Some Kellogg's Eggo products advertised for sale a pirate bandana 'like the one worn by Jack Sparrow' in a 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie.
Pitches for sodas, restaurant items, boxed cereals led $1.6 billion in spending to sell processed food items to children in 2006, FTC report says. Beyond that 63 percent, $860 million aimed for children 12 and younger; $1 billion was directed at adolescents. And: In 1999, candy and snack ad spending was $1 billion; USDA spent $333 million on nutrition education, evaluation, and demonstrations (click 'See also').
By Bob Dart
Cox News Service/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 2008-07-29 (entry)
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Breakfast, lunch and fancy restaurant dinners still allowed under pharmaceutical industry's new voluntary guidelines for drug marketing campaigns. In 2002, industry banned "dine and dash" events where they provided free take-out dinners and other gifts to doctors who listened to sales pitches.
By Gardiner Harris
The New York Times 2008-07-10 (entry)
Virulent banana fungus threatens single variety shipped around the world, but big banana companies have been slow to seek cure or diversify crop by preserving little-known varieties that grow in Africa and Asia. That means bananas could become, to our pocketbooks, the exotic luxuries that they are.
By Dan Koeppel
The New York Times 2008-06-18 (entry)
As agriculture, large-scale irrigation, market competition and climate change fuel 'water war,' Spain reconsiders its water policy. Farmers, who use 80 percent of the country's water and now irrigate historically arid crop of olives to boost production, are blamed for tapping up to 1.5 million illegal wells. Desalination offers some hope.
By Christine Spolar
Chicago Tribune 2008-08-18 (entry)
As horseweed, Palmer amaranth, johnsongrass and other weeds develop resistance to Monsanto's Roundup, Arkansas farmers pin hopes on Bayer CropScience LibertyLink soybeans. New soybeans will be resistant to Ignite, a potent weedkiller. And: EPA classifies active ingredient, glufosinate ammonium, as 'persistent' and 'mobile' (click 'See also').
By David Bennett
Delta Farm Press 2008-08-13 (entry)
See also
It's a good time to start a small farm, based on organic farming popularity, growing awareness of food sources, say entrepreneurs, experts. Profit requires time, niche product such as truffles or natural meats; good target is annual sales of less than $10,000, so don't quit the day job.
By Brent Bowers
The New York Times 2008-08-06 (entry)
Rice farmers' suits against maker of biotech rice too dissimilar to consolidate into class-action, judge rules. After Bayer CropScience's Liberty Link rice contaminated public food supply in 2006, mostly likely from plot at Louisiana State University, some countries temporarily banned U.S. rice exports, drying up foreign markets and causing drop in U.S. rice price.
The Associated Press; International Herald Tribune 2008-08-14 (entry)
After shoppers and businesses shun biotech hormone that increases milk yields, agribusiness giant Monsanto looks to sell its Posilac business. Company says it will focus on its genetically modified seed. And: Sale of business means sale of Georgia facility, which employs 200 (click 'See also').
By David Biello
Scientific American 2008-08-07 (entry)
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In her latest book, journalist Felicity Lawrence takes an engaging, restless look at Cargill, Unilever and others who decide what we eat and how they persuade us to buy in the name of choice, health and, increasingly, the environment. If there is a flaw in the book, it's not getting close enough to genius of capitalism - how it makes us want what it has to sell.
By Fred Pearce
The Guardian (UK) 2008-07-05 (entry)
Cost of moving goods could transform some foods into luxuries and further promote the local food movement. 'Avocado salad in Minneapolis in January is just not going to work in this new world, because flying it in is going to make it cost as much as a rib eye,' says researcher.
By Larry Rohter
The New York Times 2008-08-02 (entry)
Coast Guard opens Mississippi River to limited traffic two days after oil spill; some nearby suburbs find another source for drinking water; fate of fish unknown. And: Between 55 percent and 65 percent of all U.S. corn, soybean and wheat exports leave from the Gulf of Mexico (click 'See also').
By Adam Nossiter
The New York Times 2008-07-25 (entry)
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As shipping lines shift fleets to Asia, shortage of containers and space on cargo ships leave American food - corn, soybeans, frozen pork, lentils, peas - sitting in ports. Refrigerated containers, once locally available, sometimes must be sent hundreds of miles before being loaded. Shipping rates and fuel surcharges are increasing.
By Ilan Brat and Timothy Aeppel
The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2008-05-09 (entry)
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Processed food makers, meatpackers raise prices, shrink packages while ranchers thin herds to pass high grain, energy prices on to shoppers; 'sticker shock' in meat case predicted. Food service suppliers look to shorten contracts. Stock prices are up for fertilizer maker Mosaic, biotech (GMO) seed creator Monsanto and farm equipment supplier Deere & Co.
