Food Safety Archives - Page 6 of 8

AWA Hosts UK ‘Dinner Lady’ On Week-Long Tour To Three US Cities

January 7, 2010
A Greener World
Agricultural Policy, Chefs and Restaurants, Consumer Buying Power, Food Safety, Nutrition, People, School Lunches and Food, The Big Picture

Animal Welfare Approved, the nation’s leading certification label for family farmers raising their animals with high welfare standards, is hosting Jeanette Orrey, the United Kingdom’s famous “Dinner Lady” (that would be a lunch lady on this side of the pond) the week of January 11th. Orrey is a leader in the U.K.’s efforts to provide school lunches made of fresh, local organic food. She will be visiting with school officials, farmers and proponents of healthy school lunches in New York City, Baltimore, Maryland and Arlington, Virginia. Accompanying Orrey on her journey will be Animal Welfare Approved staff, Bill Telepan, chef/owner of Manhattan’s Telepan Restaurant, and Nancy Easton, a New York City teacher for 20 years. Telepan is a long-time Animal Welfare Approved supporter and a board member of Wellness in the Schools. Wellness in the Schools is a grassroots organization that promotes children's environmental health, nutrition and fitness within the New York City public schools. Easton co-founded Wellness in the Schools and serves on its board. The New York City school system serves approximately 1.1 million students.

November 19, 2009
A Greener World
Agricultural Policy, Food Labels, Food Safety, Processing Plants, The Big Picture

In a recent post we discussed the ruling currently under construction at the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) which would allow certain state-inspected slaughter plants to perform federal inspections on meat and poultry. The comment period has been extended, and we invite anyone who has an interest in this to add your two cents to the discussion (read full post for instructions). This ruling could have tremendous implications for livestock farmers using independent, state-inspected plants who are now limited to selling product within state lines, and could dramatically expand their marketing capabilities. Cooperative inspection has the potential not only to benefit independent farmers and slaughter plants, but could have positive animal welfare implications through reduced transport time.

November 3, 2009
A Greener World
Agricultural Policy, Environment, Food Safety

A recent newspaper article brought home once again the extraordinary reality of industrialized food production – and lengths that some in the US food and farming industry will go to in the pursuit of "efficiency." This time, it was an article in the LA Times about the currently legal practice of feeding US cattle so-called "poultry litter." An unlikely sounding cattle feed, poultry litter is actually made up of industrial chicken feces, spilled chicken feed, feathers and other poultry waste collected from the floors of factory farms across the US. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – which is responsible for protecting public health and is at the center of this current situation for continuing to permit poultry litter as a feedstuff – estimates that US farmers currently feed between one and two million tons of poultry litter to their cattle each year.

October 16, 2009
A Greener World
Consumer Buying Power, Food Labels, Food Safety, The Big Picture

Kids can be the pickiest eaters around, rejecting anything that smells, looks, or feels “weird,” an all encompassing term with a highly flexible definition. Rather than seeing this as an obstacle to a well-rounded nutritional experience, why not harness a child’s natural tendency to be suspicious of food and use it for good? Michael Pollan is doing just that with the release of The Omnivore’s Dilemma for Kids: The Secrets Behind What You Eat. Just released in hardcover, paperback and Kindle editions, The Omnivore’s Dilemma for Kids uses plenty of photos, graphs and charts—and a fun format—to encourage kids, tweens and teens to think about what they are eating, how it was produced and what that means for their future and the planet.

October 9, 2009
A Greener World
Agricultural Policy, Food Safety, Grass-Fed Beef

The October 4, 2009 New York Times story, “E. coli Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection,” is a chilling reminder to the public that we gamble unknowingly with our health every day, even when safer, viable options to the current systems are readily available. The Times story follows a convoluted and widespread chain of production that ended with hamburger contaminated with the virulent E. coli strain O157:H7 being sold to the public, leaving one young woman paralyzed and more than 900 others ill. The story recounts the secrecy, obfuscation, and duplicity that processors engage in to avoid testing beef for E. coli and to protect a system that gives rise to tainted beef.

October 7, 2009
A Greener World
Agricultural Policy, Family Farms, Food Labels, Food Safety, Grass-Fed Beef

In response to a recent press release announcing that La Cense Ranch has become the first grassfed beef producer to be certified under the USDA “Grass Fed” standard, Animal Welfare Approved Program Director Andrew Gunther made the following statement: “I am seeing a re-emergence of the arguments that surrounded initial discussions about the USDA’s ‘Grass Fed’ definition. The USDA standard only partially addresses buyers’ expectations for grassfed meat. We are concerned that consumers may assume that a USDA Grass Fed certification means that ruminants are raised on pasture for the duration of their lives, without confinement or feedlots.”

