Search Results for: meat

China’s Growing Exports: Food and Fear

As its shipments of fresh produce to the U.S. increase, so do concerns about contamination Business Week by Pallavi Gogoi As the U.S. and China hold high-level economic talks, there’s no shortage of important topics. At the top of the list for Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and China Vice-Premier Wu Yi will be China’s trade… Read more »

Organic Animal Agriculture Threatened by Genetically Engineered Alfalfa

by Jim Munsch The Cornucopia Institute By now many farmers producing organic milk or meat from ruminants have seen the news about the federal court ruling that the USDA violated the law by failing to conduct a full Environmental Impact Study before approving Monsanto’s genetically engineered alfalfa trademarked Roundup Ready®. The judge’s latest ruling in… Read more »

Federal Judge Halts Planting of Commercialized Genetically-Altered Crop

Judge Orders Complete Environmental Review of Monsanto’s Gene-Altered Alfalfa San Francisco, CA — A Federal judge ruled on May 3 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) 2005 approval of Monsanto’s genetically engineered (GE) “Roundup Ready” alfalfa was illegal. Judge Charles Breyer called on USDA to ban any further planting of the GE seed until… Read more »

From Concentrate

How food processing got into the hands of a few giant companies Grist By Tom Philpott Two years ago, dairy giant Dean Foods shuttered a milk-processing facility in Wilkesboro, a town at the eastern edge of North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains. Dean processes 35 percent of the fluid milk in the U.S. and Canada — roughly… Read more »

You Are What You Grow

The New York Times By Michael Pollan A few years ago, an obesity researcher at the University of Washington named Adam Drewnowski ventured into the supermarket to solve a mystery. He wanted to figure out why it is that the most reliable predictor of obesity in America today is a person’s wealth. For most of… Read more »

FDA Was Aware of Dangers To Food

Outbreaks Were Not Preventable, Officials Say Washington Post Elizabeth Williamson The Food and Drug Administration has known for years about contamination problems at a Georgia peanut butter plant and on California spinach farms that led to disease outbreaks that killed three people, sickened hundreds, and forced one of the biggest product recalls in U.S. history,… Read more »

The Organic Label Will Mean: No Cloned Animals, Period

USDA Advisory Panel Sends Clear Message WASHINGTON, DC — The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), an expert advisory panel to the USDA’s National Organic Program, has made it clear that organic agriculture should not allow the use of cloned animals or their offspring in the production of organic food. The NOSB voted at their spring… Read more »

Food Irradiation Rules May Be Relaxed

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government proposed Tuesday relaxing its rules on labeling of irradiated foods and suggested it may allow some products zapped with radiation to be called “pasteurized.” The Food and Drug Administration said the proposed rule would require companies to label irradiated food only when the radiation treatment causes a material change to… Read more »

Judge Rules U.S. Government Must Allow Private Testing for Mad Cow Disease

WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. government must allow meatpackers to test their animals for mad cow disease, a judge ruled Thursday. Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, a meatpacker based in Arkansas City, Kan., wants to test all of its cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. Larger meat companies… Read more »

Will Thirst for Biofuels Affect Global Hunger?

Alert Net Ruth Gidley Fans of biofuels give the impression we could soon be running cars on maize, producing electricity with sugar, and getting power from palm oil. Using plants to feed our fuel needs sounds like a great idea, and it could be a moneyspinner for some poor countries, but it might well mean… Read more »