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In 2007, a group of hog farmers banded together to pool their resources and build markets for their high-quality pork products and the North Carolina Natural Hog Growers Association was born. Currently made up of 25 hog farmers, the group…
We are pleased to announce that Animal Welfare Approved now has approval from the Canadian government to begin certifying farms in Canada. American consumers know buying products with the Animal Welfare Approved label ensures their meat, dairy and eggs came…
New York Times Op-Ed columnist Nicholas Kristoff recently published a piece on the connection between the rise of MRSA-related infections and industrial hog farming. "Our Pigs, Our Food, Our Health," documents new and frightening research on this antibiotic resistant-bacterium that…
On Sunday, I attended the Just Food:CSA in NYC conference and I was impressed with the great turnout. The Meat and Egg Share workshops connected NYC CSAs with pasture-based farmers in the NYC region. The panelists and attendees discussed the logistics of getting the products from their farms to the various NYC CSAs - from the best refrigerated truck delivery service for the farmers to use down to how much product each CSA member could reasonably contain in their small NYC refrigerators. I had already been talking or emailing with many of the farmers at the conference and was so glad to be able to put faces to their voices and names. It was also great to put a face and voice to the blogging/emailing voice of Kerry Trueman from Eating Liberally. Thanks for stopping by the table Kerry. Thanks also to everyone who signed up for our listserv. I’m so glad Just Food set up our table next to the wine tasting from Martha Clara Vineyard. It certainly made for a steady flow of attendees at the Animal Welfare Approved table. And to all of the farmers I met at the conference, I hope we'll be in touch soon.
As of January 2009, you will now be able to purchase and consume products from genetically engineered animals - without one mention of that fact on the label. Whether you welcome or dread your first GE dish, we all have one thing in common--we won't know when we eat it. Our friends at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have decided that products from genetically engineered animals will not be labeled as such. The FDA says that it will not require labeling of products from genetically engineered animals because those products are not "materially different" from conventional ones. Ironically this ruling follows a recent Consumers Union poll which found that 95% of respondents favored labeling of milk and meat from genetically engineered animals. A spokeswoman for the FDA defended its decision, stating, "...the FDA doesn't require that a pork chop label specify [the breeding method of the pig]." Translation: the FDA has decided genetic engineering is just another way to breed animals and therefore, it doesn't make the meat, eggs or dairy from those animals any different from the meat, eggs or dairy out of grandma's barnyard.
Linda Black of Washington Post writes about US food policy or lack thereof and how we can gather together to affect change.
Despite significant protest from organizations (including ours) and many thousands of concerned individuals, the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has defined "naturally raised" to mean something far from it. Producers are now allowed to to label products "naturally raised" as…
It turns out the old adage "You are what you eat" is true for livestock too. Researchers at the University of Exeter recently published a study which found that meat from animals grazed in quality, biodiverse systems is nutritionally superior…
This terrific short was brought to our attention by Debbie Davis of DWD Longhorns. She writes: Here's a "great 15 minute video on the state of our food supply from the perspective of some of today''s greatest minds in sustainable…
Last month, we posted some possible Obama appointees for the Secretary of Agriculture position in "Wanted: an rBGH-free Appointment." We voiced our support for the picks touted at FoodDemocracyNow.org and also skepticism at the change-making capabilities of potential candidate Dennis…
A speaker at the Oxford Farming Conference (held at Oxford University from January 5-7) reported that farming in an animal welfare-friendly way can be the key to better profitability. Alistair Lawrence from the University of Edinburgh Veterinary School continued,"It is…
If the system is so poor that it must be propped up with off-label and subtherapeautic antibiotics, perhaps its time to revise the system? In an apparent win for pharmaceutical companies, the Food and Drug Administration has recently rescinded a proposed ban on off-label use of cephalosporin drugs in animals raised for food. According to the Wall Street Journal, this last-minute reversal came just five days before the proposed ban would take effect. Has the FDA lost its way? The official mission of the agency states, "The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs," (among other responsibilities like regulating radioactive materials). Despite significant evidence that off-label and widespread agricultural use play a major role in creating antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the FDA has caved under pressure from the very companies selling the drugs. This decision not to ban off-label usage begs the question: What is the point of having a label in the first place?