By Scott Kilman
The Wall Street Journal. (may require subscription) 2008-08-08 (entry)
Obesity, already public health crisis, likely to cost $956.9 billion by 2030 if epidemic grows at current rate, researchers suggest. More than 86 percent of population projected to be overweight or obese by then, including 96 percent of black women and 91 percent of Mexican-American men. Analysis shows that, over time, heavy Americans become heavier.
By Natalie Wood-Wright
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 2008-07-28 (entry)
Politics, poverty hinder farmers' yields abroad. Farmhands in Ukraine scavenge junked equipment to keep their ancient tractors and combines running. And: Argentina senate votes against government's new tax on grain exports; the issue has paralyzed country's rich agriculture sector (click 'See also').
By Greg Burns, Alex Rodriguez and Oscar Avila
Chicago Tribune 2008-07-18 (entry)
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Wal-Mart forces suppliers onto sustainable packaging path with mandatory scorecard. The store plans to reduce packaging across its global supply chain by 5 per cent by 2013. Critic says that initiative isn't comprehensive; greenhouse gas measurement, for example, excludes all life cycle steps except material manufacturing.
By Linda Rano
Food Navigator 2008-02-08 (entry)
In 2006 series, writers at The Los Angeles Times explain that pollution and overfishing have altered the basic chemistry of the seas. The oceans now are hospitable for algae, bacteria and jellyfish, but fish, shrimp and marine mammals struggle to live. And overfishing tuna, swordfish, cod and grouper changes the foodchain and removes algae-eaters. Scientist says the world's six billion inhabitants have failed to use homeowner's rule: Be careful what you dump in the swimming pool, and make sure the filter is working.
By Kenneth R. Weiss and Usha Lee McFarling
The Los Angeles Times 2006-07-30 (entry)
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Keeping the fully loaded garbage trucks rolling, and the high fees paid for dumping, seems more important to Erie County officials than the private industry pilot program that would compost Ohio restaurants' food waste and help in recycling effort. How could it be that studying composting options is better than actually composting?
The editors
Sandusky Register (OH) 2007-11-28 (entry)
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"And soon it was lunchtime/
Mom said I should ask about how poor kids could get fed/
So I got a book of tickets and a schedule and it read/
Monday - Hot Dog, Tuesday - Taco/
Wednesday - Hamburgers and Chocolate Milk/
Thursday - Sloppy Joes and doritos in a bag/
Friday was Pizza Day, the best day of the week/...
As time went on we figured out/
It was totally uncool/
To eat the welfare lunch/
Provided by the school/
So in poser-punker fashion/
We just mooched off all the kids/
And lived off eating candy bars/
And bags of nacho chips/
Monday - Hot Dog, Tuesday - Taco/
Wednesday - Hamburgers and Chocolate Milk/
Thursday - Sloppy Joes and doritos in a bag/
Friday was Pizza Day, the best day of the week/
It always came with salad and a side of cold green beans/
Hooray for Pizza Day/
Hooray for Pizza Day/
I miss Pizza Day./ "
— The Aquabats, "Pizza Day" lyrics
For vocal coalition of parents, nutrition advocates and physicians, Congress and its support of the farm/food bill is the prime obstacle to nutritious, delicious foods for school children and for those in military. With legislation stalled in Senate, group sees chance to push its anti-corn dog agenda.
By Nicole Gaouette
Los Angeles Times 2007-11-25 (entry)
School lunch tray becomes unifying symbol for farm-bill activists who support increase in fresh fruits and vegetables. Meanwhile, lobbying ramps up for longstanding subsidy recipients, including Tyson, which received $46 million in 2005 and produces cheese, meat and starches.
By Erika Lovley
Politico.com 2007-11-15 (entry)
Bush vowed years ago to end expensive commodities subsidies but backed down. Now, his acting secretary of agriculture vows to recommend a veto of the Senate's version of the farm/food bill. Belated action is better than none for this bill and its billions in subsidies for corn, cotton, wheat, rice and sugar that U.S. agribusiness produces to excess.
The editors
The Cincinnati Post 2007-11-08 (entry)
As China's economy booms, its military hires dietitians and the soldier's diet improves in quality and variety; rice and wheat consumption drops as that of animal protein goes up, and Mao's time of troops' digging wild vegetables seems distant.
China Daily 2007-10-05 (entry)
College, university cafeterias in Maine remove trays and see reduction in food waste; schools also institute buying locally, sending food waste to pig farms, composting scraps, buying in bulk and limiting seafood to species that are not vulnerable to overfishing.
By Ann S. Kim
Portland Press-Herald (ME) 2007-09-24 (entry)
Indian prison plans to offer inmates new diet, including eggs, soybeans, seasonal vegetables and chutneys, as well as slices of onion and lemon as condiments; cooking classes also contemplated.