September 23, 2009
A Greener World
Agricultural Policy, Family Farms, Food Safety, Processing Plants

The USDA's Federal Safety and Inspection Service recently proposed regulations that will allow certain state-inspected plants to ship meat and poultry in interstate commerce. This impressive development is part of USDA's larger initiative, "Know Your Farmers, Know Your Food," which seeks to develop economic opportunities within regional and local food systems. Secretary Vilsack and Under Secretary Mande are to be applauded for such a far-sighted decision, one which could have a transformational effect on independent livestock producers.

September 11, 2009
A Greener World
Agricultural Policy, Consumer Buying Power, Food Safety, The Big Picture

We at Animal Welfare Approved applaud the USDA and HHS for creating an important and useful new website, www.foodsafety.gov. The site's purpose is to help consumers find consolidated up to date information on food safety and food recalls. We want to remind our readers that food safety begins at the farm and is directly related to the farming system utilized. Between January 1, 1994 and November 31, 2007, over 800 separate meat product recalls took place across the United States – equivalent to over 300 million pounds of meat and poultry products. Nearly all of the recalls were the result of the potential contamination of factory-farmed meats with two types of food-poisoning bacteria: Listeria and E. coli. We know that a safer, welfare-friendly alternative to feedlot beef already exists. Scientists have shown that meat from grassfed cattle – such as those raised by Animal Welfare Approved farmers – is less likely to harbor dangerous food-poisoning bacteria, such as E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter and Listeria.

September 4, 2009
A Greener World
Agricultural Policy, Consumer Buying Power, Events, Food Labels, Food Safety, Nutrition, The Big Picture

Last year over Labor Day, Animal Welfare Approved farmers and staff attended Slow Food Nation in San Francisco with the goal of promoting a better food system for this country. This year, Slow Food is again rallying to promote good food for all. Please read about the initiative and plan to take part. FROM AN EMAIL JUST RECEIVED FROM SLOW FOOD... In three days, people in all 50 states will sit down to share a meal and bend the direction of history just a little bit. Together, we are publicly rejecting the notion that our schools can’t afford to feed kids anything but the bad food that makes them sick. And the way we’re making this statement is by bringing neighbors together in the spirit of good will and for the joy of sharing good food. That is the heart of our movement. Attend an Eat-In on Labor Day.

August 29, 2009
A Greener World
Family Farms, Food Labels, Food Safety, Grass-Fed Beef

Cattle grazing on pasture A recent study by Kansas State University concluded that in terms of presence of E. coli O157:H7, there was no difference between "organic," "naturally-raised" and conventionally raised beef. Feedlots provide all of the conventionally raised beef and the vast majority of organic and naturally-raised beef. Only a small percentage of organic beef is grassfed and finished on pasture. The study reported that feces from 14% of the organic and naturally-raised cattle contained the pathogenic strain of E. coli, and that this number was comparable to conventional systems. What the study did NOT include were samples from cattle that were pasture-finished or grassfed, surprisingly, not a requirement of either organic or naturally-raised systems. I imagine that there are many consumers who will be surprised to learn this.

June 18, 2009
A Greener World
Consumer Buying Power, Events, Family Farms, Food Safety

David cooking for the Animal Welfare Approved Thanksgiving Dinner at the Food Bank for NYC One of our favorite chefs, David Schuttenberg of Cabrito restaurant in NYC, was interviewed by Patrick Martins, Heritage Foods USA, for his Heritage Radio show…

June 9, 2009
A Greener World
Agricultural Policy, Consumer Buying Power, Family Farms, Food Safety, The Big Picture

Food Inc., a new movie by Robert Kenner featuring Michael Pollan, debuts in select theaters this weekend and opens next week nationwide. The LA Times says it is "one movie that truly provides food for thought" while the New York…

AWA Hosts UK ‘Dinner Lady’ On Week-Long Tour To Three US Cities

Cooperative Inspection Ruling: Comment Period Extended

Poultry Litter as Cattle Feed? Believe it.

Michael Pollan’s New Book Teaches the Secrets Behind What Kids Eat

The Rise of E. coli O157:H7 Means It’s Time to Stop Gambling With Our Health

USDA “Grass Fed” Label Claim Leaves Loophole for Confinement

Proposed Regulations Favor Interstate Commerce, Independent Plants

Food Safety Begins at the Farm

From Our Friends at Slow Food USA

Tainted Beef: Is Organic Just as Dangerous as Feedlot?

Chef David Schuttenberg on Heritage Radio in NYC

New Film Takes a Closer Look At What We Eat

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