Posted By Mark September 30, 2010
A freelance designer from New York City took a decidedly rural perspective when submitting his design idea for potential new looks for US currency. Lu Tapuch chose to put corn prominently in his design for a new $2 bill.
The “Campaign to ReDe$ign the US Dollar” appears to be an independent effort to collect cool designs for money as well as more than 1 million signatures to bring the efforts attention to the White House and perhaps give us a new cool or trendy look to our moolah, cabbage, scratch, greenbacks, dough…you know… macaroni.
Promoters say the American Dollar has not truly been redesigned since about the 1930s. “With ‘the economy bottoming out,’ we believe it’s time to go back to the drawing board and ‘start from scratch. Why? A piece of currency is ‘the ultimate symbol.’ At its best, a banknote distills a country’s vision, values and the heritage that make it unique. ‘A more transparent, rational financial system deserves money that looks the part. With our financial system in crisis, the time is right to redesign the currency of the United States.”
Interesting idea, but I have to admit to being a little uncomfortable with corn being on a $2 bill after US corn prices sold for that lowly amount per bushel almost without exception for two decades. Whoah, bad flashback!
You can take a peek here if you are interested in submitting your own design.
Posted By Ken September 29, 2010
An ongoing campaign by Brazilian sugarcane interests seeks to undermine the U.S. corn ethanol industry. In a new ‘Our View’ column, outgoing NCGA President Darrin Ihnen delves into the many labor and environmental challenges in Brazil that need addressing, as well as the truth about Brazil’s expansive mandates and subsidies.
Click here for the article.
Posted By Mark September 27, 2010
So what wine goes best with myths and lies? Apparently someone better figure this out quickly as the American public is getting served up a lot of misleading information and in some cases out right fabrications regarding what they eat. The latest list of food fibs and myths come from the Editors of Eating Healthy Magazine who expose a number of urban food myths including the demonization of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS).
In short, it (HFCS) seems to be no worse—but also no better—than sucrose, or table sugar. “The debate about HFCS and sucrose [table sugar] is taking the focus off the more important question,” says Kimber Stanhope, Ph.D., R.D., a researcher at the University of California, Davis, who has studied the sweetener extensively. “What we should be asking is ‘What are the effects of all sugars (HFCS and sucrose) in the diet?’”
It is interesting to note that High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is number two on the list of the 13 biggest nutrition and food myths put together by Joyce Hendley, longtime contributing editor at the magazine.
Myth 2: High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is worse for you than sugar.
The Truth: The idea that high-fructose corn syrup is any more harmful to your health than sugar is “one of those urban myths that sounds right but is basically wrong,” according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a health advocacy group.
The composition of high-fructose corn syrup is almost identical to table sugar or sucrose (55 percent fructose, 45 percent glucose and 50:50, respectively). Calorie-wise, HFCS is a dead ringer for sucrose. Studies show that HFCS and sucrose have very similar effects on blood levels of insulin, glucose, triglycerides and satiety hormones. In short, it seems to be no worse—but also no better—than sucrose, or table sugar.
This controversy, say researchers, is distracting us from the more important issue: we’re eating too much of all sorts of sugars, from HFCS and sucrose to honey and molasses. The American Heart Association recently recommended that women consume no more than 100 calories a day in added sugars [6 teaspoons]; men, 150 calories [9 teaspoons].
The Yahoo-based internet community called Shine takes the Healthy Living list and boils it down to their “six biggest lies” about food and HFCS remains near the top.
The silliness of the HFCS issue is providing some good fodder for hawkers of humor such as Jim Borgman and Jerry Scott, the co-creators of the Zits comic strip. You have to marvel at their ability to send a strong message with a little over 40 words, but in this case one will do – “moderation.”
Posted By Mark September 24, 2010
Let me say right up front that I love the idea of local farmers markets. I am actually fortunate to live in the rural Midwest where we have conventional farmers markets and many farmers put signs by their lane offering sweet corn and other produce from their (large) gardens.
It doesn’t get any better than driving up to a farmer’s doorstep and loading up the trunk. But for those that don’t get outside the city farmers markets offer the same attraction. Produce is cheaper, fresher and often tastier because it is picked at peak ripeness. And whether at the farm or the market there is the bonus of visiting with the grower which is generally fun.
But here is the rub; October looms around the corner and with it the closure of many farmers markets for the season. Given the large harvest moon hanging in the sky this week it also means what you find at these markets is changing. Tomatoes and cucumbers are rapidly being replaced by squash and pumpkins and empty shelves or parking lots will soon follow where abundance ruled in the summer months.
So while there is a certain attraction to being a locavore, culinary adventurer’s who attempt to survive on food grown and harvested within a 100 mile radius, the prospects are a bit grim if you don’t live in California, Florida or similar Sunbelt locales. (Although there appears to be some honesty issues in some markets even in Sun Country where farmers market vendors are passing off produce from the same wholesalers used by grocery stores as locally grown.)
As you can see in the attached photo many markets have already closed for the season and two months from now these market locations will be clutched in the frosty grip of a Midwestern winter.
