Editorials
After 25-year, $6 billion failed effort, it's clear: Saving the Chesapeake requires political will to regulate farm runoff, institute and enforce wastewater limits, limit crab and oyster catches and mandate green-building techniques. And: Budget shortages, bureaucratic inertia, political opposition blocked progress (click 'See also').
The editors
The Washington Post 2009-01-02 (entry)
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Obama's nominees for homeland security, labor and commerce posts are on right track to reverse Bush administration's immigration tactics, which attacked problem upside down, backward. Two share well-informed disdain for foolish, inadequate schemes like the border fence; the third is staunch defender of immigrants and workers, like those found working at hellish slaughterhouse in Iowa (for update click 'See also').
The editors
The New York Times 2008-12-26 (entry)
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Coal ash spill 50 times larger than that of Exxon-Valdez - now covering 400 acres with toxic sludge oozing toward drinking water for some in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama - calls out 'clean coal' myth. Human nature is to take cheap way today and leave mess for future, but that mess is now. And: High levels of arsenic detected in water near spill; EPA, TVA advise avoiding activities that could stir up drying dust - children playing outside, pets outdoors (click 'See also').
The editors
The Anniston Star 2008-12-30 (entry)
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Millions of fish, other animals harmed annually in power plant cooling water intake. Supreme Court should side with literal interpretation of Clean Water Act (click 'See also'). Technology choices should minimize negative environmental impact before costs.
The editors
The Washington Post 2008-12-03 (entry)
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Maryland's chicken farms generate $845 million - and 650 million pounds of manure - annually. Combined with stormwater runoff from overdevelopment, manure runoff into bay kills fish, crabs, oysters that have fed region's growth. Now, Maryland is correctly pushing to limit both by taking land, shoreline off market and by regulating manure disposal.
The editors
The Washington Post 2008-12-08 (entry)
One in eight Americans, up from 2006, sometimes struggled for food - before economic downturn. Some 691,000 children went hungry at some point last year. Hungry children can't concentrate on learning. Congress must increase child nutrition funding, use food stamp boost to stimulate economy. And: Record food stamp use in September (click 'See also').
The editors
The Buffalo News 2008-11-28 (entry)
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New Atlantic bluefin tuna quota creates danger of catastrophic species collapse. Sharply reduced quotas or, better, moratorium on tuna fishing, may be radical, but only radical move will save the fish that drives a billion-dollar industry. And: Same mistakes that led to collapse of Atlantic cod are being repeated with bluefin, says advocacy group (click 'See also').
The editors
The New York Times 2008-12-08 (entry)
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As ranks of poor grow, Congress should accurately measure poverty considering changes in food costs, addition of costs for child care, health care, and regional differences in cost of living. It also must boost food stamps, modernize unemployment compensation system and strengthen governments to help those in need.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-11-26 (entry)
Bush-Cheney plan to measure emissions of coal-burning power plants hourly instead of annually could mean more pollution - and enormous cost to public health, planet. And: Fish from Catskills waterways unsafe to eat; they and their predators - bald eagles - contaminated with methylmercury, a power-plant toxin. (click 'See also') .
The editors
The New York Times 2008-11-28 (entry)
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With rocket fuel component in drinking water of 35 states and its documented toxicity to humans, scientists argue that EPA decision not to regulate perchlorate needs 'compelling scientific basis.' Rule was based on industry-funded computer model; critics say CDC studies ignored. Opinion: Congress should require EPA to explain disregard of toxin that reduces thyroid function, creates risk of lifelong lower IQ for babies (click 'See also').
By Juliet Eilperin
The Washington Post 2008-11-14 (entry)
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By feeding small fish to farmed fish, pigs and poultry, humans are out-eating the aquatic species that depend on those forage fish for existence - and threatening foundation of oceanic life. We must encourage less meat-based eating habits as true sign of affluence, and support sustainable agriculture in developing world. And: These small, tasty fish could feed people, says researcher (click 'See also').
