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Psst,...did you hear about the spinach?

By Jennifer BB

There hasn't been a national freak out the way there was  last year around the recall of E. coli infected spinach but food recalls are still occurring and there have been two within the last month.  The first was a recall at the end of August related to spinach infected with Salmonella and the most recent was last week's Dole recall of E.coli infected mixed salad greens.  Discrete signs at our local Wegman's Supermarket and a Google search gave me the low down on the latter but I'm left wondering if this is just becoming ordinary news these days.  "What beautiful weather we're having, hey, shame about that spinach recall." 

Detroit News: Foreign Food & COOL Labeling

by Jen Maiser

The Detroit News has an interesting story about Country-Of-Origin-Labeling (COOL) for meat, produce and peanuts that is set to go into effect a year from now if a scheduled federal mandate goes through.  We already have COOL labels on our seafood, and this would move to beef, pork, lamb, veal, produce and peanuts. 

Not surprisingly, the meat industry and other large producers are not happy with this mandate (which was a part of the 2002 Farm Bill).  They are also claiming that the mandate will be "confusing for customers".  The spokesman for the National Meat Association says, "Animals slaughtered in the U.S. weren't necessarily born here... Under the current proposal, the labels would have to reveal everywhere they've been. The labels could end up looking like passports."

Well, not the meat that I buy!

Read the rest of the article here.

(via Marion Nestle's new blog, What to Eat)

Federal rules stymie local food efforts in Iowa

By Marc

"About 32,000 acres could supply Iowans with five servings a day of fruits and vegetables for three months out of the year, according to Iowa State University economists. Iowa farmers will harvest nearly 14 million acres of corn in 2007."  That's the sidebar message in a Des Moines Register article brought to my attention by the invaluable FarmPolicy.com newsletter.

Iowa farmer Gary Boysen grows sweet corn, peppers, tomatoes, cantaloupes and other produce on 65 acres near Harlan.  He sells his produce at nearby supermarkets and Wal-Mart.  And he would like to be growing more fruit and vegetables for Iowans.  However, a big obstacle is standing in his way:  federal agricultural rules.

If farmers want to plant fruit and vegetable crops on land enrolled in USDA subsidy programs, they must permanently give up the possibility of receiving benefits. Not just for the period when they are growing non-program crops.  Permanently. 

Farm Bill Round-Up

by Jen Maiser

Curious about this week's news regarding the Farm Bill?  The Ethicurean has published an excellent round-up of news around the nation including straightforward reports and commentary.

Last Friday, the House passed a Food and Farm Bill with 231 in favor, 191 against. Nineteen Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while 14 Democrats voted against it. Thanks to a last-minute tax-adjustment proposal, the vote was a lot closer than most farm bills (in 2002, the House version passed 291-120). The official name of the Food and Farm Bill is the "Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007" and its identifier is H.R. 2419.

Choosing Local, One Thing at a Time

by Expat Chef

An interview with Tim Schlitzer, Executive Director, Food Routes Network and Buy Fresh Buy Local.

Chances are if you live near one of its 50 chapters in 17 states, you've seen a "Buy Fresh Buy Local" sign. Sighting one of these is a great way to know you are near a source of an active local food network.

"It's not a brand," he says. "It's just continuity that can be identified." You see, brands, according to Tim, mean a label. A set definition. Rules. Eating local is for a person and a community to define for themselves. An approach not unlike that of the Eat Local Challenge.

Food and Farm Bill Notes

By Marc

Two important Food and Farm Bill items related to local eating in this week's blogs and news:

First, at Chews Wise, Samuel Fromartz (author of Organic, Inc., a critical look at the growth of organic agriculture) explains how the Food and Farm Bill can help organic farming (or, in the case of crop insurance, stop penalizing organic farmers), and gives suggestions on how you can help.  One way is by signing the Environmental Working Group's petition to Congress asking for more support for organic farming.  EWG has been near the forefront of the organic food movement for years and their farm subsidy database is shining lots of light on who really receives farm subsidies.  They want to submit the petition on July 15.

Second, Michele Kayal, writing for the Associated Press (via The Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Record), summarized how the Food and Farm Bill could help strengthen local food networks.  A summary of her article after the jump.

It's Food and Farm Bill Time

By Marc

Almost a year ago I posted Legislating Local Foods, an introduction to the Food and Farm Bill (also called the "Farm Bill," a highly flawed nickname). The Food and Farm Bill can have a positive impact on local eating in many ways---through programs that encourage purchases of local foods by schools, support for fruit and vegetable growers, funds to publicize Farmers Markets, to name a few.

Congress is writing the 2007 Food and Farm Bill during the summer, with a goal of a final vote before October. Subcommittees of the House Agriculture Committee are almost finished with their respective parts of the bill. After subcommittees finish their work, the full Agriculture Committee will combine them into the complete package, make amendments and deletions, and send it to the full House for debate, amendment and a vote.  No one is quite sure what will happen when it reaches "the floor."  Will House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) allow amendments from non-members of the Ag Committee?  Or will she call for a vote immediately?  Dan Owens, at the Blog for Rural America has some thoughts on that question.

The Senate is a few weeks away from their committee sessions on the Food and Farm bill.
 

Deborah Madison on Culinate: Local and Organic

by Jen Maiser

Culinate has published a compelling article by Deborah Madison in which she outlines her choice of local and organic when possible.  I think that you'll find most of the authors on this board agree that, when possible it's best to choose local and organic.  And I personally, don't love to see the two pitted against each other as it's some sort of an either/or contest.  All of this is nicely summarized in Ms. Madison's piece.  I hope you'll check it out.

An excerpt:

I am not a fan of the insipid-tasting organic produce that fills the aisles of supermarkets. The real question is not so much organics versus local as much as it is Big Organics from far away versus the local organic food from your farmers’ market or CSA. That’s the real choice, and I’ll choose my local organic offerings every time. Why? They taste better, they’re fresher, they didn’t travel 1,500 miles (or more), and the plant varieties are more interesting.

Michael Pollan's Links

by Expat Chef

I signed up for emails from Michael Pollan's site based on a tip from a very reliable source that he may, just may be coming to our city for a speaking engagement. The first of the emails I got from the site lists the following recommended resources for finding out more about the farm bill. I am posting the email as written in his text:

"I've been getting a lot of questions from readers about the Farm Bill-- what sort of changes I'd like to see, and how people can get more involved. Since I'm a journalist, not an activist or policymaker,  I don't feel qualified to offer specific policy recommendations.  But for those interested in learning more about the Farm Bill and following the debate, I've put together some resources you might find useful. These will also be posted on the 'linking' page of my website, here: http://michaelpollan.com/link.htm. From what people in Washington tell me, we shouldn't underestimate the power of letters, calls, and emails to our representatives."

FDA Knew About Risks

by Expat Chef

If you have seen the front page of most newspapers, then you know that the FDA was aware of the problems that led to the spinach and peanut butter contamination for some time before the outbreaks.

In the case of the Salmonella in the peanut butter, the FDA knew of the issues as early as 2005. When FDA inspectors requested documents from the ConAgra plant, they were refused. The FDA inspector left and the issue was not followed up on.

While the spotlight is being thrown onto the FDA, with reason, there are others who need to be called into question.