Genetic
changes to food may get uniform labeling [New York Times]
With
Washington State on the verge of a ballot initiative that would require
labeling of some foods containing genetically engineered ingredients and other
states considering similar measures, some of the major food companies and
Wal-Mart, the country’s largest grocery store operator, have been discussing
lobbying for a national labeling program. Executives from PepsiCo, ConAgra and
about 20 other major food companies, as well as Wal-Mart and advocacy groups
that favor labeling, attended a meeting in January in Washington convened by
the Meridian Institute, which organizes discussions of major issues. The
inclusion of Wal-Mart has buoyed hopes among labeling advocates that the big
food companies will shift away from tactics like those used to defeat
Proposition 37 in California last fall, when corporations spent more than $40
million to oppose the labeling of genetically modified foods.…Instead of
quelling the demand for labeling, the defeat of the California measure has
spawned a ballot initiative in Washington State and legislative proposals in
Connecticut, Vermont, New Mexico and Missouri, and a swelling consumer boycott
of some organic or “natural” brands owned by major food companies.
4
GOP state lawmakers endorse federal immigration overhaul [Los Angeles Times]
In
a sign of changing political times, four California Republican lawmakers joined
a dozen of their Democratic colleagues Thursday in announcing support for an
overhaul of federal immigration law including a pathway to citizenship for
those in the country illegally. The news conference supporting a resolution
urging congressional action was attended by GOP Assemblymen Katcho Achadjian of
San Luis Obispo and Jeff Gorrell of Camarillo as well as Sen. Anthony Cannella
(R-Ceres). Assemblyman Rocky Chavez (R-Oceanside) also attended the news
conference supporting the resolution…Cannella represents a farming area of the
Central Valley, and a California Farm Bureau spokeswoman said agricultural
businesses are struggling to find enough U.S. citizens to work in the fields.
Commentary: The easy problem
[New York Times]
Over
here in the department of punditry, we deal with a lot of hard issues, ones on
which the evidence is mixed and the options are all bad. But the immigration
issue is a blessed relief. On immigration, the evidence is overwhelming; the
best way forward is clear.…Increased immigration would boost the U.S.
economy….The second clear finding is that many of the fears associated with
immigration, including illegal immigration, are overblown….The first big point
from all this is that given the likely gridlock on tax reform and fiscal
reform, immigration reform is our best chance to increase America’s economic
dynamism….The second big conclusion is that if we can’t pass a law this year,
given the overwhelming strength of the evidence, then we really are a pathetic
basket case of a nation.
California
growth boom out of steam [Sacramento Bee]
California's
long run as a boom state will sputter to an end as population growth rates
consistently fall below 1 percent a year in the coming decades, according to
state Department of Finance projections released Thursday. The trend has
already started. For the last several years, more residents have left
California for other states than arrived from them, birth rates have declined
and foreign immigration has slowed….The San Joaquin Valley, which is already
home to millions of Latinos and Asians, will be the largest exception to the
slow-growth trend seen elsewhere. Fresno County will grow by 75 percent during
the next five decades, as its Latino population roughly doubles. Stanislaus
County will have more people than either San Francisco or San Mateo counties by
2060, with Latinos accounting for two-thirds of the county's growth.
January
dry as a bone [Stockton Record]
Most
of the time, a dry January means a dry year. But there are exceptions. Water
officials hope 2012-13 will be one of them, after what should have been our
wettest month of the winter failed to live up to even modest expectations.…And
a new outlook released Thursday by federal officials predicts relatively dry
conditions in Northern California for at least another month. There's enough
water in the reservoirs for Stockton residents this summer even if not another
raindrop falls, said Kevin Kauffman, general manager of the Stockton East Water
District. Some eastside farmers, however, may soon ask for water to put on
winter crops, which normally are not irrigated, he said. And if, indeed, this
winter disappoints, the concern immediately becomes next year. "I think
we're all starting to get nervous," Kauffman said.
Editorial: Water supply not a
sure thing [Chico Enterprise-Record]
…There
wasn't much of a ripple this week in the endless conversation about water in
California, when the latest snowpack numbers came out….Yet the players drafting
plans for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta just kept trucking along, focused on
the environmental needs there and the water demands at the ends of the pipes
and canals heading south. Those are the "co-equal" goals of that
endeavor: restoring the delta and providing a reliable water supply. What the
drop in snowpack should have reminded them is that there's no such thing as a
reliable water supply when you're depending on Mother Nature. You have to give
her a hand if that's the idea. In a state like California, where the rain and
snow vanish for half the year, you have to save the moisture when it falls for
the time when it does not. Saving involves storage, and increasing our ability
to do that doesn't seem to be on the table.
Ag
Today is distributed to county Farm Bureaus, CFBF directors and CFBF staff, for
information purposes, by the CFBF Communications/News Division, 916-561-5550; news@cfbf.com.
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