Plant Sale! Saturday & Sunday, May 3rd & 4th

LBAM Update 2: Court Injunction

Judge Paul Burdick ruled yesterday in Santa Cruz County Superior court on the case filed by the City and County of Santa Cruz against the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) that the CDFA cannot continue aerial spraying against the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) until is completes the environmental review process!
More here.

Rice Purchases Restricted at Sam's Club, Costco

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Sam's Club warehouse unit is restricting purchases of some types of rice to four bags a visit as prices reached a record in Chicago futures trading. The limits on jasmine, basmati and long-grain white rice, a response to "recent supply and demand trends,'' will be put into effect in all U.S. stores where allowed by law and are effective immediately. Some of Costco Wholesale Corp.'s stores, including locations in California, have put limits on sales of rice and flour, Chief Executive Officer James Sinegal told Reuters yesterday. Consumers have started hoarding rice, the food staple for half the world, as prices soar and supplies shrink. China, Vietnam, India and Egypt have curbed sales abroad to safeguard domestic supplies and cool inflation. Thailand also may restrict shipments, a World Bank official said today. More here.

Food Safety on the Butcher's Block

Christine Ahn (CASFS Class of 2006) just produced this report on food safety for the Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF) think tank.
"On April 11, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) released a report that found that of the national efforts to improve U.S. food safety, “none of the targets were reached in 2007.” According to the CDC, 76 million Americans – one in four – come down with food poisoning every year. Among the most common is E. coli, a byproduct of the system of industrialized animal agribusiness. Americans have a common perception that the problem stems from food coming from outside the country – from China, say, or Mexico. Instead, it's our food that's the problem."
Complete report here.

GMO Crops Yield Less or Same as Conventional

The yields of all major GM crop varieties in cultivation are lower than, or at best, equivalent to, yields from non-GM varieties. $$$ quote from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) “currently available GM crops do not increase the yield potential of a hybrid variety. […] In fact, yield may even decrease if the varieties used to carry the herbicide tolerant or insect-resistant genes are not the highest yielding cultivars.”
More here.

LBAM Spraying Update

A couple of updates here:
1. Assemblymember John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) introduced two pieces of legislation regarding the spraying, which were passed by the Assembly Agriculture Committee. The first called for "relevant state departments to address unresolved health, scientific and efficacy issues surrounding the CDFA’s Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM ) eradication plans," and the second called for them to do so in any future instances in which they felt eradication necessary. The legislation next heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for an additional vote. More here.
2. Two men holding doctorates in engineering -- one of them a Monterey city councilman -- have issued a report claiming that the spray being used to control the light brown apple moth on the Central Coast isn't as harmless as advertised. An analysis of the spray CheckMate, produced by Suterra LLC of Bend, Ore., conducted by engineers Dennis Knepp and Jeff Haferman contends that the number of small spray droplets that could be breathed into the lungs is larger than indicated by data from Suterra and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). More here.
*This is a very important issue with far-reaching repercussions on future CDFA actions. Please stay informed at Assemblymember Laird's website and let your voice be heard at CDFA by writing to lbam@cdfa.ca.gov. Thank you.

Wheat Up 130%, Rice Up 74%, Cooking Oil Up 72%

A graphic wrap up of the weekend's events from the BBC.

No Sign of Slow Down: Food Prices Keep Rising

*Rice prices are set to keep rising as demand for the staple is outstripping production, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has said. The price of rice has risen by as much as 70% during the past year, with increases accelerating in recent weeks. Several rice-producing countries have put curbs on exports in recent weeks. More here.
*Also on Thursday, World Bank President Robert Zoellick held a news conference on 'Rising Food Prices,' up an average of 83% worldwide in the three years preceding February, focusing on contributing factors: "You have some of those countries moving to a different diet. So more meats require more grains. You have the biofuels expansion, which is a big source of demand," he said, pointing out that droughts, financial market speculators and increased demand have also helped create "a perfect storm." Complete report here.
Food Crisis in Focus: a special report on the increasing cost of food from the BBC here.
Follow-up 4.12.08: After protests, Haitian leader announces rice subsidies. Price for a 50-pound bag of rice goes from $51 to $43, a nearly 16 percent reduction. More here.
Follow-up 4.13.08: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson warns governments to resist food price controls, which he says will likely make the situation worse. More here.

As Prices Rise, Farmers Spurn Conservation

Thousands of farmers are taking their fields out of the government’s biggest conservation program, which pays them not to cultivate. They are spurning guaranteed annual payments for a chance to cash in on the boom in wheat, soybeans, corn and other crops. Last fall, they took back as many acres as are in Rhode Island and Delaware combined. More here.

The (Not So) Hidden Costs Of Ethanol

What Happened:
Egyptian police foiled plans for a general strike after protesters angry about rising food prices set fire to buildings and looted shops in the industrial Nile Delta town of Mahalla el-Kobra over the weekend. (AP in the International Herald Tribune) At least four people were killed in similar clashes with police in Les Cayes, a city on Haiti’s Caribbean coast. (BBC News)
What the commentators said: here.
Follow Up 04/08: Crowds of demonstrators in Haiti have tried to storm the presidential palace in the capital Port-au-Prince as protests continue over food prices. More here.