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
This isn't news but it's news to me. Months ago Whole Foods, Starbucks, and Costco formed a front group called the Committee for a Level Playing Field. When I looked at Whole Foods' lobbying reports, I was surprised to see that they weren't lobbying on the Employee Free Choice Act, given their well known anti-union stance. The reason it appeared to me that they weren't lobbying on EFCA was because I had neglected to look at their front group's lobbying report. The front group spent $200,000 on lobbying in the first half of this year, all on gutting the Employee Free Choice Act.
And who is their lobbyist? The vile Lanny Davis, who is ALSO currently shilling for the Honduran Chamber of Commerce in favor of the coup government of Honduras. He's got ties to both parties, as he was a member of the Democratic National Committee for many years, then served President Clinton, and was then appointed by Bush to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board in 2005.
In one of the more brazen attempts by a corporation to disguise itself as a locally owned business, Starbucks is un-branding at least three of its Seattle outlets. The first of these conversions, just reopened after extensive remodeling, is called 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea. All of the signage and product labels bear this new name. The Starbucks corporate logo is nowhere to be seen.
The corporate co-option of "local" is not new. Lays Potato Chips made the news by attempting to brand its chips as local. After all... every one of the potatoes were grown somewhere, right? They are all local to somewhere. Other large chains (Whole Foods, for example) have fake farmers markets in their parking lots. But Starbucks is going several steps further in this new attempt to unbrand its stores. This is the opposite of the "We proudly brew Starbucks coffee" label that you see in hotels and restaurants around the country. This strikes me as particularly dishonest and misleading, as they are attempting to gain the business of people who specifically wish to support local, independent businesses instead of buying from Starbucks.
Boo! California's Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee, the board charged under that state's Proposition 65 with identifying and listing substances that can cause birth defects, developmental or reproductive harm, quivered and kneeled down before NAMPA and their other BPA industry chronies, voting 7-0 against listing BPA as a chemical believed to cause reproductive harm. The difference between the US and the EU's approach to the public health was clearly on display here - the board members "voiced concerns over the growing scientific research", yet ignored their own concerns because human lives have always taken a back seat to corporate profits in America.
A massive, jellyfish-entangling mystery blob has been found floating off the Alaskan Coast. The US Coast Guard has ruled out any manmade explanations (i.e. - oil spill); although it may be an algae bloom, none of the researchers have ever before seen anything quite like this.
A second breeding pair of wolves have now taken up residence in Eastern Washington.
A Bush Administration-era bull trout protection plan was just tossed by a judge in Montana, now giving the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service six months to come up with a new plan to protect the endangered fish's habitat. Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior Julie MacDonald was found in December 2008 to have taken "actions that potentially jeopardized the Endangered Species Act decisional process in 13 of the 20" decisions investigated by the Office of the Inspector General, and this (bull trout habitat protection) plan was deemed "too illogical to withstand legal review" by the court.
Homeless advocacy groups, after reviewing policy and practices in 273 US cities, have released a report this week naming Los Angeles as the American city which most criminalizes homelessness; other cities on the "Top 10 Meanest" list include Orlando, Atlanta, Honolulu, San Francisco and Berkeley, CA.
Much has been made of the new, "healthier," food we can expect soon from Starbucks. For example, The Atlantic says better Starbucks food can't come soon enough! Oh, how I agree with that statement. Bad food at Starbucks has long been a pet peeve of mine, particularly because my career has often forced me to forage my meals from airports and strip malls. Unlike the greasy looking fast food joints, Starbucks looks like a sophisticated cafe where you might find something reasonable to eat - except that's totally not the case. And I am not kidding when I say that the coffee cake literally makes me feel sick to my stomach when I eat it. Whatever's in that stuff, my tummy rejects it.
So what is this new, healthful food? Apples, carrots, and celery sticks? Not quite. According to Reuters:
On June 30, the world's top coffee chain will begin selling baked goods without high-fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors and dyes, and will introduce salads and other items.
Let me be clear - as Barack Obama would say - I am absolutely an advocate of getting artificial food dyes, preservatives, and HFCS out of our food supply. No doubt about that. But does that then make the food "healthful"? I was presented with that same question very, very often when I scooped gelato for customers at a Whole Foods bakery a few years back. "Is it healthy?" the customers would always ask. Well... it's made from real ingredients (a good thing), but that doesn't negate the fact that it's chock full of sugar, fat, and calories. Just because Whole Foods doesn't use artificial food dyes or preservatives doesn't mean you won't get fat if you eat too much at their bakery. I would know - I gained 20 lbs on the job!
So, nice job, Starbucks. What you are doing is commendable, but I have a hunch that the PR boost you'll get from this new and improved line of food will outweigh the health effects for your customers.
Just wanted to share this piece about the recyclability of Starbucks cups (h/t Mark Bittman). It's nice that Starbucks is talking about the amount of waste they generate, because I find this situation totally unacceptable:
That's a trash can in Beverly Hills, half a block from a Starbucks. NOT GOOD. While Starbucks is discussing sustainability, reducing waste, and corporate responsibility, why don't they also discuss giving a significant discount to customers who bring in their own re-usable mugs?
According to Meatingplace, the USDA wants more safety regulations on delis and butchers. Apparently retailers don't do a good job with record keeping, making it hard to trace problems once they occur. The article also noted that "a person is seven times likelier to die from listeria after eating deli meat produced by a retailer than by a federal plant."
Civil Eats has a nice post about foraging for morel mushrooms. I've never tried foraging for morels but I sure enjoy eating them!
What are you to do if you're a locavore in Phoenix? Civil Eats has a few ideas. (As a frequent visitor to AZ myself, I'd recommend to any tourists, DON'T eat the ornamental oranges, but DO eat prickly pear fruits. Just, um, don't actually touch the prickly pear cactus yourself. I've tried. In addition to the big, visible pricklies there are tiny, invisible ones on there too.)
Marion Nestle comments on antioxidants as a marketing tool. I'm with her on this - fruits and veggies contain antioxidants. You don't need a label to tell you that.
The Green Fork features a fantastic review of Whole Grains for Busy People, a cookbook that definitely seems work checking out.
The Atlantic tells about life after a gastric bypass. All I can say is that it sounds absolutely miserable. Of course, I doubt anyone has too much fun within the first two weeks after ANY surgery, gastric bypasses included. For the writer's sake, I hope life - and eating - get better with time.
Great one by Ezra Klein. He says (about "organic" Oreos): "These cookies think you're very stupid." Indeed.
Blackwater wants us to call it Xe (pronounced "Zee") and AIG is contracting with PR firms to give its image a boost. Small surprise that the peanut industry is also jumping on the rebranding and PR bandwagon. Of course, in this case I kind of don't blame them. AIG on the other hand...
I haven't given you a sampler platter for a while, so here's an extra long one to make up for that:
Good news from Starbucks - they are switching suppliers for their ice cream from Dreyers to Unilever, which offers them an rbGH-free line. Also, Tillamook ice cream is now rbGH-free. Hooray!
Bill Marler talks about painful sex. Ok, that sounded wrong, I think. Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is a type of foodborne disease from eating predatory ocean fish contaminated with ciguatoxins. It's rare, but there was a recent "cluster" of cases, and the patients reported dyspareunia, or painful sex, as a symptom.
I'd been thinking about doing something like this, but apparently the idea's been done already: The 5 Worst Drinks Ever
The "Runner Up" (which I guess makes it technically the 6th worst drink) is Starbucks Venti 2% Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha: 660 Calories, 22g fat (14 g saturated), and 95 g Sugar!!!! Thank goodness I never fell for that one.
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