFCS.
Yesterday brought news so juicy no food blog could resist: There is mercury in high fructose corn syrup! While the initial report came from IATP (which I reported on here), it's made headlines on nearly every food blog. I'd like to share with you what everyone had to say - starting with my comments on it yesterday:
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found it in 9 out of 20 HCFS samples from 3 manufacturers. Then they tested 55 brand name foods and beverages and found mercury in 1/3 of them.
The mercury comes originally from chlor-alkali plants used to make caustic soda. The caustic soda is used, in turn, to separate corn starch from the corn kernal. The mercury can contaminate the caustic soda and then contaminate the HFCS. There IS newer, cleaner technology that the chlor-alkali plants can use (in fact, only 4 U.S. plants still use mercury and the rest don't).
The Green Fork called mercury "our melamine," pointing out that the FDA has known about the problem for years. I also enjoyed how they used the occasion to take a jab at the bullshit pro-HFCS campaign.
Here are all of the stories on my plate this afternoon that predict - in one way or another - that the sky is falling. Hope it doesn't give you indigestion!
Yum! Want some mercury in your high fructose corn syrup? Cuz you might be getting it whether you want it or not. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found it in 9 out of 20 HCFS samples from 3 manufacturers. Then they tested 55 brand name foods and beverages and found mercury in 1/3 of them.
The mercury comes originally from chlor-alkali plants used to make caustic soda. The caustic soda is used, in turn, to separate corn starch from the corn kernal. The mercury can contaminate the caustic soda and then contaminate the HFCS. There IS newer, cleaner technology that the chlor-alkali plants can use (in fact, only 4 U.S. plants still use mercury and the rest don't).
The FDA just decided how to regulate genetically engineered animals, bringing them a step closer to becoming a reality. The GE DNA will be treated as a drug, the same as a hormone or antibiotic, and does not need to be labeled on the final product.
Civil Eats reports on MRSA with your BLT. Looks like the real consequences of overusing antibiotics in livestock are coming home to roost.
Industrial ag has ruined everything else, and now they are ruining manure, says Elanor from The Ethicurean. Turns out all those antibiotics we needlessly give to livestock wind up in the manure - and then in the veggies the manure fertilized.
Purse seine ships, which close drawstring nets around schooling fish, became larger and more sophisticated, and fattening cages dotted the seas starting in 1996.
These cages, which can measure 50m (165ft) across, may represent the biggest threat to bluefin survival.
Tuna, often juvenile, are captured and dumped in the cages - or "ranches" - for months to fatten up, with all the associated problems of aquaculture: disease, waste and overfishing of the smaller fish used to feed the bluefin.
Fishing for giant bluefin has become hugely profitable.
In the 1960s, its meat sold in the US for seven cents a pound. This season, the first bluefin sold in Taiwan netted $105 a pound.
Depressing, yes? Well, I read an excellent article about sustainable tuna in the latest Edible San Diego and it applies to tuna lovers nationwide (which includes my cats, who are getting a treat tomorrow now that I know which tuna to buy!). Details below.
Excellent Mother Jones article called "Why Mercury Tuna is Still Legal." After describing absolutely horrifying symptoms suffered by a woman named Deborah Landvik-Fellner, the article says:
Landvik-Fellner stopped eating tuna, and within about a year, her symptoms began to subside. But by now she was angry, and confused. If eating tuna could make your hair fall out, shouldn't the label tell you so? In 2006, she filed a lawsuit against Tri-Union Seafoods, parent company of Chicken of the Sea, alleging that the company had violated the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act by failing to disclose that its product contained mercury.
"Toxic tort" cases are notoriously hard to win, and Landvik-Fellner faced long odds against the deep-pocketed industry. That much she knew. What she didn't anticipate was that her biggest obstacle would turn out to be the US Food and Drug Administration-the very agency responsible for protecting the public from mercury in the first place.
The danger of mercury in tuna isn't necessarily because tuna has more mercury than most other fish. It's because we eat so much of it. We eat more tuna than any other seafood besides shrimp, and given the quantities we eat tuna in, the amount of mercury in it can be dangerous.
To find out how much tuna you can safely eat, check out the Tuna Calculator. And remember - buy light instead of albacore white to reduce the amount of mercury you consume.
Many people who make our food system what it is are well-meaning - even if they are peddling junk. Sometimes people just never really thought things through, or they don't realize the harm foods can cause to human health or to the environment. Rick Berman is NOT well-meaning. And you should know his name. When Berman or his groups, the Center for Consumer Freedom, the Guest Choice Network, the Employment Policies Institute (which includes the site Center for Union Facts), and the American Beverage Institute, pop up in the news, we'll want to be ready with some good letters to the editor to send in to any paper that quotes him as a legitimate source of information.
I'd like to do this as a diary series, and I invite everyone here to join me in writing about other bigtime assholes whose names we should know - Terry Etherton (pro-rBGH blogger extraordinaire) and Dale Bauman (pro-rBGH scientific prostitute for Monsanto), etc. For some gooood info, check out the site Sourcewatch.
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