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Families
- Poverty
- Agriculture
- Christmas-Holidays
- Thanksgiving
- Gasoline
- Households
- Money
- People
- "Food
Bank Shelves Going Bare At Holidays: High Living
Costs Hurting Donations, While Increasing Demand By Needy Families." ...
"The reports from across the country are dismaying: Food pantries are running
short and cannot meet the needs of all those seeking help." ... "In the
Department of Agriculture's most recent study of hunger
in America, released in November, more than 35.5 million Americans,
including 12.6 million children, were found to have "low" or "very low
food security" (defined as households where hunger was prevalent, where
there was not enough money to buy adequate food supplies, where food purchased
did not last, or where family members had to cut down or skip meals - sometimes
not eating for a day or longer)." ... "That's roughly 1 in 9 households.
And the numbers are rising from last year." ... "Everywhere, people are
feeling the crunch of rising gasoline and grocery prices, as well as utility
bills, rent and mortgage payments." ... "Those factors also are cutting
into people's ability to donate to food banks for others in need." ...
"At Thanksgiving, the [America's
Second Harvest] organization estimated that food banks nationally
were short a total of 15 million pounds of food, or roughly 11.7 million
meals. " -AP
via -CBSNews
Consumer
- Health
- Safety
- Food
- Agriculture
- Country
- Peoples
- Labor
- Law
- Money
- Politics
- Language
- West
Virginia - "Democrats
Use Fine Print to Stymie Bush's Deregulation Agenda."
... "It is a single sentence, on page 147 of the annual appropriations
bill funding the [Republican President Bush] White House, listed under
the title ``Additional General Provisions.''" ... "The 18-word clause eliminates
the money to pay for political appointees in each federal agency whose
jobs are to approve any new regulations. By cutting the money for the positions,
Congress would effectively repeal President George W. Bush's 11-month old
initiative." ... "Democrats, writing the budget for the first time since
Bush took office, are using their power over the purse to thwart Bush's
campaign to loosen federal regulations. Lawmakers have added fine print
to must-pass appropriations bills that sets new policy goals and increases
funding for regulators such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
and the Consumer Product Safety Commission." ... "``It is critically important
when we are facing beef recalls, toy recalls, mine collapses and workplace
infringements that Congress provide the necessary resources to the relevant
agencies for them to do the jobs they are required to do,'' said Senate
Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, 90, a West Virginia Democrat."
... "Lawmakers also want agencies to file periodic reports to Congress
charting their progress toward a host of Democratic policy goals, such
as developing workplace ergonomic guidelines for a dozen industries, requiring
country-of-origin labels on meat products and regulating a flavoring chemical
that has been linked to lung disease." -By Brian Faler
-Bloomberg
Secret
- US
- Iraq
- Texas
- Oil
- Money
- Criminal
- UN
- Food
- "Texas
oilman Wyatt sentenced to year in prison." ... "Texas
oilman Oscar Wyatt was sentenced to one year and one day in prison on Tuesday
for conspiracy in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal, becoming the most prominent
figure jailed over corruption in the program to buy oil from Saddam Hussein's
Iraq." ... "Under his plea agreement, prosecutors dropped four other counts
against him, cutting short a trial in which they made a case that he paid
secret kickbacks to Saddam's government to win oil contracts from Iraq."
... "U.S. criminal investigations into the corrupted U.N. program has so
far produced the convictions of seven individuals and two companies, including
Chevron Corp. which agreed to pay $30 million to resolve criminal and civil
liabilities." (1, 2)
-By Christine Kearney with contributions by David
Wiessler -Reuters
Children
- Food
- Poverty
- Homeless
- "Over
35.5 million found hungry in 2006." ... "More than
35.5 million people in this country went hungry in 2006 as they struggled
to find jobs that can support them, a figure that was virtually unchanged
from the previous year, the Agriculture Department said Wednesday." ...
"Single mothers and their children were among the most likely to suffer,
according to the study." ... "The 35.5 million people represented more
than 1 in 10, or 12.1 percent, who said they did not have enough money
or resources to get food for at least some period during the year, according
to the department's annual hunger survey. That is compared with 35.1 million
people who made similar claims in 2005." ... "The survey was based on Census
Bureau data and does not include the homeless. About three-quarters of
a million people were homeless on a given day in 2005, according to federal
estimates." ... "Of the 35.5 million people reporting periods of hunger
last year, 12.6 million were children." -By Hope Yen
-AP via -SeattlePI
John
Edwards
- Corporate
- Law
- Kids
- Safety
- Employees
- Food
- Drug
- Des-Moines
- Iowa
- 2008
Election - "Edwards
Gets Tough on Business." ... "[2008 election Democratic
Presidential Candidate] John Edwards is targeting Corporate America
and what he argues are its corrupt and greedy practices. In a speech today
in Des Moines, Iowa, he is outlining his plan to renew the “social contract”
between business and government if elected president. “In corporate America,
where a broader sense of social responsibility once held sway, a culture
of greed has taken over. Instead of treating their employees fairly, being
accountable to their shareholders and contributing to America’s prosperity,
CEOs act like their corporations exist just to build their own massive
fortunes,” says Edwards, according to speech excerpts provided to Washington
Wire by his campaign." ... "Edwards is proposing, among other things, universal
retirement accounts that employers would be required to provide if they
don’t offer pension programs." ... "Edwards is also proposing stronger
protections for workers seeking to unionize and increased shareholder rights.
And he’s proposing to cap tax-deferred compensation funds for top executives
at $1 million annually, and pushing for more disclosure of corporate governance
structures, the pay and demographics of top corporate officers, as well
as political contributions, government contracts, and taxes paid." ...
"He also proposes tougher Food and Drug Administration inspection standards
and safety regulations on products, like kids’ toys, made abroad." -By
Susan Davis -WSJ.com
US
- Government
- Global
- Climate
- Politics
- Human
- Health
- Environmental
- Science
- Food
- Water
- Air
- "Scientists
Denounce Global Warming Report 'Edits': Public Health
Experts Say Edits Represent Censoring of Science." ... "Environmental and
public health experts overwhelmingly denounced editing by the White House
of a federal health agency head's testimony to Congress Tuesday. Significant
deletions were made from the testimony, concerning global warming and the
potential impact on human health." ... "The original, unedited testimony
presented to Congress by Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and obtained by ABC News was 14
pages long, but the White House Office of Management and Budget edited
the final version down to a mere six pages." ... "Scientists and public
health organizations called the move "frustrating," "terrible" and "appalling."
The edits essentially deleted all sections that referred to climate change
as a public health concern -- including the risks of increased food-borne
and waterborne diseases, worsening extreme weather events, worsening air
pollution and the effect of heat stress on humans." ... ""Dr. Gerberding
is the lead of the premiere public health agency in the U.S.," said Kim
Knowlton, a science fellow on global warming and health at the National
Resources Defense Council in New York. "It's shocking that she was not
allowed to say in a public discussion some of these vital details." ...
""One has to wonder why was this is so threatening to the White House.""
(1, 2,
3)
-By Raja Jagadeesan, M.D. and Carla Williams
-ABCNEWS.com
Water
- Emergency
- Weather
- Environment
- History
- Farm
- Animals
- Food
- Georgia
- Alabama
- North
Carolina - Tennessee
- Kentucky
- "Southeast
drought hits crisis point." ... "Outdoor watering
bans already cover the northern third of Georgia and dozens of cities,
counties and towns in surrounding states. Farmers are selling cattle because
pastures have dried up. Alabama's Elmore County had to bring in floating
pumps and barges to extend its water intake pipe farther out into shrinking
Lake Martin. Georgia might have to do the same at Lake Lanier, Atlanta's
main water source." ... "Although rain is due today across parts of the
region, it will barely dampen the 16-month drought. Through September,
it is the region's driest year in 113 years of record-keeping. In five
of the six worst-hit states, rain totals this year are close to a foot
below normal." ... "It is the driest year on record for North Carolina
and Tennessee, second-driest in Alabama and third-driest in Kentucky. A
tree-ring study this summer of Tennessee's rainfall history shows this
is the third-driest year for the state in at least 350 years, behind only
1839 and 1708." -By Patrick O'Driscoll and Larry Copeland
with contributions by Jordan Schrader, Marty Roney, Leon Alligood, Ron
Barnett, Jessie Halladay, Matt Reed, and Jennie Coughlin
-USATODAY
Food
- Safety
- Health
- History
- Agriculture
- Company
- Employees
- Florida
- New
Jersey - "Food
inspectors overwhelmed: Workload, vacancies undermine
safety, employees claim." ... "As alarm bells sounded for the second-largest
hamburger recall in history, about 250 of the nation's top food safety
officials were in Miami [Florida] setting the "course for the next 100
years of food safety."" ... "That so many U.S. Department of Agriculture
field supervisors were in Florida while New Jersey-based Topps Meat Co.
[company] was scrambling to recall 21.7 million pounds of hamburger has
rankled some USDA inspectors and food safety advocates." ... "Several USDA
inspectors said in interviews that their workloads are doubling or tripling
as they take on the duties of inspectors who have left the department,
not to be replaced." ... ""We've been short the whole time I've been in,"
said one veteran inspector who asked not to be named. "We don't have enough
inspectors, but we have too much management. The inspectors are short all
the time and getting spread thinner and thinner."" ... "The Topps crisis
began last month, when three consumers in New York and Florida fell ill
from E. coli poisoning. Soon after that, at least 32 people were sick.
The Topps recall, though, began 18 days after the USDA's Food Safety and
Inspection Service confirmed E. coli bacteria in a Topps hamburger." (1,
2)
-By Stephen J. Hedges
-ChicagoTribune
Justice
- Food
- Politics
- Los
Angeles - California
- "Taxpayers
eat $7 million government lunch tab." ... "Hungry
attendees at [the Republican President Bush run] Justice Department conferences
have been enjoying millions of dollars in meatballs and other goodies courtesy
of U.S. taxpayers, according to an inspector general's report released
Friday." ... "The report cited $5 meatballs and cans of soft drinks each
costing $4.55 among reasons 10 conferences during 2005 and 2006 cost nearly
$7 million." ... "One four-day conference of 1,500 people in Los Angeles
[California] cost the Justice Department $394,000 in August 2005." ...
