Harkin announces core farm bill agreed to

From the office of Harkin: "Specific details and funding have to be worked out".....

Washington, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and the Senate-House conference committee on the farm bill, today said that the core farm bill utilizing the $10 billion above baseline has been worked out among key farm bill negotiators. Specific details and funding will still have to be worked out and are all subject to ratification by the full conference committee. Chairman Harkin intends to convene the conference committee on Monday.

“Today the principal farm bill negotiators came together on a bipartisan level to reach a tentative agreement on the agriculture policy that will make the final farm bill a strong one.
“The tentative agreement reached today maintains strong farm income security and a permanent disaster program. It will solidify the future of the Conservation Security Program, now the Conservation Stewardship Program, returning it to the program it was intended to be when first enacted in the 2002 farm bill. It invests heavily in renewable energy and will help bring the promise of cellulosic biofuels to reality by providing grants and loans to move from corn ethanol to other renewable feedstocks. And our agreement will lead to more fresh fruits and vegetables in our nation’s elementary schools and stronger assistance to low-income Americans through federal nutrition programs.
“All in all, this is a balanced agreement that will now be considered by the full conference committee Monday.”

National Retail Report - April 25

Earth day and produce converged this week, so retailers weren't shy about promoting organic. From the USDA National Retail Report from April 25:

Seasonal and Organic Items Highlighted
This week’s grocery ads again reminded shoppers that grilling season is here, with sales on meat, sweet corn, and red peppers prominent nationwide. There were also several ads promoting natural and organic selections in honor of April 22 Earth Day celebrations. These ads included a wide variety of items such as, organic apples, natural peanut butter, bottled
juices, and organic bathroom tissue. Many retailers featured strawberries on the front page of their ads, with many ads of the buy-one-get-one free type. Compared to last week, overall fresh produce ads this week were down over 6 percent with a decline of nearly 11 percent on fruit ads and a decline of nearly 2 percent on vegetable ads. There was a significant drop in the number of grape, honeydew, and Bartlett pear ads this week. Three of the top five commodities advertised this week were vegetables: sweet onions, tomatoes on the vine, and corn. Other vegetables that showed an increase in the number of ads despite the overall drop from last week were: asparagus, russet potatoes and red bell peppers. The sharp increase in the number of sweet onion ads can be attributed to the Vidalia onion season in Georgia being well underway.

Produce Safety - FDA Powerpoint

Thanks to Michelle Smith of FDA sharing this powerpoint about produce safety:

Infiltration studies - FDA

Michelle Smith of FDA reviewed this report with me while in my visit to FDA offices in College Park.....

Dingell on food safety

Here is the discussion draft offered by John Dingell, of the Subcommittee on Health Hearing of the ‘Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act’ Legislation: Food Provisions"

Dingell grilled Cal Dooley of the GMA on April 24, but left him no opportunity to respond, to the point of being comical. See the link here.

Statement of Congressman John D. Dingell, Chairman Committee on Energy and Commerce

SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH HEARING ON “DISCUSSION DRAFT OF THE ‘FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION GLOBALIZATION ACT’ LEGISLATION: FOOD PROVISIONS

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this very important hearing today. For more than a year, this Committee has been vigorously investigating whether the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the resources and authorities it needs to protect the public health. With the assistance of Reps. Stupak and Shimkus, we have held seven hearings to investigate reports of tainted foods, with causes ranging from intentional adulteration to poor manufacturing processes. What we have found, and what has been confirmed by FDA’s own Science Board, is that the FDA lacks the resources and authority to adequately oversee the Nation’s food supply in the 21st century.

Although the agency has been less than forthcoming about its funding needs, it is evident to almost everyone else— from the experts to our constituents—that the agency is starved for resources and cannot meet its basic responsibilities. The Discussion Draft that today’s hearing will focus on begins our efforts to seek legislative solutions to this public health crisis.

First, this Discussion Draft aims to increase the resources FDA needs to do its job. As the FDA Science Board found, as a result of years of chronic underfunding, “FDA does not have the capacity to ensure the safety of food for the nation.” The Science Board called the rate at which FDA inspects food facilities “appallingly low” and notes that FDA has been forced to cut food inspections by 78 percent over the past 35 years at precisely the time food importation has increased exponentially. FDA estimates that, at most, it inspects domestic food manufacturers once every 10 years. For foreign food facilities, at its current rate of inspection FDA would need more than 2,000 years to visit every plant. This system must change.

