The “People’s Department”
President Abraham Lincoln formed the Department of Agriculture in 1862. Now known as the USDA, the agency is charged, in part, with
- assuring food safety
- protecting natural resources
- fostering rural communities
- ending hunger in the United States and abroad
The current administration is giving itself high marks – what do you think?
Are you optimistic that things are improving or is it big business as usual? How much measurable progress has been made in the last 10, 20, 50 or 100 years? Let us know in the comments..
“clean, safe, wholesome and truthfully labeled”
Action Alert
Grist Magazine, June 10, 2009
“As the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill moves forward in the House, Big Ag interest groups are circling their plows and sharpening their pitchforks. Some of the largest corporations in the agribusiness sector-including the GMO-and-herbicide giant Monsanto-are pushing to control how agriculture would fit into the bill’s cap-and-trade scheme.
The main agent for their will is House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), who has launched a veritable jihad to make sure the historic climate legislation hews to the interests of “production” (i.e., industrial) agriculture. Via Farm Policy blog, here’s an MP3 clip of Peterson’s latest harumphing on Waxman-Markey, in an interview with a radio program called Agritalk, which is sponsored by Monsanto, Syngenta, and Archer Daniels Midland.”
Is this the change that you voted for?
Don’t Let Big Agribusiness Ruin Food Safety Reform
June 16th, 2009
Dear Supporter,
Here’s the good news: after countless recalls, including the disastrous peanut butter-related Salmonella outbreak this winter, Congress is finally considering Congressman Waxman’s food safety bill — the bill goes to the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week. The bad news? You guessed it, big ag is pulling out all the stops to weaken the bill. Can your tell your Member of Congress you want a strong food safety bill?
Big ag will always have more money to fight these battles than we do, but we have something they don’t — thousands of activists who will contact Congress. Congress needs to hear from all of us if they are going to stand up to big ag.
Here’s what your Member of Congress needs to hear about the food safety bill:
1) The bill must include frequent inspections of food processing plants. The Peanut Corporation of America debacle showed that industry self-regulation just doesn’t cut it.
2) It must set strong standards for imports that are equal to the standards that apply to domestically produced food.
3) It must include sensible regulations that work for farmers of all sizes – that include flexibility, not one-size-fits-all rules geared toward the largest operations.
We won’t get many chances to fix our broken food safety system, so it’s critical that we stand up now and stop big ag from weakening Congressman Waxman’s food safety bill. Can you contact your Member of Congress today?
http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/t/741/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1122
Thanks for taking action,
Alex, Sarah, Noelle and the Food Team
Food & Water Watch
goodfood(at)fwwatch.org
Obama’s New Chef Skewers School Lunches
Somebody certainly ought to.
“…During weekly Tuesday gatherings at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum in Chicago, Mr. Kass hosted “Rethinking Soup,” which he described as “a communal event where we will eat delicious, healthy soup and have fresh, organic conversation about many of the urgent social, cultural, economic and environmental food issues that we should be addressing.”
Sam Kass
In May, over a meal of locally-produced beef and barley soup, Mr. Kass lamented the sorry state of the National School Lunch Program, which provides low-cost or free lunches to schoolchildren. He noted that what gets served up to kids is influenced by government agricultural subsidies. As a result, he says, meals served to students are low in vegetables and disproportionately high in fat, additives, preservatives and high-fructose corn syrup…”
So, Secretary Vilsack, please do let us know what you intend to do about this, and when.
The Organic Consumers Fund, Organic Consumers Association’s partner for legislative and electoral advocacy, has a new graduate student intern, Chantal Wei-Ying Clement, who is working on our Appetite for a Change campaign, lobbying Congress for healthy local and organic food to be included in the Child Nutrition Act. Read Chantal’s first report reviewing the Institute of Medicine’s recommendations for updating the school lunch and breakfast programs. What changes would you make to school food? Write to Congress.
By the way, how many children of US senators and representatives do you think participate in the public school lunch program?