The editors
The New York Times 2008-11-10 (entry)
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Barack Obama won the presidential election with promise to address things beyond the power of individuals: ensuring food safety, clean air, regulating economy fairly, ensuring access to health care and educating children. He will now need the support of all Americans.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-11-05 (entry)
Considering extra cost and landfill clutter, standards for bottled water should be as good or even better than those for tap water. Consumers should be able to see certified data that lists what's in bottled water and whether it meets federal requirements. Analysis (click 'See also') found fertilizer residue, pain medicine, other chemicals in some major brands.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-10-17 (entry)
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Eve of World Food Day was missed opportunity for presidential candidates to discuss hunger, poverty. Starvation kills a child every five seconds; nearly one billion people go hungry daily. Both candidates must speak specifically about proposals to address global hunger, food shortages. And: To join anti-povery effort, click 'See also.'
The editors
The Capital Times (Madison, WI) 2008-10-16 (entry)
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We support humane treatment of animals, but it's unlikely that Proposition 2 would start that national trend. Because measure only regulates eggs produced in California and not eggs that are sold in state, it would likely bolster the market for cheaper out-of-state eggs, simply exporting caged hens' mistreatment.
The editors
Los Angeles Times 2008-09-25 (entry)
California voters should pass Proposition 2; every state should enact similar laws. Philosophy of cheapness cannot justify cruelty of industrial farming, with millions of pregnant sows, calves and laying hens kept in cages so small they can barely move. Reducing concentration of animals also will reduce air, water pollution and begin to redress imbalance between small farmers and huge corporations that have acquired anti-competitive control over meat industry.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-10-08 (entry)
Congress must ensure that FDA has budget for transparent assessments of genetically engineered animal products. New standards, which require producers to show that inserted genes do not harm animal's health and that any food from genetically engineered animal is safe to eat, are far more rigorous than agency's current oversight of biotech crops and cloned animals.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-10-03 (entry)
Stricter food safety standards by retailers is a welcome development. Retailers have both the clout to compel high standards and better tracking in agriculture and a direct reason to care, since they're the consumer's best chance of being compensated for food poisoning under product liability laws.
The editors
Los Angeles Times 2008-08-19 (entry)
It's time to apply lessons from energy sector to food policies and create an OPEC-like group for grain. As biofuels cropland demand increases and climate change alters global harvests, Organization of Grain Exporting Countries could regulate grain stocks - and institutionalize food as a human right. And: Russia plans to form state grain trading company (click 'See also').
By Mike Stones
nutraingredients.com/Decision News Media 2008-08-11 (entry)
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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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There's too much we don't know about what we eat, and food industry is largely to blame. After 9/11, food industry spent $2.6 million lobbying against stronger food safety rules that would have required source tracing. Bush administration backed business; this season, tomato growers alone lost $250 million so far in salmonella outbreak.
The editors
Reno Gazette-Journal (NV) 2008-07-28 (entry)
When one in eight families who bring children to Maryland emergency room are undernourished, there's growing need for nutrition programs. Baltimore officials are right to urge physicians to screen young patients for malnutrition and refer families to food pantries. But encouraging families to get help isn't enough; city needs a plan.
The editors
The Baltimore Sun 2008-07-18 (entry)
Congress must write stimulus plan with more spending for food stamps and more direct aid to states and local governments. Food aid helps most vulnerable Americans; food stamps are spent quickly and in full. Direct aid to states and localities reaches Medicaid recipients and others, and extra money is passed on.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-07-27 (entry)
Aftermath of immigration raid at Iowa kosher meat processing house shows abuse of undocumented immigrants. Slaughterhouse workers were charged as serious criminals and shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles; most sentenced to five months in prison, sending their families deeper into poverty. And: essay from eyewitness (click 'See also').
The editors
The New York Times 2008-07-13 (entry)
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Salmonella outbreak suspected in salsa ingredients shows it's time to put existing technology to work, tracing foods from the fields to the dinner table. Congress must protect our food supply by linking traceability with mandatory recall authority in current globalization bill under consideration.
