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FOOD News: 20090211 Food - Safety - Manufacturers - Federal -Inpectors - Corporate - Law - Ga "Salmonella found at Ga. plant as early as 2006: Owner Stewart Parnell refused to testify at hearing; 9 have now died." ... "See the jar, the congressman challenged Stewart Parnell, holding up a container of the peanut seller's products and asking if he'd dare eat them. Parnell pleaded the Fifth." ... "The owner of the peanut company at the heart of the massive salmonella recall refused to answer the lawmaker's questions — or any others — Wednesday about the bacteria-tainted products he defiantly told employees to ship to some 50 manufacturers of cookies, crackers and ice cream." ... ""Turn them loose," Parnell had told his plant manager in an internal e-mail disclosed at the House hearing." ... "Shortly after Parnell's appearance, a lab tester told the panel that the company discovered salmonella at its Blakely, Ga. [Georgia], plant as far back as 2006. Food and Drug Administration officials told lawmakers more federal inspections could have helped prevent the outbreak." -AP -MSNBC 20090207 Criminal - Food - Safety - Science - Consumers - Health - Ga - Agricultural - Corporation - Plant "FDA: Plant knew peanuts laced with salmonella." ... "As far back as 2007, salmonella-laced products were shipped by a Georgia peanut company [owned by Stewart Parnell] that knew the peanuts probably were tainted and sometimes after tests confirmed that contamination, inspection records show." ... "Federal law forbids producing or shipping foods under conditions that could make it harmful to consumers' health." ... "Food and Drug Administration officials earlier had said Peanut Corp. [Corporation] of America waited for a second test to clear peanut butter and peanuts that initially were positive for salmonella. But the agency amended its report Friday, saying that the Blakely, Ga. [Georgia], plant actually shipped some products before receiving the second test and sold others after confirming salmonella." ... "The salmonella outbreak has been blamed for at least eight deaths and 575 illnesses in 43 states. The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation. More than 1,550 products have been recalled." -By Brett J. Blackledge and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar with contributions by Mary Clare Jalonick -AP via -Yahoo 20090206 China - Drought - Disaster - History - People - Food - Animals - Agriculture - Land "China suffering worst drought in 50 years." ... "China is suffering another natural disaster -- this time, the worst drought in half a century. The land is parched and the irrigation dams have dried up. Crops and livestock are dying." ... "China on Thursday raised the drought-emergency-alert level from orange to red and allocated an additional $44 million dollars on top of the $13 million in emergency aid already released." ... "Since November northern and central China has had little rain. Many places have not had rainfall for more than 100 days." ... "In the drought, more than 4.3 million residents face a shortage of drinking water, as do 2 million livestock." ... "The drought has hit 12 provinces, including the wheat-producing areas in Henan, Anhui, and Shandong provinces. Chinese media says the total area affected has reached 1,370 million hectares (3,385 million acres)." -By Jaime Florcruz -CNN 20090128 Food - Safety -Manufacturing - Company - Government - Law - Georgia "FDA Alleges Company Knowingly Sold Peanut Products Containing Salmonella." ... "There is new information available about the recent salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter from a plant in Georgia." ... "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said at least 12 times over the past two years the Peanut Corporation of America has knowingly sold products that had tested positive for salmonella." ... "The FDA also claimed the company did nothing to improve its manufacturing and sanitation practices after salmonella was found in its plant, and that is a clear violation of the law." ... "More than 500 people have gotten sick and the outbreak may have contributed to at least eight deaths. " -ByLee Sausley -KRISTV.com via -MSNBC Economic - Legislation -Politics - Government - Infrastructure - Energy - People's - Health - Jobs - Education - Food - Obama "Republicans Vote Against the American People." ... "The House of Representatives passed an $819-million economic stimulus package this evening. The vote was 244-188. Only Democrats voted for it. 177 Republicans voted against it." ... "The package includes both spending measures and tax cuts. The American people would get some tax relief, money to save or to spend, perhaps to pay the bills and put food on the table, and money would go to infrastructure projects, for energy and education and health care, to support those who need it, those who have lost their jobs at a time when the economy is bleeding jobs, and down to states and municipalities, to levels of government on the front lines of service provision." ... "You know what? It’s not just about stimulating the economy, it’s about helping people. It’s responsive, responsible government action at a time when government action is desperately needed." ... "And, in the House, every single Republican voted against it." ... "Read that again: EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN VOTED AGAINST IT." ... "So much for bipartisan outreach. So much for [Democratic President] Obama’s efforts to be inclusive and to seek compromise with the other side. All the Republicans could offer was the same old tired formula of tax cuts, tax cuts, and more tax cuts, and, when it came right down to it, when it came time to pick a side, the Republicans sided, in unison, against the American people and the American economy." -By Michael Stickings -TheModerateVoice.com 20090108 US - Israel - Palestine - Syria - Egypt - Military - Intelligence - Terrorism - Politics - Poor - Families - Food - Health - Human Rights "An Unnecessary War." [by former Democratic President Jimmy Carter] ... "I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza [Palestine area] by Israel could easily have been avoided." ... "After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn, and I declared their launching from Gaza to be inexcusable and an act of terrorism. Although casualties were rare (three deaths in seven years), the town was traumatized by the unpredictable explosions. About 3,000 residents had moved to other communities, and the streets, playgrounds and shopping centers were almost empty. Mayor Eli Moyal assembled a group of citizens in his office to meet us and complained that the government of Israel was not stopping the rockets, either through diplomacy or military action." ... "Knowing that we would soon be seeing Hamas leaders from Gaza and also in Damascus [Syria's capital], we promised to assess prospects for a cease-fire. From Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who was negotiating between the Israelis and Hamas, we learned that there was a fundamental difference between the two sides. Hamas wanted a comprehensive cease-fire in both the West Bank [Palestine area] and Gaza, and the Israelis refused to discuss anything other than Gaza." ... "We knew that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza were being starved, as the U.N. [United Nations] special rapporteur on the right to food had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with more than half of all Palestinian families eating only one meal a day." ... "Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Palestinian citizens." ... "After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO, provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians in a referendum or by an elected unity government. " -By Jimmy Carter -WashingtonPost ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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20081223
Market - History - Ivory Coast
"Cocoa hits 23-year high on supply fears." ... "Cocoa prices on Tuesday surged to a 23-year high as speculative investors poured into the market amid concerns about dwindling supplies from Ivory Coast, by far the world’s largest producer." ... "Prices for cocoa have risen 70 per cent in the past year, bucking the weakness in overall commodities prices. " -By Javier Blas -FT.com

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20081210
Poverty - Emergency - People - Health - Wisconsin
"From canned goods to fresh, food banks adapt." ... "Vanessa Rosales comes to the St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry here [in Madison, Wisconsin's capital] rather than others for one reason: She can choose what food she brings home, rather than being handed a bag filled with random groceries." ... "The pantry, which looks like a small grocery store, is indicative of broad changes going on at the nation's food banks and food pantries." ... "No longer simply the domain of canned corn and peanut butter, food banks are preparing ready-to-eat meals, opening their own farms and partnering with institutions as varied as local supermarkets and state prisons to help gather and process food. They are also handling much more fresh produce, which requires overhauling the way they store and distribute food." ... "Pantries, which distribute the food donated to food banks, are also acting as social service clearinghouses. Many are handing out information about screenings for breast and cervical cancer and sending volunteers out to sign up people for food stamps." ... "And as demand continues to rise, food banks are trying to feed more people with less food." ... ""I keep hearing that demand is up and up and up," said Ross Fraser, a spokesman for Feeding America, which provides more than two billion pounds of food annually to food banks around the country. "I heard one person saying they're feeding schoolteachers. The needle is moving higher up the socioeconomic class, and people making more money are needing emergency food assistance."" (1, 2) -By Katie Zezima -IHT.com

