With the global meat-eating explosion, meat production can’t be far behind. The U.S. currently produces more than 9 food billion animals — and their manure — for meat each year. Federal officials are thinking about where meat fits into revamped dietary advice for Americans. Nutrition aside, McDonald’s and Wal-Mart are asking where meat production and consumption fit into the notion of sustainability; there are huge amounts of manure, water, antibiotics, hormones and energy involved. In short, meat matters. How much meat to eat, and what kind? It affects your health, the public’s health and to the environment we all share.
1) September 15, 2014 12pm ET/9am PT Meat Racket In his new book, Meat Racket, investigative reporter Christopher Leonard adds to the public spotlight on why meat (and who produces it) matters. Dr. Michael Greger, physician-host of Nutrition Facts, and staff scientist at the Humane Society of the United States, explores why a meat industry that treats food animals well could also better serve public health. Moderating is Bob Martin, director of the Food System Policy Program at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Futureand former director of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production. 2) October 23, 2014, 1 pm ET/10am PT.Food Day Special: The 21st Century Jungle. The U.S. produces over 9 billion food animals annually, but meat factories, slaughterhouses and packing plants remain invisible to most. (In several states, it’s illegal to document and show what's happening inside.) Conditions within these facilities are critical to public health, food safety, and of course the health of workers. Updating the lessons Upton Sinclair’s classic, The Jungle, is Ted Genoways’ new book, The Chain: Farm, Factory, and the Fate of Our Food. Join the conversation with Ted Genoways and Joann Lo, Executive Director of the Food Chain Workers Alliance, moderated by Keeve Nachman, PhD, Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future's Food Production and Public Health Program. 3) December 4, 2014, 1pm ET/10am PTWhat Meat to Eat What we eat has rippling effects beyond our own health. For the first time, experts advising the USDA on the newest (2015) version of its Dietary Guidelines for Americans, are considering the sustainability of the American diet. That’s also on the agenda for Menus of Change, a joint effort of the Harvard School of Public Health and the Culinary Institute of America. Author, physician and nutrition expert, Walter Willett, MD, MPH, presents. Roni Neff, PhD, Director of the Food System Sustainability Program at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, and editor of Introduction to the U.S. Food System, discusses sustainability and the Dietary Guidelines. Hugh Joseph, PhD of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University will moderate.
4) January 2015. Cultivating Health. Our gut bacteria shape our health. Dr. Martin Blaser, past president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), explains the connection highlighted in his recent book Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics is Fueling Our Modern Plagues. Dr. Lance Price, public health professor at George Washington University, explores the contribution of industrial meat production, including its reliance on antibiotics. IDSA cosponsors. REGISTER TODAY. Contact David@HealthyFoodAction.org for more information or sponsorship opportunities.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- How do Michigan farmers and consumers feel about food from local farmers?
Since last month Erin Denay has been posing that question at farmers markets across the state to create enough video snippets to roll out one a day during the month of July, part of a collaborative project with Sierra Club, said Gail Philbin, assistant director of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.
"We really want consumers and farmers already involved in the sustainable agriculture scene to understand there are people supporting them," said Denay, 22, of Bay City. She is a senior at Western Michigan University majoring in environmental and sustainability studies and organizational communication.
Sustainable agriculture, she said, is farming that "revolves around the well-being of the surrounding environment, people, and animals while producing healthy, high-quality food that protects the quality of the land and water for future generations.
In the series of one-minute video testimonials produced by the Less=More sustainable agriculture coalition, Michigan residents talk about why meat, dairy, poultry and eggs that are locally grown under humane conditions are important to them, their communities and local economies, a news release from Sierra Club said.
"Sustainable agriculture is farming that revolves around the well-being of the surrounding environment, people, and animals," Denay said, " so as to produce healthy, high-quality food that protects the quality of the land and water for future generations."
"We want them to know we are here for them," Denay said, "and to draw more attention and tax dollars to them," the farms practicing sustainable agriculture methods.
Maynard Beery of Beery Farms in Middleville, for instance, told Denay that though he could not keep up with soaring demand for his grass fed beef "there is no way that I can compete with a 50,000 animal feedlot. They're happy if they wind up with $10 a head in profit and no, that's not going to support myself and my son."
Farm subsidies for which he currently does not qualify would allow his farm to expand, he said.
The project also hopes to let people know there are 300 farmers markets in Michigan, and lots of choices when it comes to shopping for food. "We want to illuminate the opportunities to eat local, sustainable healthy food," Denay said.
What were the most promising findings of Denay's interviews?
"The appetite, pardon the pun, for local, healthy food is alive and well in Michigan," Philbin said.