The editors
The Washington Post 2008-07-08 (entry)
In fighting hunger, basic crop research pays. The U.S. needs a substantial, renewed commitment to CGIAR, the consortium of internationally funded and staffed crop-research centers around the world. And: America must rebuild, not destroy collaborative research, says father of first 'Green Revolution' (click 'See also').
The editors
The Washington Post 2008-07-09 (entry)
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President Bush's pledge of $5 billion this year and next to fight global hunger is a first step. Leaders at G8 summit must increase aid to poorest countries, lead others to do the same, reduce or ban egregious agricultural and energy subsidies, stop export bans and stockpiling, and halt wrongheaded pursuit of biofuels.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-07-06 (entry)
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Successful tax-reducing talks in Doha, Qatar, could add billions of dollars to earning potential of farmers in developing world, and to that of businesses and workers around the globe by opening rich nations' markets to mostly agricultural goods of poor nations. Triumph or failure may rest with a French bureaucrat.
The editors
The Washington Post 2008-06-11 (entry)
In world of growing hunger, with its links to alienation and terrorism, there's no justification for fat subsidies that nations provide their farmers no matter how high prices go. Subsidies have depressed food prices for years and discouraged investment in agriculture across much of the developing world.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-06-09 (entry)
Factory farming has turned animal husbandry into animal abuse, and new administration should consider regulating farm pollution as rigorously as other industries, phasing out confinement systems, banning antibiotics used for growth, and robust use of antitrust laws to encourage more competition.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-05-31 (entry)
In battling childhood obesity, Steven K. Galson, acting Surgeon General, has made it his mission to gather disparate efforts of parents, schools, and local governments into a unified national campaign. Bush administration should do more to organize those activities and boost their profile.
The editors
The Washington Post 2008-05-24 (entry)
California food stamp rules are punitive, shameful and miserly. Government must help the two million needy Californians get food stamps and bring in hundreds of millions of additional federal dollars to low-income families. It is foolish and unconscionable not to seize the chance to prevent hunger.
The editors
The Mercury News (CA) 2008-05-19 (entry)
President should veto farm/food bill despite its nutrition and conservation virtues. Bill perpetuates indefensible direct payments of about $5 billion a year, raises payments for wheat and soybeans, and kills a program to conserve rare prairie grasslands while narrowing two programs that paid farmers to protect wetlands and wildlife habitat.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-05-16 (entry)
Discouraging grain exports shrinks supplies and raises prices. US should encourage other countries blocking aid shipments to follow India's laudable example, which allows UN to buy and ship rice as a humanitarian exception to that country's ban. India is also considering easing its policy more generally.
The editors
The Washington Post 2008-05-12 (entry)
America can better help its farmers and citizens plus needy overseas if it stops treating food aid as farmer welfare and seeks framework that addresses: laws that forbid U.S. food-aid purchases overseas; promoting sale of surplus crops, rather than their storage as emergency stocks; and the effect of corn-ethanol subsidies on food scarcity.
The editors
The Plain Dealer (OH) 2008-05-04 (entry)
It's time to end subsidies for transforming corn into ethanol, and it's time to untangle international food aid from domestic farm supports. President Bush is right to bolster food assistance and to insist on local purchase of emergency food. We must provide help in developing agricultural markets and in boosting yields with new technologies and seeds.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-05-06 (entry)
Sprinkle Cascade detergent into your automatic dishwasher and, in the D.C. area, you're helping kill the Chesapeake Bay. Soap industry has no excuses for lagging on phosphate-free formulations and the deadline that Maryland has set to eliminate them, especially since Colgate-Palmolive has managed to make and market an alternative.
The editors
The Washington Post 2008-05-05 (entry)
Food crisis requires decisive leadership from U.S., and should include: vetoing farm/food bill unless Congress slashes subsidies and caps income eligibility at $250,000; refilling UN food program's empty coffers; buying food directly grown from farmers in poor countries; investing in agriculture efficiency; and suspending or reducing the U.S. ethanol mandate.
The editors
Chicago Tribune 2008-05-01 (entry)
Reality TV meets rural fantasy in 'Farmer Wants a Wife,' with Matt Neustadt looking more Abercrombie & Fitch than Future Farmers of America. With farming at the center of energy, environmental and even foreign policy debates putting the back 40 on the front page, there's room for a more nuanced portrayal of farmers.