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20081209
Plants - Animals - Food - Water - Soil - Global - Climate - Science - Government - US - Canada
"Tree's rapid decline sounds alarm on global warming." ... "The whitebark pine, a tree found in the high elevations of the western U.S. [United States] and Canada, is being killed as a consequence of global warming and should be protected as an endangered species, an environmental group formally told the Interior Department Tuesday." ... "If the federal government accepts the scientific arguments in a petition by the Natural Resources Defense Council, it would be the first time a wide-ranging tree has been added to the list. The NRDC [Natural Resources Defense Council] also sees an endangered designation as a warning about worsening climate change." ... "The whitebark pine has declined dramatically due to a triple threat — a disease called the white pine blister rust; the mountain pine beetle, which thrives in the warmer high-altitude conditions produced by the burning of fossil fuels, and forest management practices that have allowed other trees to crowd it out, the NRDC's petition said." ... "Warming also will limit the range of the whitebark pine, the petition said. Many live more than 500 years." ... "The whitebark pine stabilizes the soil and shades the snow, providing water over longer periods for other plants. Grizzly bears, smaller mammals and birds eat its seeds, and elk, grouse and other mountain animals find shelter beneath it." -By Renee Schoof -McClatchyDC.com

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Gov Reference: "Whitebark Pine Communities"

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20081126
Infant - Food - Health - Science - Politics - Industrial - Maker - US - China
"FDA finds melamine traces in U.S. infant formulas." ... "The Food and Drug Administration has found trace amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in some U.S. [United States] infant formulas, but at levels 10,000 times lower than those found in Chinese-made formula." ... "In China, where faked formula killed at least four children and sickened more than 53,000, large amounts of melamine were added to watered-down milk to make it appear to have an appropriate protein content." ... "The trace amounts of melamine and cyanuric acid, a melamine by-product, were found in formula from Abbott Laboratories, Nestle and Mead Johnson, which together make more than 90% of all infant formula produced in the United States." -AP via -USATODAY

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20081117
Children - Food - Poverty - Health - Safety - Government - Language - Politics - Economics - Accounting
"50 percent more US children went hungry in 2007." ... "Some 691,000 children went hungry in America sometime in 2007, while close to one in eight Americans struggled to feed themselves adequately even before this year's sharp economic downtown, the Agriculture Department reported Monday." ... "The department's annual report on food security showed that during 2007 the number of children who suffered a substantial disruption in the amount of food they typically eat was more than 50 percent above the 430,000 in 2006 and the largest figure since 716,000 in 1998." ... "Overall, the 36.2 million adults and children who struggled with hunger during the year was up slightly from 35.5 million in 2006. That was 12.2 percent of Americans who didn't have the money or assistance to get enough food to maintain active, healthy lives." ... "Almost a third of those, 11.9 million adults and children, went hungry at some point. That figure has grown by more than 40 percent since 2000. The government says these people suffered a substantial disruption in their food supply at some point and classifies them as having "very low food security." Until the government rewrote its definitions two years ago, this group was described as having "food insecurity with hunger."" -By Michael J. Sniffen -AP via -Yahoo

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PDF: USDA.gov Report: "Household Food Security in the United States, 2007."

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20081110
Child - Labor - Safety - Enforcement - Employers - Politics - Food - Agriculture - Plants - Construction -People - Federal - Immigration - North Carolina - South Carolina - Iowa
"Child labor going largely unchecked." ... "Nery Castañeda tackled a job that was never intended for kids his age." ... "One afternoon last fall, the 17-year-old Guatemala native ran a machine to grind damaged pallets into mulch. When a co-worker at the Greensboro [North Carolina] plant returned from another task, he didn't see Nery – until he looked inside the shredder." ... "“A person shouldn't die like this,” said older brother Luis. “…He came with a dream and found death.”" ... "Decades after the enactment of regulations designed to prevent such tragedies, thousands of youths still get hurt on American jobs deemed unsafe for young workers. On a typical day, more than 400 juvenile workers are injured on the job. Once every 10 days, on average, a worker under the age of 18 is killed, federal statistics show." ... "Enforcement has waned, despite new evidence that many employers are ignoring child labor laws. U.S. [United States] Department of Labor investigations have dropped by nearly half since fiscal year 2000." ... "“There are lots of kids being asked to do work that's been prohibited for them – and it's been prohibited because it's dangerous,” said Carol Runyan, who heads UNC's Injury Prevention Research Center. “…Our system is failing them.”" ... "More than 3 million youths under age 18 have jobs. Regulations prohibit them from doing a variety of hazardous jobs, including most meat-processing work." ... "But last month, at an immigration raid at a House of Raeford Farms poultry plant in Greenville, S.C. [South Carolina], six juveniles were among the workers detained. Three young workers told the Observer they were under 18 when they held jobs at House of Raeford plants requiring them to make thousands of cuts a day with sharp knives. The company says it requires job applicants to present identification showing their age, but not all the documentation is accurate." ... "At Agriprocessors, a large meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, authorities recently charged owners with thousands of child-labor violations after finding that teenage employees were asked to use circular saws, clean floors with powerful chemicals and perform other dangerous tasks." ... "“The raids in Postville and Greenville show that 15- and 16-year-old kids are doing some of the most dangerous jobs in America,” says Reid Maki of the National Consumers League. “ … It's time for the U.S. Department of Labor to investigate slaughterhouses and poultry plants.”" ... "A study of 16- and 17-year-old construction workers in North Carolina, published in 2006, found that more than 80 percent did tasks that were clearly prohibited. A national survey of young retail and service workers, published in 2007, found that more than half of males and more than 40 percent of females performed prohibited tasks." ... "Runyan, who co-authored both studies, says much of the blame lies with employers." ... "“I suspect there are employers who flagrantly disregard the law,” she said. “And I suspect there are others who are clueless.”" ... "Total federal penalties for child labor violations dropped 29 percent from 2000 to 2007." -By Ames Alexander and Franco Ordonez -Observer

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20081109
Food - Money - Manufacturing
"On store shelves, stealthy shrinking of containers keeps prices from rising." ... "The only way to know you are buying less is to look at the weight on the label...." ... "Across the supermarket, manufacturers are trimming packages, nipping a half-ounce off that bar of soap, narrowing the width of toilet paper and shrinking the size of ice cream containers." ... "Often the changes are so subtle that they create "the illusion that you are buying the same amount," explained Frank Luby, a pricing consultant with Simon-Kucher & Partners of Cambridge, Mass." ... "Shoppers understand the manufacturers' dilemma but also say they feel deceived at times." ... ""What these companies don't realize is that their chronically deceptive marketing ploys tell us loud and clear that we absolutely cannot trust them for anything," Yukl said." ... "Other shoppers agree. "I think the whole thing is deceitful, and yes, it does irritate me, and I do feel they are tricking the consumer," said Bill Stone of Long Beach. "This practice, however, has been going on for many years and apparently the manufacturers feel it is to their advantage to try to slip these changes by the customer rather than announcing it."" -By Jerry Hirsch -LAtimes

