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20071222

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

20071204

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

20071127

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

20071114

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

20071030

Australia - World - Agriculture - Business - Weather - Water - History - "Australia Cuts Wheat Crop Forecast for Third Time (Update1)." ... "Australia reduced its wheat harvest forecast for the third time this year as the nation's worst drought on record hurt production, adding pressure to shrinking world supplies that drove up prices to a record last month." -By Gemma Daley and Madelene Pearson -Bloomberg

20071026

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

20071025

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

20071019

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

20071014

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

20070914

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

20070911

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

20070910

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

20070904

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

20070815

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

20070814

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

20070811

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

20070802

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

20070720

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

20070719

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

20070627

Dick Cheney - Special Report - Government - Terrorism - Torture - Economy - Environment - Air - Water - Food - Animal - Politics - "Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency." ... "Dick Cheney is the most influential and powerful man ever to hold the office of vice president. This series examines Cheney's largely hidden and little-understood role in crafting policies for the War on Terror, the economy and the environment."

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 3 "Dominating Budget Decisions: Working behind the scenes, Dick Cheney has made himself the dominant voice on tax and spending policy, outmaneuvering rivals for the president's ear." ... "Sidebar: Expanding Authority for No. 2 Spot." ... "Sidebar: Taking on the Supreme Court Case."
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."

-By Barton Gellman and Jo Becker -WashingtonPost

20070611

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

http://OneVote08.org
http://www.One.org
"ONE Vote '08"
Search: <One Vote 08> in: <Google-[News]>

20070529

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
- - - "China outlaws 'naked sushi' meals: The Chinese government has banned restaurants from serving food on the bodies of naked women."-BBC /News

20050516

- - - - "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

MyPyramid.gov

20050414

- - - - - 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

20050330

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
- - - - - - - - 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

20020625

- "[Oregon State petition seeks] Labels for genetically modified food sought." ... "The proposed November ballot measure would require labeling of all genetically engineered food sold in Oregon or distributed from the state. Labels saying “Genetically Engineered” and perhaps including more information also would be required for food additives and packaging containing GMOs." -By Laurence M. Cruz -StatesmanJournal

20020528

"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

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