USDA rebuffed and other top news for Jan. 19

Here is the link to the Jan. 13 decision by the American National Standards Institute that reaffirms the Leonardo Academy as the developer of the national standard for agriculture sustainability. In rejecting the USDA's appeal, the ANSI Executive Council apparently found that Leonardo has done a credible job in reaching out to various stakeholders so far. ANSI has urged Leonardo to seek broad consensus before submitting a standard. While there is no deadline for Leonardo, I expect the standard setting process will take some time. Other news snatched from the Web this morning....

Economic factors, Contamination fears and locavore movement fuel backyard growing Chicago Trib article. From the piece:
Why the growth in enthusiasm for growing food? The economy surely has a role. An increase in seed sales is "typical when we see an economic downturn," according to Stephanie Turner, director of seed product at Park Seed Co., another venerable catalog house in Greenwood, S.C. (parkseed.com). "People are trying to stay home and beautify what they have and grow their own food."

Lost colonies The demise of honeybees and what's behind it. Review of book by Rowan Jacobsen's "Fruitless Fall: The collapse of the honeybee and the coming agricultural crisis."

Agriculture must be seen as profitable and sexy to thrive Story about declining farm population in Canada

Struggle over climate change on the horizon FT feature about what's ahead under Obama for climate change legislation

The most serious struggle will be over climate change, or the regulation of carbon emissions. You can forget all the chit chat about finding a consensus on this one: the coal people and the enviros are in this match until one side is carried out.


Bananas are dying From the story

Soon -- in five, 10 or 30 years -- the yellow creamy fruit as we know it will not exist.

TK: Which is it? 5 or 30 years?

Is water the next artificial shortage? Dilbert creator realist(cynic) Scott Adams asked readers of his blog to answer the question "Who will screw us next?" The answer: water.

The plausible explanation for the worldwide shortage is that the population is growing faster than the supply of clean water. Add global warming to the mix and you have plausible explanations for worldwide droughts. That's the cover story. It's true enough to mask the artificial shortages that will be caused by the speculators and hedge funds.

What happens if Mexico's government falls apart? Columnist argues for legalization of drugs in U.S. because of Mexican drug cartels

Mexico's narco juniors kill rivals Drug violence starts early in border towns

Lettuce cargo sprouts 18 immigrants in UK

Detox diets attract fans and critics

Old keys unlock one answer to food shortages Good story about Key for Hope charity that uses proceeds from donated keys to fund food bank donations

Obama to push bankers to resume lending Republicans object to lack of input in Obama's stimulus plan

FDA trying to crack salmonella outbreak What did Yoda say ? "Do or do not: there is no try."

Product of Canada, eh? Changes to Canada's food labeling laws

Why do produce guys baby apples and baggers don't?

Here is a column that is close to the heart of produce managers and grower-shippers. From The Manteca Bulletin in Georgia. I won't reprint the entire column but here is an excerpt that surely will whet your appetite:

Ambrosia apples are without a doubt the best tasting apples I’ve ever had.

They have a honey-like taste and are crisp as they are firm like a red apple.

They don’t come cheap. At $2.99 a pound, my weekly habit of at an Ambrosia a day costs $10.94 or about a tenth of my weekly food bill.

The supermarket produce guys take super care handling apples. They understand why they come packed layered between cardboard shaped to minimize them being jostled about and getting bumped. The reason is simple. Bruising isn’t good for an apple. Once it occurs, it accelerates its deterioration.

Nothing frosts me more than paying S1.35 or so per apple for a week’s supply and five days after I’ve bought them the apple is partially ruined thanks to a bag boy — or cashier — that believes speed is everything. If I wanted to throw $1.35 away, I’d toss it in the trashcan outside the store’s entrance.

TK: Kudos to managing editor Dennis Wyatt for taking on the issue of produce abuse by otherwise well meaning baggers. This column should be copied to to the inbox/mailboxes of store managers across the fruited plain.