The editors
Star-Tribune (MN) (may require registration) 2008-04-28 (entry)
United States must help World Food Program fill a $500 million gap in its budget; Congress should OK local purchase of emergency aid; U.S., multilateral institutions must support farming in the developing world to lessen their dependence on imports. This will be simpler if U.S., Europe dismantle market-distorting crop subsidies and trade barriers.
The editors
The Washington Post 2008-04-19 (entry)
We worry that too few thoughtful people are steering the food-ethanol debate, especially on the misguided farm/food bill. Corn-powered ethanol puts your gas tank in competition with your kids' bellies. The more U.S. acreage pushed into producing corn for ethanol, the higher prices go, because that land isn't available for other crops. Neither is the water - corn is thirsty and sucks down the Panhandle's aquifer.
The editors
The Dallas Morning News 2008-04-17 (entry)
The health and well-being of needy people alone ought to inspire those in Congress negotiating on farm/food bill - and the White House that needs to sign off on whatever they pass - to make compromises and get help to those who need it most. Extending current bill until after election would leave new Congress with sticky questions on farmer incentives.
The editors
The Plain Dealer (OH) 2008-04-09 (entry)
Twice yearly school cafeteria inspections are required of those participating in USDA National School Lunch Program, but only 16 percent of the schools in Contra Costa have received them. It's time for county health officials to take responsibility for putting those safeguards into place, and work with schools to determine who pays.
The editors
Contra Costa Times (CA) 2008-04-01 (entry)
Food riots and protests pressure governments to bring food prices down, but starving the neighbors by restricting food exports isn't the best solution. Restrictions demotivate farmers, pushing them into growing the wrong crops and jeopardizing future access to markets. And restrictions on supply encourage hoarding, which pushes prices up even more.
The Economist 2008-03-27 (entry)
With precious few salmon returning to Sacramento River last fall, it's clear that salmon need help. California's leaders have duty to save them by protecting their habitats from effects of logging, by removing Klamath river dams and restoring waterways to their free-flowing nature. Water diversions must be calculated for minimal damage to fish.
The editors
San Francisco Chronicle 2008-03-23 (entry)
In Zimbabwe, once 'breadbasket of Africa,' half its residents are malnourished and the price of a loaf of bread costs what a house did just a few years ago; policies of President Robert Mugabe are to blame. Party infighting and upcoming elections could bring change, but fair elections would be required. South Africa and neighbors should pressure him for a fair contest.
The editors
The Washington Post 2008-03-12 (entry)
U.S. policy must adjust for higher food prices. Congress must dramatically improve efficiency of emergency food aid programs. First step: Approve president's proposal to permit government to buy locally - say, South African or Ethiopian wheat for the hungry elsewhere in Africa. European Union and Canada have recently approved similar purchases.
The editors
The Washington Post 2008-03-14 (entry)
Michigan grows varied range of crops - from apples to zucchini. If producers for corn, wheat, rice, cotton and soybeans (10 percent of the state's farms) continue to receive nearly two-thirds of all subsidies, how long before every cucumber and pumpkin field gets plowed under for corn or wheat? If Congress won't rein in subsidies, Bush should keep veto card in his hand.
The editors
Detroit Free Press 2008-03-13 (entry)
In farm/food bill, farmers close to scoring the most lavish subsidies ever, retaining a loophole for more money and enjoying a $5.1 billion emergency fund, at cost of increased taxes and trade distortions. Corn producers alone will get $10.5 billion over five years, on top of ethanol subsidies that in 2007 prompted conversion of 15.3 million acres to corn. This monster should die of its own greedy weight.
The editors
The Wall Street Journal (may require subscription) 2008-03-13 (entry)
Michigan lawmakers' plan to divvy up food stamp distribution to twice a month, rather than just once, is a good idea that will address immediate hunger, help with budgeting, and provide for its 1.2 million clients more opportunity to buy fresh foods. Additionally, it will aid grocers and soup kitchens, which often experience an imbalance of traffic early, and late in the month, respectively.
