Children ‘believe sheep lay eggs’
Press Assocation via the Hampshire Chronicle
Eggs come from sheep, crisps are made of plastic and butterflies produce cheese – these are just some of the wrong answers given by children in a test of their knowledge of food sources, it was revealed.
The survey of more than 1,000 school children showed that nearly two thirds struggled to identify the origins of the everyday foods they eat.
Some thought beef burgers came from McDonalds or Burger King, that yoghurts were made using turkeys or ducks, ham came from the Co-Op, bacon from horses, goats or peacocks and cheese originated from butterflies, rats or mice.
Less than one in four knew that beef burgers are sourced from cows, with 29% saying beef burgers came from pigs.
More than 1,100 youngsters from Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset, between the ages of six and eight, were questioned for the research commissioned by rural insurance firm Cornish Mutual…
(2 Feb 2010)
Sent in by EB reader “occurin'”, who says:
This survey is an interesting index of the total disconnection between what we eat and our knowledge of the production process behind it. These kids will have a lot to learn about food when localisation comes.
First Ever Rooftop Farm on Affordable Housing Project
Sami Grover, treehugger
Solar is not the only green feature appearing on affordable housing projects these days. In fact, a project in the South Bronx is hoping to combat food miles and food deserts at the same time, growing fresh, nutritious vegetables in a 10,000 sq ft rooftop greenhouse on top of a six story affordable housing project. But does the project make sense?
Certainly there are those who argue that vertical farming is pie in the sky, and that expensive urban real estate should be saved for people, and lots of them. After all, density is good for the environment. But that criticism seems to apply more directly to the outlandish farm/skyscrapers that occasionally grace these pages, not growing capacity integrated into residential units.
Much like this rooftop hydroponic farm, the BrightFarm rooftop greenhouse in the South Bronx will be harvesting rainwater from the building for irrigation, and will even be using waste heat from the residences below to keep the plants warm…
(6 Feb 2010)
Red wigglers could be the new black gold – if industrial vermicomposting takes off in SE Portland
Carrie Sturrock, The Oregonian
Randy White, creator of the social networking site Bright Neighbor, preaches about the miracle of the worms.
“Red wiggler worms, I believe, are better than gold.”
He’s trying to turn into believers those assembled in the pews at the First Unitarian Church last week. Worms eat food waste. Worm castings enrich the soil without petroleum-based fertilizers. Worms can help maintain a hardy food supply. A vermicomposting collective, White said, would benefit everyone.
“Not only are they an amazing work force that doesn’t ask for vacation and they poop out magic,” he tells the group of more than 150, “but we can sell them.”
He envisions an industrial scale vermicomposting farm in Southeast Portland. The 33-year-old wants to employ out-of-work people, ship worms all over the country and teach other communities how to do what he’s doing. Enthusiastic and idealistic, White was been described as a guy so full of ideas “he runs around as if his hair is on fire.”
The lead singer for the band Railer describes himself more simply. He’s a rock’n’roller who thinks political leaders aren’t doing enough to address climate change or fix a system that allows bailed-out banks to give executives bonuses as average Americans struggle to pay mortgages.
(5 Feb 2010)
sent in by EB reader (and subject of the article) Randall Scott, who writes:
Since this article was published, shares in Worm Island have soared, providing capital to create a cooperative business model redirecting waste streams to create much needed living fertilizer to replace soil killing chemical fertilizers.
The GM tomato that stays fresh for SIX WEEKS – but would you want to eat it?
Fiona Macrae, The Daily Mail
The curse of the soggy tomato could soon be a thing of the past … or so scientists say.
They have created a fruit which is said to stay fresh for 45 days – three times longer than the conventional version.
But the drawbacks are that it is the result of genetic engineering, and no one is saying what it actually tastes like.
The researchers believe the same process could be applied to other fruits, including bananas and mangoes.
However, the need for extensive safety testing means it will be years before the GM fruits could go on sale in British supermarkets, if ever.
