“Free range is not necessarily natural. In fact, free-range is like piggy day care, a thoughtfully arranged system designed to meet the needs of consumers who despise industrial agriculture and adore the idea of wildness,” writes James McWilliams in this op-ed article questioning claims that free-range products confer “indisputable” health benefits. According to McWilliams, a recent study published in Foodborne Pathogens and Disease found that free-range pigs had higher rates of Salmonella and Toxoplasmosis than conventional livestock and that two specimens carried the parasite responsible for Trichinosis, a potentially fatal infection all but eliminated in the commercial pork supply. McWilliams notes that a desire for the “superior taste” of free-range pork has led many connoisseurs to conflate “the highly controlled grazing of pigs” with “wild animals in a state of nature,” an assumption that obfuscates the “arbitrary point between the wild and the domesticate.” “Even if the texture conferred on pork…
Category Archives Media Coverage
“Because excess consumption of unhealthful foods underlies many leading causes of death, food taxes at the local, state and national levels are likely to remain part of political and public discourse,” claims this editorial co-authored by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity Director Kelly Brownell and New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Freiden, who write in favor of a penny-per-ounce excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. Describing these products as “the single largest driver of the obesity epidemic,” the article compares a soft drink tax to similar taxes on tobacco “that have been highly effective in reducing consumption.” The authors specifically argue that an excise tax would help (i) reduce health care and other societal costs for obesity and diet-related diseases; (ii) correct an “informational asymmetry” between marketers and younger audiences, “who often cannot distinguish a television program from an advertisement”; and (iii) generate revenue, “which can further…
The CBC Radio program "Quirks and Quarks" recently featured the efforts of nonprofit research organization New Harvest to engineer meat cultures on a large scale for human consumption. Co-founded by doctoral student Jason Matheny of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, New Harvest harbors “the long-term goal of delivering economically competitive alternatives to conventional meat production” that are “safer, more nutritious, less polluting, and more humane.” CBC host Bob McDonald highlighted the research in his roundup of “Nine-and-Half Technologies That Could Change the World,” which also lauded developments in sustainable agriculture and clean water accessibility. See Cbc.ca, March 28, 2009. Meanwhile, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is currently holding a $1 million contest for the first firm to produce in vitro chicken meat and sell it to the public by June 30, 2012. The winning contestant must submit an entry with “a taste and texture…
This article comprehensively summarizes the events and proceedings that led Whole Foods Market, Inc. to agree in March 2009 to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that its merger with Wild Oats Markets, Inc. violated antitrust laws. According to freelance journalist Jenna Greene, the two-year fight ultimately cost Whole Foods $28 million and resulted in a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision “that some fear will make it too easy for the FTC to effectively block future mergers.” She quotes an unnamed antitrust expert who opined, “so long as their lawyers don’t get up there and fall asleep at the podium,” the FTC will win is merger challenges. Apparently, a week after the Whole Foods settlement, a $1.4 billion merger between CCC Holdings and Mitchell International collapsed after it was enjoined by a federal district judge who cited the new Whole Foods standard.
The recession seems to have a sweet tooth, according to this New York Times reporter who discovered that many big candy makers are enjoying rising sales and surprising profits despite a sour economy. Haughney reports that that Cadbury had a 30 percent rise in profits for 2008, Nestlé’s profits grew by 10.9 percent and Hershey, which struggled for much of last year, saw profits jump by 8.5 percent in the fourth quarter. Lindt & Sprüngli, which offers more expensive products, also reportedly expects chocolate sales to remain strong through mainstream retailers like Wal-Mart and Target, even though it plans to close some of its luxury retail stores this year. Theories vary as to exactly why candy sales are sweet, Haughney writes, but include the notion that candy is relatively inexpensive and “seems to conjure memories of times before bank collapses and government bailouts.” She writes that store owners and manufacturers find…
Smart Growth, a special report issued by Mother Jones magazine, this month featured an editor’s note focusing on the recent Senate confirmation hearing of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the need for a sustained dialogue about the U.S. food system. According to the article, the confirmation hearings included remarks by Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) that the editors translated to mean, “Organic farmers = elitists = liberals who are supported by their uppity stockbroker wives. Plus, their produce is worm ridden.” “It’s that kind of cliché and recrimination that passes for a national conversation about agriculture,” opines the article, which similarly lambastes the “foodie movement” for perpetuating a “two-class system: pesticide-laden, processed, packaged, irradiated slop for the many, artisanal sheep’s milk cheese for a few.” The editorial recommends drawing on “both ancient practices (like polyculture) and modern farming” to solve resource conflicts and promote healthier, more sustainable eating habits among the…
“After being largely ignored for years by Washington, advocates of organic and locally grown food have found a receptive ear in the White House, which has vowed to encourage a more nutritious and sustainable food supply,” claims this article exploring the nation’s sustainable-food movement. The author writes that at the heart of the movement “is a belief that America has become efficient at producing cheap, abundant food that profits corporations and agribusiness, but is unhealthy and bad for the environment.” Martin cites conventional agriculture producers who argue that organic farming cannot provide enough food because the yields tend to be lower than those of crops grown with chemical fertilizer. “We think there’s a place for organic, but don’t think we can feed ourselves and the world with organic,” Rick Tolman, chief executive of the National Corn Growers Association, was quoted as saying. “It’s not as productive, more labor-intensive and tends…
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently published two op-ed pieces claiming that high-density pig farms have contributed to an increase in methiciliin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in rural communities. A March 12, 2009, article titled “Our Pigs, Our Food, Our Health” examines the case of a family physician in northwestern Indiana, where patients reportedly began contracting MRSA at unusually high rates. Although the doctor suspected that the town’s hog farms were linked to the outbreak, he died of a heart attack or aneurysm—possibly the result of his own exposure to MRSA—before concluding his investigation. Yet, Kristof notes that other researchers have documented cases of people developing or carrying MRSA after working on pig farms. He points to a University of Iowa study that apparently found MRSA in 45 percent of pig farmers and 49 percent of pigs tested for the disease. “The larger question is whether we as a nation have…
“The plants in Texas and Georgia that were sending out contaminated peanut butter and ground peanut products had something else besides rodent infestation, mold and bird droppings. They also had federal organic certification,” opines this article examining a marketplace perception that organic food is both healthier and safer than conventional products. The authors suggest that a convoluted organic certification program has subverted an organic ethos “built on purity and trust . . . between the farmer and the customer.” With fees sometimes exceeding thousands of dollars, manufacturers are apparently dependent on a “web of agents” sponsored by those farmers and operations seeking certification. “A private certifier took nearly seven months to recommend that the USDA revoke the organic certification of the peanut company’s Georgia plant, and then did so only after the company was in the thick of a massive recall,” states the article, which notes that agents are required…
“An examination of the largest food poisoning outbreaks in recent years – in products as varied as spinach, pet food, and a children’s snack, Veggie Booty – show that auditors failed to detect problems at plants whose contaminated products later sickened consumers,” claims this article exploring the role of private inspectors in the current food safety system. The authors point to the recent Salmonella outbreak linked to a Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) plant in southwest Georgia. According to a March 27, 2008, internal audit obtained by The New York Times, the operation received a food safety rating of “superior” from a third-party inspector hired by PCA to verify plant conditions on behalf of the Kellogg Co. and other food companies supplied by the peanut processor. “Federal investigators later discovered that the dilapidated plant was ravaged by Salmonella and had been shipping tainted peanuts and paste for at least nine months,” opines…
