New buzz about bees

The New York Times is the latest newspaper to examine the die-offs in bee colonies faced by the nation's bee keepers. Some researchers suggest an "AIDS" of the bee industry might be at work:
From the Times article:

Researchers are also concerned that the willingness of beekeepers to truck their colonies from coast to coast could be adding to bees’ stress, helping to spread viruses and mites and otherwise accelerating whatever is afflicting them.
Dennis van Engelsdorp, a bee specialist with the state of Pennsylvania who is part of the team studying the bee colony collapses, said the “strong immune suppression” investigators have observed “could be the AIDS of the bee industry,” making bees more susceptible to other diseases that eventually kill them off.
Growers have tried before to do without bees. In past decades, they have used everything from giant blowers to helicopters to mortar shells to try to spread pollen across the plants. More recently researchers have been trying to develop “self-compatible” almond trees that will require fewer bees. One company is even trying to commercialize the blue orchard bee, which is virtually stingless and works at colder temperatures than the honeybee.


TK: As I remember from a trip to Leamington a couple of years ago, one Ontario greenhouse was experimenting with sonic waves to help pollination. The story notes imported bees from Australia are being brought in to buck up U.S. honeybees. Now about half of the nation's honeybees are in California pollinating the almond crop. Now covering nearly 600,000 acres of California farm ground, another 100,000 acres of almonds will be added by 2010 - bees willing, that is.

Shades of green

It ain't easy being green. Especially when being green isn't green at all.
Conducting a study for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, researchers at the Manchester Business School in England said the environmental benefits of organic food are "not clear cut."
Here is the link to the lengthy PDF file, Environmental Impacts of Food Production and Consumption report.

TK: The 199 page report is fill of acronyms, including BREFs, CERA, EIPRO and a half a dozen others. Here are few points from the executive summary:

There is certainly insufficient evidence available to state that organic agriculture overall would have less of an environmental impact than conventional agriculture.

Organic agriculture poses its own environmental problems in the production of some foods, either in terms of nutrient release to water or in terms of climate change burdens.

Evidence for a lower environmental impact of local preference in food supply and consumption overall is weak.

TK: The study says fruits and vegetables account for about 2% of the EU's total global warming potential: Don't ask me how they came up with that stat. Overall this study is fascinating but exceedingly complex and maddeningly inconclusive.

Free to roam

In perhaps 60 days, selected Mexican trucking companies will have the freedom to drive deeper into the U.S., the Department of Transportation says. But it won't happen without a fight and perhaps further delay.
From the Insurance Journal:

The news that Mexican trucks will be allowed to haul freight deeper into the United States drew an angry reaction Friday from labor leaders, safety advocates and members of Congress. They said Mexico has substandard trucks and low-paid drivers that will threaten national security, cost thousands of jobs and endanger motorists on the northern side of the Mexican border.

TK: The counter from the Bush Administration is that the U.S. inspectors will oversee Mexican trucking companies.

Again from the Insurance Journal:

Access to all U.S. highways was promised by 2000 under the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, as was access through Mexico for U.S. carriers. That aspect of NAFTA was stalled by lawsuits and disagreements between the two countries, though Canadian and U.S. trucks travel freely across the northern border. The Bush pilot project will let Mexican truck companies travel from Mexico throughout the United States and back. According to the Transportation Department, U.S. inspectors will inspect every truck and interview drivers to make sure they can read and speak English. They'll examine trucks and check the licenses, insurance and driving records of the Mexican drivers. Inspectors will also verify that the trucking companies are insured by U.S.-licensed firms.
The first Mexican trucks are expected to drive into the United States beyond the border area in about 60 days, the Transportation Department says.

