Oregon Menu Labeling Update

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Tue May 05, 2009 at 20:25:45 PM PDT

The Oregon Restaurant Association is opposed to our statewide bill as it currently stands, since it would allow already passed menu labeling regulations here in Multnomah County (Portland) to stand as is (which to be honest, aren't currently that strong to begin with) and it will also "grandfather in" menu labeling legislation currently in the works in Lane County (Eugene), which is also likely to pass before any potential statewide law takes effect.

Two recent opinion pieces in support of menu labeling legislation, one here (ht: Jill) and another in The Oregonian, again prove that menu labeling legislation is a key step in moving towards a healthier society -

A recent study shows menu labeling is eight times more effective in getting important nutrition information to customers than brochures, posters or online postings, which are often not visible to the public or are difficult to find. (http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/nyc_study_08.pdf). The researchers also found that seeing calorie counts on menus influenced behavior. According to the study, consumers who reported seeing the information ordered 99 fewer calories than those who did not, which, if repeated over time, is enough to make a real dent in the obesity epidemic. Consumers who reported seeing the calories but claimed it had no effect on them still ordered 52 fewer calories on average than those who reported not seeing it. Knowing this, why would we wait to share information that we know can help us make healthier choices?

Below the fold, I'm gonna have a bit of fun with the "anti" opinion piece...

Sampler Platter

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 08:00:00 AM PDT

• Bill & Nicolette Hahn Niman argue that pasture raised meat should be seasonal. Okay. I agree. But they don't tell you which season.

• The outrage spawned by the hit piece on free range pork in the NYT has become a back and forth. The author James McWilliams answered his critics (which includes this blog) in The Atlantic. Paula Crossfield on Civil Eats says, "McWilliams didn't start a conversation, but instead just threw a rotten tomato."

• This title says it all: 30 Unexpected and Unusual Things You Can Compost." Like condoms. Who knew?

• Alternet says that choosing between factory farmed red meat and chicken is like choosing between an SUV and a Hummer. Agreed.

• Hallelujah! Tom Laskawy says schools don't need vending machines, they just need money. Yes!!!!

• Natasha Chart talks about biochar. And about the fact that the ag industry wants credit for sequestering carbon without being charged for their emissions. Yeah, and I want a pony.

• Civil Eats suggests getting a farmer tan during your spring break.

• The EPA finally decided that global warming is a problem. I'll put that in my "duh" pile along with the news that the sky is blue and chocolate is tasty.

• More proof that we humans can be easily manipulated. When there's a salad on the menu, you're more likely to order fries.

• Brilliant point made by Mark Bittman:

  You can't trust the supermarket companies to sell you only good, wholesome food. Yet they'll try to convince you that everything they sell is exactly that. So: skip the labels, watch what you buy, and strive for goodness, no matter where you find it.

• Yay! Wolves are thriving in Oregon! I'm such a huge fan of having top predators in the food chain - sooo much good comes from it, even if we humans don't appreciate it much when the wolves kill our livestock (as in the article). Can someone please send a few wolves to Illinois? They are freaking OVERRUN with deer.

• Toronto's considering mandatory green roofs. I hope they go for it.

Tropical Tuesday Sampler Platter

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Tue Apr 07, 2009 at 14:30:00 PM PDT

• A new (old) cookbook being revised for Oregon's sesquicentennial will be based upon one Southern Oregon family's culinary roots going back 150 years.  The pioneer sour cream pear pie sounds interesting.  Generations of family poetry will also be included, like this gem from Bessie Venable Smith Johnston on a trip to an early-day supermarket - "Foods with additives, preserved to delay the rot; the more I looked, the less hungry I got."  I like her poetry. :)

• A great blog post on the urgent need to improve hospital food.  I spent 5 weeks in a New Jersey hospital ten years ago recovering from meningitis, and the 'food' was probably one of the worst experiences I can remember from that.  It isn't rocket science - better (real, whole) food is one of the keys to better health.  You'd think hospitals would be a natural place to make that connection...

• Marion Nestle offers 3 great suggestions to restaurants, on making it easier for customers to make healthier choices.

• The new trend in food marketing strategies - stressing simplicity.  Which of course in no way makes Fritos or Snapple any 'healthier'.

• In the Washington Post, Jennifer Huget asks what can eaters do as packaged food recalls spread?

• A cool link from TreeHugger on a Scottish sustainable development charity building greenhouses from recycled soda bottles.

• It's the season for snacking on maple syrup on snow in Vermont these days...

• Another article on the loopholes contained in country-of-origin labeling, this one from Tampa Bay.

• The National WWII Museum is seeking your stories and memories about food, recipes, Victory Gardens and rationing at home during the war.

• An article from Australia on organic baby food and the rapid growth of other "eco-baby" products.

