To reduce greenhouse gas emissions in response to climate change, it is essential to reduce energy use in the U.S. food system. A USDA report this Spring described trends in exactly the wrong direction.
USDA economist Patrick Canning and colleagues estimated that energy use in U.S. agricultural and food industries increased by 26% -- from 11.5 to 14.1 quadrillion British thermal units -- from 1997 to 2002, the most recent data available. The increase is so large that it accounted...
Muslims around the world are currently observing the month of Ramadan, during which adults keep a fast without food or drink during the day. A web primer explains the purpose:
Fasting helps one to experience how a hungry person feels and what it is like to have an empty stomach. It teaches one to share the sufferings of the less fortunate. Muslims believe that fasting leads one to appreciate the bounties of Allah, which are usually taken for granted until they are missed!
Througho...
On my drive cross-country this week, I have enjoyed seeing a great diversity of agricultural research fields.
For example, on Wednesday, I visited the Rodale Institute's experiment station near Kutztown, which has the longest running scientific experiment directly comparing organic to conventional production strategies on side-by-side plots.
Organically grown soybeans (just past the white post) and corn (behind) in the Farming Systems Trial at the Rodale Institute's exper...
Nobody knows exactly what is wrong with the bees.
Since 2006, beekeepers have been reporting the loss of 30% - 90% of bees in many hives, with no clear cause. The syndrome has been labeled Colony Collapse Disorder.
My father-in-law, who has raised honey for many years in Carlisle, MA, had several recent years with no honey production.
The book A Spring Without Bees (Lyons Press, 2009) focuses on harm from pesticides. The USDA's Agricultura...
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) this week said they wanted lawmakers to approve a bill reauthorizing child nutrition programs before the August recess.
U.S. Food Policy's coverage this Spring noted that the Lincoln bill is less ambitious than legislation the White House had proposed earlier. For example, the Senate bill includes just six cents per meal increase in the federal reimbursement to local programs for providing a sch...
Kellogg can no longer use this marketing strategy (see Time Magazine in June).
In federal government lingo, the image above is a "health claim" or "function claim" with insufficient evidence.
But the company will still use this strategy (see Marion Nestle and Food Navigator this week).
In federal government lingo, this is a "nutrient content claim." For official purposes, everybody agrees to pretend that the word "antioxidants!" has no more health implicati...
The Massachusetts House and Senate yesterday passed legislation to improve school nutrition. The bill now goes to Governor Deval Patrick, who is likely to approve it. Though some details of the rules are delegated to state agencies, the law will strengthen wellness planning and reduce or in some cases end the sale of sugary drinks and junk food in school.
The legislative history and the text of the bill (.pdf) are online.
The Boston Globe reports:
There is n...
Bonnie Powell at Grist offers a challenge:
It's the height of summer, and the tables of farmers markets around the country are overflowing with firm-fleshed, scarlet tomatoes; bunches of fragrant basil; and -- depending on where you live -- juicy stone fruits, avocados, and more. Such bounty makes it easy to celebrate National Farmers Market Week August 1-7 by visiting a market near you (you can find one via the Eat Well Guide, LocalHarvest, or USDA). And there almost definitely is one ...
A 20% soda tax would reduce daily food energy intake for adults by 37 calories, enough to reduce the prevalence of obesity by almost 10%, according to a new report this week from USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS). The prevalence of obesity for adults could fall from 33.4% to 30.4%, the report estimates. The report corroborates other recent research suggesting that the obesity prevention impact of taxes on sugar sweetened beverages could be substantial.
There are a couple reas...
The U.S. Supreme Court today overturned (.pdf) some aspects of a lower court's nationwide injunction against genetically modified (GM) alfalfa.
However, it appears that GM alfalfa planting will not restart right away. A USDA decision would be required for temporary approval. More importantly, the court left in place the lower court's ruling that a formal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is required before the technology receives permanent approval.
I feel the result is not exactly ...
The obesity epidemic is the "single greatest threat to public health in this century," according to a report yesterday from the expert panel advising the federal government on dietary guidelines. Following an earlier report from the Institute of Medicine, the panel also recommended reductions in salt intake. The report from the Advisory Committee will be considered by the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services as they work on the 2010 revision of the Dietary Guidelines for Ame...
In a post from the Des Moines Register blog covering environmental issues, livestock producers recommend an end to ethanol subsidies: Although we support the need to advance renewable and alternative sources of energy, we strongly believe that it is time that the mature corn-based ethanol industry operates on a level playing field with other commodities that rely on corn as their major input, the letter says. Favoring one segment of agriculture at the expense of another does not benef...
From Time Magazine 's brief on former Friedman School faculty member, and current Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Kathleen Merrigan: If you've ever wondered who in government shoulders the complexities of moving an agenda forward in a fractured time and pushes on without getting soaked, here is your answer. ...
Following the long-awaited new Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on salt released this week, here's a quick summary of a debate that I would find awful tiresome. Institute of Medicine: "FDA should regulate salt." Critics: "Big brother should not tell me what to eat." To me, the more interesting questions are: (1) Is it important for Americans to consume much less salt; and (2) if so, how can this reduction be achieved in an economically sensible way? The IOM report explains clearly why sodiu...
This year, cold weather in Florida delayed the strawberry harvest, so the berries came to market at the same time as California berries. With both sources of strawberries on the market at the same time, the price dropped to levels so low that some Florida farmers tore up their strawberry fields. Steve Osunsami and colleagues at ABC News described this news in outraged tones (sorry about the ad in the clip below). Neighbors complain about the misuse of environmental resources. Soup kitchen pa...
Many leading medical and public health associations have taken a strong stand in favor of sensible limitations on non-therapeutic antibiotic use in farm animals. The leading bill, known as the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA), would continue to permit veterinarians to use antibiotics to treat disease, but it would prevent farmers from using some classes of antibiotics on healthy animals in advance of illness simply to increase production. The Union of Concerned Sci...
Some major food companies -- Kraft, ConAgra, Unilever -- have announced voluntary initiatives to reduce salt. In other countries, such as the United Kingdom, public policy plays a bigger role alongside voluntary measures. On WBUR's syndicated radio show Here and Now, host Robin Young today covers salt policy. She interviewed Cheryl Anderson at Johns Hopkins University and myself. New York City is calling on the food industry to cut back on sodium. The plan is voluntary and its goal is to red...
A Princeton University research team is reporting that HFCS increases obesity in rats more than sucrose does. The research appeared in February in the Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior . As always, no one study settles the argument on this type of debate. This study moves the needle five degrees toward showing that HFCS is metabolically different from equivalent amounts of table sugar. The study appears in a refereed journal. It includes a strong research design, randomly assigning...
You have probably already been enjoying the Fed Up With Lunch blog, a photographic journal of a year of school meals. If you think school lunch should be better, a lot depends on Child Nutrition Reauthorization in Congress this Spring. Here is a sampling of blog and new media coverage. Tom Philpott at Grist: Obama's proposed increase would boost the current daily per-lunch outlay by less than 20 cents -- not enough to buy an extra apple a day for every kid. Now Blanche Lincoln (D.-Ark), th...
Sam Fromartz, keeper of the blog Chews Wise and author of the book Organic Inc., has a fascinating piece in today's Washington Post about small-scale slaughterhouses. Meat processing is one of the most concentrated sectors of the entire food system. Fromartz describes the efforts of one Joe Cloud in Harrisonburg, VA, to break into the business. Cloud is riding a wave of consumer demand for meat from local farms, which has burgeoned along with the rash of deadly E. coli food poisoning inciden...
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Sep. 4, 2010 (11:34 AM EST) 