The series kicks off July 1 with the release of the testimonial of Jill Johnson and Mary Wills of Crane Dance Farm in Middleville via Less=More's Twitter account, @MoreforMichigan, and its Facebook page.
The remainder of that week the videos feature Kalamazoo farmers and consumers, Denay said.
"Being involved with this project has made me so much more aware of the healthy, high-quality food that is being made available by small-scale sustainable farmers in Michigan communities," Denay said. "I want this testimonial series to really highlight the wonderful things they are doing and why they deserve our support so they can succeed and grow and continue to provide for their communities."
Sierra Club believes issues such as antibiotic overuse, the viability of local economies, climate change, fair wages and working conditions for workers and animal welfare can be traced back to how food is grown.
"Many consumers are searching for a way to have some control over the food they eat because they are disillusioned or disgusted with the industrial food system," she said. "Growing your own food or buying from local farmers they know is a good way to do that."
Sierra Club is a member of the Less=More Coalition, producers of the video series. The group is made up of national, state and local organizations as well as consumers and farmers who support sustainable agriculture and seek to level the playing field for sustainable livestock farmers.
Specifically, the coalition is tackling inequities in the subsidy system that the coalition argues is weighted toward concentrated livestock operations.
In 2013, the coalition's report "Restoring the Balance to Michigan's Farming Landscape" noted that some farms continue to receive taxpayer-funded subsidies even when they have been fined for violations of environmental law and blasted the farm subsidy system for favoring concentrated animal feeding operations in the award of funds.
Less=More members include: Beery Farms of Michigan, LLC, the Center for Food Safety, Crane Dance Farm, LLC, ELFCO Food Cooperative, Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan, Food & Water Watch, Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council, Groundswell Farm, Zeeland, Humane Society of the United States, Michigan Farmers Union, Michigan Small Farm Council, Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition, Michigan Voices for Good Food Policy, Michigan Young Farmers Coalition, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter and Socially Responsible Agricultural Project.
The coalition is also asking people to contribute their own food stories to the series. For more information on submitting a testimonial, email:Moreformichigansc@gmail.com
Crane Dance Farm, a Less=More Coalition member, is offering a farm work experience for a student or non-student. Application deadline is April 30, 2014. Details below:
Pasture-Based LivestockFarmInternship
Crane Dance Farm is a grass-based livestock farm nestled among the rolling hills, forests, and wet lands of beautiful Barry County. We raise 100% grassfed beef, Animal Welfare Approved pastured heirloom pork, poultry and eggs, emphasizing farming techniques that nurture the land, the animals, the humans and the planet. Every animal is the recipient of TLC 24/7. We direct market all of our products, thus our customer relationships are parallel in importance to our relationships with our animals.
What makes this opportunity unique?
· All of our cattle and pigs are bred, birthed, and finished on our farm.
· We source, grind, and mix local grains for our omnivores that are 100% GMO-free.
· We direct market all of our products through farmers markets, on farm sales, and online ordering.
· We were the first Michigan farm to be Animal Welfare Approved for pigs in 2009. Presently, we are one of only two farms in MI to hold this prestigious certification. Pending is our status as American Grassfed Association certified for beef.
Intern Responsibilities:
· Daily attending to food, water, shelter, bedding, fences for all livestock
· Property maintenance and repairs
· Marketing assistance
· Participation in problem solving as situations arise
Expectations:
· Work outside in all kinds of weather
· Work efficiently alone and as part of a team
· Ability to lift 60 pounds repeatedly
· Aptitude in farming, building and mechanical skills
· Easy to work with, fast learner, sense of humor, heart for animals
Intern Provisions:
· Housing, plus one shared meal a day; additional cooking facilities and foodstuffs available
· Weekly stipend with bonus at satisfactory completion of agreed duration
· Minimum length of stay 4 months; longer preferred; negotiable
· Willing to work with your college for internship credit
On a Sierra Club-sponsored tour of local concentrated animal feeding operations, the one near Forest Hill got some attention.
“That was one of the worst I’ve smelled,” said Joe Maxwell, a Missouri hog farmer, former lieutenant governor and a U.S. Humane Society official.
And he has toured industrial farming sites all over the world.
The tour was part of a “Less=More” program made up of Sierra Club members as well as farmers, food safety organizations, environmental and welfare groups who believe there is “an unfair bias toward factory farms.”
At a short program at the Alma Public Library before the tour Wednesday, Anne Woiwoide, Michigan Sierra Club president, said the group is not making claims of illegal activities. The focus instead is on unfairness.
The group wants to encourage both the state and federal governments not to support what she called “polluting factory farms.”
“These farms are receiving your tax dollar support,” she said.
She cited a dairy farm that’s located in both Gratiot and Midland counties, and which has subsidiary farms.
