In a previous post, I wrote about how the coal industry got its way with ACES, the Waxman-Markey climate bill. Much of their victory had to do with sharply limiting the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency, whose chartered purpose is to protect the environment, and therefore, public health.
The agribusiness industry won a similar victory. When Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), chair of the House Agriculture Committee and point person for an alliance of rural and coal state Democrats seeking to weaken the bill, put his foot down and said, "I'm pretty sure that any role for EPA in agriculture is a deal breaker."
Rep. Peterson's main complaint about the first draft of ACES, and what seemed to be the general complaint of the House Agriculture Committee, was that the legislation didn't give farmers enough money for things they were already doing. Throw more money at us based on no scientific evidence whatsoever, he said, or no deal.
House leadership took Peterson at his word. Like, for example, this word:
(In this recurring feature, with a click of her mouse EatingLiberally's kat corners Dr. Marion Nestle, NYU professor of nutrition and author ofPet Food Politics, What to Eat and Food Politics:)
Kat: A near-collective cheer rose up from the progressive foodie blogosphere
on Monday (here, here, here, here, and here) at the news that President Obama has nominated Kathleen Merrigan, one of Food Democracy Now's "Sustainable Dozen," to serve as Deputy Secretary at the USDA. Obama Foodorama weighed in with a somewhat more cautiously optimistic post expressing the hope that Merrigan's appointment might mark the dawn of an enlightened, post-racial, post-gender USDA. Change we can believe in?
Dr. Nestle: Let's score this as a win for Food Democracy Now, which worked hard to collect over 87,000 signatures from people who want the USDA to start paying attention to sustainable agriculture. Let's also give points to USDA Secretary Vilsack for listening to Food Democracy Now on this issue. Kathleen Merrigan has a long track record of promoting organics and plenty of experience in making things work in government. I'm keeping fingers crossed that she will be able to make some progress on issues that matter so much to so many of us.
Planning on eating a hamburger this weekend? If you bought ground beef at a Kroger store (and they're the parent company for several grocery chains across the country, listed below the fold), you might want to think twice about that. The company is recalling beef included in a 523,000 lb recall by Nebraska Beef, with all participants down the line stonewalling, or lacking information, about where it went.
The USDA's Food Safety & Inspection Service's Roger Sockman just told me that he "can't confirm or deny" the story that a New Albany woman was sickened in relation to the outbreak, and that he hadn't heard that city mentioned in epidemiologists' discussions. He listed seven states as being known to him to be involved in the recall: CO, IL, MI, NE, NY, PA and TX.
Sockman didn't mention Ohio, one of the states listed prominently in many news reports as being among the first to have a recall issued.
Until I can get a complete, official listing, there are news reports of contaminated meat or Kroger recalls in (and there's some repetition and overlap from the FSIS list) CA, OR, WA, CO, NM, UT, WY, NY, PA, TX, IL, GA, SC, AL and East TN.