Researchers in India lengthened the life of tomatoes by ‘turning off’ genes linked to the production of ripening enzymes.
This increased firmness stopped the tomatoes going soft for up to 45 days, according to a report in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The researchers, from the National Institute of Plant Genomic Research in New Delhi, said the breakthrough could prove a boon for farmers who lose up to 40 per cent of their fruit to over-ripening…
(2 Feb 2010)
India bans planting of first GM food crop
Steve Baragona, the ecologist
Campaigners welcome decision to put on hold cultivation of genetically modified (GM) aubergine crop, Bt Brinjal, until ‘safety of product’ established
India has banned the planting of the country’s first edible GM crop, a type of aubergine modified to produce Bt toxin.
The seed, developed by the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company, which is part owned by US biotech giant Monsanto, was said to be more resistant to natural pests.
However, against a backdrop of protest from farmers and leaders of aubergine-growing states, the Indian Environment Minister said today that he was adopting a ‘cautious precautionary principle’:
‘…till such time as independent scientific studies establish to the satisfaction of both the public and professionals the safety of the product from the point of view of its long term impact on human health and environment, including the rich genetic wealth existing in brinjal in our country.’
Biodiversity threat
Bt Brinjal would have been the first GM food crop approved for release in India, which has allowed the use of GM seeds for cotton production since 2002.
But campaigners said the possibility of cross-contamination would have threatened the 2,000 or more traditional varieties of aubergine currently grown in India…
(12 Feb 2010)
Another Assault on the SOLE Food Movement
Kurt Michael Friese, civil eats
Causing no end of difficulties in our national discourse is the steadfast belief held by both the right and the left that everything is either right or left: bad or good, strong or weak, despotic or patriotic. You’re either with us or you’re against us. President Obama addressed this very effectively before both House Republicans and Senate Democrats in recent days. It is media driven to a large extent because the media need controversy to sell papers, or bytes or views or whatever it is they’re selling these days.
The most common form this takes is the old build’em-up-then-tear’em-down routine. Perhaps the only thing many Americans enjoy more than the uplifting emotion of a success story is the schadenfreude of watching that success come tumbling down. So when an idea comes to the fore, the critics ooze from the woodwork and their primary tactic is divide and conquer. Label it, frame the debate, and the fight is won or lost before the story is even told.
For a long time in the circles I travel in this was not a problem because the ideas embodied in what some have come to call SOLE food (Sustainable, Organic, Local, & Ethical) were not perceived as a threat to the established paradigm. Recent successes such as Michael Pollan’s work have, however, shined a very bright spotlight on advocates of real food. As a result, people who have been toiling at these ideas for decades are becoming targets of powerful interests in the Big Food lobby. Such is the case this week at WeeklyStandard.com, where Missouri Farm Bureau vice president Blake Hurst has found his most recent audience.
Mr. Hurst was among the earliest vocal detractors of Mr. Pollan’s work, as well as that of anyone who might find flaw in agroindustrial model. His essay last summer, titled The Omnivore’s Delusion, did an excellent job of exploiting Pollan’s success to rally the big corporate agriculture interests against the perceived threat of critics both in the media and in the field. It’s natural: he felt attacked and he responded, and has now done so again. Unfortunately Mr. Hurst’s vitriol, then as now, only serves to fan the flames of a fire that needn’t be burning. Individuals on neither side of the debate are inherently evil, in fact both want the same thing: healthy food for all. Since our ideas for how to accomplish this differ, we are immediately cast into the right and left corners and told to come out fighting when the bell rings.
