Meats, Poultry & Seafood
Large-scale agriculture, meat production coming under scrutiny as policy makers, farmers, scientists seek solutions. Trillions of farm animals generate 18 percent of emissions that raise global temperatures, UN says; meat eating expected to double between 2000 and 2050. Only 98 of 2,000-plus UN-backed emission-curbing projects are in agriculture. And: greenhouse gases by the numbers (click 'See also').
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
International Herald Tribune 2008-12-04 (entry)
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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)
Keeping kosher or halal can reduce or increase carbon footprint, depending on replacements for pork (mid-range emissions) and shrimp (energy-intensive, environmentally damaging). Good substitutes: produce, chicken, herring, wild salmon. And: Poultry industries have worked since 2005 to persuade EPA to ease reporting requirements of ammonia emissions from their vast manure lagoons (click 'See also').
By Emily Gertz
Scientific American 2008-09-25 (entry)
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In survey of 60 seafoods at New York sushi restaurants and seafood markets, a quarter of labels didn't match product, young researchers learn from newly available DNA analysis. Genetic fingerprinting technique, used by one sleuth's dad in his work with birds, showed that one fish labeled as white tuna was really tilapia, and in another case, red snapper was cod.
By John Schwartz
The New York Times 2008-08-21 (entry)
Jellyfish unwelcome residents at beaches worldwide after severe overfishing removes their predators (tuna, sharks, swordfish) and food competitors, and pollution saps oxygen needed for other predators to thrive in coastal shallows. Their presence signals declining health of the world's oceans, scientists say. And: Jellyfish could take place of fish with chips (click 'See also').
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
The New York Times 2008-08-03 (entry)
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FDA orders farmers to stop dosing chickens, cows, pigs and eggs with drug used to treat skin infections, stomach infections and pneumonia in humans. Agency says that overuse will render cephalosporins ineffective in treating human disease.
Bloomberg News; Newsday 2008-07-03 (entry)
As New Zealand works toward carbon-neutral goal, its farmers seethe at proposal to make them the world's first forced to pay if they exceed government-imposed limits on greenhouse gases. Livestock-generated methane and more potent nitrous oxide make up about half the greenhouse gases that New Zealand adds to Earth's air.
By Paul Watson
Los Angeles Times 2008-06-07 (entry)
American agriculture must chart course away from factory farming to reverse environmental and human health problems, Pew panel says. Experts, in two-year study, probed quantity and impact of animal sewage on waterways and soil; human health implications of antimicrobials used for animal growth; impact of factory farms on rural life; and welfare of animals. For report, click 'See also.'
By H. Josef Hebert
The Associated Press; San Francisco Chronicle 2008-04-29 (entry)
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Proponents of vat-grown meat gather in Norway to discuss specialty tissue engineering. They say it will be a more efficient, cheaper and carbon-friendly way to make animal meat. But reproducing muscle, or the combination of muscle, fat and connective tissue to make steak, is proving difficult. Conference-goers skipped the samples and ate Norwegian salmon instead.
By Alexis Madrigal
Wired 2008-04-11 (entry)
Scientists at Shanghai Fisheries University report they have created a high-tech food nose that notes chemicals emitted by decaying food particles and can detect a prawn that is on verge of spoilage, as well as problems with poultry, meat and eggs; another product, a food safety chip, can detect viruses, dead or alive.
By Rachel Yan
Shanghai Daily (China) 2007-11-05 (entry)
Bill requiring labels for cloned meats and milk is a small step in the right direction; FDA's movement toward no-label approval based on part, from biotech company data, is a slippery slope toward other questionable biotech products including human genes.
By Osagie K. Obasogie and Pete Shanks
San Francisco Chronicle 2007-10-05 (entry)
As cases of Topps-related e.coli climb, USDA examines reasons why it waited 18 days to announce recall of 21.7 million pounds of New Jersey company's frozen hamburger patties; New York recall went out after first case was confirmed.
By Stephen J. Hedges
Chicago Tribune 2007-10-04 (entry)
As concerns grow over the origins and safety of what we eat, manufacturers and grocers respond with a positive yet puzzling new vocabulary, and consumers are left wondering about the differences between "organic" and "natural."
By Andrea Weigl
The News & Observer (NC) 2007-10-03 (entry)
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Long used in China, integrated aquaculture, with fish waste fertilizing certain plants and fish sold at market, now attractive to researchers and entrepreneurs in Australia; barramundi and Murray cod enrich lettuce, bok choy and herbs.
By Mary-Lou Considine
ECOS magazine; sciencealert.com 2007-08-29 (entry)
As farmers eagerly switch from food crops to those for biofuels, ecological and social factors led by high food prices, meat-rich diets, dropping water supplies, climate change and the growing population threaten vast numbers of people with food and water shortages.
By John Vidal
The Guardian (UK) 2007-08-29 (entry)
Ethanol craze looms dangerously large for fish and crabs in Chesapeake, since larger acreage planted in nitrogen-needy corn means more fertilizer runoff into water, which spawns growth of oxygen-depriving algae, study reports.
The Associated Press; Business Week 2007-08-27 (entry)
Long the designated caretakers of the poor and disenfranchised, religious communities find their interests growing toward farming and food production for reasons including humane treatment of animals, fair wages to workers and stewardship of the Earth.
By Joan Nathan
The New York Times 2007-08-22 (entry)
Seeking sales, food processors add crushed insects to yogurt and grapefruit juice, titanium dioxide to Betty Crocker's white frosting, and dye to fish and chicken feed, but FDA rules are lax on ingredients disclosure, so labels might read 'artificial color.'
By Pallavi Gogoi
Business Week Online 2006-10-01 (entry)
Overfishing, poaching and pollution have depleted worldwide fish stocks to 10 percent of normal; for every pound of shrimp harvested, 10 pounds are discarded, along with turtles and dolphins, conservationists report.
By Eviana Hartman
Washington Post (entry)
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For Toronto, Tokyo and other urban sites, Columbia University professor conceives of vertical farming in tall buildings, with each floor hosting hydroponically grown crops, including grains, as well as small livestock such as pigs.
By Eviana Hartman
Washington Post (entry)
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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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