To Dew or not to Dew: Part I

Mountain Dew and all other sugary pop and foods of minimal nutritional value, that is. Testimony before the Senate Agriculture Committee on March 6 talked about"Child nutrition and the school setting" and there were some powerful witnesses arrayed in opposition to nutritionally poor food and beverages sold at school, in addition to well-spoken allies for greater presence of fruits and vegetables in schools.

On the same day - not coincidentally, I'm sure, Agriculture Committee chair Sen. Harkin, D-Iowa, introduced S. 771: A bill to amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to improve the nutrition and health of schoolchildren by updating the definition of "food of minimal nutritional value" to conform to current nutrition science and to protect the Federal investment in the national school lunch and breakfast programs.


You can link to the hearing page here. Here are a few highlights from the first panelist(more to follow):

Janey Thorton
President of School Nutrition Association
Hardin County School District, Kentucky

Thorton testifies:

SNA believes strongly the Secretary of Agriculture should have the authority to regulate the sale of food and beverages throughout the entire school, throughout the school day. We cannot have one set of ala carte standards in the cafeteria and another set of standards, or no standards, down the hall.

We need consistent standards in the school for two reasons: to promote wellness, but also to send a consistent nutrition education message to students. As every parent knows, if we tell our children one thing but they see us do something else, they’re going to follow our actions and ignore our words. Schools must also practice what they preach with the foods they sell. Therefore, we hope the Congress will move forward with this important legislation.


TK: Thorton also argues for standardization of nutrition guidelines within the cafeteria and an increase in federal reimbursement for school meals.

Food safety conference sponsored by Taco Bell

It's not a late show punch line. A news release states that the National Restaurant Association and National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation will hold "Produce Safety & The Foodservice Industry: A Farm-to-Table Conference" in Monterey, Calif., March 29 to March 30, 2007. It will be sponsored by Taco Bell.

From the release:

"We are pleased to produce this conference to assist restaurant operators, retailers, suppliers, food safety experts, scientists and government partners in examining all aspects of produce safety," said Peter Kilgore, acting interim president and chief executive officer. "In light of recent E. coli and other foodborne illness outbreaks, we hope that this conference will set the stage for restaurant-industry professionals to work with suppliers and government to enhance produce safety."
Topics of discussion at the conference will include:
- The latest statistics on food-borne illness outbreaks related to produce safety
- Epidemiological investigations at the farm and supply chain levels
- Legislative and regulatory efforts to enhance product safety
- Lessons learned from the meat industry to control pathogens and reduce risk
- Steps taken by national and regional produce organizations to respond to outbreaks and improve the safety of fresh fruits and vegetables
- Farm-to-table supply-chain perspectives on produce safety
- Consumer confidence in produce safety - and how this affects restaurants
- The development of restaurant-industry requirements for produce vendors
To view the full conference agenda and register for the conference, please visit the National Restaurant Association website: http://www.restaurant.org/produceconference

TK; The last item is troubling. Is yet another initiative on food safety, another set of unique requirements, headed toward growers? Rather than layer on another set of mandates, the restaurant industry needs to support growers who comply with marketing agreement GAP/GHP standards.

Catching up

There is nothing better than feeling like you are caught up with everything. I haven't felt that way in a while, especially since I started this blog. There is always one more call, one more email to process, one more interview to transcribe, one more story to write or one more message to post. Not to mention one life to lead in the meantime.....

What's happening to California's asparagus industry? Growers are understandably bitter that Mexico and Peru are gaining market share while Stockton Delta producers are losing acres, with the full participation of retailers and consumers. While California growers pay their workers $10 per hour, Mexico growers may pay $10 per day. One industry source told me a large grower in the Delta region is taking out 600 acres of asparagus this year. This hasn't happened overnight, so retailers shouldn't be surprised at the reality of escalating import dependence.

Not long ago I chatted with Leanne Skelton and Eric Forman about the reasons why the number of terminal market inspections are declining over a five year period. That is one of the interviews I need to transcribe. Another source I talked to today wondered if the USDA inspection training courses for the industry may be one contributing factor. What do you all think? Are the inspection classes creating more self-reliance in the industry relating to inspections?

Fix sought for manure designation in CERCLA law

A press conference is being held tomorrow that will serve to discuss introduction of legislation to clarify a law that "unintentionally impacts America's farmers and ranchers," according to a news release from House Agriculture Committee chairman Collin Peterson. Peterson is one of several members of Congress to participate in the 2 p.m. presser.
From the release:

The bipartisan legislation would clarify that livestock manure, which many agricultural producers utilize in their traditional farming practices, is not classified as a hazardous waste under CERCLA, otherwise known as the "Superfund law."
If normal animal manure is found to be a hazardous substance under Superfund law, then virtually every farm operation in the country could be potentially exposed to liabilities and penalties under the Superfund law, an outcome Congress never intended.

TK: While the legislation to exempt animal manure from the Superfund requirements is strongly backed by agricultural interests, there will be a fight from environmentalists. See this link for some background on the issue, including the court case brought against 14 dairy farms by the the city of Waco in 2004 that first sparked concern about CERCLA.