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Vilsack Adviser Predicts Vegetable Garden on White House Lawn by Summer

Alice Waters, the executive chef and owner of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., looks over the produce at a farmer's market in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009. Waters, a champion of locally grown, organic food, has been trying for more than a decade to get first families to set an example for others by gardening. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) On the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth earlier this month, the Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and his staff at the department’s Washington headquarters broke out its shovels and “broke pavement” on a garden.
Posted in agriculture, Food/Water, localism

Federal Water May Be Cut off From Calif. Farms

Shawn Coburn, left, and his foreman, Juan Guadian, inspect an almond orchard in Mendota, Calif. A double whammy of drought and a cutback of water supplies has cost California's agricultural heartland millions of dollars in lost planting, affecting workers in the nation's produce capital. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP file)

SACRAMENTO - Federal water managers said they may have to cut off all water to some of California's largest farms as a result of the deepening drought affecting the state.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials said Friday that parched reservoirs and patchy snow and rainfall this year would likely force them to cut surface water deliveries completely. It would be the first time in more than 15 years such a move was taken.

Posted in agriculture, Food/Water, water

No Lunch Left Behind

This new era of government bailouts and widespread concern over wasteful spending offers an opportunity to take a hard look at the National School Lunch Program. Launched in 1946 as a public safety net, it has turned out to be a poor investment. It should be redesigned to make our children healthier.

Posted in children, Education, Food/Water, Health

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 19, 2009
3:51 PM

CONTACT: Food & Water Watch
Rachael Richardson, Food & Water Watch (917) 733-0434
Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch (202) 683-2500

Food & Water Watch-Sponsored Film The Water Front Screens in NYC

Documentary Exposes the Effects of Underfunded, Neglected Water Systems

NEW YORK - February 19 - Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., today sponsored a screening of The Water Front, a documentary film highlighting the negative effects of aging water systems and a Michigan community's struggle to defend its water rights.

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Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.
Food & Water Watch Links:
Posted in Food/Water, water

Dig for Recovery: Allotments Boom as Thousands Go to Ground in Recession

Allotments, once considered unfashionable, are now all the rage (photo: BBC News)

In the boom times of the 1980s, councils sold off allotments in their tens of thousands as it seemed no one in the Britain of conspicuous consumption could be persuaded to grow a single leek of their own. But as recession bites, the growing enthusiasm for homegrown veg has seen more than 100,000 people join waiting lists for a patch of land as demand hits an all-time high.

Posted in agriculture, Economy/Trade, Food/Water

Vilsack Calls for Stricter Food Labels

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is throwing out food labeling rules proposed by the Agriculture Department just before George W. Bush left office, saying it wants labels for fresh meat and other foods that would show more clearly where an animal or food came from, according to consumer groups who've been briefed on the issue.

Posted in consumer watch, Food/Water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 17, 2009
1:24 PM

CONTACT: American Rivers
Kathryn Swartz, American Rivers, 419-936-3759
Joan Freele, New England Rain Barrel, 781-910-9036

Go Green This Spring: Save Water, Save Money, and Prevent Pollution

Save over 30% off the purchase of a rain barrel

TOLEDO, Ohio - February 17 - For the first time this year, Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan residents have the opportunity to save money and water by purchasing discounted rain barrels, thanks to a partnership between American Rivers, the Toledo Stormwater Program, the Rain Garden Initiative of Toledo Lucas County and The New England Rain Barrel Company. Rain barrels help residents use water more wisely and reduce pollution in local streams by capturing stormwater runoff. 

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American Rivers is the only national organization standing up for healthy rivers so our communities can thrive. Through national advocacy, innovative solutions and our growing network of strategic partners, we protect and promote our rivers as valuable assets that are vital to our health, safety and quality of life.

Founded in 1973, American Rivers has more than 65,000 members and supporters nationwide, with offices in Washington, DC and the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, California and Northwest regions.

American Rivers Links:
Posted in conservation, Food/Water

Dairy Cows Head for Slaughter as Milk Prices Sour

Ray Souza, owner of Mel-Delin Dairy in Turlock, Calif., stands with a few of his Holstein cows on Jan. 10, 2009. As of Feb. 2, the price farmers receive for a gallon of milk has been 80 cents a gallon, less than half the $1.65 a gallon the California Department of Food and Agriculture estimates it costs to produce. 'I don't ever remember being able to produce milk at that price,' said dairyman Souza, who got into the business in 1963. (AP Photo/San Francisco Chronicle, Lance Iversen)

TURLOCK, Calif. - Hundreds of thousands of America's dairy cows are being turned into hamburgers because milk prices have dropped so low that farmers can no longer afford to feed the animals.

Dairy farmers say they have little choice but to sell part of their herds for slaughter because they face a perfect storm of destructive economic forces. At home, feed prices are rising and cash-strapped consumers are eating out less often. Abroad, the global recession has cut into demand for butter and cheese exported from the U.S.

Posted in agriculture, Economy/Trade, Food/Water

Food For Peace

As President Obama tackles enormous foreign policy challenges, he would be well-advised to extract good ideas from past administrations and carry forward this "better part of history."

Posted in Food/Water, peace

Senators Berate Food Regulators

This Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 file photo, shows the Peanut Corp. of America plant in Blakely, Ga. Peanut Corp. of America president Stewart Parnell said through an external public relations firm that a majority of the plant's employees had been let go for the time being since production has been shut down. (AP Photo/Elliott Minor)

WASHINGTON - Members of a Senate panel rebuked federal health and food safety regulators yesterday for their slow intervention in the nation's peanut-borne salmonella outbreak, demanding that officials find ways to cooperate when responsibility is split among different agencies.

Posted in consumer watch, Food/Water
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