The recent announcement by USDA that the agency is relaxing (for now) its new limits on meat and grains has garnered mixed reactions from advocates. Some such as Bettina Siegel say the flexibility is needed while others such as Marion Nestle are calling out the politics. I asked Amie Hamlin, executive director of the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food, for her reaction. Hamlin’s group has been pushing for more plant-based options in New York schools for years and knows the issues well. – MS
Posts Tagged ‘USDA’
USDA Bowing to Meat Industry Pressure on School Lunch? Guest Post by Amie Hamlin
“Pink Slime” Lawsuit May be Frivolous, But Could Chill Speech
To no one’s surprise, Beef Products Inc. (BPI) – maker of the ground beef product that took on the moniker of “pink slime” – filed a defamation lawsuit earlier this month against ABC News and several individuals. Read rest at Center for Food Safety…
Top 10 Lies Told by Monsanto on GMO Labeling in California
The battle in California over Proposition 37, which would require labeling of foods containing GMOs, is really heating up. Millions of dollars are already being poured into the opposition campaign, with much of it going to former Big Tobacco shills. Over at GMO HQ, Monsanto recently posted this missive called “Taking a Stand: Proposition 37, The California Labeling Proposal,” in which the biotech giant explains why it is opposing the measure (to the tune of $4.2 million so far).
Questions USDA Won’t Answer on Meatless Mondays Kerfuffel
You probably heard by now that the U.S. Department of Agriculture got firmly put in its place last week by the National Cattleman’s Beef Association when a poor employee had the gall to suggest in an internal employee newsletter that coworkers consider taking up Meatless Mondays. Big Beef screamed and the feds jumped. (I was told it took less than 30 minutes for USDA to capitulate.) If you missed the coverage, check out Mark Bittman’s take, along with his attempt to ask a few questions of USDA. I tried myself and have yet to receive even the courtesy of a reply. Here is the message I sent Press Secretary Courtney Rowe in USDA’s Office of Communications last Thursday:
Hi Courtney,
I am writing about this matter for my blog. Can you please clarify the extent of USDA’s retraction?
Some are saying USDA’s action does not go far enough. See:
http://agwired.com/2012/07/25/usda-meatless-mondays-uproar/
My questions:
1) I understand the newsletter is no longer available online, but how was it distributed to employees in the first place?
2) Does USDA also retract the message contained within the newsletter regarding adopting Meatless Mondays?
3) Does USDA plan a more formal retraction in another issue of the newsletter, as AgWired suggests?
4) Has any action been taken with the employee who put it in the newsletter, also as AgWired suggests?
Many thanks for your help,
Michele
I guess I flummoxed them. Unlike the beef industry, whose message was received loud and clear.
Media Coverage for Food Stamps, Follow the Money
Last Tuesday, I released a report, Food Stamps, Follow the Money: Are Corporations Profiting From Hungry Americans? I am grateful to each of these media outlets for their coverage.
Farm Bill Jackpot – How Much do Corporations Benefit from SNAP?
As Congress proposes cuts to hungry families, my new report raises questions about how much food makers, retailers, and big banks profit from food stamps.
With the debate over the 2012 Farm Bill currently underway in the Senate, most of the media’s attention has been focused on how direct payments—subsidies doled out regardless of actual farming—are being replaced with crop insurance, in a classic shell game that Big Ag’s powerful lobby is likely to pull off.
Meanwhile, the Senate may hurt the less powerful by cutting $4.5 billion from the largest piece of the farm bill pie: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called food stamps). Reducing this lifeline for 46 million struggling Americans (more than 1 in 7—nearly half of them children) has become a sideshow in the farm bill circus, even though SNAP spending grew to $78 billion in 2011, and is projected to go higher if the economy does not improve.
Your Burger Just Got a Little Safer, Thanks to Uncle Sam
After years of debating, petitioning, rule-making, and outright stalling, this week the federal government is finally implementing new requirements for testing E. coli in ground beef. Why is this cause for celebration?
Why the Meat Industry is Freaking Out Over Pink Slime
Read my article for VegNews on why it’s time to pull the curtain back on Big Meat even further.
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