The editors
Battle Creek Enquirer 2008-03-12 (entry)
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Bill before Alabama legislature falsely cloaks industrial hog farming in noble notion of preserving family farms. This bill, first introduced in 2001, needs to define a family farm, clarify the responsibilities and rights of all in dealing with farm byproducts and remove the clause that would discourage citizens from going to court with their grievances.
The editors
The Anniston Star 2008-03-11 (entry)
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There's no justification for spending billions more on agriculture. The farm/food bill should have been redrafted to cut crop subsidies and cap payments to rich farmers, devoting savings to deficit reduction and increases in food stamps to help the poor buy food for themselves and their families.
The editors
The Washington Post 2008-03-09 (entry)
Rich world's greed for biofuels pushes food prices out of reach for poorest neighbors. Wealthy countries must first ensure the hungry are fed, but Congress, too, must take a hard look at the effect of corn-based ethanol on food supplies - just as new energy bill requires exam of environmental effects. And it must move toward ending commodities subsidies.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-03-03 (entry)
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Mark Fiore, an animated editorial cartoonist, links juicy burgers with industrial agriculture, slaughterhouse safety, school lunches and fast-food outlets in 'Doreen the Downer.'
Mark Fiore
markfiore.com; The Ethicurean 2008-02-21 (entry)
Mangoes growing in South America.
Broccoli, mangoes, and flowers exported to U.S. support 350,000 jobs in Ecuador; other products, including textiles, sent to U.S. provide jobs for 660,000 in Colombia and 874,000 in Peru. Congressional Republicans should support long-term, not short-term, preferential trade benefits to fight drug industry in region that produced nearly all cocaine brought into this country last year.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-03-02 (entry)
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New York's mayor, health commissioner and city council deserve credit for withstanding pressure from retail food industry to approve 1,000 more mobile fruit and vegetable stands. The new pushcarts are destined for city's poorest areas, home to disproportionate share of those with diet-related disease.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-03-01 (entry)
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As food prices skyrocket, global starvation worsens and the UN considers rationing food aid (click 'See also'), the callous U.S. - Bush, Congress and presidential contenders - boosts grain-burning for ethanol. Government should determine effects of biofuels before maximizing corn cob energy, and meanwhile, give more to world food aid to undo damage it caused.
The editors
Los Angeles Times 2008-02-26 (entry)
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Tony Auth/The Philadelphia Inquirer
Tony Auth, editorial cartoonist at The Philadelphia Inquirer, on the Hallmark/Westland beef recall and school lunches.
2008-02-19 (entry)
How many people need to get sick or die before Congress overhauls the food inspection program? The USDA and FDA need authority to demand recalls; food producers should be able to track their supplies; foreign suppliers should create and implement a safety plan that can be better monitored. Creating a single agency to oversee food safety is worth serious consideration.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-02-21 (entry)
Farm subsidies system is broken, but there is hope for reform in President Bush, who is on the right side of the problem. Needed is a fair farm/food bill that increases spending for underfunded programs including food stamps and conservation while decreasing subsidies to rich farmers.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-02-22 (entry)
Subsidies are wasteful and harmful to the environment. They block our producers from foreign markets. And with biofuel demand sending farmland values and crop prices soaring, they're uncalled for. Lawmakers can redeem themselves by rejecting any farm/food bill that stops short of real reform. If they don't, the president should veto the bill.
The editors
Orlando Sentinel 2008-02-21 (entry)
After three years of gutting, clipping, boning and slicing turkeys at a rate of about 30 a minute at a poultry plant in the Carolinas, Karina Zorita, 32, struggles to grasp a spoon, hold a broom, brush her hair or pick up a glass of water with her wounded hands. That's wrong, and it's wrong for the thousands of poultry workers who clean and process America's best-selling meat.
The editors
The Charlotte Observer (NC) 2008-02-10 (entry)
Despite exciting, sustained bipartisan effort on farm/food bill reform, House panel seems to attempt to postpone any possibility of wider reforms with 10-year renewal of the farm bill, instead of the normal five years, then suggests cutting new programs and continuing subsidies to rich farmers. Burying reform for 10 years would be outrageously unfair.
