Archive for August, 2009
Come On Down To The…USDA!
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan wants to be the “matchmaker” between the Obama administration and USDA program administrators. She recently sent out a memo, “Harnessing USDA rural development programs to support local and regional food systems,” (pdf) to her staff and interested third parties. It details how those programs can cash in on the [...]
August 31, 2009
Tags: agriculture, education, farmers, food event, policy, USDA Posted in: Health, Politics 
One Comment
Marion Nestle Talks Sugar And Ag Policy On The Colbert Report
According to the manufacturers of a huge amount of processed, sugar-laden foodstuffs, there is a sugar crisis in the United States. On August 5th, representatives of those companies wrote to the Secretary Vilsack at the USDA asking him to lift the stringent quotas on imported sugar. Marion Nestle, of course, has plenty to say [...]
August 26, 2009
Tags: agriculture, farmers, food event, policy, subsidies, sugar, USDA Posted in: Politics No Comments
Time Magazine Takes A Bite Out Of Cheap Food
Usually when the mainstream media talks about the plight of factory farmed animals and their deleterious effect on the environment, they do so in passing. It’s almost a casual afterthought to the story about why eating red meat will kill you faster, if it gets mentioned at all. Enter Times (online) magazine. The article Getting [...]
August 24, 2009
Tags: agriculture, bacon, cows, factory farms, farmers, Health, obesity, policy, waste Posted in: Health, Politics No Comments
Obama Announces Plan For Lunchroom Reform
In a special interview with an intrepid 11-year-old, Obama explained how he was going to make school lunches both tastier and healthier. Damon Weaver comes from a low-income school district in Pahokee, Florida, and has previously scored interviews with Dwayne Wade, a basketball star, and then-senator Joe Biden. Weaver asks what many parents want to [...]
August 19, 2009
Tags: Barack Obama, change, food, Health, heroes, nutrition, policy Posted in: Uncategorized No Comments
Patrick Kennedy Responds To Food Safety Query
Back in June I wrote about the new Food Safety Enhancement Act being proposed to congress. While the bill was a huge step forward in many regards, many thought the language was discriminatory against small farms. I encouraged everyone to contact their representatives and voice their concern for a “one-size-fits-all” solution to food safety.
You can [...]
August 14, 2009
Tags: agriculture, farmers, food safety, policy Posted in: Health, Politics No Comments
Food–In Space!
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, it’s high time we celebrate what keeps astronauts going on those trips.
First of all, the one thing that should be celebrated in conjunction with food in space is that microgravity does not affect natural swallowing processes–something scientists were rightly worried about before John Glenn (the [...]
August 12, 2009
Tags: food event, innovation Posted in: Fun Food Facts, Science & Technology No Comments
