China's frozen dumpling makers are finding there's a quick route to winning new sales - increase the vegetable content, and cut down on the meat. This departure from traditional pork-rich dumplings is a hit with busy, young urbanites, trying to reduce the fat in diets often heavy on fast food. For pig farmers in China and abroad, it is a difficult trend to stomach. [node:read-more:link]
As thousands of Kentuckians struggle to feed their families, nonprofits hope a new law will encourage supermarkets to donate food they typically throw away by shielding them from being sued if someone gets sick after eating their donations. There have been virtually no lawsuits filed over someone getting sick from consuming donated food, but fear of legal action has still stifled donations, said Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, who launched an initiative last year that led to the "Food Immunity Bill." The law, which goes into effect June 29, protects groceries, farmers and other enti [node:read-more:link]
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) published in the Federal Register its proposed rule regarding China’s poultry slaughter system and its equivalence to the U.S. [node:read-more:link]
Amazon has agreed to acquire Whole Foods Market, Inc. for $42 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $13.7 billion, including Whole Foods Market’s net debt. Whole Foods Market will retain its headquarters in Austin, Texas, and John Mackey will remain CEO. The retailer will continue to operate stores under the Whole Foods Market brand and source from established vendors and partners around the world, the company said. [node:read-more:link]
For over 100 years, the Bandon Cheese Factory in Bandon, Oregon, was the pride of the town. The cheese brought in the tourists, the factory employed the locals, and the business kept the town afloat. Then 17 years ago disaster struck. A national competitor, Tillamook Cheese, bought the name, closed the factory, sent the workers home, and most of the surrounding dairy farms went bust.For nearly 10 years the town’s economy tumbled, the old building lay vacant until it was eventually torn down, and the land was turned into a parking lot. [node:read-more:link]
A recent study shows that data backed by professional opinions should push producers to change their ways of dealing with consumers, and let emotion and passion tell the ag story.
The goal is to avoid the sort of public backlash that rocked Monsanto in the late 1990s and still plagues agriculture two decades later. In the United States, consumer skepticism of genetically modified crops has forced biotech companies into long, costly battles over issues such as whether these foods should be labeled; elsewhere in the world, the public outcry has prevented seeds from winning government approval. “It’s more about social science than science,” said Neal Gutterson, the vice president of research and development at DuPont Pioneer. [node:read-more:link]
I saw recently that the CDC reported that nearly 400 people in 47 states have been sick from salmonella from backyard birds. [node:read-more:link]
One week after a state judge ruled Wisconsin's law banning the sale of home-baked goods unconstitutional, a State Senate committee passed legislation allowing people to sell up to $25,000 worth of home-baked goods per year without obtaining a food processing plant license. [node:read-more:link]
You use more feed, water and land when you eliminate antibiotic use, Sanderson Farms CEO says. Joe F. Sanderson Jr., chairman and CEO of Sanderson Farms, continues to stress why the third largest broiler company is not joining the movement to raise chickens without antibiotics. [node:read-more:link]
