News
Farmers, Pecan Growers Say Coal Plant Kills Crops
December 28, 2010 8:44 am | CommentsBASTROP, Texas (AP) — Along a stretch of Highway 21, in Texas' pastoral Hill Country, is a vegetative wasteland. Trees are barren, or covered in gray, dying foliage and peeling bark. Fallen, dead limbs litter the ground where pecan growers and ranchers have watched trees die slow, agonizing deaths.
Northern Beef Packers To Address Plant's Future
December 28, 2010 8:43 am | CommentsABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) — Northern Beef Packers is scheduled to make an announcement Tuesday on the future of its plant near Aberdeen. Gov. Mike Rounds and other state and local officials are expected to attend. The Aberdeen American News reports that the company's partially built beef packing plant is expected to open next summer.
Major Milk Buyer To Pay $30M In Dairy Suit
December 28, 2010 8:42 am | CommentsMONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A federal judge in Vermont is reviewing a proposed settlement of an antitrust lawsuit in which a major national milk processor would pay $30 million to Northeastern dairy farmers and change its milk buying practices in the region, at least temporarily. The proposed settlement between farmers and Dallas-based Dean Foods, made public Friday, is "a major win for dairy farmers in the Northeast who have been squeezed by monopolization and price-fixing," said Benjamin Brown, a Washington-based lawyer for the farmers.
Maple Leaf Foods To Hold Meeting With Disgruntled Shareholders
December 27, 2010 7:07 am | CommentsTORONTO ( Canadian Press ) — Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSX: MFI) says it will comply with the request of disgruntled shareholder West Face Capital and allow shareholders to vote on some of the activist hedge fund's proposals at its annual meeting. The company says it will hold the meeting April 28 in Toronto to vote on five non-binding resolutions proposed by West Face, which owns about 11.
Japan Agency Warned Not To Accept Whale Meat Gifts
December 27, 2010 7:06 am | CommentsTOKYO (AP) — The Japanese fisheries agency has warned its officials against accepting whale meat as gifts from whalers, just weeks after Japan's whaling expedition left for the Antarctic Ocean for its annual hunts. The agency reprimanded five officials for accepting whale meat from a fisheries company that operates the government-funded whaling programs from 1999 to 2008, agency official Koji Hamada said Friday.
Dairy Farmers Reach Preliminary Settlement With Dean Foods
December 27, 2010 7:05 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (PRNewswire) — On Friday Northeast Dairy Farmers reached a settlement agreement with Dean Foods Company in their class action antitrust lawsuit against Dean, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and Dairy Marketing Services (DMS). The agreement will include $30 million in monetary damages and injunctive relief that calls for Dean to purchase a portion of its raw milk from multiple Northeast sources.
More Farmers' Markets Expand To Year-Round
December 27, 2010 7:04 am | CommentsPLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — A steady stream of customers filled baskets and shopping bags with vegetables, cranberries, cheese, fresh-baked breads and pies while chatting with the dozen or so farmers selling goods in the visitor's center of a local museum. It was a bitterly cold, gray December day, but for many, it felt just right for the farmers' market as live music and a warm fireplace helped set a holiday mood.
Model Found Dead In Beer Heir's Mansion
December 27, 2010 7:04 am | CommentsST. LOUIS (AP) — For generations, the Busches of St. Louis were the first family of American beer-making, the city's most devoted boosters, and bearers of the most famous name in town. But they have also been touched by scandal, tragedy and allegations of reckless behavior. Now the Busch name is in the headlines again, this time after an aspiring young model was found dead in the gated home of August Busch IV, the former Anheuser-Busch CEO and heir to the Budweiser fortune.
Changes Proposed Following Abuse At Smithfield
December 23, 2010 2:57 am | CommentsSMITHFIELD, Va. (AP) — An independent investigative team is recommending changes following mistreatment of breeding pigs at a Virginia farm operated by a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods Inc. The Virginian-Pilot reports that the recommendations include reviewing training programs and euthanasia procedures, and initiating unannounced inspections by third parties.