"In addition to the platters of Swedish meatballs and soda pop, the Justice
Department paid more than $13,000 for cookies, according to the inspector
general's office." ... "A Senate committee requested the report on Justice
Department conferences, which, in fiscal year 2006, cost taxpayers nearly
$46 million, including travel, programming, food and associated costs.
Year to year costs show such meetings have totaled from $33.8 million in
2001 to a high of $58 million in 2004." -CNN
Secret- Federal
- Health
- Safety
- Consumer
- Law
- Politics
- Food
- Drug
- Traffic
- Manufacturers
- Companies
- "Stealth
Rules War Pits Lawyers Versus Companies." ... "Official
Washington loves the word ``stealth.'' It connotes intrigue and secrecy,
making the term well understood in a capital where spies and invisible
fighter jets aren't all that's sneaking around." ... "At least that's how
the nation's trial lawyers view the [Republican President] Bush administration's
increasing use of federal health and safety regulations as a line of defense
for manufacturers trying to fend off multimillion-dollar liability claims
from consumers in state courts." ... "The fine print of a 2006 U.S. Food
and Drug Administration rule on prescription labeling that preempts, or
overrides, state laws is proving to be a powerful weapon in the courtroom
at a time when Merck & Co. is fighting thousands of lawsuits from consumers
claiming they were harmed by its drug Vioxx." ... "Since 2005, federal
agencies, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Department of Homeland Security
have issued more than a dozen rules that stress the primacy of federal
law." ... "Plaintiff attorneys, who have been watching the trend with alarm,
say eliminating the option of suing a company at the state level will result
in weaker federal regulations, more cost to the government for consumers'
medical bills, and a usurping of congressional authority." ... "The Senate
Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing for tomorrow: ``Regulatory
Preemption: Are Federal Agencies Usurping Congressional and State Authority?''"
-By Cindy Skrzycki -Bloomberg
Safety
- Politics
- US
- Chinese
- Industrial
- Consumer
- Goods
- People
- Food
- Pets
- "Import
safety panel prefers prevention over border checks."
... "A panel appointed by [Republican] President Bush to review the safety
of imported goods proposed Monday that the U.S. revamp its system to focus
more on prevention rather than trying to catch unsafe goods with border
inspections." ... "The panel of officials from 12 government departments
and agencies was formed in July after a rash of recalls involving Chinese-made
goods, including toothpaste containing antifreeze and pet food contaminated
with an industrial chemical that reportedly led to the deaths of hundreds
of cats and dogs." ... "The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates
most imported foods, inspects less than 1% of incoming food shipments."
-By Julie Schmit and David Jackson
-USATODAY
US
- China
- Made
- Business- Children
- Health
- Safety
- Brain
- Learning
- Consumer
- Food
- Environmental
- Pet
- "Mattel
Recalls 848,000 Barbie, Other Toys With Lead (Update3)."
... "Mattel Inc., the world's largest toymaker, recalled about 848,000
Chinese-made Barbie and Fisher-Price products whose paint may contain excessive
levels of lead, its third in the past five weeks." ... "The 11 affected
toys include Barbie kitchen, living room and other furniture items as well
as Fisher-Price preschool Geo Trax Locomotive toys and Bongo Band drums.
No injuries have been reported, Mattel said today." ... "Mattel has recalled
21 million Chinese-made products since the beginning of August. U.S. officials
have raised alarm about tainted products from China including seafood containing
harmful drugs, toothpaste with an ingredient found in antifreeze and pet
food containing a chemical used to make plastic." ... "About 65 percent
of Mattel toys are made in China." ... "Lead may be toxic if ingested by
children and can cause brain damage, behavior and learning problems and
slowed growth, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."
-By Heather Burke -Bloomberg
North
Korea - Food
- Farmland
- Disaster
- History
- UN
- Economy
- "North
Korea Suffers Worst Rains Ever: Floods Destroy 11
Percent Of Impoverished Country's Farmland At The Height Of Growing Season."
... "Floods caused by the largest rains ever recorded in parts of North
Korea have destroyed more than one-tenth of the impoverished country's
farmland at the height of the growing season, official media reported Wednesday."
... "The U.N. food agency estimated the damage claimed by the North so
far was about a quarter of the crop losses the country said it suffered
in 1995 floods. That previous disaster, along with mismanagement of the
economy and the loss of [North Koreas's capital] Pyongyang's Soviet benefactor,
led to famine that is believed to have killed as many as 2 million North
Koreans." ... "Precipitation along some areas of the Taedong River were
the "largest ever in the history" of measurements taken by the country's
weather agency, the North's Korean Central News Agency reported."
-AP via -CBSNews
Food
- Gasoline
- Job
- Consumer
- Politics
- "Prices
for key foods are rising sharply." ... "The Labor
Department's most recent inflation data showed that U.S. food prices rose
by 4.2 percent for the 12 months ending in July, but a deeper look at the
numbers reveals that the price of milk, eggs and other essentials in the
American diet are actually rising by double digits." ... "Already stung
by a two-year rise in gasoline prices, American consumers now face sharply
higher prices for foods they can't do without. This little-known fact may
go a long way to explaining why, despite healthy job statistics, Americans
remain glum about the economy." ... "Meeting with economic writers last
week, President Bush dismissed several polls that show Americans are down
on the economy. He expressed surprise that inflation is one of the stated
concerns." ... ""They cite inflation?" Bush asked, adding that, "I happen
to believe the war has clouded a lot of people's sense of optimism."" ...
"But the inflation numbers reveal the extent to which lower- and middle-income
Americans are being pinched." ... "The Bureau of Labor Statistics said
in its July inflation report that egg prices are 33.7 percent higher than
they were in July 2006. Over the same period, according to the department's
consumer price index, whole milk was up 21.1 percent; fresh chicken 8.4
percent; navel oranges 13.6 percent; apples 8.7 percent. Dried beans were
up 11.5 percent, and white bread just missed double-digit growth, rising
by 8.8 percent." -By Kevin
G. Hall -McClatchyDC.com
Gordon
Smith - Dick
Cheney - Environmental
- Science
- Politics
- Federal
- Investigation
- History
- Portland
- Ore
- California
- Fish
- Food
- Farmers
- Business
- "Smith
backs Cheney on salmon kill controversy." ... "[Oregon
Republican Senator] Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. [Republican-Oregon], is siding
with [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney over a massive fish kill on
the Klamath River in 2002, saying there is no evidence it was caused by
water diversions to farmers." [The Klamath River runs through Oregon and
California] ... "Smith also defended Cheney's role in intervening with
federal officials to help farmers in the Klamath Basin and cast doubt that
the salmon die-off caused sharp commercial costal [coastal] fishing restrictions."
... "The House Natural Resources Committee is investigating whether Cheney
exerted improper political influence to override scientifically based management
of the water resources." ... "Environmentalists, often at odds with Smith,
say his stance contradicts a study by the California Department of Fish
and Game, which found that the water diversions played a key role in the
deaths of some 77,000 salmon." ... "The California Fish and Game report
cited several factors leading to the fish kill, the largest in recorded
West Coast history." ... "There were larger-than-normal salmon returns,
warm water and low river flows that combined to crowd the fish, hastening
the spread of disease." ... "The report concluded that, "River flow and
the volume of water in the fish-kill area were atypically low," and that
the river flow was the only factor controlled by humans." ... ""It's stretching
credibility to claim that the flow management decisions by the [Republican
President] Bush administration in 2002 had nothing to do with the low flows
in the Klamath River," said Steve Pedery of Oregon Wild, a Portland-based
environmental group." -AP
via -kgw.com
US
Immigration - Workers
- Industries- Construction
- Health
- Agriculture
- Politics
- "Farmers
Call Crackdown on Illegal Workers Unfair." ... "Facing
the prospect of major layoffs of farmworkers during harvest season, growers
and lawmakers from agricultural states spoke in dire terms yesterday about
new measures by the [Republican] Bush administration to crack down on employers
of illegal immigrants." ... "The new effort was cautiously welcomed yesterday
by conservative Republicans who defied President Bush in June and opposed
a broad immigration bill he supported that failed in the Senate. That bill
included provisions to give legal status to illegal immigrants and to create
a guest worker program for agriculture." ... "Employers in low-wage industries
were critical but guarded, reluctant to admit openly that they hire illegal
immigrants. Randel K. Johnson, a vice president of the United States Chamber
of Commerce, said the measures were “one more kick in the pants” for meat-packing,
construction and health care companies that employ immigrant workers in
unskilled jobs." ... "Farmers were less shy, saying at least 70 percent
of farmworkers are illegal immigrants." -By Julia
Preston -NYTimes
US
- Colombia
- International
- Government
- Military
- Terrorism
- Law
- Enforcement
- Money
- Politics
- Food
- Agriculture
- Workers
- "In
Terrorism-Law Case, Chiquita Points to U.S.: Firm
Says It Awaited Justice Dept. Advice." ... "On April 24, 2003, a board
member of Chiquita International Brands disclosed to a top official at
the Justice Department that the king of the banana trade was evidently
breaking the nation's anti-terrorism laws." ... "Roderick M. Hills, who
had sought the meeting with former law firm colleague Michael Chertoff,
explained that Chiquita was paying "protection money" to a Colombian paramilitary
group on the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations. Hills said
he knew that such payments were illegal, according to sources and court
records, but said that he needed Chertoff's advice." ... "Chiquita, Hills
said, would have to pull out of the country if it could not continue to
pay the violent right-wing group to secure its Colombian banana plantations.
Chertoff, then assistant attorney general and now secretary of homeland
security [under Republican President Bush], affirmed that the payments
were illegal but said to wait for more feedback, according to five sources
familiar with the meeting." ... "Sources close to Chiquita say that Chertoff
never did get back to the company or its lawyers. Neither did Larry D.
Thompson, the deputy attorney general, whom Chiquita officials sought out
after Chertoff left his job for a federal judgeship in June 2003. And Chiquita
kept making payments for nearly another year." ... "What transpired at
the Justice Department meeting is now a central issue in a criminal probe.
