Local food and the establishment and other headlines

Local food is not some highbrow ambition put forward by social Utopians of the 1960s, but increasingly is a priority of state and local officials who see economic and tax base opportunity. Check out this news item from Illinois about local food production:

Local food and farms in Illinois Quad Cities Online

Local Food, Farms, and Jobs: Growing the Illinois Economy" makes a strong case that the state can dramatically increase economic activity by growing and processing much more of the food sold in the state.The Task Force recognizes that farm and food products are a major economic engine in Illinois and one of the largest employment sectors in the state. Consumers here spend $48 billion a year on fresh, prepared and processed food from supermarkets, restaurants, and other sources. The vast majority of this food, however, is grown and processed out of state or even out of the country. In essence, we export tens of billions of dollars of Illinois wealth to California, Mexico, China and other food exporters-despite our state budget crisis. Yet, consumers increasingly want food from local sources. In this report, the Task Force proposes policy and program actions that will facilitate the growth of a local food system in Illinois

Checkout alert system for recalled foods sought LA Times
With more food recalls happening weekly, consumer advocates, supermarket chains and legislators are exploring better ways to stop the sale of tainted food, and one plan under discussion by lawmakers in Sacramento involves using supermarket checkout scanners to help


European inflation low, payrolls shrink Bloomberg

U.S. questioned on WTO ag committments Farm Futures
A long list of questions was posed to the United States. They covered: counter-cyclical payments, direct payments, and the new Farm Bill's "Average Crop Revenue Election" program. There is also an issue with China's exports of poultry being held up by U.S. law. The United States has repeated its statement that the government is talking to relevant authorities in Washington to try to resolve this issue as soon as possible.


Anatomy of an outbreak AJC
on peanuts

A tomato's journey The Dalles
Connecting with the earth is a first step in being aware of what it takes to get food to our plates and why it's important to support sustainable organic agriculture, said Monique Dupre, creator of Sustainable Living on a Budget, http://www.sustainablebudget.com/. Dupre donated a lease on her property at East 13th and Short streets to start the Utopia Community Garden — a healthy place where families, individuals, classrooms and community groups will interact and connect with the earth.

Food source tracking: a nagging agency or a sinister organic plot Nashville Scence
There's a new bill in Congress that could mean two different things. Either it's a good way to track foods so that when an outbreak occurs, the source can be pinpointed. Or it's guaranteed to put organic farmers and small artisan manufacturers out of business. Here's the text, which I found identically on two websites, so who knows the source, maybe Washingtonwatch.com:
On February 12, 2009, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate to provide for the establishment of a traceability system for food. The "Food Safety and Tracking Improvement Act" would amend the FDC Act, Federal Meat Inspection Act, Poultry Products Inspections Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act to require a food tracking system for all food shipped in interstate commerce.
The system would comprise a record-keeping and audit system, a secure online database, or registered identification that would permit retrieval of the history, use and location of the foods. If the bill is passed, then $40 million would be appropriated for the task of creating the system for fiscal years 2010 through 2012. The bill was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

Growth in organic food continues at a slower pace California Farm Bureau
Despite the faltering economy, organic farmers and market analysts say they expect the market for organic products to continue growing, but at a slower rate.
Farmers such as Scott Park, a diversified grower in Sutter County, say that despite the sagging economy's negative effect on other businesses, the organic market is still "healthy" for the crops they grow and they don't expect the market opportunities to disappear any time soon.


Obesity by the numbers Minneapolis Star Tribune

Pick your poison Slate
The Shopper's Guide to Pesticides consists of two simple lists: The Dirty Dozen and The Clean 15. The former contains items that tend to show up at the store with lots of pesticides. Peaches are the dirtiest of the dirty dozen. Some others are apples, bell peppers, and imported grapes.