UN Concerned As China Silences Food Safety Activists
December 23, 2010 2:56 am | CommentsBEIJING (AP) — China has made "remarkable progress" in growing sufficient food to feed its people but its official efforts to silence people who alert the public to food safety problems are worrisome, a U.N. official said Thursday. China shifted from a food aid recipient to a international food donor in 2005, a sign of its "significant success" in coordinating and helping small-scale farmers boost productivity, said Olivier De Schutter, the U.
Fish Recalled Due To Botulism Threat
December 22, 2010 8:29 am | CommentsWASHINGTON, DC (FDA) — JFC International Inc. at 40 Varick Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11237 is recalling frozen capelin discovered by New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Food Inspectors during a routine inspection and subsequent analysis of product by Food Laboratory personnel confirming that the fish was not properly eviscerated prior to processing.
Pelosi Statement On FDA Food Safety Modernization Act
December 22, 2010 7:52 am | CommentsWASHINGTON, DC ( CQ Transcriptions, LLC ) — Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement Tuesday after the House passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. This legislation includes a sweeping overhaul of our nation'sfood safety system and works to more effectively prevent, detect, and respond to food-borne illnesses.
FDA Report Has Data On Antibiotics Sold, Not Used
December 22, 2010 7:50 am | CommentsWASHINGTON, DC (NPPC) — Contrary to proponents of banning antibiotics in food-animal production, a government report issued last Friday does not show America’s livestock and poultry producers are using “massive” amounts of antibiotics. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration report includes data on sales of all antibiotics intended for use in farm animals.
USDA Offers Conservation Funding To Organic Producers
December 22, 2010 7:49 am | by Initiative in its Third Year | CommentsWASHINGTON, DC (USDA) — Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced Monday that the USDA will provide funding to help organic producers and those transitioning to organic production implement resource conservation practices on their agricultural operations. "Increasing consumer demand for organically grown foods is providing new opportunities for small and mid-size farmers to prosper and stay competitive in today's economy," Merrigan said.
Woman Sentenced To Prison For Eating Glass
December 22, 2010 3:35 am | CommentsDecember 22, 2010 BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts woman has been sentenced to more than four years in prison after admitting that she and her husband intentionally ate glass particles, then submitted false insurance claims. Mary Evano was also ordered Tuesday to pay more than $340,000 in restitution.
Robot Waiters Never Lose Patience
December 22, 2010 3:31 am | CommentsJINAN, China (AP) — Service with a smile also comes with an electronic voice at the Dalu Robot restaurant, where the hotpot meals are not as famous yet as the staff who never lose their patience and never take tips. The restaurant, which opened this month in Jinan in northern Shandong province, is touted as China's first robot hotpot eatery where robots resembling Star Wars droids circle the room carrying trays of food in a conveyor belt-like system.
House Sends Food Safety Bill To President
December 22, 2010 3:28 am | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a sweeping bill aimed at making food safer following recent contaminations in peanuts, eggs and produce, sending it to President Barack Obama for his signature. The legislation passed Tuesday would give the government broad new powers to inspect processing plants, order recalls and impose stricter standards for imported foods.
Smithfield Fires Workers For Mistreating Pigs
December 22, 2010 3:24 am | CommentsDecember 22, 2010 RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Smithfield Foods Inc. says it has fired two employees and their supervisor for mistreating pigs at a Virginia farm. The Humane Society of the United States last week released results from an undercover investigation that showed breeding pigs abused and crammed into small gestation crates at the farm of livestock production subsidiary Murphy-Brown.
Problems Force Wine Vending Machine Shutdown
December 22, 2010 3:21 am | CommentsHARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Problems getting bottles to dispense from state-run wine vending kiosks in some Pennsylvania supermarkets have prompted a temporary and indefinite shutdown of the machines. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board said Tuesday it was calling in the manufacturer to fix mechanical and technological problems that prevented the machines from dispensing bottles of wine.
Photo Of The Day: The Man In The Legume Mask
December 21, 2010 11:09 am | Comments(AP) — In this file publicity image released by ABC, chef and TV personality Jamie Oliver dressed as a pea pod, talks with students at Central City Elementary during the taping of his reality series, "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution," in Huntington, W. Va. The series was eaten up by viewers and it won an Emmy for outstanding reality program.