According to these sources' account, the Bush administration was pulled
in competing directions, perhaps because its desire to avoid undermining
a newly elected, friendly Colombian government conflicted with its frequent
public assertions that supporting a terrorist group anywhere constitutes
a criminal offense and a foreign policy mistake." ... "An Organization
of American States report in 2003 said that Chiquita participated in smuggling
thousands of arms for paramilitaries into the Northern Uraba region, using
docks operated by the company to unload thousands of Central American assault
rifles and ammunition." ... "[Colombia's attorney general, Mario] Iguaran,
whose office has been investigating Chiquita's operations, said the company
knew AUC was using payoffs and arms to fund operations against peasants,
union workers and rivals." (1, 2,
3)
-By Carol D. Leonnig with contributions by Spencer
S. Hsu and Juan Forero -WashingtonPost
Global
- Food
- Safety
- US
- Canada
- China
- Colorado
- Animal
- Agriculture
- Industry
- Consumer
- Government
- Law
- Enforcement
- Money
- Politics
- "Some
hunger for food labels: After recalls, shoppers want
to know the origins of globalized groceries." ... "Take a look at the meal
you put on the table tonight, and you'll likely be looking at an international
effort. The steak may have come from a cow raised in Colorado, while the
carrots were grown in Canada and the apple juice imported from China."
... "Many consumers consider the globalization of the food chain a good
thing; you can get any food you want any time of the year. But several
recent recalls of tainted food have some shoppers questioning exactly where
their food comes from and how safe it is." ... "Figuring out where the
food on grocery store shelves comes from isn't always easy." ... "Country-of-origin
labels -- telling shoppers the country in which a product was grown, caught
or raised -- would do that but right now they're required only on seafood.
Labels for meat, produce and peanuts won't start until September 2008."
... "America's food safety problem is complicated but starts with this:
We are importing more food and the government agencies charged with keeping
food safe don't have enough funding or resources, said Chris Waldrop, director
of the food policy institute for the Consumer Federation of America." ...
"Country-of-origin labeling for meat and produce was supposed to take effect
three years ago. But lobbyists, primarily for the beef industry, enlisted
the help of congressional Republicans to delay the change. Trade associations
are still fighting it." (1, 2)
-By Sue Stock -NewsObserver.com
US
- Country
- Animal
- Farm
- Food
- Industry
- Politics
- Consumer
- Safety
- "Labeling
Fight Put Off As Farm Bill Markup Proceeds." ...
"Advocates of labeling [food by country-of-origin], which was mandated
by the 2002 farm law, were bracing for a Republican amendment to the new
farm bill (HR 2419) that would have weakened the requirement." ... "Since
the 2002 law was enacted, congressional Republicans, backed by the meatpacking
industry, have delayed implementation of the labeling mandate."
-CQ.com
Part
1 "Working
in the Background: A master of bureaucracy and detail, Cheney exerts
most of his influence out of public view."
Part
2 "Wars
and Interrogations: Convinced that the "war on terror" required
"robust interrogations" of captured suspects, Dick Cheney pressed the Bush
administration to carve out exceptions to the Geneva Conventions." ...
"Sidebar: Cheney
on Presidential Power."
Part
4 "Environmental
Policy: Dick Cheney steered some of the Bush administration's most
important environmental decisions -- easing air pollution controls, opening
public parks to snowmobiles and diverting river water from threatened salmon."
Poverty
- 2008
Election - Music
- Entertainer
- Food
- Health
- Education
- Water
- "ONE
Vote to launch anti-poverty campaign." ... "The anti-poverty
campaign of U2 [music entertainer] frontman Bono is promoting a $30 million
effort to pressure [2008 election] Republican and Democratic presidential
candidates to make the oft-forgotten issue a priority." ... "Dubbed ONE
Vote '08, the bipartisan political push aims to get [Republican] President
Bush's successor to commit to taking concrete steps in the first 100 days
to combat hunger and disease while improving access to education and water
across the globe." -AP
via -USATODAY
Food
- Safety
- Animal
- Agriculture
- Companies
- Government
- Law
- Politics
- Kansas
- "U.S.
government fights to keep meatpackers from testing all slaughtered cattle
for mad cow." ... "The [Republican President] Bush
administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing
all their animals for mad cow disease." ... "The Agriculture Department
tests fewer than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can
be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. A beef producer in the western
state of Kansas, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, wants to test all of its
cows." ... "Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone
should test its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform
the expensive tests on their larger herds as well."
-AP via -IHT.com
20070503
Health
- Science
- Consumer
- Food
- Drug
- Safety
- Terrorism
- Emergencies
- Lawmakers
- Politics
- Animal- Pets
- Pennsylvania
- Colorado
- Michigan
- Calif
- Kan
- Mass
- "FDA
plan to close field labs draws fire." ... "A Food
and Drug Administration plan to close seven of 13 field laboratories has
angered some lawmakers, government workers and safety advocates, who fear
the move will chase away skilled veteran employees and hurt the FDA's ability
to respond to public health emergencies." ... "The FDA's field labs inspect
and analyze food, drugs, animal medications and feeds, medical devices
and other health products." ... "The labs check for compliance with federal
guidelines, protect consumers from unsafe, ineffective and mislabeled products,
and help investigate public health threats such as product tampering, bio-terrorism,
food-borne illnesses and contaminated blood supplies." ... "Several of
the facilities helped investigate the recent pet food scare and E. coli
and salmonella outbreaks in spinach and peanut butter. On the heels of
these crises, the proposed lab closings have been met with strong suspicion."
... "Over the next several years, the FDA wants to close labs in Philadelphia
[Pennsylvania]; Denver [Colorado]; Detroit [Michigan]; Alameda, Calif.
[California]; Lenexa, Kan.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Winchester, Mass
[Massachusetts]. Those operations and an estimated 250 employees would
then be moved to five multi-purpose "mega-labs" that could handle all types
of FDA testing." ... "But some fear that fewer labs would delay the testing
of food, biological medical products or drugs in the event of a public
health emergency." -By Tony Pugh
-McClatchy via
-RealCities
20070423
Consumer
- Health
- Safety- Enforcement
- Money
- Politics
- Government
- Legislation
- Georgia
- California
- Mich
- "FDA
Was Aware of Dangers To Food: Outbreaks Were Not
Preventable, Officials Say." ... "The Food and Drug Administration has
known for years about contamination problems at a Georgia peanut butter
plant and on California spinach farms that led to disease outbreaks that
killed three people, sickened hundreds, and forced one of the biggest product
recalls in U.S. history, documents and interviews show." ... "Overwhelmed
by huge growth in the number of food processors and imports, however, the
agency took only limited steps to address the problems and relied on producers
to police themselves, according to agency documents." ... "Congressional
critics and consumer advocates said both episodes show that the agency
is incapable of adequately protecting the safety of the food supply." ...
""This administration does not like regulation, this administration does
not like spending money, and it has a hostility toward government. The
poisonous result is that a program like the FDA is going to suffer at every
turn of the road," said [Michigan Democratic Representative] Rep. John
D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the full House committee. Dingell is
considering introducing legislation to boost the agency's accountability,
regulatory authority and budget." (1, 2)
-By Elizabeth Williamson
-WashingtonPost
Food
- Poverty
- Government
- Money
- School
- Children
- Health
- Politics
- Religious
- Oregon
- "Oregon
Gov. Will Live On Food Stamp Diet: For One Week,
As He Battles Proposed Cuts In Federal Program." ... "This is Hunger Awareness
Week in Oregon, and for the next seven days, [Oregon Democratic Governor
Ted] Kulongoski and [his wife, Mary] Oberst will be cutting way back –
down to the budget one would live on if relying on food stamps – a diet
they hope others will also follow for a few days to better understand the
plight of those who have no choice." ... "It won't be easy, but the less
than bountiful fare is for a cause, reports CBS News correspondent Stephan
Kaufman, as Kulongoski begins lobbying Congress against cuts in the
food stamp program proposed by the Bush administration." ... "The Oregon
governor is also a strong advocate of school breakfast and lunch programs.
"When the federal government cuts back on them," says Kulongoski, "you're
actually depriving children of opportunity to basically have a healthy
life and at the same time, to be able to learn while they're in school.""
... "Oregon's first couple are the most-high profile people so far to take
part in a "food stamp challenge," a growing trend sponsored by religious
groups, community activists and food pantries across the country. The goal
is to walk the proverbial mile in the steps of those who rely on food stamps
to feed a family, to kindle both awareness, and, hopefully, empathy." (1,
2)
-AP via -CBSNews
20070422
World
- US
- Brazil
- Animals
- Food
- Environment
- Business
- "Vanishing
honeybees mystify scientists." ... "Go to work --
and vanish without a trace." ... "Billions of bees have done just that,
leaving the crop fields they are supposed to pollinate, and scientists
are mystified about why." ... "The phenomenon was first noticed late last
year in the United States, where honeybees are used to pollinate $15 billion
worth of fruits, nuts and other crops annually. Disappearing bees have
also been reported in Europe and Brazil." ... "Commercial beekeepers would
set their bees near a crop field as usual and come back in two or three
weeks to find the hives bereft of foraging worker bees, with only the queen
and the immature insects remaining. Whatever worker bees survived were
often too weak to perform their tasks." ... "Since about one-third of the
U.S. diet depends on pollination and most of that is performed by honeybees,
this constitutes a serious problem, according to Jeff Pettis of the U.S.
Agricultural Research Service." -Reuters
via -CNN
20070420
Fuel
- Food
- Poor
- People
- Auto
- Environment
- Economy
- US
- Venezuela
- Mexico
- "Ethanol
policy divides Latin America: US efforts to promote
ethanol have raised food prices in the region." ... "Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez calls the boom in ethanol the equivalent of starving
the poor "to feed automobiles."" ... "Ethanol, which is derived from crops
such as corn or sugar, is seen by some as a green alternative, a rising
star on the path toward reducing independence on foreign petroleum. But
it's not just Mr. Chávez who is questioning whether the benefits
outweigh the unintended consequences." ... "Now poultry industry executives,
who have seen the price of feedstock has gone up; Mexican consumers, facing
a 60 percent jump in the cost of tortillas; and even environmentalists,
who look at the amount of fertilizer that will be needed to grow extra
crops, are wondering aloud whether ethanol will help or hurt Latin American
economies." ... ""I think people worry that rich Americans are trying to
fuel cars at the expense of hungry people in poorer countries," says Janet
Larsen, director of research at the Earth Policy Institute in Washington.
