Fresh Produce Discussion Blog

Created by The Packer's National Editor Tom Karst

Friday, August 30, 2013

Statement by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Retirement of Agricultural Research Service Administrator Edward B. Knipling

Statement by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Retirement of Agricultural Research Service Administrator Edward B. Knipling WASHINGTON, August 30, 2013— United States Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the following statement on the retirement of Agricultural Research Service Administrator Edward B. Knipling: "Dr. Edward B. Knipling retires today with 46 years of service to the American people through the advancement of science. In a prestigious career devoted to the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, he has held positions throughout the agency, serving as ARS Administrator since 2004. Dr. Knipling has guided nearly 2,000 scientists with a focus on ARS as the working arm of USDA science and an organization of national responsibility. In 1997, he helped spearhead the National Research Programs that provide organizational structure to approximately 800 ongoing research projects. He has created an environment in which science can flourish and researchers can innovate to address the nation's most pressing issues. Under his leadership, ARS has developed a globally recognized program of breeding and genetics for plants and animals. Crops improved by ARS for disease resistance—against the devastating wheat disease, Ug99, for example—and genetic markers developed for animal selection have advanced U.S. agriculture and improved lives worldwide. Responding to modern health concerns, Dr. Knipling has heightened the focus of ARS science on nutrition and childhood obesity. Dr. Knipling's retirement brings to a close about eight decades of Knipling family service to ARS and USDA. His father, famed ARS entomologist Dr. Edward F. Knipling, made vast contributions to U.S. agriculture – including development of the technology that led to the eradication of the screwworm from the United States, Mexico, and Central America. On behalf of USDA, I am deeply grateful to Dr. Knipling for his service and leadership, and for the contributions of the Knipling family to the science that stands behind the progress of American agriculture and the well-being of our citizens."

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Parents Projected to Spend $241,080 to Raise a Child Born in 2012, According to USDA Report

WASHINGTON, August 14, 2013 – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its annual report, Expenditures on Children by Families, also known as the Cost of Raising a Child. The report shows that a middle-income family with a child born in 2012 can expect to spend about $241,080 ($301,970 adjusted for projected inflation* ) for food, shelter, and other necessities associated with child-rearing expenses over the next 17 years. This represents a 2.6 percent increase from 2011. Expenses for child care, education, health care, and clothing saw the largest percentage increases related to child rearing from 2011. However, there were smaller increases in housing, food, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses during the same period. The 2.6 percent increase from 2011 to 2012 is also lower than the average annual increase of 4.4 percent since 1960. “As the economy continues to recover, families are naturally cost conscious. This report gives families with children a greater awareness of the expenses they are likely to face,” said USDA Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Under Secretary Kevin Concannon. “The report is also a valuable resource for courts and state governments in determining child support guidelines and foster care payments.” The report, issued annually, is based on data from the Federal government’s Consumer Expenditure Survey, the most comprehensive source of information available on household expenditures. For the year 2012, annual child-rearing expenses per child for a middle-income, two-parent family ranged from $12,600 to $14,700, depending on the age of the child. The report, developed by the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP), notes that family income affects child-rearing costs. A family earning less than $60,640 per year can expect to spend a total of $173,490 (in 2012 dollars) on a child from birth through high school. Middle-income parents with an income between $60,640 and $105,000 can expect to spend $241,080**; and a family earning more than $105,000 can expect to spend $399,780. “One of the major expenses on children is food, and at USDA many of our programs are focused on making sure that children have access to healthy foods,” said CNPP Acting Executive Director Robert Post, Ph.D “On our website we provide shopping strategies and meal planning advice to help families serve more nutritious meals affordably through the 10-Tips Nutrition Series and the Thrifty Food Plan. Our MyPlate symbol and the resources at ChooseMyPlate.gov provide quick, easy reference tools to facilitate healthy eating.” For middle-income families, housing costs are the single largest expenditure on a child, averaging $71,820 or 30 percent of the total cost over 17 years. Child care and education (for those incurring these expenses) and food were the next two largest expenses, accounting for 18 and 16 percent of the total cost over 17 years. These estimates do not include costs associated with pregnancy or education beyond high school. The report notes geographic variations in the cost of raising a child, with expenses the highest for families living in the urban Northeast, followed by the urban West and urban Midwest. Families living in the urban South and rural areas have the lowest child-rearing expenses. “Lower housing costs contributed to the reduced expenditures for families in rural areas,” explained study author and economist Mark Lino, Ph.D. “Families in rural areas also saw lower child-care and education expenses.” In 1960, the first year the report was issued, a middle-income family could have expected to spend $25,230 ($195,690 in 2012 dollars) to raise a child through age 17. Housing was the largest expense on a child both then and now. Health care expenses for a child doubled as a percentage of total child-rearing costs. In addition, some current-day costs, such as child care, were negligible in 1960.Expenses per child decrease as a family has more children. Families with three or more children spend 22 percent less per child than families with two children. As families have more children, the children can share bedrooms, clothing and toys can be handed down to younger children, food can be purchased in larger and more economical quantities, and private schools or child care centers may offer sibling discounts. The full report, Expenditures on Children by Families (2012), is available on the web at www.cnpp.usda.gov. In addition, families can enter the number and ages of their children to obtain an estimate of costs through an interactive web version of the report.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

