Food

While there are arguments for and against vertical farming, whether consumers are even willing to buy vertically farmed produce—an important consideration in the cost-benefit discussion—is rarely discussed. Recent agricultural technologies—such as genetically modified (GM) crops, food irradiation, and nanotechnology—have often been met with consumer skepticism (Frewer et al., 2011; Dannenberg, 2009; Siegrist et al., 2007; Ragaert et al., 2004), so it is unclear how vertical farming will fare with consumers. [node:read-more:link]

The widow of a Vermont man who died from a listeria-related stroke has named a New York-based raw milk creamery in a wrongful death lawsuit.  Veronica Friedman, whose late husband, Richard Friedman, died on Nov. 2, said her family purchased the contaminated cheese manufactured by Vulto Creamery in early October. Hitchcock is one of two fatal cases in a multi-state listeria outbreak that has been traced to a soft raw milk cheese made by Vulto Creamery. [node:read-more:link]

Three new varieties of genetically-engineered potatoes have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, meaning this latest round of GMO potatoes could hit store shelves as soon as this fall. The final federal stamps of approval acknowledging that these potatoes are safe to eat and safe for the environment will allow Idaho’s J.R. Simplot Company to begin planting the new varieties – dubbed Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet and Atlantic – this spring. [node:read-more:link]

Everyone’s heard of the scary chemicals used by agribusiness to keep your apples worm-free—it’s what generates the fear that makes organic produce lucrative. In exchange for more money, consumers are told they can have pesticide-free peace of mind. On Wednesday, the Environmental Working Group (which calls itself a nonpartisan organization aimed at protecting human health and the environment) released its annual ranking of the best (“Clean Fifteen”) and the worst (“Dirty Dozen”) produce when it comes to pesticide content. [node:read-more:link]

Americans are clamoring for organic food, but U.S. farmers are no longer growing a significant portion of what customers are buying. Despite close to $40 billion in organic food sales in 2015, less than 1 percent of U.S. farmland is certified organic, with the bulk of raw ingredients for organic processed foods and animal feed coming from places like Romania and Turkey. [node:read-more:link]

Federal health officials are investigating a listeria outbreak in several states that has been tied to at least two deaths and may be linked to cheese. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday that six people, including a newborn, have been infected with listeria since September. All of them were hospitalized and two of them have died. The source of the outbreak appears to be Vulto Creamery, a New York-based facility that makes soft raw milk cheese and distributes products nationwide, officials said. The company recalled the cheeses Tuesday. [node:read-more:link]

I've worked in agricultural marketing for 25 years and have done a lot of work on branding, including developing logos. Logos have a great deal of power and there are many good ones — think Tim Hortons.  But one logo seen on some food products infuriates me — that of the Non-GMO Project. According to their website, “The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization committed to preserving and building the non-GMO food supply, educating consumers, and providing verified non-GMO choices. [node:read-more:link]

Vulto Creamery, based in New York has recalled all of its soft, raw milk cheeses in response to a listeria outbreak that has led to six hospitalizations and two deaths nationwide. All lots of Vulto Creamery's Ouleout, Miranda, Heinennellie, and Willowemoc soft wash-rind raw milk cheeses  are included in the recall. The products were distributed nationwide, including at retail locations in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states, California, Chicago, Portland and Washington, DC. [node:read-more:link]

Consumers today do not understand agriculture: where their food comes from and how it is produced.  The agricultural sector expends a good deal of energy trying to bridge this gap, a task that has been made more important and more difficult in recent years. But teaching consumers how their food is produced will not bring them any closer to understanding farmers. [node:read-more:link]

Egg cartons in the United States are not required by federal regulations to bear labels which identify the living conditions of the hens.  Two animal rights non-profit organizations and six individuals sought to change that by filing petitions with four different federal agencies under the apparent strategy of not putting all their eggs in one basket.   Each petition sought the promulgation of regulations that would require egg cartons to identify the hens’ living conditions during the production process.  After each agency denied these scattershot efforts, petitioners filed suit in the Nor [node:read-more:link]