"This increased push for ethanol production could be an incredible foreign
policy blunder."" (1, 2)
-By Sara Miller Llana and Daniel Cancels
-CSMonitor
20070326
Homeless
- People
- Food
- Poverty
- Religious
- Politics
- FL
- TX
- NV
- NC
- "Cities
set limits on serving food to homeless people." ...
"Cities are cracking down on charities that feed the homeless, adopting
rules that restrict food giveaways to certain locations, require charities
to get permits or limit the number of free meals they can provide." ...
"Orlando [FL], Dallas [TX], Las Vegas [NV] and Wilmington, N.C., began
enforcing such laws last year. Some are being challenged." ... "Last November,
a federal judge blocked the Las Vegas law banning food giveaways to the
poor in city parks. In Dallas, two ministries are suing, arguing that the
law violates religious freedom." -By Emily Bazar
-USATODAY
Homeless
- People
- Food
- Poverty
- Religious
- Politics
- Texas
- "The
'Lord's table' illegal in Dallas." ... "[Don] Hart,
who owns five Good Feet arch-support stores in Texas, is founder and pastor
of BIGHEART Ministries. He and his volunteers host a combination church
service-food giveaway every Saturday morning at the corner of Ervay and
Corsicana Streets." ... "They're breaking the law." ... ""I'm not stopping.
If they were to take me to jail, there will be people who will come take
my place," Hart says. "We're out here having these people pray for salvation,
for healing, for jobs. And we give them a wonderful meal."" ... "Hart's
group and Rip Parker's Ministry are suing the city in federal court over
an ordinance that limits how charities and individuals feed the homeless."
... "The law restricts food giveaways to specific locations. The city has
designated about nine spots, says Karen Rayzer, director of environmental
and health services. Hart's intersection is not on the list." ... "Will
Edwards, director of Rip Parker's Ministry, says he has gotten warnings.
The ministry feeds homeless people every day, mostly in places other than
the designated locations." ... "Edwards and Hart say the law infringes
on their religious freedom. "We're a Christian-based organization. We follow
our direction from Christ and the Bible," Edwards says. "It specifically
tells us to go out amongst the poor, the wretched, the sick, the homeless
and minister to them."" ... "Jason Norwood, a lawyer for the ministries
in the lawsuit, says the law violates other constitutional principles such
as freedom of association and equal protection. "To what extent can a government
prohibit private acts of charity, especially those that are religiously
motivated, between one citizen and another?" he asks." -By
Emily Bazar -USATODAY
20070314
Colombia
- US
- Ohio
- Food
- Company
- Law
- "Chiquita
Charged With Terrorist Dealings: Banana Company Admits
Former Subsidiary Paid Right-Wing Group In Colombia To Protect Employees."
... "Banana company Chiquita Brands International Inc. was charged Wednesday
with doing business with a terrorist organization." ... "Court documents
filed Wednesday are an indication the company has settled a lengthy Justice
Department investigation into its financial dealings with terrorist groups
in Colombia." ... "Federal prosecutors said the [Ohio] Cincinnati-based
company and several unnamed high-ranking corporate officers did business
with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. The group is described
in court documents as a violent right-wing organization that the U.S. has
designated as a terrorist group." -AP
via -CBSNews
20070217
Global
- Children
- Food
- Health
- Poverty
- Politics
- "18,000
children die every day of hunger, U.N. says." ...
"Some 18,000 children die every day because of hunger and malnutrition
and 850 million people go to bed every night with empty stomachs, a "terrible
indictment of the world in 2007," the head of the U.N. food agency said."
... "James Morris called for students and young people, faith-based groups,
the business community and governments to join forces in a global movement
to alleviate and eliminate hunger — especially among children." ... ""The
little girl in Malawi who's fed, and goes to school: 50% less likely to
be HIV-positive, 50% less likely to give birth to a low birth weight baby,"
he said in an interview Friday. "Everything about her life changes for
the better and it's the most important, significant, humanitarian, political,
or economic investment the world can make in its future.""
-AP via -USATODAY
20061211
Food
- Business
- Law
- GOV
- Science
- Consumer
- Politics
- "Outbreaks
Reveal Food Safety Net's Holes: Produce Growers Balk
At Calls for Regulation." ... "First it was spinach. Then tomatoes. Now
possibly green onions." ... "Over the past three months, fresh produce
has been the culprit in one episode of food-borne illness after another,
the latest an E. coli outbreak that appears to be linked to green onions
served at Taco Bell restaurants in the Northeast. More than 60 people have
been sickened in that outbreak." ... "The patchwork of federal and state
regulations that is supposed to ensure food safety has become less effective
as the nation's produce supply has grown increasingly industrial. Three
months after the spinach scare, there is no agreement on what should be
done to reduce health risks from the nation's fruits and vegetables even
as each episode of illness has heightened a sense of urgency." ... "The
number of produce-related outbreaks of food-borne illness has increased
from about 40 in 1999 to 86 in 2004, according to the Center for Science
in the Public Interest. Americans are now more likely to get sick from
eating contaminated produce than from any other food item, the center said."
(1, 2,
3)
-By Annys Shin -WashingtonPost
20061206
Government
- Legislative
- Money
- Military
- Health
- Food
- Elderly
- Calif
- "Some
Republicans Take a Scorched-Hill Tack: Leaving Budget
Decisions To Democrats Could Disrupt New Leadership's Agenda." ... "Like
a retreating army, Republicans are tearing up railroad track and planting
legislative land mines to make it harder for Democrats to govern when they
take power in Congress next month." ... "Already, the Republican leadership
has moved to saddle the new Democratic majority with responsibility for
resolving $463 billion in spending bills for the fiscal year that began
Oct. 1. And the departing chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee,
Rep. Bill Thomas (R., Calif.), has been demanding that the Democrat-crafted
2008 budget absorb most of the $13 billion in costs incurred from a decision
now to protect physician reimbursements under Medicare, the federal health-care
program for the elderly and disabled." ... "The unstated goal is to disrupt
the Democratic agenda and make it harder for the new majority to meet its
promise to reinstitute "pay-as-you-go" budget rules, under which new costs
or tax cuts must be offset to protect the deficit from growing." ... "The
collapse of the appropriations process will be felt soon in the Justice
and Commerce departments, food-safety agencies and veterans' health care."
... ""It's a demonstration of the irresponsibility of Republicans that
they would leave this country with this mess," said the next House speaker,
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.). "But we won, we will deal with it."" -By
David Rogers -WSJ.com
Global
- Climate
- Ocean
- Animal
- Food
- Environment
- Science
- People
- Business
- Politics
- "Some
happy that a family film flaunts dire facts." ...
"Michael Hirshfield has long struggled to get across his earnest but wonky
message: that global warming and overfishing are killing off the oceans'
food supply." ... "Then, along came the animated movie "Happy Feet" and,
voila, tens of millions of youngsters -- and their parents -- across the
country are suddenly aware that man-made problems are threatening the penguins
near the South Pole, and almost everything else in the South Seas." ...
"The blockbuster film, the top box-office hit for the past three weekends,
is about emperor penguins struggling to survive with a depleted food supply,
and one tap-dancing penguin's epic search to learn what is causing the
colony's fish to disappear." ... "A study published recently in the journal
Science predicted that if overfishing of depleted seafood populations continued
at current rates, the world would run out of commercial stocks by 2048."
-By John Donnelly
-Boston/Globe
20060918
Plants
- Food
- Wisconsin
- "E.
coli spinach scare increases to 21 states." ... "The
nationwide health scare over [E. coli] bacteria-ridden spinach widened
Monday, as the number of states reporting sickness linked to the outbreak
increased to 21." ... "Earlier Monday, the Food and Drug Administration
widened its warning against eating any bagged spinach to include all fresh
spinach." ... "At least 111 people have become ill." ... "Investigators
have blamed a death in Wisconsin on the outbreak, said Dr. David Acheson
of the FDA." ... "The victims are believed to be infected with the strain
of E. coli called 0157:H7, he told reporters in a telephone conference
call Sunday night. Fifty-six were hospitalized, at least 16 with a form
of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome."
-CNN
20060728
California
- Elderly
- Disaster
- Energy
- Food
- Work
- Water
- Animal
- Oregon
- Wildfire
- "At
least 132 deaths likely linked to heat Calif. heat wave."
... "At least 132 deaths, mostly elderly residents, were likely linked
to a nearly two-week heat wave in California, county coroner's offices
reported Friday." ... "Both Northern and Southern California had been gripped
by triple-digit temperatures since July 16, with the Central Valley suffering
the most with temperatures as high as 115." ... "Before this week, the
utility's highest peak energy use was recorded at 5,661 megawatts. The
heat wave created a demand of 6,165 megawatts — shocking officials who
predicted usage wouldn't top 6,100 megawatts for another four years." ...
"In Northern California, a wildfire near the Oregon state line was threatening
major power transmission lines between California and the Pacific Northwest."
... "Farmers have been struggling as well, trying get work crews into the
fields in the early mornings to avoid the worst of the heat and running
water misters to keep cattle from dying. Vegetables, fruit and even wine
grapes could be affected." -By Olivia Munoz
-AP via -SFGate.com
20060706
World
- Fuel
- Ocean
- Animals
- Food
- Science
- Seattle
- Washington
- "High
acidity infiltrates the oceans." ... "Corals and
shelled sea creatures face an uncertain future in oceans made increasingly
corrosive by the industrial emissions that fuel global warming, a government
report warned Wednesday." ... "Human activities, chiefly the burning of
fossil fuels, have upset a natural balance in ocean acidity, concludes
the report called Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs and
Other Marine Calcifiers: A Guide for Future Research." ... "From corals
to sea snails to microscopic plankton, the creatures affected underpin
many ocean food chains, say the authors of the report, a document reflecting
the views of 50 top experts in ocean chemistry. The research was sponsored
by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other
federal agencies." ... ""We have very clear evidence, and there is no doubt
this is occurring," says report co-author Richard Feely of the NOAA Pacific
Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle [Washington]." -By
Dan Vergano -USATODAY
20060529
Indonesia
- Earthquake
- Homeless
- Food
- U.N.