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20080910
Gordon Smith - Illegal - Immigration - Business - Food - Workers - Politics - Agriculture - Property - History - Oregon - Md - Hawaii - Utah - Wash
"Señor Smith: Low-wage Latino workers keep [Oregon Republican Senator] Sen. Gordon Smith’s family business humming. Not all of them are legal." ... "Up on a hill overlooking this Eastern Oregon town of 701 people, Smith Frozen Foods turns raw produce from the surrounding fields into ready-to-eat products." ... "Smith’s goods appear in grocery stores under other brand names. But in tiny Weston [Oregon], a water tank emblazoned with the capital letters S-M-I-T-H sits like a sentry greeting travelers on nearby Highway 11." ... "Gordon Smith, a United States senator from Oregon and the only Republican senator representing a West Coast state, has owned the plant his grandfather founded in 1919 for nearly 30 years." ... "“Son,” father Milan Smith once said, according to Gordon Smith’s 2006 memoir, “you can sell ice to Eskimos and coals to Newcastle.”" ... "Today, Smith Frozen Foods generates millions in income for the senator, according to Smith’s 2007 financial disclosure report." ... "And in this town, Smith’s wealth looms large, even though the 56-year-old lawmaker seldom visits and calls nearby Pendleton [Oregon] his home. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Smith is the 12th-richest member of the U.S. [United States] Senate, with an estimated net worth between $8 million and $39 million—wealth that’s allowed him to buy a $3.5 million mansion in Bethesda, Md. [Maryland], property on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, a Park City, Utah, condominium and—more famously—four antique golf clubs worth $1.25 million." ... "The workers at Smith Frozen Foods, who clean the machinery, monitor production and pack upward of 50 million pounds of produce each year, earn about $80 a day, four or five days a week, 10 months a year—if they’re lucky." ... "One other thing—some of them appear to be illegal immigrants." ... "WW recently spent several days in Weston, and the nearby cities of Milton-Freewater [Oregon] and Walla Walla, Wash. [Washington], where most of Smith’s employees live. WW spoke to dozens of current and former Smith workers, Latino advocates, court personnel, public defenders, educators, police administrators, church officials, social service agents and business owners and determined that some portion of Smith’s workforce comprises undocumented immigrants." ... "It’s a revelation that may not be newsworthy around Weston, where most people this reporter interviewed knew, or assumed, that the agricultural processing plant hired illegal immigrants." ... "Additional interviews and review of public records reveal that Smith’s company appears to have employed illegal immigrants for decades, stretching back as far as the 1980s." -By Beth Slovic -WWeek.com

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Sarah Palin - Money - Politics - Children- Travel - Meals - Alaska - 2008 Election
"Palin expensed her children's air travel to the state." ... "Since [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Alaska Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin took office nearly two years ago, the state of Alaska has routinely bought commercial airline tickets for her daughters when they travel with her, a practice that raises questions about the governor's claim to being a fiscal conservative." ... "Travel records from the governor's office show that the state has spent at least $31,800 on dozens of airline tickets for the family, and more for meals and hotels." ... "Records show the family has traveled with Palin for events such as the Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Fairbanks [Alaska] last fall and to shoot official first family photos in Juneau [Alaska's capital], to draw raffle tickets at an event in Anchorage [Alaska] and to tour a teen center spearheaded by the Juneau Christian Center. " -By Kyle Hopkins -ADN.com via -McClatchyDC.com

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20080909
Sarah Palin - Money- Politics - Travel - Food -Family - Sports - Entertainment - Alaska - New York - 2008 Election
"Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home: Taxpayers Also Funded Family's Travel." ... "[2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Governor of] Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business." ... "The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife." ... "Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance, which officials say was permitted because her official "duty station" is Juneau, according to an analysis of her travel documents by The Washington Post." ... "The governor's daughters and husband charged the state $43,490 to travel, and many of the trips were between their house in Wasilla and Juneau, the capital city 600 miles away, the documents show." ... "She wrote some form of "Lodging -- own residence" or "Lodging -- Wasilla residence" more than 30 times at the same time she took a per diem, according to the reports. In two dozen undated amendments to the reports, the governor deleted the reference to staying in her home but still charged the per diem." ... "Palin charged the state a per diem for working on Nov. 22, 2007 -- Thanksgiving Day. The reason given, according to the expense report, was the Great Alaska Shootout, an annual NCAA college basketball tournament held in Anchorage." ... "In separate filings, the state was billed about $25,000 for Palin's daughters' expenses and $19,000 for her husband's." ... "One event was in New York City in October 2007, when Bristol accompanied the governor to Newsweek's third annual Women and Leadership Conference, toured the New York Stock Exchange and met local officials and business executives. The state paid for three nights in a $707-a-day hotel room." ... "The family also charged for flights around the state, including trips to Alaska events such as the start of the Iditarod dog-sled race and the Iron Dog snowmobile race, a contest that Todd Palin won." (1, 2, 3) -By James V. Grimaldi and Karl Vick with contribution by Alice Crites -WashingtonPost

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20080728
Jim Adkisson - Terrorism - Politics - Tennessee - Church - Gays - Jobs - Government - Food - Money
"Tennessee church shooter angry at "liberals"." ... "A man [Jim Adkisson] who opened fire inside a church, killing two people with a shotgun hidden in a guitar case, was frustrated at being unable to find a job and blamed liberals and gays, police said on Monday." ... ""It appears that what brought him to this horrible event was his lack of being able to obtain a job, his frustration over that, and his stated hatred of the liberal movement," Knoxville [Tennessee] Police Chief Sterling Owen told reporters of Sunday's incident at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church." ... "Suspect Jim Adkisson...." ... "... described his violent plans in a four-page letter found at his home, which also explained that his age and "liberals and gays" taking jobs had worked against him." ... "Another recent setback was that Adkisson's allotment of government-issued food stamps had been reduced, Owen said." -By Andrew Stern with contributions by Michael Conlon and Jackie Frank -Reuters via -IHT.com

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Jim Adkisson - Political - Terrorism - Tennessee - Out-of-Work- Homeless - Food - Gay - Churchgoers - Women's - Rights - Children
"Police: Man shot churchgoers over liberal views." ... "An out-of-work truck driver accused of opening fire at a Unitarian church [in Knoxville, Tennessee], killing two people, left behind a note suggesting that he targeted the congregation out of hatred for its liberal policies, including its acceptance of gays, authorities said Monday." ... "[Jim] Adkisson, a 58-year-old truck driver on the verge of losing his food stamps, had 76 rounds with him when he entered the church and pulled a shotgun from a guitar case during a children's performance of the musical "Annie."" ... "The Unitarian-Universalist church advocates for women's rights and gay rights and has provided sanctuary for political refugees. It also has fed the homeless and founded a chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, according to its Web site." -By Duncan Mansfield -AP via -Yahoo

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20080715
Food - Safety
"Salmonella Sickness Toll Climbs to 1,148: 42 states now reporting illnesses; source still elusive." ... "The salmonella toll continues to mount in what has become the largest foodborne outbreak in the United States in more than a decade." ... "At least 220 people have been hospitalized." ... "Officials, meanwhile, appear no closer to zeroing in on the cause. Last week, they broadened the search, which had focused on certain types of tomatoes, to include jalapeno and serrano peppers and fresh cilantro." ... "Health officials continue to warn consumers to avoid raw red plum tomatoes and red Roma and round red tomatoes, and products containing these raw tomatoes." ... "But last week, CDC officials cautioned that people at risk of infection, including infants and elderly people, should avoid eating jalapeno and serrano peppers." ... "Salmonella is a bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea in humans." (1, 2) -By Steven Reinberg -HealthDay.com via -USNews.com

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20080706
Food - Safety
"Salmonella outbreak: FDA looks at tomatoes, serrano, jalapeno peppers, cilantro." ... "The government on Saturday increased to 943 the number of people reported being sickened in a record salmonella outbreak, in which tomatoes are the leading suspect." ... "The Food and Drug Administration also said it had begun looking at serrano and jalapeno peppers and cilantro —ingredients used to make salsa—as possible causes of the outbreak. Tomatoes continue to be investigated as well, spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek said." ... "The 943 reported cases are nationwide, requiring at least 130 hospitalizations since mid-April after the first salmonella illnesses appeared, the FDA said Saturday." -ChicagoTribune