The Telegraph (Calcutta, India) 2007-09-03 (entry)
Court papers show that Agriprocessors' human-resources employee helped distribute false green cards to Iowa slaughterhouse workers. In 2006, Swift official was charged with harboring illegals and failing to report crime after meatpacking raid. Companies seem to rely on a mid-level manager to create bogus documents, then claim ignorance.
By Rekha Basu
The Des Moines Register 2008-08-03 (entry)
Iowa slaughterhouse workers treatment is disgrace. Bush administration abandoned mercy and proportionality, devised new, harsher traps for illegal workers. By treating desperate employees as criminal class, government is attempting to inflate illegals' menace to level that justifies its rabid efforts to capture and punish them. And: Immigrants' stories (click 'See also').
The editors
The New York Times 2008-08-01 (entry)
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Teens found working at kosher slaughterhouse during immigration raid; afterward, they described labor violations that could result in criminal charges, lawyers say. And: Demonstrators expected in Iowa to protest immigrant treatment at Agriprocessors; Jewish groups debate buying their meat, labeled Aaron's Best and Aaron's Choice. (click 'See also').
By Julia Preston
The New York Times 2008-07-27 (entry)
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After Chiquita admits 1990s payments to rebel group FARC to protect its banana plantation workers from guerrillas near Colombia-Panama border, widows of missionaries killed by the group sue under antiterrorism law. They say the Cincinnati-based produce company's payments armed rebels and funded terrorism. Chiquita says assertion is untrue and promises vigorous defense.
By Carmen Gentile
The New York Times 2008-03-17 (entry)
After issuing injunction forbidding intimidation and coercion, judge rules that distinctive logo, found mostly on produce marking products of Alaska, belongs to state. Regional farm bureau had used logo on T-shirts and wanted exclusive rights for use.
By Anne Sutton
The Associated Press 2008-01-10 (entry)
In case seen as test of U.S. legal system's response to injuries in a globalized economy, Dole Food Co., ordered to pay $2.5 million in punitive damages to Nicaraguan workers who weren't warned about sterility hazards of DBCP pesticide exposure on banana farm 30 years ago. Additional claims await produce giant and other companies.
By John Spano
Los Angeles Times 2007-11-15 (entry)
Fertilizer lobbyists spend $900,000 in efforts to sway legislators on farm/food bill, energy legislation, climate change, chemicals, tax credits and transportation in 2007. Increasing fertilizer exports was one goal. Trade group represents ConAgra, CF Industries Holdings and Terra Industries, among others.
The Associated Press; Thomson Financial; CNNMoney.com 2008-03-21 (entry)
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Agribusiness giant Monsanto, which makes rBST, a cow drug that increases milk production one gallon a day, funds farmer-led lobbying group to fight consumer-driven trend to label milk from untreated cows. Retailers, from Whole Foods to Wal-Mart, sell labeled milk. Kraft plans to to sell labeled cheese as well.
By Andrew Martin
The New York Times 2008-03-09 (entry)
See also
Kansas Senate committee considers anti-labeling bill for dairy products, led by agribusiness and biotech giant Monsanto, which manufactures the genetically engineered growth hormone rbST. Critics say that shoppers are looking for more information, not less, about their food, down to which farm provided which pound of hamburger.
By Mike Hendricks
The Kansas City Star 2008-02-28 (entry)
See also
Processed food manufacturers pass along price hikes of fuel and raw ingredients by shrinking product quantity inside packaging. Called short-sizing, it's why a 'pound' of coffee now weighs 10 ounces. Best way to shop: Pay attention; compare unit prices.
By David Ushery and Alex Johnson
MSNBC 2008-07-07 (entry)
Mars, Wrigley to merge, perhaps creating cascade of candy mergers behind them. Makers of M&M's also makes Snickers, Starburst, Skittles and Twix; Uncle Ben's rice products and Pedigree pet food. Among chewing gum group's brands: Extra, Orbit and Eclipse gums; LifeSavers and Altoids. Warren Buffett, a deal backer was early investor in Coca-Cola and already a candy owner in Sees Candies.
By Andrew Ross Sorkin
The New York Times 2008-04-28 (entry)
Israeli chocolate factory doubles up on shifts to replace 99 tons of chocolate stolen at height of Passover preparation. Police think thieves neutralized alarms, covered camera lens with tape, then hauled pallets of chocolate away on trucks. One ton has been recovered in Kabul neighborhood grocery store; company usually makes 1,000 tons a month.
By Fadi Eyadat
Haaretz Newspaper 2008-04-11 (entry)
Nebraska Beef, an Omaha meatpacker recalling 1.2 million pounds of beef - including some from Whole Foods - has history of food-safety and other violations and has fought USDA over plant shutdowns. Last month, it recalled more than 5 million pounds of beef. And: For recall, click 'See also.'