The editors
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) 2008-02-17 (entry)
Non-profit research group creates interactive map that points to 350-plus newspaper editorials in the last year, nationwide, calling for farm/food bill reform. Few issues, Environmental Working Group says, have garnered as much editorial page criticism of Congress.
Environmental Working Group 2008-02-11 (entry)
Consternation, not soothing words and complacency, would be more reassuring from USDA after agency failed to halt abuse of sick cows at slaughterhouse that supplied school lunch program - until Humane Society filmed it. And it was up to another consumer advocacy group and The New York Times to test tuna sushi for mercury - then report that it exceeded FDA standards. It's time for alarm at the food safety agencies.
The editors
Los Angeles Times 2008-02-09 (entry)
The administration's budget continues to starve the FDA, which is charged with the maintaining the safety of our food supply. The proposed increase is bare-bones, and in event of shortfall, agency will likely move this money from foods to drugs or devices.
By Caroline Smith DeWaal
Center for Science in the Public Interest 2008-02-04 (entry)
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FDA, our main defense against tainted food, drugs and other products, desperately needs an infusion of money and talent. As imports pour in, agency battles high turnover in scientists, a decrepit computer system, a weak organizational structure, and a inspection force so sparse that it would require 1,900 years to inspect every foreign food plant.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-02-03 (entry)
Every piece of glistening tuna sushi is a report on the worrisome state of the oceans; we will have no mercury-free mature bluefin tuna until the oceans are mercury-free. Much of this pollutant is spewed by coal-burning power plants. It settles into the water as methylmercury, is absorbed by bacteria and then makes its way up the food chain -- to us.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-01-24 (entry)
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With integrated North American market finally in place, domestic sugar growers scheme instead to rewrite trade treaty and create continent-wide cartel. Sugar lobby, one of world's richest and most destructive special interests, wants fixed prices, limited exports and imports, U.S.-Mexico oversight commission, and limit on sugar from third countries - at taxpayer expense.
The editors
The Wall Street Journal 2008-01-23 (entry)
To halt overfishing to extinction, World Trade Organization needs new trade rules that reduce subsidies. Without payments, about $35 billion annually, there would be smaller fleets and less economic incentive to continue environmentally devastating practices.
The editors
The New York Times 2008-01-21 (entry)
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Though packaged school lunches might appear to be a step backward for Indian schools, consider the lack of kitchen supervision and food-borne illnesses that recently have befallen students in Makahalli, Mumbai and Dhanbad, and they seem more attractive.
The editors
The Times of India 2008-01-03 (entry)
As school lunch programs reduce dependence on prefab food, costs rise for food, labor and transportation, national study shows. More than 60 percent of schools report that federal reimbursement falls short. Though Maryland (and other states) are struggling to balance their budgets, bridging this gap is a worthy effort.
The editors
The Baltimore Sun 2007-11-28 (entry)
Since farm/food bill is as good for the American consumer as most of the confections in school vending machines, amendment to limit junk food in schools is a refreshing, yet flawed, start. New rules would limit drinks for elementary school students, allow diet drinks in high schools, and would give school districts authority to impose stricter rules.
The editors
The New York Times 2010-12-10 (entry)
As prices for wheat hit $400 a ton, Pakistani grain is being smuggled to Afghanistan. Experts blame government for miscalculating crop estimates and allowing some exports, then, importing wheat at three times the local price. Meanwhile, inflation rises and poverty grows in part of Pakistan that posts high growth rates in crops.
The editors
Daily Times (Pakistan) 2007-12-13 (entry)
With OK of farm/food bill, Congress will raise prices for all foods we buy that contain sugar (after generous campaign contributions from the sugar industry), give gigantic Christmas presents to the nation's richest farmers, and ignore the sensible alternative of a crop insurance program.