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20080702
John McCain - Carl H Lindner Jr - Terrorism - Money - Illegal - Military - Politics - Federal - Investigation - International -Food - Colombia - US - Arizona - Ohio - 2008 Election
"McCain Backer's Firm Pleaded Guilty To Funding Terrorist Group In Colombia." ... "The co-host of a recent top-dollar fundraiser for [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain oversaw the payment of roughly $1.7 million to a Colombian paramilitary group that is today designated a terrorist organization by the United States." ... "Carl H. Lindner Jr., the billionaire Cincinnati [Ohio] businessman, was CEO [Chief Executive Officer] of Chiquita Brands International from 1984 to 2001, and remained on the company's board of directors until May 2002. Beginning under his tenure, Chiquita executives paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (known by the Spanish acronym AUC), which is described by George Washington University's National Security Archive as an "illegal right-wing anti-guerrilla group tied to many of the country's most notorious civilian massacres."" ... "Following a Justice Department indictment [pdf] last year, Chiquita admitted to illegally funding the paramilitaries and agreed to pay a $25 million fine. Chiquita's payments to the AUC began in 1997 and lasted seven years; roughly half of the funds came after the group was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department in 2001." ... "According to the Justice Department, the payments "were reviewed and approved by senior executives" of Chiquita, who knew by no later than September 2000 "that the AUC was a violent, paramilitary organization."" ... "Late last week, Lindner co-hosted a $25,000-per-person fundraiser for McCain and the Republican Party in the wealthy Indian Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The event raised about $2 million; Lindner also serves on McCain's Ohio Victory Team." ... "While Lindner was CEO of Chiquita, the company began sending money to the AUC through its shipping subsidiary Banadex. A report by the Organization of American States states that Banadex also engaged in arms trafficking, helping to deliver 3,000 Nicaraguan AK-47 rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition to the AUC in 2001. According to federal prosecutors, when company officials realized the arrangement was illegal, they switched to making the payments in cash." -By Nico Pitney -HuffingtonPost.com

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20080603
Brazil - Satellite - Photographs - Global -Climate - Gases - Food - Animals - Farming - Illegal - Business
"New satellite photos show Amazon deforestation exploding." ... "New satellite photographs show that the destruction of Brazil's fragile Amazon rainforest has exploded this year, fueling fears that the government's efforts to stop deforestation have been fruitless." ... "Brazil's DETER real-time monitoring system found that more than 430 square miles of forest, an area a bit smaller than the city of Los Angeles, vanished in the month of April, while about 2,300 square miles, larger than the state of Delaware, were destroyed between last August and April." ... "That nine-month total surpassed the entire acreage in the Amazon that was destroyed over the previous 12 months, according to DETER data. What's worse, the satellites couldn't see about half of the forest in April due to cloud cover, suggesting that actual deforestation likely was much greater." ... "That's raised red flags among environmentalists, who say that soybean farming, cattle production and illegal logging are destroying the world's largest rainforest despite the government's attempts to halt the deforestation." ... "Chopping down and burning the rainforest releases tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to global climate change. Brazil is the world's fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, largely because of deforestation, according to the U.S.-based World Resources Institute." ... "Worse is yet to come, environmentalists said." ... "The Amazon's dry season, when farmers do most of their burning and clearing, starts this month." -By Jack Chang -McClatchyDC.com

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20080523
• John McCain - Randy Scheunemann - Charlie Black - Money - Politics - Foreign - Russia - Macedonia - Republic of Georgia - Zaire is the Democratic Republic of the Congo - Military - Food- Indiana - Arizona - US - 2008 Election - Law - "Senior Aide's Lobbying Efforts Highlight Challenge for McCain." ... "For a decade, [lobbyist] Randy Scheunemann has been a campaign staffer to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain, an ideological ally in the fight to contain Russian power -- and a lobbyist seeking the Arizona senator's support for former Soviet states." ... "The lobbying group Mr. Scheunemann founded in 2001, Orion Strategies LLC [Limited Liability Company], has earned $2.6 million from clients for whom Mr. Scheunemann directly lobbied [Arizona Senator] Sen. McCain and his staff, Justice Department records show." ... "In March, as scrutiny intensified, Mr. Scheunemann, who is the campaign's top foreign-policy staffer, sent a letter to the Justice Department's office for foreign-client lobbying registrations saying he had stopped working for clients such as Macedonia and [the Republic of] Georgia. However, his company's contracts with those countries, worth a combined $240,000, appear still to be in effect. A spokeswoman for the Georgian Embassy in Washington said the country's contract with Orion is active. The Macedonian contract is listed as active in Justice Department records." ... "Charlie Black, a McCain campaign senior adviser, has represented foreign leaders accused of corruption and human-rights abuses, such as Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire [now the Democratic Republic of the Congo]. He ended his relationship with BKSH & Associates Worldwide this year. Outside advisers and fund-raisers for the campaign include Wayne Berman, a registered lobbyist for an Indiana food-packaging company that sells to the Department of Defense." -By Mary Jacoby -WSJ.com

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20080509
• Consumers - Food - Safety - Humans - Health - Law - Politics - Animals - Agriculture - Business - Kan - US - Japan - "Government asks court to block wider testing for mad cow." ... "The [Republican President] Bush administration on Friday urged a federal appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority." ... "The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Arkansas City, Kan.[Kansas]-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas customers in Japan and elsewhere." ... "Less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows are currently tested for the disease under Agriculture Department guidelines. The agency argues that more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers." ... "Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. Three cases of mad cow disease have been discovered in the U.S. [United States] since 2003." -By Sam Hananel -AP via -SFGate.com

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20080430
• Agriculture - Factory - Companies - Poor - People - Nutrition - Health - US -  - World - Biofuel - Air - Soil - Water - Environment - Animals - Plants - Science - "Shortages Threaten Farmers’ Key Tool: Fertilizer." ... "Some kinds of fertilizer have nearly tripled in price in the last year, keeping farmers from buying all they need. That is one of many factors contributing to a rise in food prices that, according to the United Nations’ World Food Program, threatens to push tens of millions of poor people into malnutrition." ... "Rising demand for food and biofuels prompted farmers everywhere to plant more crops." ... "Fertilizer companies are confident the shortage will be solved eventually, noting that they plan to build scores of new factories. But that will probably create fresh problems in the long run as the world grows more dependent on fossil fuels to produce chemical fertilizers." ... "The demand for fertilizer has been driven by a confluence of events, including population growth, shrinking world grain stocks and the appetite for corn and palm oil to make biofuel. But experts say the biggest factor has been the growing demand for food, especially meat, in the developing world." ... "Fertilizer is plant food, a combination of nutrients added to soil to help plants grow. The three most important are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The latter two have long been available. But nitrogen in a form that plants can absorb is scarce, and the lack of it led to low crop yields for centuries." ... "That limitation ended in the early 20th century with the invention of a procedure, now primarily fueled by natural gas, that draws chemically inert nitrogen from the air and converts it into a usable form." ... "Environmental groups fear increased use, particularly of nitrogen fertilizer made using fossil fuels. Because plants do not absorb all the nitrogen, much of it leaches into streams and groundwater. That runoff has long been recognized as a major pollution problem, and it is growing." ... "A barometer of the pollution is the rising number of dead zones where rivers meet the sea. In the Gulf of Mexico, for instance, nitrogen runoff from fields in the Corn Belt washes downstream and feeds plant life in the gulf. The algae blooms suck oxygen from the water, killing other marine life." (1, 2) -By Keith Bradsher and Andrew Martin -NYTimes 

