Archive for the ‘Food Safety’ Category
The Bounty of Biosolids: What Safety Issues?
Several people have come to me asking about the safety of biosolids-use in their home gardens and, moreover, have asked why I advocate the use of biosolids. In short, biosolids composts are safe, highly-regulated, sustainable, climate-friendly products, that your plants will LOVE. They are high in nutrients, support healthy soil microbial communities, and improve the tilth (physical attributes) of soil. Farmers around the world, including US farmers, have known this for ages.
This is part two of a series that will hopefully shed some light on the biosolids controversy. (See part one here.)
The other day I walked into a home improvement center and was inundated by the perfume of synthetic fertilizer. My immediate visceral response was that of revile, which soon followed by nausea and a headache. I realize that I am particularly sensitive to fertilizer, but these immediate physical responses got me thinking… is it really biosolids that we should are be running scared from? This is when it hit me: If I could just tell the world what biosolids really are, we would all lining up to dig our spades into this black gold. More…
The Bounty of Biosolids: An Overview
South Plant demo garden
Several people have come to me asking about the safety of biosolids-use in their home gardens and, moreover, have asked why I advocate the use of biosolids. In short, biosolids composts are safe, highly-regulated, sustainable, climate-friendly products, that your plants will LOVE. They contain all plant nutrients, support healthy soil microbial communities, and improve the tilth (physical attributes) of soil. Farmers around the world, including US farmers, have known this for ages.
This is the first of a three-part series that will hopefully shed some light on the biosolids controversy. (See the second and third posts, too.)
What are biosolids?
Biosolids are a product from the wastewater treatment process, and are EPA-regulated under the Clean Water Act. In the United States, everything we flush, throw down the kitchen sink and wash down the bathroom shower ends up at the wastewater treatment plant. Some people call biosolids sewage sludge, but the term biosolids specifically refers to treated sewage sludge. More…
Raw Milk Act: The Debate Rages On
Just when everything seemed assured for raw-milk proponents, Big Ag stepped in. Here’s a New York Times article that discusses how the Raw Milk Act in Wisconsin was crushed at the last minute.
The buses rolling into the parking lot of Eau Claire’s Chippewa Valley Technical College came from every corner of Wisconsin, and at least from one corner of Ontario, each packed with farm families wearing paper milking caps with “Freedom” written on them and brandishing signs that said, “I ♥ Raw Milk.” March 10 was smack in the middle of calving time, but the heifers would have to wait — raw milk was that important.
The occasion was a hearing-turned-rally on a bill in the Wisconsin Legislature that would allow dairy farmers to sell milk straight from the spigot to anyone who felt it did a body good, save the very young, the very old and the very pregnant. Some 500 farmers crammed into the small college auditorium to cheer on one of the bill’s sponsors, State Representative Chris Danou, the Thoreau of raw, who declared that, should the legislative process fail, civil disobedience would surely follow.
Zealots like those at the rally extol the virtues of raw, including its unadulterated animal fat bio-activators, which may lower the risk of asthma and allergies. Standard pasteurization, they claim, kills a dubious-sounding 99.999 percent of milk’s good, bad and indifferent microorganisms, resulting in what raw milk people call “a whitish liquid.” What they fail to mention is that you can’t get $6 a gallon for pasteurized milk.
Food Safety Modernization Act: The End of Homegrown Produce?
There’s a bit of an upset (to say the least) about the new food safety bill coming our way. This article by Steve Green from the Food Freedom blog questions the motives of the act and is doubtful that it will come to any good for those who want to promote and enjoy homegrown foodstuffs. Are these concerns valid? How can the government regulate food safety so that it protects both consumers and small farms?
S 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010, may be the most dangerous bill in the history of the US. It is to our food what the bailout was to our economy, only we can live without money. More…
Proposed Meat Testing Rules Would Burden Small Slaughter Operations
In the name of food safety, meat processors may have to put their product through new tests. The cost of which is trivial for large feedlots, but could be devastating for smaller slaughterhouses. This Salon.com article by Sara Breselor takes a look at how the new safety regulations affect small, local meat processors.