The editors
The Washington Post 2007-12-10 (entry)
Linking aid for 35 million hungry Americans to a $26 billion agribusiness trough is a travesty. The Senate should rally for a crop insurance program and put some savings toward food aid. Congress could fund food banks faster by moving authority out of the farm bill. Administration could dig deeper to finance struggling food pantries and soup kitchens.
The editors
The New York Times 2007-12-07 (entry)
Hungry families, caught in a perfect storm of declining donations, skyrocketing food and fuel costs and the mortgage crisis, are reason enough to pass the farm/food bill after weeding out excess crop subsidies.
The editors
The Boston Globe 2007-12-05 (entry)
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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With child health-care bill vetoed because it would have insured some families making more than $83,000 per year, it's hard to fathom Senate's debate of a farm bill larded with subsidies. A cutoff to farm families making $750,000 or more is not unreasonable.
The editors
Washington Post 2007-11-25 (entry)
The Bush administration, responsible for safety of our food, has instead spent years mollycoddling that industry. Now, as endless recalls erode trust at the grocery store, suspicion grows that agencies charged with our wellbeing have been whittled to incompetence. Congress must press for overhaul of consumer protection system.
The editors
The New York Times 2007-11-26 (entry)
With 500,000 or more people in Chicago - mostly low-income African-American and Hispanic areas - living in food deserts, it's time for city to attract supermarkets that sell the fresh meat, produce and frozen foods that are essential to a healthy lifestyle.
The editors
Chicago Sun-Times 2007-11-25 (entry)
With food prices rising faster than any time in 17 years and best gains in farm riches in two decades, the current version of the farm/food bill, with its direct transfer from taxpayers to mostly rich corporate farmers, means "no farmer left behind."
The editors
The Wall Street Journal 2007-11-14 (entry)
As commodities farmers enjoy record prices and incomes and obesity epidemic rages, the way to refocus Congress and American people on bloated bill in Senate is to change its name from farm bill to nutrition bill, editors suggest.
The editors
The Mercury News (CA) 2007-11-13 (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)
If Congress can triumph over farm-state legislators' desires and overcome inertia to approve Lugar-Lautenberg bill, crop insurance would replace subsidies. It would save $20 billion over five years, and would funnel the savings to valuable soil, open space and wetlands preservation programs, as well as the food stamps program.
The editors
The New York Times 2007-11-03 (entry)
As increased immigration raids target agricultural workers (70 percent of which are likely illegals), fruit rots and companies scramble; a better idea, editors say, is AgJOBS bill, which speeds guest-worker processing and grants temporary legal status to undocumented workers here for two years.
The editors
Boston Globe 2007-10-24 (entry)
Scramble to keep food prices artificially low in Russia and other countries with subsidies, quotas, price controls and export taxes distorts the market, and once cheap food prices are in place, it's politically impossible to withdraw, editors say.
The editors
Financial Times (London) 2007-10-24 (entry)
Paying billions to producers of crops like wheat, corn and soybeans complicates trade negotiations and discriminates against poor farmers overseas who cannot compete; if Senate bows to pressure as did the House, administration should veto the farm/food bill.
The editors
The New York Times 2007-10-20 (entry)
Bush administration's proposed legalization of high-altitude strip mining, with follow-up poisoning of Appalachian drinking water and fish habitats with dumped leftovers, will add converts to reaffirmation of Clean Water Act protections.
The editors
The New York Times (may require subscription) 2007-08-27 (entry)
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Bush administration deserves credit for pushing immigration reform, but enforcement-only plan for handling illegal immigrants could create potentially devastating consequences for farmers at harvest season.
The editors
Denver Post 2007-08-14 (entry)
Government's subsidies to the very rich need to be addressed, but Congress should follow lead of the House in tending to nutrition needs of very poor around the world via the Food for Education program in the farm/food bill.
The editors
The Daily News Tribune (MA) 2007-08-28 (entry)
New interactive map allows users to tract proliferation of factory farms by state and county - even number of animals - and it raises questions of whether we pursue the logic of industrialism to its limits, and how badly will it harm the landscape, the people who live in it and democracy itself?
The editors
The New York Times (may require subscription) (entry)
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