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
There's one school of thought that says you should "eat it to save it." I take pride in the slow-growing pasture-raised chicken I buy for my stepdaughter. Last time I picked up my chickens, I learned that the farmer is sold out of his heritage breed turkeys for Thanksgiving already - and he just spotted five endangered California Condors on his land. I'm thrilled to give this man business so that he can continue to raise heritage breeds of poultry on land so thoughtfully cared for that it's a haven for endangered species. But I don't feel the same about Gulf seafood. Here is why.
Albacore Tuna (Troll or pole-caught)
Mussels (farmed)
Oysters (farmed)
Pacific sardines (wild-caught)
Pink shrimp (wild caught from Oregon)
Salmon (wild-caught from Alaska)
Spot Prawns (wild-caught from British Columbia)
Rainbow Trout (farmed)
As you can tell, even when you're buying the right species, it's also important to know where your fish was caught or raised, and whether it was farmed or not.
Shrimp is the #1 seafood in the U.S. I'd sooner eat Soylent Green. Let me tell you how farmed shrimp gets to your plate. And there's a darn good chance the shrimp you're eating is farmed. If anyone still wants to eat shrimp after finding out how its produced, I'll be shocked. To make an enormous understatement, it's disgusting.
From the book Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood by Taras Grescoe:
...a dry [shrimp] pond should be prepared by spreading urea and superphosphate to encourage plankton growth. Once the pond has been filled with brackish water, generally pumped from a nearby creek, it is typically covered with diesel oil to kill off any insect larvae. The water is then treated with piscicide - a substance that poisons any competing aquatic life- such as chlorine or rotenone; the latter has been strongly linked to Parkinson's disease in humans...
A man sues Denny's over high salt food. Apparently, some meals contain more salt than you should eat in two days. The lawsuit asks that Denny's list sodium amounts on the menu and warn of health risks. (More on this from Marion Nestle here)
Recently disclosed documents show that Canada used the WTO to pressure the US and successfully water own our Country of Origin Labeling (COOL). (See for yourself: Letter from US to Canada and Response from Canada to US)
I feel so split about these types of plans to use factory farm waste to generate power. I have read other pieces about chicken poop power generation (this one is about dairy) but haven't reported them because I just can't see it as a good thing when we find a way for factory farms to justify their existence (and be ever so slightly less toxic). And yet, I suppose it's better to produce energy with all the poop instead of letting it sit in a lagoon and stink.
Good food safety news from the USDA. (Yeah, maybe sit down as you read that... it is a little shocking.) They are now testing bench trim for E. coli - that's a cut of beef that previously wasn't tested.
The Pew Environment Group released a report today (available at http://www.endoverfishing.org ) called "Investing in Our Future: The Economic Case for Rebuilding Mid-Atlantic Fish Populations." It compares what DID happen and what COULD HAVE happened if we had rebuilt the populations of four mid-Atlantic fish species by 2007 (summer flounder, black sea bass, butterfish, and bluefish). Long story short, rebuilding these fish populations would have generated at least $570 million per year in "direct economic benefits." In other words, our extractive management of fish populations isn't even helping us out financially. And it certainly isn't helping us ecologically. So with no real benefits for poor management of fish populations, what the heck are we doing?
From their press release:
Delays in rebuilding translate to lost opportunities for commercial and recreational fishermen to catch the maximum amount of fish that can sustainably be taken from a population. Failing to quickly address overfishing and allow populations to rebuild as quickly as possible forgoes current financial benefits and may result in more costly regulations in the long-term.
Key findings from the report show that:
Commercial landings would have increased by 48%, if the four populations had been rebuilt by 2007. The financial value would be approximately $33.6 million per year in perpetuity.
Rebuilding would bring an increase in recreational landings of 24% more per year than the status quo management. The economic value would be approximately $536 million per year in perpetuity.
These direct economic benefits would also likely generate secondary financial benefits in the Mid-Atlantic region through increased income, sales and jobs from businesses associated with commercial and recreational fishing, including bait and tackle shops.
While this report concludes that we need to take action, it seems that Congress has already done so. In 2006, Congress reauthorized the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, strengthening it to hopefully rebuild fish populations within 10 years. So, in other words, what we've done is too little, too late.
This week, Grist has posted a series of fantastic articles about the oceans, seafood, and marine life. The posts coincide with World Oceans Day - Monday.
Jane Lubchenco, Obama's pick to head NOAA, says "Ocean acidity has increased by 30%" thanks to human emissions. This piece includes that and other dire predictions on the fate of the oceans as a result of human carelessness.
The documentary The End of the Line predicts the end of seafood by the year 2048 if we don't change our ways. (For another review of the film, see one here in The Independent.)
This is one of the stupidest things I've heard since Larry Summers called Africa "underpolluted." West Virginia's state government decided that because West Virginians don't eat much fish, it's OK for their waterways to have more mercury. Weak!
Today (World Oceans Day), Grist has an article up about the rise in jellyfish, a problem for both fishermen and swimmers. The article postulates that the increase is due to both overfishing and climate change. As we make the oceans less hospitable for a number of species - and overfish many other species - the jellyfish have less predators and less competition for resources. The author calls them the "cockroaches of the sea."
I've got a simple solution to this problem: more Chinese people.
There's just not any good news out there about fish, unless you count the articles by chefs talking about how good they taste (as well as this exchange about saving the oceans between Tom Philpott and Mark Bittman). And you know what else gets me? The Smithsonian talk is framed as saving "seafood" supplies - as if the residents of our oceans have only one purpose and that is being our dinners.
(This is a world wide problem. - promoted by Asinus Asinum Fricat)
Algae blooms have been in the news lately primarily as an adjunct to sporting news, what with the vast bloom that was choking the sailing event venues of the Olympic games in China. Much more serious is the impact on health and on the food supply.
There are several types of algae blooms, each having a different bad effect. The ones that make the news most often are those commonly referred to as 'red tides,' but are more properly called Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs.) These are blooms of poison-producing algae, which can spread neurotoxins through the food web, sickening or killing everything from plankton to humans.
Join me below the fold for a brief bit of phycology (the study of algae) below the fold...