TK: One member of the National Transportation Safety Board worries that the DOT has barely enough inspectors for domestic carriers, much less if the agency divert resources to the border. About 25% of U.S. rigs are taken off the roads after random inspections and the percentage is higher at Texas border crossings. Others are concerned that there will be no way to adequately monitor the time spent behind the wheel for Mexican truckers. Setting aside safety concerns, this rule makes sense for the produce industry, as it figures to take costs out of the system. Congress could put up a detour to this DOT roadmap, though.

Cuba after Castro

Whatever happened to Fidel Castro? It seems he was deathly ill for a while and now there is nothing in the news about him. I read this Business Week article about life after Castro and find that his death is still "imminent." Meanwhile, U.S. business interests suspect Fidel's brother Raul, five years younger at 75, is poised to expand U.S.-Cuban trade. Some members of Congress are anxious to give agricultural exports to Cuba a boost. Rep. Jerry Moran has introduced H.R. 1026, to "to facilitate the sale of United States agricultural products to Cuba, as authorized by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000."

Moran's bill seeks to clearly define the language from the 2000 legislation. In particular, the bill defines "payment of cash in advance" so as to make it more workable for export sales. Rather than being paid in advance of shipping agricultural products to Cuba, Moran's law would define the term this way:
"The term `payment of cash in advance' means, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the payment by the purchaser of an agricultural commodity or product and the receipt of such payment by the seller prior to--
`(i) the transfer of title of such commodity or product to the purchaser; and
`(ii) the release of control of such commodity or product to the purchaser.

The proposed law would also make it easier for Cuba deal directly with U.S. banks, rather than having to go through third party banks in other countries. The legislation reads:

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President may not restrict direct transfers from a Cuban financial institution to a United States financial institution executed in payment for a product authorized for sale under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 .

TK: I may be a dreamer, but I'm looking forward to the day when Sherri here at Vance books a flight to Havana for me for a convention in Cuba - perhaps a winter meeting of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.

No E. coli on BJ's Mushrooms

There turned out to be no dangerous E. coli found on lots of mushrooms recalled last week by BJ's Mushrooms, a press release from the company says.
From the release:


BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. confirmed today that results from two outside laboratories reveal that all Wellsley Farms brand fresh mushrooms tested negative for E. coli. On February 20,
2007, BJ's voluntarily recalled its pre-packaged Wellsley Farms brand fresh mushrooms purchased between February 11 and February 19, 2007 due to a potential health risk


TK: Joe Caldwell of Monterey Mushrooms told me last week the industry might experience this type of "false positive" episode more in the future as retailers implement tests that may point to the presence of bacteria but not necessarily pathogens harmful to humans. We can hope BJ's learned something about their testing process as a result of the recall.

Rats!

This story notes that the New York City KFC/Taco Bell where a New York TV crew captured "dozens of rats" hard at work just after closing time had passed a heath inspection the day before. Yikes. Also, if you haven't seen the video of the scurrying rats, the linked story has the feed for the video.

"It doesn't look like the inspection that was done Thursday met our standards," said Geoffrey Cowley, a health department spokesman. "I don't want to prejudge that. We're concerned and we're going to carefully reevaluate that inspection."


TK: You think? Don't go out on a limb, Mr. Cowley. This sordid tale doesn't exactly inspire confidence in city inspectors or KFC/Taco Bell.

The day Bush killed America

The day Bush killed America is the day a guest worker program is passed. That's the outrageous if angry point made in this column posted by Mark Lowry on the American Chronicle.
This is where he loses it:

The ignoble day legislation granting amnesty or guest worker status to millions of illegals is passed, will go down in history with recognition equal to the day John Kennedy died, the Alamo, Pearl Harbor, 9-11, and Neville Chamberlain’s “peace in our time” declaration. All will remember where they were when Bush killed America. Mark that day well; you will need to explain to your children why you did nothing to stop it.

TK: The passion about the immigration issue is easy to underestimate by produce advocates, but reactionaries like Lowry are quick to remind us of this point: No matter how reasoned and strong the arguments are for a guest worker program for agriculture, name calling and fiery rhetoric will likely be the response.