By Annys Shin and Ylan Q. Mui
The Washington Post 2008-08-08 (entry)
See also
Co-mingling, or repacking, tomatoes from different farms is common practice and a challenging twist to disease sleuths at FDA. It could mean that Mexican tomatoes go to Florida and are sold with tomatoes from Florida. Or box from Florida could easily be refilled with tomatoes from a box from Mexico, and vice versa, says expert. And: sampling of rejected foods from Canada, Mexico and China (click 'See also').
By Sabin Russell
San Francisco Chronicle 2008-06-28 (entry)
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USDA's new faster, more sensitive test for e.coli will likely find more pathogen on beef, officials say. Meat processors could avoid many recalls by waiting for lab results before shipping meat out, but many 'can't afford' delay, USDA says. Meatpackers recalled 33.4 million pounds of beef for possible e. coli contamination last year; 11 of the 21 e.coli-related recalls in 2007 were results of USDA testing.
By Philip Brasher
The Des Moines Register 2008-03-20 (entry)
Many health-conscious foods at Chili's, Taco Bell, Applebee's and other chains contained as much as twice the calories and eight times the fat claimed on published data, investigation shows. Macaroni Grill's 'Pollo Margo Skinny Chicken,' was advertised at 500 calories with 6 grams of fat but had 1,022 calories and 49 grams of fat.
By Isaac Wolf
Scripps Howard News Service 2008-05-21 (entry)
Chinese restaurants hit hard by skyrocketing rice prices that followed price hikes in cooking oil, meat and seafood; prices on menus are beginning to edge up. Price of rice has risen by as much as 70 percent during the past year, with increases accelerating in recent weeks as China, India ban exports.
By Claire Shoesmith
Crain's Manchester Business 2008-04-21 (entry)
Chefs' group calls for change in FDA safety advisory on diacetyl, an artificial butter flavoring implicated in lung problems of workers in flavoring and popcorn factories. CDC is examining hazard in three New York institutional restaurants; Washington State officials are examining at least two sites in Seattle. Artificial diacetyl is routinely added to pure unsalted butter.
By Andrew Schneider
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) 2008-03-20 (entry)
See also
In Dallas, entrepreneurial mechanic blends 'CNN and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' with inspiration from stay-all-day coffee shops in Mexico City and London, but adds wine, beer and chain-link curtains.
The Dallas Morning News 2008-08-01 (entry)
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Some flight attendants balk at collecting $1 and $2 for coffee and sodas on US Airways; assertive passengers likely to still score free non-alcoholic drinks. New policy is expected to make $500 million yearly and help offset rising fuel prices, spokesperson says.
Bloomberg News; The New York Times 2008-08-01 (entry)
Some granite countertops - mostly from Brazil and Namibia - emit radon, and calls to EPA on matter are increasing. Trade group says that amounts of uranium, thorium, potassium don't pose health threat; EPA recommends taking action if levels exceed 4 picocuries per liter of air - about the same risk for cancer as smoking a half a pack of cigarettes per day. to find a radon inspector, click 'See also.'
By Kate Murphy
The New York Times 2008-07-24 (entry)
See also
When it comes to food production, we need free trade. Rice feeds about half the world, but only about 5 to 7 percent of rice is traded across borders. Now, recent export restrictions are expected to lower international trade in rice. Those restrictions show farmers that their crops are least profitable precisely when the food is most needed, and could make shortages and high prices permanent.
By Tyler Cowen
The New York Times 2008-04-27 (entry)
Canada complains about mandatory testing for e.coli, salmonella and listeria of all meat imports to U.S., and calls it "excessive." New tougher measures were put into place after e.coli outbreak was traced to Canadian packing plant for U.S.-based Topps Meat Co.
By Roberta Rampton and Christopher Doering
Reuters 2007-11-05 (entry)
As market increases for products grown with higher environmental and social standards, fair trade coffee pays off for farmers, who must adhere to rules on pesticides, farming techniques, recycling and even enrolling their children in school.
By Andrew Downie
The New York Times 2007-10-02 (entry)
As China creates and begins to enforce stricter standards for food safety to restore confidence in the Made-in-China label, exports to U.S. fall, domestic growers cheer and American consumers see prices head upward.
By Don Lee
Los Angeles Times 2007-09-24 (entry)
Despite higher profits and rising demand for organic corn and soybeans, few farmers switching over, forcing food companies to import organic soybeans from China and pay nearly double what they paid for organic corn last fall.
By Paula Lavigne
Des Moines Register 2007-08-12 (entry)
"The Zen of Fish," and "The Sushi Economy," offer lessons in how global economy works, dangers of over-fishing and how it thrives on demand, and why trout might not be the best choice for eating raw (think tapeworms).
By Stuart Biggs
bloomberg.com 2007-08-08 (entry)