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20080423
• Noteworthy - Government - EPA - Opinion - Science - Politics - Food - Drug - Oceanic - Atmospheric - Climate - Health - California - Investigation - "Hundreds of EPA Scientists Report Political Interference Over Last Five Years: UCS [Union of Concerned Scientists] calls for strengthened protections for federal scientists." ... "An investigation of the Environmental Protection Agency released today found that 889 of nearly 1,600 staff scientists reported that they experienced political interference in their work over the last five years. The study, by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), follows previous UCS investigations of the Food and Drug Administration, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and climate scientists at seven federal agencies, which also found significant administration manipulation of federal science." ... ""Our investigation found an agency in crisis," said Francesca Grifo, director of UCS's Scientific Integrity Program. "Nearly 900 EPA scientists reported political interference in their scientific work. That's 900 too many. Distorting science to accommodate a narrow political agenda threatens our environment, our health, and our democracy itself."" ... "The UCS report comes amidst a flurry of controversial activity swirling around the EPA. Congress is currently investigating administration interference in a new chemical toxicity review process as well as California's request to regulate tailpipe emissions. And in early May, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is expected to hold a hearing on political interference in the new EPA ground-level ozone pollution standard." ... "UCS's investigation revealed political interference is most pronounced in offices where scientists write regulations and at the National Center for Environmental Assessment, where scientists conduct risk assessments that could lead to strengthened regulations." ... ""The investigation shows researchers are generally continuing to do their work," said Dr. Grifo. "But their scientific findings are tossed aside when it comes time to write regulations."" ... "Nearly 100 scientists identified the [Republican President Bush's] White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the primary culprit." -UCSUSA.org

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20080421
• Global - Planet - Oil - Food - Agriculture - Car - Economy - China - "Running Out of Planet to Exploit." ... "Last week, oil hit $117." ... "Food prices have also soared, as have the prices of basic metals. And the global surge in commodity prices is reviving a question we haven’t heard much since the 1970s: Will limited supplies of natural resources pose an obstacle to future world economic growth?" ... "How you answer this question depends largely on what you believe is driving the rise in resource prices. Broadly speaking, there are three competing views." ... "The first is that it’s mainly speculation — that investors, looking for high returns at a time of low interest rates, have piled into commodity futures, driving up prices." ... "The second view is that soaring resource prices do, in fact, have a basis in fundamentals — especially rapidly growing demand from newly meat-eating, car-driving Chinese — but that given time we’ll drill more wells, plant more acres, and increased supply will push prices right back down again." ... "The third view is that the era of cheap resources is over for good — that we’re running out of oil, running out of land to expand food production and generally running out of planet to exploit." ... "I find myself somewhere between the second and third views." ... "There are some very smart people — not least, George Soros — who believe that we’re in a commodities bubble (although Mr. Soros says that the bubble is still in its “growth phase”)." -By Paul Krugman -NYTimes 

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20080417
• -  - Media - Politics - Corporate - Network - 2008 Election -  -  -  -  - Torture -  - Human Rights -  - Consumer -  -  - Safety -  -  -  - Death Penalty - "Okay, Now I'm Bitter." [Mary Mapes on what DISNEY/ABC didn't cover in the 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate debate in Pennsylvania with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama] ... "In Iraq, we've seen a rebound in suicide bombings and gotten the disquieting information that Iraqi soldiers have been fleeing the battlefield in frightening numbers." ... "Americans learned that detailed discussions of torture techniques had been held in the [Republican President] White House -- our White House -- and President Bush revealed that he knew this and approved." ... "[Home] Foreclosure rates have spiked to frightening levels." ... "U.S. [United States] shoppers were told that food prices in this country are rising at a higher pace than at any time in the past 17 years." ... "The airline industry floundered through dreadful days of groundings, amidst safety concerns, economic ailments and passenger anger." ... "Oil prices are setting new records almost every day and $4 a gallon gas is coming soon to a service station near you." ... "The anguish over China's human rights record and its handling of Tibet turned the Olympic torch relay into a cross between Spain's Running of the Bulls and 3rd grade keep-away." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain, acting like a mean old man trying to chase those pesky voters off his lawn, refused to endorse a new GI bill that would help those currently serving our country get a college education." ... "The Supreme Court issued a fractured opinion on the death penalty that for the first time in years raises the real possibility of a national debate on the value and morality of the ultimate punishment." ... "And we are in the middle of what is clearly the most important, most consequential election of my lifetime -- and I'm no spring chicken." ... "Instead, I sat in front of my TV open-mouthed, listening to a hodgepodge of juvenile questions about flag jewelry, the possibility of a "dream" ticket, elderly radicals, Charlie Gibson's personal tax concerns and ministers who emote too much. What, no time for a question about Cindy McCain's purloined pork chop recipe?" -By Mary Mapes -HuffingtonPost.com

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20080414
• Emergency - Economy - Politics - Haiti - Bangladesh - Egypt - United States - World - Poor - People - Historical -  - Children - Health - Mind - "Riots, instability spread as food prices skyrocket." ... "Riots from Haiti to Bangladesh to Egypt over the soaring costs of basic foods have brought the issue to a boiling point and catapulted it to the forefront of the world's attention, the head of an agency focused on global development said Monday." ... ""This is the world's big story," said Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute." ... ""The finance ministers were in shock, almost in panic this weekend," he said on CNN's "American Morning," in a reference to top economic officials who gathered in Washington. "There are riots all over the world in the poor countries ... and, of course, our own poor are feeling it in the United States."" ... "World Bank President Robert Zoellick has said the surging costs could mean "seven lost years" in the fight against worldwide poverty." ... ""The international community must fill the at least $500 million food gap identified by the U.N.'s [United Nations] World Food Programme to meet emergency needs," he said. "Governments should be able to come up with this assistance and come up with it now."" ... ""In just two months," Zoellick said in his speech, "rice prices have skyrocketed to near historical levels, rising by around 75 percent globally and more in some markets, with more likely to come. In Bangladesh, a 2-kilogram bag of rice ... now consumes about half of the daily income of a poor family."" ... "The price of wheat has jumped 120 percent in the past year, he said -- meaning that the price of a loaf of bread has more than doubled in places where the poor spend as much as 75 percent of their income on food." ... ""This is not just about meals forgone today or about increasing social unrest. This is about lost learning potential for children and adults in the future, stunted intellectual and physical growth," Zoellick said." -CNN 

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• Consumer - Money - History - Poor - Families - Agriculture - "Food Costs Rising Fastest in 17 Years." ... "The U.S. [United States] is wrestling with the worst food inflation in 17 years, and analysts expect new data due on Wednesday to show it's getting worse. That's putting the squeeze on poor families and forcing bakeries, bagel shops and delis to explain price increases to their customers." ... "U.S. food prices rose 4 percent in 2007, compared with an average 2.5 percent annual rise for the last 15 years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And the agency says 2008 could be worse, with a rise of as much as 4.5 percent." ... "Eggs cost 25 percent more in February than they did a year ago, according to the USDA [United States Department of Agriculture]. Milk and other dairy products jumped 13 percent, chicken and other poultry nearly 7 percent." -By Ellen Simon -AP via -SFGate.com 

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20080410
• Food - Safety - History - "U.S. Hasn't Put Lid on Food Poisonings: Nation's Food Safety Not Improving, According to Latest CDC [Centers for Disease Control] Report That Shows No Drop in Food Poisoning Cases." ... "Efforts to improve U.S. [United States] food safety have not yet borne fruit, a new CDC report shows." ... "The CDC's Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, called FoodNet, began tracking cases of food-borne illnesses in 1996 in 10 U.S. states. The idea is to track infection trends for the 10 most important causes of food poisoning." ... "The 2007 FoodNet numbers are here." ... "... [T]here has been no significant improvement since 2004. Compared with 2004-2006, there's been no real decline in cases of food-borne disease caused by campylobacter, listeria, salmonella, shigella, E. coli, vibrio, or yersinia bacteria." ... "Cases of infection with the waterborne parasite cryptosporidium went up...[.]" ... "2007 was also a year in which there were several widespread outbreaks of salmonella infection, including outbreaks from contaminated peanut butter, frozen pot pies, puffed vegetable snacks, and live pet turtles." -By Daniel J. DeNoon -WebMD.com 