- "Trickle
Of Aid Reaches Quake Survivors: Death Toll Tops 5,400;
About 200,000 People Made Homeless In Indonesia." ... "A trickle of aid
began reaching survivors of the Indonesian earthquake that killed more
than 5,400 over the weekend, but desperate villagers said the meager deliveries
were not enough." ... ""We have 300 families in this village and have only
gotten two sacks of rice," said Lastri, 27, begging beneath the blazing
sun, a 5-month-old baby in her arms. "It's not enough."" ... "More aid
was on the way — a U.N. World Food Program was scheduled to arrive near
the quake zone on Java island on Tuesday with high-energy biscuits and
blankets, tents and generators, and U.N. trucks traveled roads lined with
increasingly desperate children, women and elderly seeking handouts."
-AP via
-CBSNews
20060517
Food
- Health
- Animals
- Business
- "As
'organic' goes mainstream, will standards suffer?
Advocates are cheered by the growing appeal of organic foods. But shoppers,
confused by labels, don't always get what they think they paid for." ...
"In February, a Consumer Reports article examined which organic foods offered
the most benefit. With certain fruits and vegetables - including apples,
peppers, cherries, peaches, and potatoes - the likelihood of pesticide
residue is much higher, it concluded, so buying organic makes a big difference.
Produce which showed little difference between organic and conventional
kinds included asparagus, bananas, broccoli, and onions." ... "The United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued standards for organic products
in 2000, although some critics question how strictly they're applied. But
the market for organic food is anything but simple. Many organic producers
never bother to go through the process of becoming certified, while other
producers use labels such as "free-range" or "natural" that conjure up
bucolic images but may mean very little." ... ""People use certain terms
loosely, and consumers are fooled," says Joe DePippo, president of FreeBird,
which produces antibiotic-free organic chicken raised on small family farms.
"Consumers associate free-range with organic, and rightfully so, but there's
some market for free-range that's not organic. And to just think that you
can have chickens running free all over the field - it's just not practical.""
-By Amanda Paulson -CSMonitor
20060410
US
Immigration - Law
- Politics
- Food
- Workers
- Nebr.
- NC
- "Immigration
rallies begin to take toll on US workplace." ...
"Amid calls for a nationwide work stoppage and economic boycott, throngs
of immigration-reform advocates rallied across the U.S. again Monday."
... "Several meatpacking plants either temporarily shut down or operated
on a reduced schedule because of a lack of production-line workers, many
of whom are immigrants." ... "Industry giant Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) said
some of its facilities, including a plant in Madison, Neb., will be closed,
partly because of the planned rallies and partly because of poor livestock
market conditions." ... "Futures traders and other meat-industry sources
reported that at least two Swift & Co. beef plants were operating at
reduced speeds Monday, apparently because of employee shortages. Also,
a large Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD) pork plant in North Carolina [NC] wasn't
operating, industry sources said." ... "The full brunt of immigrants' economic
power could be felt May 1. That's when some advocate groups are calling
for a national "Day Without an Immigrant" that could involve millions of
workers taking the day off to show solidarity behind the reform movement."
-By Richard Gibson -MarketWatch
20060330
US
- Mexico
- US
Immigration - Law
- Food
- Business
- Workers
- Prisoners
- California
- Iowa
- "'Let
The Prisoners Pick The Fruits'." ... "The debate
over immigration reform is causing a major split within the Republican
Party." ... "On Thursday, House conservatives criticized President Bush,
accused the Senate of fouling the air, said prisoners rather than illegal
farm workers should pick America's crops and denounced the use of Mexican
flags by protesters in a vehement attack on legislation to liberalize U.S.
immigration laws." ... ""I say let the prisoners pick the fruits," said
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California, one of more than a dozen Republicans
who took turns condemning a Senate bill that offers an estimated 11 million
illegal immigrants an opportunity for citizenship." ... ""Anybody that
votes for an amnesty bill deserves to be branded with a scarlet letter
A," said [Republican] Rep. Steve King of Iowa, referring to a guest worker
provision in the Senate measure." (1, 2)
-AP
-CBSNews
20060327
Terrorism
- Enforcement
- Environment
- Food
- Civil
Liberties - Free
Speech - Privacy
- Law
- Politics- 2004
Election - Seattle
- WA
- CO
- "FBI
Keeps Watch on Activists." ... "The FBI, while waging
a highly publicized war against terrorism, has spent resources gathering
information on antiwar and environmental protesters and on activists who
feed vegetarian meals to the homeless, the agency's internal memos show."
... "For years, the FBI's definition of terrorism has included violence
against property, such as the window-smashing during the 1999 Seattle [WA]
protests against the World Trade Organization. That definition has led
FBI investigations to online discussion boards, organizing meetings and
demonstrations of a wide range of activist groups. Officials say that international
terrorists pose the greatest threat to the nation but that they cannot
ignore crimes committed by some activists." ... "The FBI's encounters with
activists are described in hundreds of pages of documents obtained by the
American Civil Liberties Union under the Freedom of Information Act after
agents visited several activists before the 2004 political conventions."
... ""They don't know where Osama bin Laden is, but they're spending money
watching people like me," said environmental activist Kirsten Atkins. Her
license plate number showed up in an FBI terrorism file after she attended
a protest against the lumber industry in Colorado Springs [CO] in 2002."
(1, 2)
-By Nicholas Riccardi
-LAtimes
20060308
Business
- California
- New
York
- "For
Trader Joe's, a New York Taste Test." ... "Long before
Trader Joe's went national, its inexpensive but unusual products — things
like wild blueberry juice, Sicilian extra-virgin olive oil and frozen chicken-lemon
grass spring rolls — inspired an intense following among American food
lovers, rarely seen in the aisles of a supermarket." ... "The Polynesian-themed
chain was established by Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, Calif., in the 1960's,
in an attempt to rescue his convenience stores after 7-Eleven came to town.
"We decided to go in the other direction — to appeal to people who are
well-educated, well-traveled and underpaid," Mr. Coulombe said. (He sold
his final interest in the company in 1989, but many of his innovations
are still in place.)" ... "The chain's expansion is of recent vintage:
the first store outside California opened in 1993. Today, each of the 250
stores still carries only about 3,000 items (a large supermarket will stock
55,000 or more), in proportions that invert the industry norm: a tiny selection
of canned soup, for example, but case after case of French ice cream confections
and frozen Indian entrees. About 80 percent of the items carry the Trader
Joe's label, many imported from small producers in Europe and Asia, and
all free of artificial colors, preservatives, flavors and MSG." (1, 2,
3)
-By Julia Moskin -NYTimes
20060130
Food
- Jobs
- Illinois
- "Kraft
To Cut 8,000 Jobs." ... "Kraft Foods Inc., the nation's
largest food manufacturer, said Monday it would eliminate 8,000 more jobs,
or about 8 percent of its work force, and close up to 20 production plants
as it broadens an ongoing restructuring effort." ... "[Illinois] Northfield-based
Kraft already had announced closures of 19 production facilities and the
elimination of 5,500 jobs. Kraft announced the moves Monday while reporting
fourth-quarter earnings results that beat analysts' expectations." -AP
via -CBSNews
20051230
Guantanamo
Bay - Cuba
- US
- Military
- Prisons
- Food
- "Guantanamo
Hunger Strike More Than Doubles; 84 Inmates Involved."
... "The number of detainees on a hunger strike at the U.S. naval base
at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay has more than doubled in the past week, the U.S.
military said." ... "Forty-six detainees joined existing hunger strikers
on Dec. 25, to bring the total number of prisoners refusing food to 84,
the military said yesterday on the Southern Command's Web site. That's
about a sixth of the internment center's inmates." ... "The military said
the detainees are trying to put pressure on the U.S. to release them. Detainees'
lawyers have said the hunger strikers are protesting their continued detention
without trial and conditions at the base." -By Alex
Morales -Bloomberg
20051224
Consumer
- Food
- Health
- "Labels
on food to list allergens more plainly: New federal
law intended to help consumers find ingredients that could sicken them."
... "A federal law effective Jan. 1 requires food labels to list ingredients
made from proteins derived from any of the eight major allergenic foods:
milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans, wheat, tree nuts, soybeans and peanuts.
The Food and Drug Administration says they account for 90 percent of all
food allergies." -AP
via -HoustonChronicle.com
20051223
California
- WalMart
- Employees
- Business
- Food
- "Wal-Mart
hit with $172.3m lunch bill." ... "A jury in Oakland,
California on Thursday ordered Wal-Mart, the largest US retailer, to pay
$172.3m to current and former employees, after finding that the company
had failed to respect their right to a 30-minute unpaid lunch break." ...
"The verdict is the largest penalty of its kind imposed by a court on the
retailer in a range of lawsuits that have accused it of deliberately allowing
its employees to work unpaid overtime, or to work during legally required
breaks." ... "State law in California requires employers to grant its workers
the 30 minute unpaid break, or to compensate them if they decline to take
the time." -By Jonathan Birchall
-FT.com via
-MSNBC
20051117
Iraq
- Oil
- Business
- UN
- Legal
- History
- "Scope
of oil-for-food fraud 'overwhelming'." ... "It began
with the best of intentions and achieved its major goals: feeding the Iraqi
people while keeping dangerous weapons out of Saddam Hussein's hands."
... "Along the way, the United Nations' oil-for-food program metastasized
into the worst corruption scandal in U.N. history." ... "Three weeks after
a scathing report detailed the scope of the fraud — implicating governments,
former diplomats, businessmen and corporations — a relatively small number
of criminal investigations and other probes have begun." -By
Barbara Slavin -USATODAY
20051212
Woman
- Food
- Nutrition
- Sweden
- "Study:
Tea may help fight ovarian cancer." ... "Swedish
researchers have found tantalizing but far-from-conclusive evidence that
drinking a couple of cups of tea every day might help reduce the risk of
developing ovarian cancer." ... "Those [women in the study] who reported
drinking two or more cups of tea a day were 46 percent less likely to develop
the disease than women who drank no tea. Drinking less than two cups also
appeared to help, but not as much." -By Lindsey Tanner
-AP via -MercuryNews
20051206
Entertainment
- Cartoon
- Marketing
- Children
- Health
- "Cartoon
characters caught in adults' food fight." ... "A
report Tuesday from the Institute of Medicine calls for dramatic changes
in the marketing of foods and beverages to children. For example, it asks
that licensed characters — such as cartoon stars like SpongeBob and the
princesses in Disney features — be used to promote only nutritious foods."