Monday Evening Sampler Platter

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 18:26:29 PM PDT

• A couple of really cool interactive tools from Periscopic; all kinds of maps, graphs, historical data, etc on the state of Pacific salmon - State of the Salmon, and the Visual Marine Stewardship Council web tool

• NOAA Fisheries Service proposed last week to list Pacific smelt as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act.

• The Corvallis Environmental Center in Corvallis, OR (home of Oregon State University) is organizing a tour of local homes who keep chickens and ducks.

• The first salmon-eating Columbia River sea lion was just killed at Bonneville Dam last week, under a new policy that will relocate or kill up to 30 sea lions from Bonneville this year.

• The Klamath, California-based Yurok Indian tribe is in discussions with wildlife experts and state and federal officials to re-establish condor populations in Oregon, where the largest North American land bird hasn't been seen in over a century.

• The US government on Saturday permanently banned downer cows from our food supply, replacing the temporary partial ban that has been in place for the last 5 years.

Eating Oregon: Will Walk For (Real) Food...

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Sat Nov 22, 2008 at 20:55:54 PM PST

Let's take a walk to the Portland Farmers Market at PSU, shall we?

First though, we need coffee.  Stumptown of course, mmmm!

Journey below the fold...

2008 State Election Results: Oregon - Industrial Ag and the Pesticide Lobby Weep

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Sat Nov 08, 2008 at 16:37:54 PM PST

This recent article at the Capital Press makes that very clear -

"As far as I'm concerned, (Nov. 4) was a sad, sad day for agriculture and forestry in Oregon," said Terry Witt, executive director of Oregonians for Food and Shelter. "We lost all of our checks and balances."

Among several Republican incumbents who fell Nov. 4 were six-term state Rep. John Lim of Gresham, two-term Rep. Chuck Burley of Bend and three-term Rep. Linda Flores of Clackamas. Also, two-term Reps. Scott Bruun, R-West Linn,and Sal Esquivel, R-Medford, were in races too close to call at press deadline.

I think it's fair to say that when "Oregonians for Food and Shelter" (an influential agribiz and pesticide lobbying group) loses, we all win.

More below the fold...

Gordon Smith, E. Coli Conservative

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 22:10:17 PM PDT

I wrote a diary yesterday explaining a little bit the Oregon Senate race between Smith and Democrat Jeff Merkley. I guess I forgot to include a little bit of background about sewage sludge in that diary. Oops.

On this topic, I refer to the book Toxic Sludge is Good For You, which explains the problem we have with our own waste. The root of the problem is that we mix industrial waste with poop and pee. Whatever goes down the drain - any drain - mixes together.

The idea of composting human waste and spreading it on farm fields is an ancient one. The Chinese did it rather famously. Instead of treating poop as a burdensome, toxic waste product, it was valued fertilizer. But the nightsoil the Chinese used didn't have heavy metals like lead and cadmium in it. Because we mix all waste from all sources together, ours does. What happens to human waste now is that they do what they can to clean it up and whatever's left, well... there's no real good solution. It's toxic, and no one [in their right mind] wants it.

That doesn't stop them from trying. The sewage sludge industry has tried to rebrand itself as "biosolids" and advertise its product as a fertilizer. Often when a farmer decides to apply sewage sludge to farm fields, it generates outrage and resistance from those in the community. To avoid this, they've tried to have willing farmers put sewage sludge on fields on the sly. Some communities even try to sell their own "brand" of sewage sludge. They come up with some rather interesting brand names for the stuff actually.

Here's a bit from the Sourcewatch site on sludge:

If the "Water Environment Federation" has its way, you'll be routinely eating fruits and vegetables fertilized with sewage sludge containing heavy metals, dangerous viruses, dioxins, PCBs, pesticides and hundreds of other toxic chemicals.

The WEF, whose pleasant-sounding name conceals its true identity as the main lobby association for U.S. sewage treatment plants, is working closely with the Environmental Protection Agency to persuade farmers and food processors that sewage sludge is a "beneficial fertilizer."

When they've been successful in spreading sewage sludge on fields, the result has been deadly. Literally. Farmers will notice all of their cows dying and only later find out it's because there were heavy metals applied to the farmfield next door via sewage sludge. This is NOT that natural stuff that ancient cultures successfully used as fertilizer. Thanks Gordon Smith.

Meet Jeff Merkley, Senator-to-be

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Oct 21, 2008 at 19:06:46 PM PDT

He's almost too modest, like an Al Gore-type who sticks to doing the hard work and making progressive changes without wasting time tooting his own horn. It takes a little extra work as the interviewer to really understand how incredible this man is when he isn't laying it out there for you like a Republican would. Well, like his opponent, the incumbent Gordon Smith would. Except in Smith's case when he's telling you how great he is, he's lying.