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National Restaurant Association Research Finds Local to be "Hot" |
December 17,2007
Every year the National Restaurant Association surveys over 1200 chefs of American Culinary Federation members to rate menu items as “hot,” “passé” or “perennial favorites. Organic, local, sustainable, artisan, and grass fed all made the top 10 list.
Bite-size desserts, small plates, locally grown produce and organic products are the latest red-hot food items. Going out of style are low-carb dough, tofu, chai and foie gras according to these chefs. "The trend I see as the fastest growing going into 2008 is the alternative-source ingredients – local produce, organics, sustainable seafood, grass-fed and free-range items, said Chef John Kinsella, CMC, CCE, AAC, President of the American Culinary Federation."
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December 17, 2007
This years E. coli outbreaks in leafly greens has influenced the CA fresh veg industry from packaging to the field. This SF Chronicle Article from Sunday, December 16, 2007 investigates how new industry rules for leafy greens that aim to protect consumers from E. coli have many potentially negative impacts on the environment.
The possible negative environmental impact of the new standards are widely agreed upon by conservationists and farmers, especially on water quality and wildlife habitat.
In spite of the fact that, "Just how the spinach became
contaminated and where in the process from field to package the
bacteria originated will probably never be known. An investigative
report released in March by the Food and Drug Administration could make
"no definitive determination" as to "how E. coli 0157:H7 pathogens
contaminated spinach in this outbreak," farmers are being pressured by buyers to comply with an "array of new food-safety
measures, some of which, according to the Environmental Protection
Agency and other regulatory agencies, are costly, scientifically
unproven and environmentally harmful. Some violate state regulations,
and may even be counterproductive to food safety."
To read the full article click here.
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USDA Releases Report On Commodity Payments and Consolidation in Agriculture |
December 10, 2007
USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) issued the results of a study last week that showed a clear relationship between commodity payments and consolidation in agriculture. The more commodity payments farmers receive, the more likely the farms are to increase in size and the more likely they are to survive, says this new report from the USDA’s Economic Research Service covering data since 1982.
Read Brownfield Network article here.
Or,
Read the full research study from USDA's Economic Research Service here.
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Evaluating Marketplace “Green” Labels And Claims |
December 4, 2007
Ali Edwards
With the growing awareness of the environmental impact of our consumer lifestyles, Americans are looking for “environmentally friendly” consumption alternatives. The marketplace is responding with a gold rush towards ‘green’. The new byword for marketers is “green” and with that comes a whole lot of greenwashing. While we clearly need to create clean and fair product and service alternatives, many of the new “green” products that are filling the shelves of America’s stores claim “greenness” without warranting that claim. A November 30 NPR report on the realties of greenwashing in this growing market offers very useful guides for evaluating green labels and claims. The report also highlights recent research done by the environmental marketing firm Terrachoice. The firm’s research into product claims and greenwashing lead to some disturbing results, as well as the development of their Six Sins of Greenwashing (for full text with examples of each type of greenwashing click here):
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