USDA
threatens to close Foster Farms plants linked to salmonella [Modesto Bee]
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture has threatened to shut down three Foster Farms
chicken plants in the Valley linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened
an estimated 278 people around the country, including perhaps six in Stanislaus
County. The USDA said Wednesday that the company has until today to show how it
will fix the problem at the plants, one in Livingston and the other two in
Fresno. Ron Foster, president and chief executive officer at Foster Farms, said
it is working with federal regulators to address the concerns, but for now the
plants continue to produce chicken certified as “Grade A wholesome” by the
USDA.
Risk
to food safety seen in furloughs [New York Times]
The
government shutdown is endangering what America eats, food safety experts said
this week, as all inspections of domestic food except meat and poultry have
halted and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recalled furloughed
workers to handle a salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds of people in 18
states. Offices are dark across the federal agencies charged with making sure
that the fruit, vegetables, dairy products and a vast array of other
domestically produced food are safe to consume.…At the same time, several
crucial agriculture reports used by traders and farmers have been canceled
because of the shutdown, seriously hampering decision making about planting and
disrupting commodities markets. The highest-profile report canceled because of
the shutdown is World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates, which supplies
statistics on the worldwide production of crops from cotton to corn. It also
provides data on other agricultural products, including meat and sugar.
A
place called home [Capital Public Radio/Sacramento]
The
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is home to a half million people.…Also at the bar is
Jeff Silveira. He comes here at least twice a week for lunch. He farms along
the river from west Sacramento to Rio Vista….But Silveira, like most people who
live or work in the Delta, fear their way of life would change for the worse
because of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. “It will put me directly out of
business,” he says….“I won’t be able to move machinery up and down the river
any longer. All the hay we do on that side of the river will be gone,”
says Silveira.
Commentary: Californians
deserve a reliable water supply [San Diego Union-Tribune]
…For
too long Southern California has been the victim of these “feast or famine”
variations in the weather. Reservoirs fill up during wet years, and then they
drain lower and lower during dry years as we hope and pray for a change in
climate conditions. This is why Southern California needs new, 21st century
water infrastructure that includes Delta conveyance and local waste water
recycling and seawater desalination projects….Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm
Sandy were devastating natural disasters and scientists predict that within the
next 40 years there is a 60 percent chance of an earthquake that would
devastate the Delta and the water supply for 26 million Californians. But an extended
drought in California is a natural disaster in slow motion and is no less
devastating. As state leaders we must put parochial interests aside and address
our collective need for a holistic water supply reliability strategy now
instead of waiting for the disaster that will inevitably come.
Commentary: 'GMO Free Humboldt'
worthy goal for 2014 [Eureka Times-Standard]
…In
light of the proliferation of GMOs, and in the absence of any effective
regulation or even required labeling of GMOs at the federal or state level,
communities have increasingly taken what actions they can to address the issue
at the local level….Now, a local grassroots group called the Committee for a
GMO Free Humboldt is spearheading an effort to get a similar county-level
ordinance on the November 2014 ballot. This ordinance would prohibit the “cultivation,
propagation, raising or growing” of GMOs in Humboldt County. (It would NOT
affect food sold in grocery stores, animal feed sold at feed stores, or
research done in labs.) In doing so, it would help protect our county from many
of the risks associated with GMOs. Perhaps even more importantly, it would give
a critical boost to Humboldt's burgeoning sustainable agriculture industry….The
proposed prohibition on GMOs is a prudent environmental action, as well as
preemptive protection for our timber, fisheries and tourism industries.
Editorial: Brown needs to make
it up to citrus growers [Bakersfield Californian]
Gov.
Jerry Brown's veto of a bill that would have helped protect California's citrus
crop doesn't say much for his commitment to Central Valley agriculture. AB 571
would have funded countermeasures against the potential devastation of an
insect-born bacterial disease that kills citrus trees: Huanglongbing, which is
carried by the Asian Citrus Psyllidpen. The best way Brown can justify his veto
and redeem himself to valley agriculture is to actively champion the funding
alternatives he somewhat casually mentioned in his veto statement….But Brown
can and should lobby the U.S. Department of Agriculture to increase its role in
this fight….Brown should also be prepared to write Psyllidpen eradication
funding into the next state budget, as he suggested might have to happen.
Ag
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