Second, because we can’t just inspect our way out of this problem, the Draft also provides FDA with resources and authorities to prevent food safety problems before they occur. Building on legislation introduced by Subcommittee Chairman Pallone, we ask those who supply Americans their food to ensure the safety of their products. And when prevention fails, the FDA must have strong, flexible enforcement tools, including the authority to order a recall as Rep. DeGette and others have suggested. Many are reaping the benefits of globalization; we must also make sure that all parts of the food chain bear some responsibility as well.

Finally, the draft provides a range of incentives for good actors in the global system. Many companies with reputations to protect are on the cutting edge of food safety. In the absence of effective FDA oversight, they are using their purchasing power to urge improvements in safety from their suppliers. We must reward those who work to build preventative measures into their products. At the same time, we must ferret out bad actors who seek to game the regulatory system and pass off contaminated products as safe for consumption. As we have learned from tragic events caused by E. coli-contaminated spinach and the pet food spiked with melamine, lack of regulatory diligence can lead to deaths of people and pets.

Mr. Chairman, food, drug, device, and cosmetic safety are not partisan issues, and we will not make them so. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues on the Committee, especially our Ranking Member, Mr. Barton. As we have previously worked together on legislation important to the American people – such as the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act and the National Institutes of Health reauthorization – I hope we can work together to craft good, sensible legislation that provides the necessary resources and authorities for the Food and Drug Administration to fulfill its critical mission.

"You can't go wrong with fruits and vegetables"

Sunny D, Little Debbie snacks and $1 double cheeseburgers from McDonald's are not the only ways to eat cheap. Here is a good piece from The South County Journal , in which dietitian Katie Eliot comes to the defense of fresh - and frozen - fruits and veggies. From the story:

Food costs have gone up, but it doesn't mean people have to eat junk.

"I think there's a huge misconception people can't eat healthy on a tight budget," said Katie Eliot, a registered dietitian and instructor in the department of nutrition and dietetics at Saint Louis University.

Eliot provides some helpful hints on healthy foods when it comes to purchases. "You can't go wrong with fruits and vegetables," she said.If people are looking to cut costs consider buying fruit and vegetables that are in season or will be shortly, including strawberries, melons and asparagus.

If fresh produce prices are too high for your budget think about using canned or frozen fruits and vegetables. They are produced year-round so costs can be lower for these items.

"Frozen is just as nutritious as fresh," Eliot said. "Sometimes frozen is more healthy."

With fresh vegetables they can be exposed to oxygen every time the refrigerator is opened, which destroys the nutrients.

If using canned items Eliot offers a word of caution. Canned goods are often higher in sodium so she recommends people rinse the fruit or vegetables to reduce the sodium content.

"One place people go wrong is buying convenience items," she said. "All that energy input you end up paying for."

Whether it be cut up vegetables or ready-to-cook pastas in the microwave, costumers will pay for ease. Instead Eliot suggests doing some preparation work on the weekend. Take time to cut up vegetables and put them in the freezer.

"If you take time to make dinners and freeze individual meals you have something such as a frozen dinner, which reduces packaging and saves money."

A few other ways to reduce the total bill is to drink water from the tap and eliminate soda and bottled water. Also, consider using an alternative source of protein one day a week, such as beans.

"Planning ahead is your ace in the hole in terms of time and money," Eliot said. "When making out a menu for the week base them on store specials and coupon offers."

Food inflation - More notes

Maybe it really is time for the "Victory Garden." As The Wall Street Journal publishes an opinion column that it might be time for Americans to start stockpiling food, there are more reports from around the globe about food price inflation. From the FAS post in China:

On April 16, China's National Bureau of Statistics announced that the CPI for the first quarter of 2008 grew eight percent. This increase was partially a result of a 21 percent increase in food prices, which account for about one third of China's CPI. These increases are mostly attributed to cost-push inflation, increased consumption, and greater demand for food products throughout China. Short global agricultural commodity supplies, devastating winter storms, and animal diseases have also contributed to sharp increase in food prices over the last year in China. The central government has responded with various measures to decrease producer costs and maintain domestic supplies, leading to a generally increased level of government intervention in the market.