... "But in calling for marketing standards that support healthful diets,
the report does not define exactly what foods it's talking about. And not
everyone has the same definition of a healthful food." -By
Nanci Hellmich -USATODAY
20051122
US
- Canada
- Animals
- Health
- "U.S.
Bans Imports of Some Canadian Poultry." ... "Federal
agriculture officials banned poultry imports from mainland British Columbia
on Monday after Canadian officials reported finding a duck at a poultry
farm that was infected with the flu." ... "Canadian authorities have said
that the virus that afflicted the duck was a mild North American strain
and not the virulent strain that has killed wild and commercial bird flocks
all over Asia, as well as more than 60 people." -By
Gardiner Harris -NYTimes
20051119
Massachusetts
- Thanksgiving
- Food
- Business-
"Mass.
warns Whole Foods on Thanksgiving." ... "There'll
be no last-minute shopping for turkeys or trimmings on Thanksgiving Day
in Massachusetts." ... "The state has warned the upscale Whole Foods supermarket
chain that it will risk criminal charges under the state's centuries-old
"blue laws" if it goes ahead with plans to open on the holiday." ... "The
office of Attorney General Thomas Reilly issued a legal opinion after officials
at a Whole Foods competitor, Shaw's Supermarkets, wrote him a letter asking
him to block the opening, The Boston Globe reported."
-AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource
20051109
People
- Government
- Food
- Politics
- "Religious
groups push to protect food stamp program." ... "Religious
leaders across the country are urgently working to save $844 million in
food stamps as the House of Representatives considers cuts to the program
this week. A House bill, if passed, would take food stamps from about 300,000
people." ... "Religious advocates for the poor see the proposed cuts as
a moral issue and say that helping the poor is a teaching of all major
world religions." ... ""Cutting food stamps and other programs for low-income
people is just wrong," said the Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread
for the World, a lobbying group for the hungry supported by more than 45
denominations and church agencies. "It is the Bible turned upside down.
The House is saying it is showing fiscal concern but at the same time is
planning about $70 billion in tax cuts, and almost all are for the wealthy.""
-By Helen T. Gray -KnightRidder
via -MercuryNews
20051028
Halloween
- Marketing
- Business
- Parents
- "Marketers
offer Halloween treats that aren't as sweet." ...
"Quaker is pushing mini-granola bars. Utz is selling bat-shaped pretzels.
The U.S. Apple Association has linked up with Radio Disney to convince
kids that apples are hip. And in an assault on candy kingpins, Hasbro is
marketing Halloween "fun size" cans of Play-Doh." ... "Some are polishing
their image. Some are trying to appeal to kids via nutrition-minded parents.
Some are trying to make a buck. Nutritionists love it." ... ""Halloween
is a nutritional nightmare," says Cynthia Lair, a nutritionist. "All the
candy isn't just non-nutritional, it can also create nutritional debts.""
-By Bruce Horovitz -USATODAY
20051026
Halloween
- "Halloween
dishes to dress up your table." ... "Set your sights
on giving Halloween food its own dress-up display as you set your table
with treats that won't trick the hungry." ... "Sweets and candy-colors
tend to grab most attention, but don't forget there's a lot of energy going
on, and sooner or later, everyone needs a bite of something hearty and
solid." -By Joan Brunskill
-AP via -Newsday.com
20051024
Mexico
- Weather
- Hurricane
Wilma - History
- "Storm's
end brings search for food in Cancun: Resort tourists
and residents receive handouts." ... "As Hurricane Wilma ended its two-day
rampage across the Yucatan Peninsula early yesterday, residents of this
famous resort city [Cancun, Mexico] picked through the wreckage of their
shattered homes and lined up by the hundreds at the town hall for handouts
of food. Others looted damaged shops for food and supplies, some later
clashing occasionally with police who struggled to maintain order." ...
"Thousands of tourists emerged from partially flooded shelters to search
for food as well, surveying the damage from what officials said was the
most destructive storm to hit the peninsula in recorded history." -By
Marion Lloyd -Boston/Globe
20051018
Iceland
- Animals
- Marketing
- "Iceland
woos America with lamb and skyr." ... "Fermented
shark should probably go. Same with beefy hunks of whale meat and lamb
smoked over dried sheep dung." ... "And you don't have to be a marketing
wizard to guess that dense strips of smoked puffin won't sell well in a
nation where stuffed versions of the seabird nest in children's bedrooms."
... "Still, that leaves plenty of food that might be attractive. Fishermen
pull tons of pristine cod from North Atlantic waters every year, selling
it fresh or preserved with salt. Icelandic lamb has never eaten a mouthful
of grain or seen a syringe of antibiotics. The country's butter is deeply
yellow with a high fat content, produced from cows with a pure lineage
that can be traced back to Norwegian Viking herds." ... "The trick is finding
a way to sell it to America's food elite. A group of Icelandic agricultural
and tourism officials think they've found the angle in a clunky but straightforward
slogan: "Sustainable Iceland since 874."" -By Kim
Severson -NYTimes
via -azcentral.com
20051012
Pakistan
- Earthquake
- Disaster
- Homes
- UN
- Food
- "Aid
still failing to reach most of Pakistan's 4m earthquake survivors."
... "Humanitarian aid has reached only a small proportion of the 4m people
whose homes have been destroyed or damaged by the devastating earthquake
that struck Pakistan four days ago, according to a disaster assessment
by UN officials." ... ""This is a huge catastrophe and the more we see
the worse it's getting," said Andrew Macleod, a member of the UN's disaster
assessment team, yesterday. "It's no criticism of Pakistan to say that
it's only a small proportion of the affected population that has received
any aid, and that there are areas that may not for some time."" ... "The
UN yesterday appealed for $272m (€225m, £150m) to support its
efforts for six months, of which $62.5m would be spent on shelter and non-food
items and $50m on food. It said strong aftershocks had left survivors afraid
to go back inside damaged houses and many preferring to sleep in fields."
-By Jo Johnson and Farhan Bokhari
-FT.com
20051011
Pakistan
- India
- Earthquake
- Disaster
- "Food
arrives as toll tops 42,000." ... "The death toll
from the massive South Asia earthquake soared above 42,000 as the first
trickle of humanitarian aid began to flow into the region, authorities
said." ... "Meanwhile, 120 metric tons of ready-to-eat food arrived Tuesday,
enough to feed 240,000 people for five days, a World Food Programme spokesman
told CNN." ... "Another 80 million metric tons of food aid is in the pipeline,
Amjad Jamal said." ... "But he acknowledged the need was great and said
appeals were being made to the international community for additional donations
of food, supplies and money." ... "Even with many far-flung areas still
not reached, the death toll has hit 41,000 in Pakistan alone, with another
1,239 dead in India and one reported death in Afghanistan, officials have
said." -By Andrew Stevens, Satinder Bindra, Matthew
Chance, Ram Ramgopal, Syed Mohsin Naqvi and John Raedler with contributions
by Mukhtar Ahmed and Tom Coghlan -CNN
20051009
Iraq- Australia
- US
- Business
- "Iraq
snubs Australia, buys U.S. wheat." ... "Iraq will
buy one million tons of U.S. wheat in the next few days under a policy
that puts the government rather than the suppliers in charge of shipping
the cargo, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi said on Sunday." ... "The
Iraqi government, among the world's major buyers of commodities, chose
U.S. wheat after Australia failed to make offers under the new Free on
Board (FOB) system, Chalabi, a key official behind procurement decisions,
told Reuters" (1, 2)
-By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
-Reuters
20050914
Hurricane
Katrina - Louisiana
- New
Orleans - Food
- "Only
until further notice: In New Orleans, a city defined
by its culinary culture, restaurateurs vow to rebuild." ... "New Orleans
has a cuisine, a rich, vibrant, fully evolved style of cooking from centuries
in a pivotal location. There the melting pot actually lived up to the great
American concept, blending African, West Indian, French, Spanish, Italian,
Cajun and recently Vietnamese into one exuberant good-times roll." ...
"Most of the chefs and restaurateurs reached by phone or e-mail say they
have no real sense of what property damage awaits them. In the meantime,
they're wrangling with insurance companies and hoping for the least devastating
scenario." ... "The French Quarter, home to many landmark restaurants,
was largely spared flooding and suffered only sporadic looting."" -By
Regina Schrambling
-LAtimes
20050907
-
- "Charges
of fraud mar Egyptian election." ... "Egyptians voted
Wednesday in the country's first contested presidential election, but charges
of fraud and a big boycott rally marred balloting that longtime leader
Hosni Mubarak portrayed as a major democratic reform." ... "Ordinary citizens
and opposition party members told The Associated Press that election workers
inside polls in Luxor instructed voters to choose Mubarak, who is expected
to be easily re-elected to a fifth six-year term. In Alexandria, workers
for the ruling National Democratic Party promised food to those who cast
a ballot, voters said." -By Maggie Michael with contributions
by Nadia abou el Magd, Sarah el-Deeb, and Hgag Salam -AP
via -SeattlePI.NWsource
20050831
Hurricane
Katrina - Louisiana
- Disaster
- Sports
- TX
-
-
- "New
Orleans Mayor Says `Thousands' Might Be Dead (Update1)."
... "New Orleans [Louisiana] Mayor Ray Nagin said Hurricane Katrina probably
killed hundreds and ``most likely, thousands'' of residents as officials
sought to evacuate 23,000 refugees to Houston." ... "The refugees, mostly
in the Superdome sports stadium, will be taken by 500 buses to the Astrodome
in Houston [Texas] 328 miles (508 kilometers) away, officials said. It
may be weeks before people are allowed to return, they said." ... "``There
is nothing in New Orleans that will sustain them,'' said Lieutenant Kevin
Cowan, a spokesman for the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency
Preparedness. ``There is no water, no electricity, no food, no sanitation.
People cannot live in New Orleans.''" -By Heather
Burke -Bloomberg
20050815
Niger
-
-
- "Inside
and beyond Niger: Addressing Africa's short- and
long-term needs." ... "Here [in Niger] drought, locusts and endemic poverty
helped spawn a vicious famine." ... "The Niger crisis wasn't a surprise.