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20080331
• Government - Food - People - Families - Poverty - Disasters - Fuel - Prices - Politics - History - "As Jobs Vanish and Prices Rise, Food Stamp Use Nears Record." ... "Driven by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices, the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began in the 1960s." ... "The number of recipients, who must have near-poverty incomes to qualify for benefits averaging $100 a month per family member, has fluctuated over the years along with economic conditions, eligibility rules, enlistment drives and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, which led to a spike in the South." ... "But recent rises in many states appear to be resulting mainly from the economic slowdown, officials and experts say, as well as inflation in prices of basic goods that leave more families feeling pinched. Citing expected growth in unemployment, the Congressional Budget Office this month projected a continued increase in the monthly number of recipients in the next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1 — to 28 million, up from 27.8 million in 2008, and 26.5 million in 2007." ... "The percentage of Americans receiving food stamps was higher after a recession in the 1990s, but actual numbers are expected to be higher this year." -By Erik Eckholm -NYTimes 

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• Food - Agriculture - Plant - Land - History - Ethanol - Companies - Animal - Consumers - "Corn forecast suggests rise in food prices is ahead." ... "U.S. [United States] farmers plan to cut back corn planting and boost soybean production, a shift that could send ripples from the farm belt to your grocery bills." ... "The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday released its prospective plantings report. The report, which came amid surging grain prices, bore news that affects grain farmers, livestock producers, ethanol companies, food processors and, ultimately, consumers." ... "Corn plantings are expected to fall 8 percent this year, to 86 million acres, according to the Department of Agriculture. Last year farmers planted a post-World War II record of nearly 94 million acres of corn to meet burgeoning demand for ethanol, which is expected to soon absorb about 30 percent of domestic corn production." ... "“Last year many soybean growers switched from soybeans to corn as ethanol expansion strongly increased the demand for corn,” the Department of Agriculture said." ... "This year, though, many of the 86,000 farmers surveyed for the report said they were shifting production back toward soybeans, which had surged in price. Soybean planting is expected to increase 18 percent this year, to almost 75 million acres." ... "Corn is trading near its record-high price of $5.70 a bushel, more than double the price of two years ago. Soybeans are hovering around $12 a bushel, nearly double last year’s level." (1, 2) -By Victoria Sizemore Long -KansasCity.com

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• Food - Crisis - World - People - Farmers - Land - Fuel - Money - Politics - History - Weather - Drought - China - UN - "Tensions rise as world faces short rations." ... "Food prices are soaring, a wealthier Asia is demanding better food and farmers can't keep up. In short, the world faces a food crisis and in some places it's already boiling over." ... "Around the globe, people are protesting and governments are responding with often counterproductive controls on prices and exports -- a new politics of scarcity in which ensuring food supplies is becoming a major challenge for the 21st century." ... "Plundered by severe weather in producing countries and by a boom in demand from fast-developing nations, the world's wheat stocks are at 30-year lows. Grain prices have been on the rise for five years, ending decades of cheap food." ... "Drought, a declining dollar, a shift of investment money into commodities and use of farm land to grow fuel have all contributed to food woes. But population growth and the growing wealth of China and other emerging countries are likely to be more enduring factors." ... "World population is set to hit 9 billion by 2050, and most of the extra 2.5 billion people will live in the developing world. It is in these countries that the population is demanding dairy and meat, which require more land to produce." ... "In 2007 alone, according to the U.N. [United Nations] Food and Agriculture Organization's world food index, dairy prices rose nearly 80 percent and grain 42 percent." [see also: Agflation] (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) -By Russell Blinch and Brian Love with contributions by Ayesha Rascoe, Missy Ryan, Alistair Thomson, Ho Binh Minh and Eddie Evans -Reuters 

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20080313
• Federal - Food - Safety - History - Agriculture - Animal - Corporation - Politics - California - "House grills meat packing chief: 'Downer' cow beef may have been consumed." ... "The president of the company that was the subject of the largest meat recall in U.S. history admitted Wednesday that "downer" cattle -- cows that cannot stand because of sickness or injury -- were slaughtered by his company and could have made it into the food supply." ... "Steve Mendell of California-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Co. made the concession to the House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee after he was shown a video provided by the Humane Society of the United States that featured a downer cow being slaughtered in a kill box." ... "Under pressure from federal agriculture officials, the company recalled 143 million pounds of ground beef last month and laid off 220 workers." ... "Ailing cows are at greater risk of carrying E. coli, salmonella bacteria and the fatal neurological disorder known as mad cow disease." -By Whitney Blair Wyckoff -LAtimes  -ChicagoTribune 

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20080214
• John McCain - Torture - Prisoners - Food - Water - Medical - Politics - 2008 Election - "John McCain Sells His Soul to the Right: Backs Off on Torture Ban." ... "Has there ever been a more repugnant example of political pandering than [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's decision to vote against a bill banning waterboarding, putting hoods on prisoners, forcing them to perform sex acts, subjecting them to mock executions, or depriving them of food, water, and medical treatment?" ... "That's right, John McCain, the former POW [Prisoner Of War] who has long been an outspoken critic of the [Republican President] Bush administration's disturbing embrace of extreme interrogation techniques." ... "But that was before his desperate attempt to win over the lunatic fringe that is running the Grand Old Party [Republican Party]." ... "Earlier this week, I showed how outdated the image of McCain as an independent-thinking maverick had become -- and called on the media and independent voters to snap out of their 2000 reverie and see the 2008 McCain for what he has turned into: a Rove-embracing Bush clone, willing to jettison his principles in his hunger for the presidency." ... "And now comes this latest unconscionable capitulation, which should drive a stake through the heart of the McCain-as-straight-talker meme once and for all." -By Arianna Huffington -HuffingtonPost.com

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20080213
• Food - Agriculture - History - Illinois - Minnesota - US - World - Droughts/Water - Weather - United Nations - "In Price and Supply, Wheat Is the Unstable Staple." ... "With demand soaring abroad and droughts crimping supply, the world’s wheat stockpiles have fallen to their lowest level in 30 years, and stocks in the United States have dropped to levels unseen since 1948." ... "On Tuesday, prices for a sought-after variety, spring wheat, jumped to $16.73 a bushel on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange [Minneapolis, Minnesota], the latest of several records." ... "Though this week’s prices were nominal records, the inflation-adjusted record for wheat was set in the mid-1970s, when it exceeded $20 a bushel in today’s dollars after huge sales to the Soviet Union." ... "The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that world wheat production will rise this year to nearly 664 million tons, from about 655 million tons — not enough to replenish stocks and push down prices." -By David Streitfeld -NYTimes 

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20080212
• Food - Agriculture - History - Illinois - Minnesota - "Wheat Falls as Increased Global Planting May Boost Inventories." ... "Wheat futures for March delivery dropped 41 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $10.07 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade [Chicago, Illinois]. The contract reached a record $11.53 yesterday before closing down 45 cents, the first decline this month. Wheat fell 7.9 percent in the past two days, the biggest decline since Nov. 19, 2003." ... "On the Minneapolis Grain Exchange [Minneapolis, Minnesota], wheat for May delivery fell the exchange limit of 60 cents, or 4 percent, to $14.245 a bushel. The price rose 33 percent in January and almost tripled in the past year, partly because of a shortage of high-protein spring wheat." -By Tony C. Dreibus -Bloomberg 

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20080209
• Food - Illinois - Minnesota - Kansas - US - Australia - "Limit on wheat prices raised." ... "With wheat prices touching all-time highs, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC] on Friday took steps to allow the daily limit on price moves to double, to 60 cents a bushel from 30 cents." ... "Additionally, the limit will rise to 90 cents a bushel on the next day after a 60-cent limit is reached." ... "The CFTC, which regulates trading on the Chicago Board of Trade [Chicago, Illinois] and two other exchanges, made the move as wheat prices rose the limit for the fifth straight day on the CBOT, to a record $10.93 a bushel for the March contract, in after-hours electronic trading in Sydney [Australia]." ... "In Minneapolis [at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, Minneapolis, Minnesota], where spring wheat also is traded, the March contract also rose the 30-cent limit, gaining 2 percent, to $15.53 a bushel." ... "Wheat for March delivery jumped the 30-cent limit to add 2.7 percent, to $11.4025 a bushel, on the Kansas City Board of Trade [Kansas City, Kansas], also in after-hours trading in Sydney [Australia]." -ChicagoTribune