USDA Report, Survey Data Peg Record Corn Crop

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 13, 2013—The highly anticipated August World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report was released Monday by the Agriculture Department. This first report of the year to incorporate farmer survey and field plot measurements to projected yield and production potential indicates a record crop. “Up to this point, USDA has been using a statistical model for corn that predicts yield based on planting date, rainfall and temperature during the growing season,” said Todd Davis, American Farm Bureau Federation economist. “The August report, through the rest of the year, will incorporate farm production information in the supply and demand estimates.” August’s WASDE report projected the 2013 corn crop at 13.763 billion bushels, which would be a record crop, if realized, and a 2.98 billion bushel increase from 2012’s drought-stricken crop. The report estimates the 2013 corn yield at 154.4 bushels per acre, a reflection of the late planting season and cool, dry weather in the western Corn Belt, according to Davis. The USDA report predicts 2013-14 corn ending stocks to drastically increase from 719 million bushels for 2012-13 to 1,837 million bushels, elevating the stocks-to-use ratio from 6.4 percent to 14.5 percent. “This means that the U.S. corn market is likely to go from a 23-day supply to a 52-day supply of corn. This increase in stocks will cause prices to decline from a marketing-average price of $6.95 per bushel for 2012-13 to a projected $4.90 per bushel in 2013-14,” said Davis. The 2013 U.S. soybean crop is projected at 42.6 bushels per acre, up 3 bushels per acre from the 2012 yield. The soybean crop is estimated at 3.225 billion bushels, up 240 million bushels from 2012 by 104 million less than the production record set in 2009. The 2013-14 soybean ending stocks are also expected to increase, though not as sharply as corn, from 125 million bushels in 2012-13 to 220 million bushels in 2013-14. In turn, the stocks-to-use ratio also will see an increase from a threadbare 4 percent for 2012-13 to 6.9 percent for 2013-14. The projected marketing-year average prices are expected to decline from $14.40 per bushel for 2012-13 to $11.35 per bushel for 2013-14. “Due to the late planting season for both corn and soybeans, especially in the western Corn Belt, farmers should expect future reports to provide more accurate estimates that may differ significantly from Monday’s estimate,” said Davis. “While the 2013 corn and soybean crops do not look excellent everywhere, the corn and soybean markets are anticipating much larger crops, which will lead to lower prices and tighter profitability margins for 2014.”