A U.N. World Food Program warning, and plea, issued nine months ago fell
largely on deaf ears. The same happened with two aid initiatives earlier
this year. Only recently, with the media focusing on the crisis, have donations
started to pour in -- though the amount received was for long still far
below what is needed." ... "The United Nations estimates that more than
3.8 million people, about one-third of Niger's population, desperately
need food. Among the suffering are 800,000 children, 160,000 of whom suffer
from malnutrition. Even without the famine, more than 60 percent of Nigeriens
live on less than $1 a day." -With contributions by
Greg Botelho, Anderson Cooper and Jeff Koinange
-CNN
20050720
-
-
-
-
-
- Animals
- Food-
"WHO
Presses China Over Bird Flu Samples." ... "Chinese
authorities have yet to release samples gathered in the western province
of Qinghai, where at least 6,000 migratory birds have died, Wadia said."
... "Over the last two years, hundreds of millions of birds, including
poultry and wild birds, have died or been slaughtered across Asia because
of the H5N1 bird flu virus, which also has infected some humans, killing
more than 55 people in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia, which
reported three new human deaths from bird flu Wednesday." ... "Health experts
have warned that migratory geese and gulls in Qinghai could be poised to
spread the virus to India, Australia, New Zealand and eventually Europe
when they fly south this summer." -By Alexa Olesen
-AP via -WashingtonPost
-
-
-
- Animals
- Food
- Genetics
- "China
holding out on bird flu." ... "The Chinese government
has not provided information requested urgently by international health
experts about recent avian flu outbreaks in birds, which now threaten to
spread the highly lethal virus to previously unaffected countries, according
to UN officials and independent researchers." ... "World Health Organization
officials and other international health organizations have asked the Chinese
government for details about three outbreaks in the remote western provinces
of Qinghai and Xinjiang. In seeking to head off a potential human pandemic,
international health experts said they require samples of the bird flu
virus, analyses of its genetic makeup and specifics about the extent of
the infection and efforts to contain it."-WashingtonPost
via -Newsday.com
20050522
Connecticut
-
-
-
-
- "Conn.
Nears Strict School Junk Food Ban: Connecticut Lawmakers
on the Verge of Adopting Most Far-Reaching School Junk Food Ban in U.S."
... "Connecticut is on the verge of adopting the most far-reaching ban
in the country on soda and junk food in public schools, in an effort to
curb rising rates of childhood obesity." ... "Advocates say Connecticut's
ban would be the strongest because it is so broad, applying to all grades
and all school sites where food is sold." (1, 2)
-By Noreen Gillespie -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
-
-
- "Russians
cited in oil-for-food probe: Senate panel accuses
politicians ahead of public hearing." ... "A Senate report released Monday
accuses top Russian politicians, including advisers to President Vladimir
Putin, of engaging in illicit transactions with Iraq during the U.N. oil-for-food
program." ... "The report found that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime
allocated 76 million barrels of crude oil to Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russia's
deputy parliament speaker, and his political party between 1997 and 2002."
... "Not a drop of Iraqi oil entered Russia, which is a net exporter of
oil, investigators found. Instead, the crude was shipped to the North American
and European markets." -By Phil Hirschkorn with contributions
by Liz Neisloss -CNN
-
-
-
-
-
- "Report:
Saddam's Aides Used Oil As Reward." ... "Russian
leaders received millions of dollars in Iraqi oil allocations from top
representatives in Saddam Hussein's former government in hopes of ending
U.N. penalties against Iraq, Senate investigators were told." ... "The
Senate investigators said their interviews and documents from the former
Iraqi government add to evidence in previous probes linking Russian officials
to abuses in the $64 billion U.N. program. It was designed to permit Saddam
to sell some oil and use the proceeds to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian
items." ... "Documents released by the panel last week claimed former French
Interior Minister Charles Pasqua and British politician George Galloway
also accepted allocations, charges both men deny." (1, 2)
-By Ken Guggenheim -AP
via-WashingtonPost
20050504
Mother's-Day
-
- "Mothers
Day is the most popular day of the year to dine out."
... "On Mother's Day, Americans like to honor the family matriarch by taking
her out to eat." ... "Mother's Day, which will be celebrated Sunday - is
the most popular day of the year to dine out, according to the National
Restaurant Association." ... "About 38 percent of Americans will go out
to eat for the holiday, the association's survey indicates." ... "Dining
out on Mother's Day is more common among households with three or more
individuals, according to the study. And younger respondents - those under
25 and between 35 and 44 - were more likely than older respondents to go
out." -By Nancy Hobbs -SLTrib.com
20050503
Mother's-Day
- Food
- "Impress
Mom With A Brunch." ... "Mother's Day this weekend
is a time to honor and celebrate mom's everywhere. So, why not start the
day off right by surprising her with the perfect Mother's Day brunch?"
... "Almost everything can be made the day before, avoiding potential Sunday
morning chaos which could upset mom on her day. And don't forget to set
a pretty table!"-CBSNews
Mother's-Day
- Food
- "Make
Mom's Day." ... "After taking a highly informal but
frank poll of my friends and colleagues, I'd say most mothers want help
not with breakfast but with the big meal of the day. As one FOODday staffer
put it: "Hey, I'd eat a bowl of Trix for breakfast if it meant I didn't
have to cook dinner that night."" ... "And while I know mothers are supposed
to be Queen for a Day, it doesn't mean we've got all morning to lie around
nibbling sugar-dusted beignets. It may be Mother's Day, but it's also one
of only two days that I, as a working mother, have each week to cram my
entire domestic life into." -By Martha Holmberg-OregonLive/Oregonian
-
- Food
- Mother's-Day
- "Getting
fast-food critics on the team." ... "For 28 years,
Dr. Dean Ornish has been trying to persuade people to make their eating
habits more healthy." ... "In his five books, he champions low-fat diets;
he was one of the first researchers to show that stringent healthy eating
could reverse chronic illness, particularly heart disease. Among his advice
to patients is to eat a lot of vegetables and minimally processed foods
and to avoid all things greasy." ... "Yet Ornish also works for McDonald's.
As a paid consultant, he meets with top executives, gives talks to employees
and recently wrote nutritional words of wisdom about diet and breast cancer
for table displays to go into all McDonald's restaurants in the United
States for Mother's Day on Sunday." ... "He is not the only one straddling
this line between science and commerce." -By Melanie
Warner -IHT.com
via -NYTimes
20050419
-
- Food
- "Government
Issues 12 New Food Pyramids: Out With the Old Food
Pyramid, in With 12 New Ones As Government Re-Evaluates Dietary Guidelines."
... "The government flipped the 13-year-old food pyramid on its side Tuesday,
added a staircase for exercise and offered a dozen different models, all
aimed at helping Americans trim their waistlines." ... "Criticism of the
new pyramid stood in contrast to praise that greeted the more detailed
"Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005," released by the government in
January. Developed by a panel of scientists and doctors using the latest
research, the 70-page booklet served as the basis for the pyramid's makeover."
... "The guidelines' message was to choose foods packed with the most nutrition
and the least calories; for example, bread made from whole-grain flour
instead of white flour." (1, 2,
3)
-By Libby Quaid with contributions by John Heilprin
-AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
-
- -
-
- Food
- "Texas
businessman indicted in U.N. oil-for-food probe."
... "Federal authorities on Thursday announced an indictment against Texas
businessman David Chalmers and the refinery company he heads, Bayoil, as
part of a U.S. probe of the United Nations' Iraq oil-for-food program."
... "According to the indictment, Chalmers faces three felony charges for
allegedly paying illegal surcharges to the former Iraqi regime of Saddam
Hussein on top of prices for Iraqi crude oil purchased under the U.N.-monitored
program." ... ""The defendants at Bayoil, led by Chalmers, paid inflated
commission" for oil to third parties, [U.S. Attorney David] Kelley said,
"knowing that a portion were earmarked for kickbacks to the Hussein regime.""
-By Phil Hirschkorn
-CNN
20050412
-
- Food
- Cloning
- Animals
- Connecticut
-"Produce
from cloned cattle 'safe': Milk and meat from cloned
cattle appear safe for human consumption, a pilot study has found." ...
"Scientists in the US and Japan found that meat and dairy products from
a bull and cow cloned using the "Dolly" technique met industry standards."
... "The team says its results suggest cloning techniques could be used
to boost food production, particularly in developing countries." ... "Two
beef and four dairy clones were used in the research, all derived from
a single Holstein dairy cow and a single Japanese black bull." ... "The
scientists, led by Jerry Yang from the University of Connecticut, compared
the produce with that from normal animals of similar age and breed."-BBC
/News
20050404
-
-
- "Follow
the Money: Watchdogs are warning that corruption
in Iraq is out of control. But will the United States join efforts to clamp
down on it?" ... "More than U.S. money is at stake. The administration
has harshly criticized the United Nations over hundreds of millions stolen
from the Oil-for-Food Program under Saddam. But the successor to Oil-for-Food
created under the occupation, called the Development Fund for Iraq, could
involve billions of potentially misused dollars. On Jan. 30, the
former CPA's own inspector general, Stuart Bowen, concluded that occupation
authorities accounted poorly for $8.8 billion in these Iraqi funds. "The
CPA did not implement adequate financial controls," Bowen said. U.S. officials
argue that it was impossible, in a war environment, to have such controls.
Yet now the Bush administration is either ignoring or stalling inquiries
into the use of these Iraqi oil funds, according to reports by Democratic
Rep. Henry Waxman, and others." (1, 2)
-By Michael Hirsh -MSNBC/Newsweek
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Food
- Animals
- Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment
- "U.N.
Study: Earth's Health Deteriorating: U.N. Study Warns
Growing Populations, Economic Activity Have Strained the Earth's Ecosystems."
... "Unless nations adopt more eco-friendly policies, increased human demands
for food, clean water and fuels could speed the disappearance of forests,
fish and fresh water reserves and lead to more frequent disease outbreaks
over the next 50 years, it warned." (1, 2)
-By Catherine McAloon with contributions by Kenji
Hall -AP via
-ABCNEWS.com
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Food
- Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment
- "Study
highlights global decline." ... "The most comprehensive
survey ever into the state of the planet concludes that human activities
threaten the Earth's ability to sustain future generations." ... "The report
says the way society obtains its resources has caused irreversible changes
that are degrading the natural processes that support life on Earth." ...