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20080208
• Food - Agriculture - Markets - History - Consumer - Minnesota - South Dakota - North Dakota - US - Worldwide - "Record wheat price ignites food inflation fears: It's $15 a bushel at Minneapolis Grain Exchange [Minneapolis, Minnesota] and expected to keep climbing." ... "The highest wheat price in U.S. [United States] history - more than $15 a bushel - was reached Thursday in Minneapolis as a trading frenzy inflames the grain markets, fans fears of spiking food costs and revives worries about food shortages." ... "With wheat stockpiles dwindling, a worldwide scramble is under way for bushels of high-protein spring wheat, the variety grown in Minnesota and the Dakotas [South Dakota and North Dakota] and traded at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange [Minneapolis, Minnesota]. Already, spring wheat prices have tripled in the past year and are poised to move even higher." ... "Thursday's closing price of $15.23 a bushel may be jubilant news for wheat farmers and the rural Midwest, as the historic rally pushes corn and soybean prices near records, too. But it could mean new price shocks for consumers, and it already alarms food companies that need wheat for such consumer staples as bread, cereal, crackers and pasta." ... "In 2007, the rate of U.S. food inflation more than doubled to a 17-year high of 4.8 percent. Some expect that pace to nearly double again this year." ... "The [Minneapolis Grain Exchange] exchange was founded more than a century ago in an era when Minneapolis was the flour milling capital of the world, and it nourished local companies like General Mills, Pillsbury and Cargill. It remains the U.S. marketplace for spring wheat, a tough, high-protein variety that makes bread rise and bagels possible." ... "On Thursday, the local grain elevator in Halstad, Minn. [Minneapolis], was paying $16.13 per bushel for spring wheat. " -By Tom Webb -TwinCities.com

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• Food - Agriculture - History - Weather - Illinois - US - China - World - "Wheat Surges to Record as U.S. Supply May Drop to 60-Year Low." ... "Wheat rose to a record for a third day on the Chicago Board of Trade [in Chicago, Illinois] as the U.S. [United States] forecast its lowest inventories in 60 years." ... "U.S. stockpiles will drop to 272 million bushels at the end of May, 6.8 percent less than expected a month ago and down 40 percent from the prior year, the Department of Agriculture said in a report today. Inventories will be the lowest since 1948 when farmers grew less and shipped more wheat overseas to help rebuilding countries after World War II, economists said." ... "Wheat has more than doubled in the past year." ... "Wheat futures for March delivery rose 30 cents, or 2.8 percent, to a record $10.93 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. The contract rose the 30-cent exchange limit for five straight days. The 16 percent gain this week is the biggest in history." ... "The rally in wheat has accelerated in the past year after weather damaged crops from the world's biggest producers. Rising food consumption in China and increased demand for corn and soybeans used to make alternative fuels also are eroding global crop supplies." ... "World inventories of all wheat are expected to fall to 109.7 million metric tons by the end of the marketing year on May 31, down 1.1 percent from the government's January estimate and the lowest since 1978, the USDA said." ... "Wheat was the fourth-biggest U.S. crop in 2006, valued at $7.7 billion, behind corn, soybeans and hay, government data show." -By Tony C. Dreibus -Bloomberg 

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• Biofuels - Plants - Greenhouse Gas - Global - Climate - Science - Agriculture - Land - Environmental - Economy - Food - "Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat." ... "Almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these “green” fuels are taken into account, two studies being published Thursday have concluded." ... "The benefits of biofuels have come under increasing attack in recent months, as scientists took a closer look at the global environmental cost of their production. These latest studies, published in the prestigious journal Science, are likely to add to the controversy." ... "These studies for the first time take a detailed, comprehensive look at the emissions effects of the huge amount of natural land that is being converted to cropland globally to support biofuels development." ... "The destruction of natural ecosystems — whether rain forest in the tropics or grasslands in South America — not only releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when they are burned and plowed, but also deprives the planet of natural sponges to absorb carbon emissions. Cropland also absorbs far less carbon than the rain forests or even scrubland that it replaces." ... "Together the two studies offer sweeping conclusions: It does not matter if it is rain forest or scrubland that is cleared, the greenhouse gas contribution is significant. More important, they discovered that, taken globally, the production of almost all biofuels resulted, directly or indirectly, intentionally or not, in new lands being cleared, either for food or fuel." (1, 2) -By Elisabeth Rosenthal -NYTimes 

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20080207
• Kids - Health - Safety - Corporate - Government - Animals - Agriculture - Law - Enforcement - Politics - California - Human - Undercover - Video - "USDA's oversight of meat safety criticized." ... "The USDA [United States Department of Agriculture] announced this week that it was shutting down operations at a Chino[California]-based meat producer, after hidden camera video showed workers there using various inhumane methods to force "downer" -- or non-ambulatory -- cattle to their feet and into the slaughter box." ... "Now, in the wake of the video's release and the agency's response, food industry insiders are questioning just how reliable the USDA's inspection process is. The incidents recorded at Hallmark Meat Packing occurred under the noses of eight on-site USDA inspectors." ... ""We rely on a system, and the system dropped the ball," said Dean Cliver, a food safety expert who has served in advisory roles with the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture. "Somebody ought to be asking some questions."" ... "Cattle that are unable to walk are banned from use as human food because they show a higher occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease." ... "Westland Meat Co.[Company], Hallmark's distributor and a ground beef supplier for the National School Lunch Program, has voluntarily halted operations, and school district officials around the country pulled suspect beef from lunch menus." -By Victoria Kim -LAtimes 

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20080205
• Health - Food - Safety - Consumer - Freedom of Speech - Genetic - Science - Agriculture - Corporate - Law - Politics - Vermont - "Ben & Jerry's Fights For Labeling Rights: States, Industry Challenge Ice Cream Maker's Right To Advertise As Synthetic Hormone-Free." ... "Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. [Incorporated], one of the first companies to label its ice cream as free of a synthetic hormone, is protesting a move by some states to restrict such labeling." ... "The South Burlington [Vermont] ice-cream maker has joined a national campaign to block what critics say is an effort driven by Monsanto Co. [Company], which markets recombinant bovine somatotropin, or rBST, also known as recombinant bovine growth hormone, or rBGH." ... ""We're very concerned about, from a primary standpoint, the freedom of speech to be able to put what we believe is truthful and appropriate messaging on our packaging," said Rob Michalak, a spokesman for Ben & Jerry's, which has mounted a campaign to get consumers on its side." ... "But a newly formed farmers' group, backed by Monsanto, is pushing for labeling changes, saying the hormone-free labels imply that the milk is safer than other milk, when they say it's not." -AP via -CBSNews 

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20080129
• Safety - Food- Drug - Medical - Manufacturers - Business- Investigation - Lawmakers - Science - Politics - "FDA flawed on food, medical device safety: GAO: When it comes to the safety of food and medical devices, the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] has some work to do, government investigators reported to lawmakers on Tuesday." ... ""FDA has opportunities to better leverage its resources," according to a Government Accountability Office [GAO] report presented at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight subcommittee. "Efficient use of resources is particularly important at FDA because we found that its food safety workload has increased in the past decade, while its food safety staff and funding have not kept pace."" ... "FDA oversees about 80% of the U.S. food supply, which includes $417 billion of domestic food and $49 billion of imported food annually, according to GAO." ... "In November, an advisory committee to the FDA found that the agency "suffers from serious scientific deficiencies and is not positioned to meet current or emerging regulatory responsibilities."" ... "Also Tuesday, the GAO said FDA has not met its statutory requirement to inspect domestic manufacturers of medical devices classified as high risk, such as pacemakers, or medium risk, such as hearing aids, every two years." -By Ruth Mantell -MarketWatch 