Thursday, August 1, 2013

DeLauro Wants Answers on Stomach Bug Outbreak Caused By Cyclospora Calls On FDA, CDC to Be Fully Transparent With American Consumers

DeLauro Wants Answers on Stomach Bug Outbreak Caused By Cyclospora Calls On FDA, CDC to Be Fully Transparent With American Consumers WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today demanded answers from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the recent outbreak of cyclosporiasis that has struck nearly 400 Americans. Consumer and food safety advocates have also raised serious questions about the lack of information from those two agencies. “To date there is minimal information available to the public on the possible cause(s) of this outbreak from federal agencies,” DeLauro wrote. “The first page dedicated to this outbreak investigation on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website was posted on July 31, 2013 – a full month after the outbreak investigation first began by the CDC and days after Iowa and Nebraska announced an association with a salad mix. Neither of the states have released information on the brand, producer, or country of origin of the food product associated with cases within their state. Both the FDA and CDC pages on the outbreak also lack information for consumers on the product implicated in Iowa and Nebraska.” DeLauro asked the agencies to report back on a series of question, including: • Details on how the investigation unfolded • Does either the FDA or CDC consider it acceptable to identify the source of an outbreak and withhold the timely, public release of that information? • If so, what is the rationale and legal justification for withholding this information and how is it determined how long such information should be withheld from the public? The full letter is as follows: August 1, 2013 Margaret Hamburg, M.D. Director Thomas Frieden U.S. Food and Drug Administration Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 10903 New Hampshire Avenue 1600 Clifton Road Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002 Atlanta, GA 30333 Commissioner Hamburg and Director Frieden, I write today out of deep concern about the ongoing outbreak of cyclosporiasis as well as the impact of budget reductions including those due to sequestration on staffing resources and the timeliness of the investigation. In addition to sporadic cases and clusters of cases, outbreaks of this disease caused by an intestinal parasite have been confirmed since the mid-1990s and have been associated with specific types of imported fresh produce. Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was first notified of cases on June 28, 2013 the number of Americans affected has dramatically increased. Nearly 400 individuals in 16 states, including one in my home state of Connecticut, have become ill. Earlier this week two state health agencies, Iowa and Nebraska, released information on their epidemiological activities and completed trace back. Cases reported in these two states make up more than 50 percent of the reported cases to date, with 143 cases in Iowa and 78 in Nebraska. In both states the trace back activity indicates an association with a prepackaged salad mix that “came through national distribution channels” according to the announcements from both states. Yet, to date there is minimal information available to the public on the possible cause(s) of this outbreak from federal agencies. The first page dedicated to this outbreak investigation on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website was posted on July 31, 2013 – a full month after the outbreak investigation first began by the CDC and days after Iowa and Nebraska announced an association with a salad mix. Neither of the states have released information on the brand, producer, or country of origin of the food product associated with cases within their state. Both the FDA and CDC pages on the outbreak also lack information for consumers on the product implicated in Iowa and Nebraska. Understandably, investigations of disease outbreaks, including foodborne disease, must be thorough and thoughtful. At the same time, the public was left in the dark as an outbreak leaped from 2 cases to nearly 400 and questions around data and information sharing abound. Furthermore, recent press coverage indicates that a product may be strongly associated with the outbreak while we await communication from the lead federal agencies investigating the outbreak. Some press coverage indicates this outbreak has been associated with specific food products, but that details of that source are being intentionally withheld from the public. This would be an alarming precedent and incredible disappointment to consumers who expect a transparent federal food safety system that protects the public health. Given this, I look forward to timely and comprehensive responses to the following: • What have been the specific challenges in this outbreak that have slowed the investigation and what lessons can the CDC and FDA apply to future outbreaks? • A timeline of the investigation and related communication to date including a comprehensive list of: date(s) of conference calls involving officials from federal, state, and local public health agencies; date(s) of conference calls with industry and/or producers; date(s) of conference calls with consumer and/or public health advocates; date(s) of communication with the public related to the outbreak. • A timeline of the investigation specific to identifying the food product(s) associated with this outbreak, including: data and specific date(s) that indicated possible associations between the outbreak and particular food products; date(s) that information was shared with state and local health agencies; date(s) that information was shared with industry or producers; and date(s) that information was shared with the public. • Does either the FDA or CDC consider it acceptable to identify the source of an outbreak and withhold the timely, public release of that information? If so, what is the rationale and legal justification for withholding this information and how is it determined how long such information should be withheld from the public? Thank you for your efforts to protect the public health from unsafe foods and improve the federal response when an outbreak does occur. Sincerely, Rosa L. DeLauro Member of Congress