"This will compromise efforts to address hunger, poverty and improve healthcare."
... "The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was drawn up by 1,300 researchers
from 95 nations over a period of four years." ... "It reports that humans
have changed most ecosystems beyond recognition in a dramatically short
space of time." ... "The way society has sourced its food, fresh water,
timber, fibre and fuel over the past 50 years has seriously degraded the
environment, the assessment (MA) concludes." -By Jonathan
Amos-BBC
/News
-
-
-
- Animals
- Food
- Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment
- "World
ecosystems in danger, UN warns." ... "The world's
sources of fish and fresh water are so rundown that they can no longer
sustain current or future demands, according to a first international report
card on the world's environment published today." -By
Lydia Adetunji -FT.com
-
-
- Food
- "Oregon
moves to limit junk food in schools." ... "Oregon's
state legislature is considering putting limits on sales of soda pop, candy
and other junk food in public schools, saying that such food is part of
the reason that too many U.S. children are obese."
-Reuters via -CNN
-
- Food
- "Oil-food
inquiry clears U.N. chief: But Volcker report rips
Annan's son." ... "The commission investigating the oil-for-food program
in Iraq reported Tuesday that Secretary-General Kofi Annan did not influence
the awarding of a contract to the company that employed his son. But it
faulted him for not looking more aggressively into the company's relationship
with the United Nations once questions were raised." ... "Annan told a
news conference that he viewed the conclusions about him as an exoneration,
which he said he welcomed with "great relief" after "so many distressing
and untrue allegations." Asked if he thought the report's criticisms of
him for management failures meant that he should step down for the good
of the organization, he replied bluntly, "Hell, no."" -By
Warren Hoge -NYTimes
via -SFGate.com
20050310
- "McDonald's
may outsource drive-thru order-taking." ... "McDonald's
(MCD)
wants to outsource your neighborhood drive-thru." ... "The world's largest
fast-food chain said Thursday that it is looking into using remote call
centers to take customer orders in an effort to improve service at its
drive-thrus." ... "Company officials said the idea, being tested at a small
number of restaurants in the Pacific Northwest, is aimed at reducing the
number of mistakes." -Reuters
via -USATODAY
20040422
-
- "UN
backs oil for food inquiry." ... "The former chairman
of the US Federal Reserve Board yesterday began an independent investigation
into allegations of corruption and kickbacks worth $10bn (?5.6bn) in the
UN's oil-for-food programme in Iraq." ... "The United Nation's security
council unanimously approved Paul Volcker's inquiry into the scheme that
US legislators say allowed billions of dollars in illegal oil revenue to
flow to Saddam Hussein." -By Gary Younge
-Guardian.co.uk
20040206
- "Mad
Cow Quandary: Making Animal Feed." ... "In the month
and a half since a case of mad cow disease was discovered in Washington
State, Americans have been learning more than they wanted to know about
what cattle in this country have been eating." ... "Though consumers may
imagine bucolic scenes of nursing calves and cows munching on grass or
hay, much of American agriculture no longer works that way. For years,
calves have been fed cow's blood instead of milk, and cattle feed has been
allowed to contain composted wastes from chicken coops, including feathers,
spilled feed and even feces." ... "Though the United States banned the
use of cow parts in cattle feed in the 1990's, it still permits rendered
matter from cows to be fed to pigs and chickens, and rendered pigs and
chickens to be fed back to cows. Critics say that in theory, that sequence
could bring mad cow disease full circle, back to cows." -By
Denise Grady-NYTimes
via -Google-News
20031231
-
- "New
restrictions ban ill cattle in food supply." ...
"The Agriculture Department dramatically upgraded the country's defenses
against mad cow disease Tuesday, banning meat from all so-called downer
cows and promising to create a nationwide animal tracking system, steps
long advocated by critics." ... "These are ``very aggressive actions,''
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said Tuesday, one week after the first
case of mad cow disease surfaced on U.S. soil in a Washington state Holstein
slaughtered on Dec. 9." -AP
via -StarTribune.com
20031223
- "U.S.
Reports First Case of Mad Cow Disease." ... "The
first U.S. case of the deadly mad cow disease, which devastated parts of
the European agriculture industry in the 1990s, was found in a sick animal
in Washington state, the Bush administration said on Tuesday." ... ""A
single Holstein cow from Washington state was tested as presumptive positive
for BSE or what is widely known as mad cow disease," U.S. Agriculture Secretary
Ann Veneman said at a news conference." (1, 2)
-By Randy Fabi and Richard Cowan-Reuters
20030502
- "With
pot and porn outstripping corn, America's black economy is flying high:
Illegal migrants provide the muscle for US black market." ... "Marijuana,
pornography and illegal labour have created a hidden market in the United
States which now accounts for as much as 10% of the American economy, according
to a study. As a cash crop, marijuana is believed to have outstripped maize,
and hardcore porn revenue is equal to Hollywood's domestic box office takings."
... "Despite laws that punish marijuana cultivation more strictly than
murder in some states, Americans spend more on illegal drugs than on cigarettes.
And despite official disapproval of pornography, the US leads the world
in export of explicit sex videos, according to [the book] Reefer Madness:
Sex, Drugs and Cheap Labour in the American Black Market, by Eric Schlosser."
-By Duncan Campbell -Guardian.co.uk
20030422
-
-
- "U.N.
Works to Find Compromise on Lifting Iraq Sanctions."
... "The Security Council was set to hold two separate consultations on
Iraq today. Benon Sevan, the director of the Oil For Food program which
has overseen the operation of much of the Iraqi economy for the past seven
years, was to brief the afternoon session." ... "Under the program, which
began in 1996, the Iraqi did the contracting, offering billions of dollars
worth of business to companies from countries it wanted to trade with.
In the seven years since the program began, one Security Council diplomat
said yesterday, Russian companies did twice as much business as any other
country's firms — $7.3 billion worth in both oil purchases and the sale
of other goods since 1996." -By Felicity Barringer
-NYTimes via -Google-News
20030327
-
- "UN
Council Agrees on New Iraq Oil, Food Plan." ... "Security
Council members reached broad agreement on Thursday to free billions of
dollars of Iraq's oil revenues in an effort to avert a humanitarian crisis
triggered by the week-old war." ... "Germany's U.N. ambassador, Gunter
Pleuger, head of the week-long negotiations, told reporters he would introduce
the resolution shortly, aiming to get a vote on Friday." ... "Some 60 percent
of Iraq's 26 million people are solely dependent on rations from the oil-for-food
program." -By Evelyn Leopold-Reuters
/World
-
- "Bush
wants UN vote to release Iraq food funds." ... "President
George W. Bush on Thursday urged the United Nations to approve a resolution
immediately restarting the UN oil-for-food programme - a move that threatens
to expose fresh divisions on the security council." ... "The survival of
more than half the Iraqi people depended on the UN-administered scheme
to use the country's oil revenues to buy food supplies, Mr Bush said."
-By James Blitz, James Harding, and Robert Graham
-FT.com
20030301
- "The
town chocolate built hits 100: It has been
100 years since the first shovels of dirt were turned for a factory that
created a community [in Hershey, Pennsylvania], where residents still are
mindful of founder Milton S. Hershey, his generosity and his business acumen."
... "Hershey Chocolate Co. is now Hershey Foods Corp., which brings in
more than $4 billion annually and employs more than 6,000 people in central
Pennsylvania alone." -AP
via -CNN
20021114
-
-
- "USDA
Orders Prodigene Biocorn Destroyed in Iowa." ...
"A small biotech company experimenting with a corn variety engineered to
produce insulin was ordered to destroy 155 acres of the crop in Iowa because
it may have contaminated nearby fields, the U.S. Agriculture Department
said on Thursday." ... "A growing number of U.S. companies are experimenting
with biotech corn to produce cheaper proteins and compounds for use in
pharmaceuticals. ProdiGene's biotech corn grown for pharmaceutical use
is not federally approved for human or livestock feed." ... "The USDA,
along with the Food and Drug Administration, is trying to determine if
the Texas-based company violated any federal regulations. ProdiGene could
face fines of up to $500,000 for each violation." -By
Randy Fabi -Reuters/Politics
-
-
- "Biotech
Firm Mishandled Corn in Iowa." ... "The biotechnology
company that mishandled gene-altered corn in Nebraska did the same thing
in Iowa, the government disclosed yesterday." ... "The disclosure raised
new questions about the conduct of ProdiGene Inc., a company in College
Station, Tex., that is now under investigation for allegedly violating
government permits in two states. The ProdiGene matter is proving to be
a black eye for the biotech industry, which has been trying to reassure
the public it can be trusted not to contaminate the food supply." -By
Justin Gillis-WashingtonPost
20021009
-West
Coast Port Lockout
- "Dock
backlog likely to hit Christmas sales: Intervention
by Bush will get ports moving again, but return to normal is uncertain."
... "At least four weeks of loading and unloading backlog still lie ahead,
after which the movement of goods will still be crimped. The amount of
available dock space, and the number of containers, ships, and personnel
to process goods are all in question." ... "The result, for the short term
of five weeks, will continue to be the stranding of both perishable foodstuffs
as well as goods destined for those markets with very specific windows
of salability." -By Daniel B. Wood
-CSMonitor/buy
"Study
Touts Broccoli to Fight Ulcers, Cancer." ... "It
started in 1992, when Hopkins pharmacology professor Paul Talalay and his
colleagues showed that sulforaphane -- a substance produced in the body
from a compound in broccoli -- could trigger the production of phase II
enzymes. The enzymes can detoxify cancer-causing chemicals and are among
the most potent anti-cancer compounds known." -By
Rick Weiss -WashingtonPost
20011121
"Curry
'may slow Alzheimer's'." It's possible that
the spice "turmeric may play a role in slowing down the progression of
the neurodegenerative disease." ... "The crucial chemical is curcumin,
a compound found in the spice." -BBC
/News /health
20011106
"Easy
on the Joe?" ... "This isn't the first time
that caffeine has been fingered as a culprit in bone loss." ... "The latest
findings suggest that genetics are at play." -WashingtonPost