Average days to pay - April 5

The latest data from Red Book Credit Services on average days to pay..

Food recalls: What's a consumer to do?

The Washington Post asks "As food recalls continue to sprout, what's a consumer to do?"

From Jennifer Huget:

 

The moment when I almost threw up my hands came in 2001, when I reported on salmonella- and E. coli-tainted bean sprouts. Everyone had been thinking of bean sprouts as health food until they started sickening people. It turns out that even thorough washing of bean sprouts doesn't help, as the salmonella bacteria are often embedded in the seeds themselves. There's no way to know your bean-sprout seeds or the sprouts that sprout from them are infected. And while cooking vegetables can kill most pathogens, when's the last time you've cooked a peanut or pistachio?

So what's a concerned consumer to do?

Unfortunately, Acheson says, not much. "Obviously, when you buy a product that's in a bag, like peanuts or pistachios, you take it on good faith that the company has done due diligence," Acheson says. "With something like raw chicken, you know you have to cook it thoroughly. But there is nothing a consumer can do about a product that's in a package."

 

Pistachio growers announce new Web site to inform consumers, retailers of safe labels

 

As part of ongoing collaboration with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), pistachio growers and processors today announced a new Web site - www.pistachiorecall.org - that lists specific pistachio products and brands that are confirmed safe to consume. The Web site is produced by CAL-PURE, a co-op of California pistachio growers ("CAL-PURE"), and the Western Pistachio Association ("WPA") and is accessible directly and via a link on the FDA Web site at www.fda.gov/pistachios. The new site is being made available in light of a pistachio recall by the processor, Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc. and Setton International, due to potential Salmonella contamination. The recall action has been taken on a precautionary basis, and the FDA reports no illnesses tied to the recalled pistachios

 

Pistachio recall signals tough new stance on food safety NYT

 As the nation's second-largest processor of pistachios agreed Monday to recall its entire 2008 crop despite no confirmed illnesses, the Obama administration issued a tough warning to all food makers that sloppy manufacturing practices would no longer be tolerated.With the warning, the administration signaled that it was substantially changing the way the government oversees food safety. Food-handling practices that in the past would have resulted in mild warnings may now lead to wide-ranging and expensive recalls, even before anyone becomes ill from contaminated food.

 

Ontario tobacco farmers to receive millions under transition program The Canadian Press

 The almost total surrender of their tobacco-growing quotas under a federal program to help Ontario farmers leave the business speaks to their financial despair, a marketing board official said Monday.New figures show the province's roughly 1,000 tobacco farm families have surrendered 99.7 per cent of the outstanding quota in exchange for about $284 million from Ottawa."The uptake speaks to the reality of where we're sitting," Linda Vandendriessche, chairwoman of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board, said in an interview."Most farmers are in financial despair and had little choice but to apply to the program."

 

Outrage of the day: global warming legislation  Amy Ridenour

Last Tuesday, Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) unveiled proposed legislation that, if adopted, would kill (at best) hundreds of thousands, more likely, millions of jobs and put a substantial and highly-regressive global warming tax on every American even as Congressional leaders wring their hands and bemoan the state of our economy.

 

 

Judge upholds workder verification rule turntoten.com

Rhode Island judge has upheld a key element of Gov. Don Carcieri's executive order on immigration last year.Superior Court Judge Mark Pfeiffer ruled Friday that Carcieri had the authority to require certain state agencies, contractors and vendors to use the federal E-Verify database, a system that lets employers make sure new hires are legally allowed to work in the United States

 

Recession bites into organic sales: Soil Association

Everyone wants to know how the recession will hurt organic produce sales. Well, this report from the UK reveals the latest on organic food sales in the UK. From the story in The Guardian:

The Soil Asociation, which certifies about eight out of ten products on sale in UK shops, said the value of sales in 2008 rose by 1.7% to a little over £2bn, but inflation in food prices masked a slump in sales by volume.The rise in income compared to a 7% increase in overall food prices, said the organisation. "We're inferring from this 7% rise that volume has probably gone down," said a spokeswoman.Hardest hit were premium brands and prepared foods, such as frozen meals, while popular fruit and vegetables - two of the three biggest selling organic lines - both saw declines.

Remittances drop in Guatemala Allgov

The financial crisis in the United States seems to be having a direct effect on Guatemala's economy. Remittances from Guatemalan migrants in the United States to their native country in Central America have dropped dramatically in the past year. According to the Central Bank of Guatemala, remittances dropped 11.4 percent in February from a year before, to $282 million for the month. Jobs most dominated by migrant workers, such as landscaping, have been among the sectors hardest hit in the United States.Few economies in the world are tied as directly to the United States as that of Guatemala's. Although in recent years Guatemala has taken steps to open its economy to foreign investors, in 2008 remittances alone still accounted for $4.3 billion or roughly 12 percent of the nation's GDP, while only $724 million was spent by foreign investors and Guatemala's famous coffee crop brought in only $646 million..

Tracegains Webinar April 14 Open Press

It's difficult for young drivers to get trucking PE.com

The call of the open road cannot be answered by teenagers looking for work behind the wheel of a big rig. A person must be 21 years old to get a commercial driver's license, which is required to drive a commercial truck across state lines, or transport passengers, hazardous materials or waste. While California law permits drivers to operate trucks if they are 18 and stay within the state, the reality is that young drivers are not in demand. "People 18 to 20, if they are being hired, they are not going to be driving," said Julie Sauls, vice president of external affairs for the California Trucking Association. "It's legal to drive at 18, but companies are usually going to have drivers that are a few years older because of insurance."

Puzzling through geopolitical implications of financial crisis FP
The thing is, an awful lot of the short-term crisis steps are not moving in that direction. The United States is trying to boost its consumption spending. China appears to be boosting pursuing fiscal expansion as well, except a closer look at what they are doing shows that they're doubling down on an investment strategy that increases their export dependence. Furthermore, the head of China's central bank doesn't think that Chinese consumption is going to rise anytime soon, because Confucian cultures value, "thrift, self-discipline, zhong yong or Middle Ground (low-key), and anti-extravagancy."


Fighting the recession with seeds KOAA

Ag tycoon James Boswell dies at 86 AP
James G. Boswell II, the intensely private businessman who transformed his family's cotton holdings into California's first giant agribusiness and one of nation's great farming empires, has died. He was 86.

Food safety reform on the table LAT

Indiana study indicates possible pesticide link to birth defects China View

Mexico modifies ag tariffs USDA FAS