That wailing you hear in the distance is the sound of small meat processors begging the USDA for mercy. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service recently proposed a set of new regulations that will require all meat processors to submit their products to a new series of tests, a procedure that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for even a modestly scaled operation, enough to cripple many small processors. More…
Propping Up Corn Production Is Bad For Our Health
As we reported here earlier this week, a recent Princeton research study found that rats fed chow laced with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) gained more weight than rats fed equal calories of table sugar. As a follow-up, Grist published this great article that delves into the ramifications of a food system built around corn subsidies.
All processed sweeteners add empty calories to food; but calorie for calorie, HFCS appears to be worse than white sugar. Although the two sweeteners have roughly the same fructose/glucose ratio, mammals seem to metabolize the HFCS differently than cane sugar.
That’s grim news. On average, Americans get 10 percent of their total calories from HFCS–and kids, who rank among its heaviest users, get an even higher percentage of calories from it. More…
Monsanto Announces GMO Corn Seed Production Will Be Discontinued in 2011
If only…In an astounding move, Monsanto announced this morning that it would be discontinuing production in 2011 of the genetically modified corn seed, MON 810, currently planted on millions of acres in the US. This announcement comes as evidence in a recent study indicates the digestive organs of rats who ate the grain were disintegrating.
“We just felt we needed to do the right thing,” said Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant in a statement. “If our products are doing more harm than good, we thought perhaps we should change our tact for feeding the world.”
Grant continued, “We’ve been hearing a lot about local solutions. The role of diverse planting for preventing pests, paving roads so farmers can get to market, organizations working with subsistence farmers to build soil that can withstand drought locally, that kind of thing. Farmers need to focus on soil health, and we want to be a part of that solution.”
As a result of Monsanto’s new-found commitment, they are donating all the projected $5.1 billion in profits on seeds and traits for 2010 to local, farmer solution-based efforts.
“The Worms…They’re Back!”–Making the Transition from Chemical Farming to Organic
“Try this,” Chompoo Nampop offered, extending a piece of brown sugarcane. “This is the real thing,” he explained, “No chemicals.”
Indeed, the rows of sugarcane that line Nampop’s farm are grown in a rare way–organically. According to Dr. Buapan, a professor at Khon Kaen University, only 0.05% of all produce grown in Thailand is done so without the assistance of chemical fertilizers.
Yet, only recently did Nampop decide to grow his crops organically. Five years ago he was just like the majority of other farmers in Thailand. He would spray herbicides, pesticides, and chemical fertilizers hoping for high yields.
Today, Nampop’s farm is run very differently. Instead of relying on man-made chemicals, Nampop uses natural materials to help his crops thrive. The nutrient-rich manure from his pigs, cows, and ducks provide an excellent base for his compost, which serves as an all-natural alternative to chemical fertilizers.
Nampop’s decision to transition from chemical farming to organic was no accident. During his childhood, Nampop witnessed the beginning of the Green Revolution, which arose in the 1960s as the answer to world hunger[i]. The logic was simple. Increase the amount of food produced and more mouths will get fed. More…
Princeton Research Team Proves High-Fructose Corn Syrup Is Bad For Your Health
Princeton Research Team
A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same. In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides.
The researchers say the work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States. =”Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn’t true, at least under the conditions of our tests,” said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. “When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they’re becoming obese — every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don’t see this; they don’t all gain extra weight.” More…
Washington Becomes Fifth State to Ban BPA in Baby Bottles
Washington State overwhelmingly passed the Safe Baby Bottle Act (SSB 6248) during the 2010 legislative session, which will eliminate the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) from baby bottles, sippy cups, and other children’s dishware, as well as from sports bottles.
“This is a huge victory for children’s health and for parents. Dangerous chemicals like BPA have no place in baby bottles, sippy cups or any product children put in their mouths,” said the prime sponsor of the house version of the legislation, State Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D-Seattle), in a recent article. “Parents can soon go to the store with confidence and buy a bottle for their baby that won’t contain BPA.”
The Safe Baby Bottle Act eliminates BPA from baby bottles, sippy cups, and other food and beverage containers intended for children three years of age and under beginning July 2011. It also bans BPA in sports bottles beginning July 2012.
With passage of the bill, Washington will become only the second state to ban BPA in sports bottles, and the fifth state to ban the chemical in baby bottles and other children’s food and beverage containers. Maryland and Wisconsin passed bans earlier this year and Minnesota and Connecticut passed bans in 2009. Several other states, including California, Vermont, New York, and Illinois have similar bans pending. More…
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