Of course this is not a new phenomenon. City and country folk have mistrusted each other since the beginnings of civilization (which, it bears pointing out, came into being because of agriculture). Nonetheless our society has changed enormously in the last 100 years. Where once nearly everyone lived on a farm or had an immediate relative who did, today only 2% of the population lives in rural America. It’s not a surprise that when the 2% senses criticism emanating from within the other 98% they’re going to feel a bit nervous. Some of the critiques in fact even come from within the 2% (witness cattleman Will Harris in Georgia). In his most recent essay though Mr. Hurst’s fears are misplaced, and he remains little more than a tool for moneyed interests…
(6 Feb 2010)
thanks to kalpa for the articles below:
Legislation intended to help orchard companies
Damian Mall, Mail Tribune
Gary Hubler can rhapsodize for hours about growing pears, apples, cherries, apricots and other fruits.
The 49-year-old Medford resident’s dream is to quit his swing-shift mill job and devote himself full time to his 10-acre Phoenix orchard and a small backyard grove. He also hopes to purchase a 34-acre property near Medford.
Hubler said agricultural land is slowly being gobbled up in the valley, so he found it alarming that large fruit growers in the area have proposed selling off about 1,000 acres surrounding cities to help ease their economic woes.
“When they start putting houses on farmland that once grew pears, that’s when I put my foot down,” he said.
Harry & David, Naumes and Associated Fruit are backing proposed legislation that would create a special agricultural zone for land they own around cities. That would give cities the option to designate those lands for development under certain circumstances.
Giving orchardists the potential of turning agricultural land into residential property would increase the value of the land assets, which in turn would give the companies greater flexibility in raising capital to sustain their struggling businesses.
Operations such as Harry & David have purchased land in outlying areas that they have converted into orchards to replace land around urban areas.
State Rep. Peter Buckley, an Ashland Democrat who is helping craft the bill, said he has many reservations about proposing it in the first place because it conflicts with land-use laws. However, he fears the viability of the local fruit industry is on the line if some of the land around urban areas can’t be developed to raise capital for the companies.
Buckley said he had hoped to prepare a bill for this legislative session but has tabled it until at least 2011 because of the complexities of the getting all parties together.
…Hubler acknowledges his operation is small, but he thinks it’s part of a growing movement — a movement he thinks can coexist with residential areas.
In addition to the 10-acre orchard, his backyard in east Medford has about 100 fruit trees, which sometimes require the use of orchard heaters to keep them warm during cold snaps. He said he warns his neighbors before he turns them on and has received few complaints.
Hubler said he has a strong market for selling his fruit locally, particularly with the varieties he grows. He works with Southern Oregon Sales in distributing his fruit.
Hubler said it would be better to sell lands owned by large fruit growers to someone who is interested is using them for an agricultural purpose rather that for residences…
(5 Feb 2010)
Demand for food “staggering”
Troy Anderson, Los Angeles Daily News
The number of Los Angeles County residents seeking help from food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters skyrocketed 46 percent in the last four years as the country plunged into recession, according to a report issued Tuesday.
The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank report found that the number of residents seeking food assistance grew from 674,100 in 2005 to a record 983,400 last year. The number of children receiving food assistance more than doubled from 185,000 to 393,000 in that time.
“This means one in 10 people in Los Angeles County are seeking food assistance,” Foodbank President Michael Flood said. “The number of children has increased markedly, which is very concerning to us.”
Belinda Crawford, executive director of the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry, said demand at her food pantry has soared 80 percent in the last two years.
“We’re seeing a dramatic increase,” Crawford said. “We are seeing a lot of people who have lost their jobs and never thought they’d be in a position of needing services from a food pantry.”
The increase in need corresponds with the region’s and nation’s economic problems.
In the last four years, the county’s unemployment rate has more than doubled from 5 percent to 12 percent. An estimated 584,300 county residents are now unemployed, up from 243,000 in 2005.
The report found 20 percent of the people seeking food assistance held managerial or professional jobs in the past.
…County Department of Health Services Director Dr.Jonathan E. Fielding, who described the increase in people seeking food assistance as “just staggering” and “unbelievable,” said people experiencing food insecurity often turn to less expensive foods such as fast food or prepackaged foods with low nutritional value. Fielding said poor nutrition is a leading cause of many of the major killers in society, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and many types of cancer…
(X Feb 2010)