“From 2001 to 2012, they received $744,941 in federal farm subsidies and tax subsidized loans of $5 million,” according to a written statement from the Sierra Club.
Small farms cannot compete with that kind of financial assistance.
Yet even though the Midland/Gratiot farm received the subsidies, it was fined by two different agencies for about $45,000 related to five separate incidents.
Some of those incidents included discharge of wastes into county drains, improper storage of wastes, and stockpiling of wastes near a road.
It was also pointed out that a CAFO can generate millions of gallons of waste – enough to equal a city of 16,000 people - but the farms, unlike cities, aren’t required to treat the waste. And that waste can include antibiotics, chemicals, pathogens and other contaminants.
In Gratiot and Midland counties there are 24 CAFOs. Since 1996, 14 have been cited for environmental violations.
On the tour, Maxwell said that CAFOs, especially those run by people from out of the country, “deplete the wealth of the community.”
He said that studies have shown that the resources and profits are taken out of the community and that there is a loss of business. He spoke of two neighboring counties. One allowed CAFOs and one did not. The one that did, floundered.
CAFOs began with Tyson Foods and his chickens, he said. Farmers are told to get big or “we won’t buy from you,” he said.
“But there is an alternative,” he said. “Which one is most profitable and sustainable and doesn’t cost the taxpayers?”
Farms can reach of point in size when it is no longer effective, he said.
But women are helping to change things, he said, since 14 percent who run farms are now women. And he cited an example in North Carolina, which included women farmers. They took some tobacco settlement money and began a sustainable agriculture program.
Lynn Henning, an employee of the Sierra Club and environmental prize winner, also provided some insight into the damages done to Michigan’s water.
She looked at the number of animals on each farm - well into the thousands - how much waste is produced and where that waste goes.
She also talked about the amount of water used. At one farm in the Midland/Gratiot group of dairy farms, 122,000 gallons are needed each day.
“There is concern that there are too many wells,” she said.
Too many wells can affect the surface and ground water.
For more information, you may visit www.MoreforMichigan.org
No one from the Gratiot agricultural community was present and one MSU Extension office agent who asked to be included in the tour was denied.
Linda Gittleman may be reached at 989-463-6071, lgittleman@michigannewspapers.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lgittleman.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Linda Gittleman’s alma mater is Western Michigan University where she majored in speech and English and her hometown is Alma. She’s worked at the Morning Sun's Alma office for more than 20 years. Reach the author at lgittleman@michigannewspapers.com .
(CBS News) Consumer Reports is sounding the alarm over the safety of pork. A new study shows that chops and ground pork may be full of bad bacteria. A whole host of food-borne illnesses is caused by these bacteria, such as stomach aches, vomiting, diarrhea, fever -- and in the most extreme cases, even death.
But Consumer Reports, an independent, nonprofit organization that provides ratings and product comparisons, says bacteria are not the only thing pork eaters should be concerned about.
For years, pork has been promoted by the industry as healthy food option -- "the other white meat." But a new report suggests otherwise.
Urvashi Rangan, Consumer Reports director of consumer safety and sustainability, said, "We found potentially harmful bacteria on most of the samples of pork that we tested. One organism we looked at, enterococcus, is more a measure of filth indication, maybe fecal contamination."
Of nearly 200 pork samples tested by Consumer Reports, many tested positive for salmonella, listeria, staph bacteria. The magazine says a whopping 69 percent contained Yersinia, which infects nearly 100,000 Americans every year. Children are especially vulnerable.
Stephen Morse, of the Columbia University School of Public Health, said, "You always expect to find some bacteria in any meat product. But those are usually harmless. I think the real surprise here was to find so many potentially disease-causing bacteria."
Even more, 90 percent of the bacteria Consumer Reports found were said to be resistant to antibiotics. In other words, they were super-bugs.
Rangan said, "All of these things paint a very concerning picture about this indiscriminate use of antibiotics in meat production in this country, and what we believe are the resulting consequences of that."
Consumer Reports was also alarmed by traces of ractopamine in one-fifth of pork they tested. Farmers use the drug on their hogs to produce leaner cuts of meat. It was originally developed to treat asthma, but never approved for human use.
Scott Hurd, a former top food safety official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who has done consulting work for the pork industry, says Consumer Reports is "inflamed and used a small amount of data to frighten people." And he says the meat is safe.
Hurd, of the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, said, "The average person would have to eat over 700 pounds of pork every day for their entire life in order to get enough ractopamine to be above that acceptable level by FDA."
Hurd says the sample size of the Consumer Reports study is too small to draw any broader conclusions. But he adds germs can be found in nearly everything we eat, so consumers should always be careful when handling meat. That means cooking meat thoroughly and washing your hands.