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20080119
• Food - Oil - Money - Poverty -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - "A New, Global Oil Quandary: Costly Fuel Means Costly Calories." ... "Rising prices for cooking oil are forcing residents of Asia’s largest slum, in Mumbai, India, to ration every drop. Bakeries in the United States are fretting over higher shortening costs. And here in Malaysia, brand-new factories built to convert vegetable oil into diesel sit idle, their owners unable to afford the raw material." ... "This is the other oil shock. From India to Indiana, shortages and soaring prices for palm oil, soybean oil and many other types of vegetable oils are the latest, most striking example of a developing global problem: costly food." ... "The food price index of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, based on export prices for 60 internationally traded foodstuffs, climbed 37 percent last year. That was on top of a 14 percent increase in 2006, and the trend has accelerated this winter." ... "In some poor countries, desperation is taking hold. Just in the last week, protests have erupted in Pakistan over wheat shortages, and in Indonesia over soybean shortages. Egypt has banned rice exports to keep food at home, and China has put price controls on cooking oil, grain, meat, milk and eggs." ... "According to the F.A.O., food riots have erupted in recent months in Guinea, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen." ... "A startling change is unfolding in the world’s food markets. Soaring fuel prices have altered the equation for growing food and transporting it across the globe. Huge demand for biofuels has created tension between using land to produce fuel and using it for food." ... "Cooking oil may seem a trifling expense in the West. But in the developing world, cooking oil is an important source of calories and represents one of the biggest cash outlays for poor families, which grow much of their own food but have to buy oil in which to cook it." (1, 2, 3) -By Keith Bradsher with contributions by Andrew Martin, Anand Giridharadas, and Michael Rubenstein -NYTimes 

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20080116
• Consumer - Accounting - History - Labor - Food - Health - Gasoline - Politics - "New inflation data explain middle-class squeeze." ... "New data from the Labor Department confirm what most middle-class Americans already know: Inflation is squeezing them." ... "As consumer prices rose by 4.1 percent last year, the highest rate since 1990, the prices of basic essentials such as food, gasoline and health insurance climbed far more steeply, explaining why so many Americans are telling pollsters that the economy is their chief concern." ... "The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that the price of food and beverages rose 4.8 percent. At the same time, real weekly earnings failed to keep pace, rising 0.9 percent for the year. In the simplest of terms, a dollar earned bought less." ... "Digging deeper into the data reveals, for example, that the price of bread rose 7.4 percent last year, almost twice the rate of inflation." ... "The price of eggs rose 29.2 percent in 2007, while the price of fresh whole milk was up 13.1 percent. Since July, when milk prices first soared, the price of fresh whole milk has risen by almost 23 percent." ... "The price of health insurance, another major political-campaign theme, rose by 10.1 percent last year." ... "Gasoline prices rose 8.2 percent on average last year, the slowest rate of growth since 2002. But pump prices began climbing anew in October and for the last quarter of 2007 average prices rose by just more than 30 percent." -By Kevin G. Hall -McClatchyDC.com

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20080108
• Agriculture - Plant - Energy - Economy - Food - Nebraska - N Dakota - S Dakota - "Grass Makes Better Ethanol than Corn Does: Midwestern farms prove switchgrass could be the right crop for producing ethanol to replace gasoline." ... "Farmers in Nebraska and the Dakotas [North and South] brought the U.S. [United States] closer to becoming a biofuel economy, planting huge tracts of land for the first time with switchgrass—a native North American perennial grass (Panicum virgatum) that often grows on the borders of cropland naturally—and proving that it can deliver more than five times more energy than it takes to grow it." ... "Working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the farmers tracked the seed used to establish the plant, fertilizer used to boost its growth, fuel used to farm it, overall rainfall and the amount of grass ultimately harvested for five years on fields ranging from seven to 23 acres in size (three to nine hectares)." ... "Once established, the fields yielded from 5.2 to 11.1 metric tons of grass bales per hectare, depending on rainfall, says USDA plant scientist Ken Vogel. "It fluctuates with the timing of the precipitation,'' he says. "Switchgrass needs most of its moisture in spring and midsummer. If you get fall rains, it's not going to do that year's crops much good."" ... "But yields from a grass that only needs to be planted once would deliver an average of 13.1 megajoules of energy as ethanol for every megajoule of petroleum consumed—in the form of nitrogen fertilizers or diesel for tractors—growing them. "It's a prediction because right now there are no biorefineries built that handle cellulosic material" like that which switchgrass provides, Vogel notes. "We're pretty confident the ethanol yield is pretty close." This means that switchgrass ethanol delivers 540 percent of the energy used to produce it, compared with just roughly 25 percent more energy returned by corn-based ethanol according to the most optimistic studies." -By David Biello -SciAm 

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20080102
• Oil - Money - FOOD: Wheat, Soybeans, Corn - History - World - US - California - New York - "Commodities Surge, Led by Oil at $100, Record Gold (Update7)." ... "Crude oil reached a record $100 a barrel and gold soared to the highest ever, leading a commodity surge as the dollar's slump against major currencies enhanced the appeal of raw materials as hedges against inflation." ... "Spot gold climbed to $860.10 an ounce, and wheat and soybeans jumped more than 3 percent. The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index gained 2.2 percent today to a record after climbing 22 percent in 2007. The dollar fell on speculation the Federal Reserve will cut borrowing costs in an attempt to bolster the U.S. economy." ... "``The most salient buzzword in 2008 is going to be inflation,'' said Michael Pento, senior market strategist for Delta Global Advisors Inc. in Huntington Beach, California, which manages about $1.4 billion. ``The Fed is lowering interest rates and vastly increasing the money supply. They're further fueling inflationary expectations.''" ... "Crude-oil futures for February delivery rose $3.64, or 3.8 percent, to close at $99.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The previous intraday record was $99.29 on Nov. 21." ... "Gold for immediate delivery surged $23.25, or 2.8 percent, to $856.95 an ounce at 4:35 p.m. New York time. Gold futures for February delivery rose $22, or 2.6 percent, to $860 an ounce on the Comex division of the Nymex, a record settlement. The metal earlier reached $864.90, the highest for a most-active contract since Jan. 21, 1980, the day futures reached a record $873." ... "The price of heating oil also surged to a record, and natural gas soared 4.9 percent. Platinum jumped to the highest ever, while the dollar fell as much as 1 percent against a basket of six major currencies after the measure tumbled 8.3 percent in 2007." ... "Wheat and soybean prices jumped almost 80 percent last year, and corn last month climbed to the highest in 11 years." -By Pham-Duy Nguyen and Mark Shenk -Bloomberg 

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 Food.gov.uk

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 FoodSafety.gov 

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 MyPyramid.gov

 Pyramid - "Food Guide Pyramid Topic Page (Food & Nutrition Information Center)." - http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/Fpyr/pyramid.html 

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"The National Organic Program." - http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/indexNet.htm

 http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/TodaysNews.html

 Food Business Food Trade Market Money

 CBOT.com - Chicago Board of Trade - Chicago, Illinois

 KCBT.com - Kansas City Board of Trade - Kansas City, Kansas

 MGEX.com - Minneapolis Grain Exchange - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Food.Gov Food Government

 FDA.gov - "Food and Drug Administration"

 USDA.gov - "United States Department of Agriculture."

 NAL - "National Agricultural Library." - http://www.nal.usda.gov/

 FNIC - "Food and Nutrition Information Center." - http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/

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