Of course there is always the labor intensive option of preserving food for the winter months, but personally, I like having the freedom offered by modern conveniences like grocery stores. I have no desire to go back to canning like Michael Pollan’s grandmother or crawling into a root cellar in February for the pitiful offerings they used to produce.
I think there is tremendous opportunity for growth for locally grown food and we should encourage schools and restaurants to serve local food and even establish more community gardens. Especially if it helps us recognize that the choices we make about what foods we choose to eat are important politically, environmentally, economically, and healthfully.
But I for one will continue to approach this subject with a skeptical eye, especially regarding those who think it’s either locally grown or conventional agriculture rather than both in concert.
Posted By Cindy September 23, 2010
Comedian Stephen Colbert, host of “The Colbert Report,” is “testifying” Friday morning before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International law at the hearing entitled “Protecting America’s Harvest.” The witness list for the hearing features Colbert batting clean up after testimony from United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez, Virginia apple grower Phil Glaize and Vanderbilt University professor Carol Swain.
Apparently, Colbert is an immigrant farm worker expert now, after spending a day in August working at a corn and vegetable farm in New York state. We’re talking sweet corn here, not field corn. Colbert teased part of the segment on his show last night where he also did his usual goofy interview with Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) where she played straight man to Colbert’s off-the-wall comments. The California congresswoman just happens to be chairman of the subcommittee holding tomorrow morning’s hearing.
Colbert became involved in the immigration issue this summer when the UFW launched a “Take Our Jobs” campaign in an effort to prove that Americans will not do farm work so we have to hiring migrant workers. The comedian decided to try out the job for himself, so that is what makes him an expert to testify before Congress about the importance of migrant workers for American agriculture.
There is no question that migrant labor is important to American agriculture and any attempt at immigration reform needs to keep that in mind. It’s definitely a serious issue and maybe people will pay more attention to it with a little comic relief.
Posted By Mark September 22, 2010
During the 2008 food price scare corn found itself squarely in the crosshairs of public indignation. Technically it was the growing use of corn for ethanol fuel that fanned the flames and coined the phrase “food vs. fuel.”
Then the public ire moved to the soaring cost of petroleum as the true culprit. And that was partially right too. Many experts ultimately said a combination of factors caused the jump in food prices. (Corn prices were near the bottom of the list). Problem was the explanation was months late and the media attention was wimpy at best. Corn and ethanol had been tarred and feathered and the damage done.
The cheap corn mafia led by the Grocery Manufacturers Association eventually confessed, albeit in a whisper, ethanol was one of seven factors having a role in higher food prices. Even the World Bank, the culprit that leaked an erroneous report triggering food vs. fuel, later said “the effect of biofuels on food prices has not been as large as originally thought, but that the use of commodities by financial investors (the so-called “financialization of commodities”) may have been partly responsible for the 2007/08 spike.”
Once again we see corn prices on the rise, topping $5 a bushel last week, and talk about food shortages and skyrocketing grocery bills popping up. This time oil prices are relatively high but stable so what the heck is going on?
Once again probably more than meets the eye but this we do know; the rally has been fueled by USDA forecasts of smaller U.S. corn yields than expected and reports of drought losses in Russia’s wheat crop.
Hafez Ghanem, Assistant Director-General for Economic and Social Development with the United Nation’s Food & Agriculture Organization offers some important perspective: “The market fundamentals are sound and very different from 2007-2008. Despite the shortfall in Russia’s wheat production, this year’s cereal harvest was the third highest on record and stocks are high. Under these conditions we don’t believe that we are headed for a new food crisis, but we will continue monitoring the situation closely.”
Other key points that should help keep irrational fear at bay:
Even if the U.S. corn crop is reduced further we will still be harvesting the 8th record corn crop in the last 8 years. We will have a carryover of ending stocks of 1.1 billion bushels.
World wheat stockpiles are expected to be 174.8 million metric tons in the 2010-11 season, comprised of local marketing years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s 40 percent more than in 2007-08.”
Last month USDA reported food price increases in 2010 would be minimal. The Consumer Price Index for all food increased 1.8% in 2009 and is forecast to increase 0.5 to 1.5% in 2010.
Future prospects for corn supply and ethanol look good. Ethanol production tripled from 2002-2009. During the same time period, corn production met increased demand from ethanol and produced an additional 21% more corn for other needs.
Posted By Mark September 21, 2010
For years ethanol opponents have beaten on the fuel like a piñata but a funny thing keeps happening…it survives and after each attack the fuel’s reputation grows as does its market.
Ethanol’s reputation grows because the fuel is getting greener. Each new look shows increases in production efficiencies, less water and energy use, more gallons per bushel of corn and even previously estimated projections of greenhouse gasses are proving to be wrong as the science gets better.
A new report out by the US Department of Agriculture today “indicates the net energy gain from converting corn to ethanol is improving in efficiency.
- The net energy balance of corn ethanol has increased from 1.76 BTUs to 2.3 BTUs of required energy.
- Ethanol has transitioned from being an energy sink to a “substantial net energy gain in the present. And there are still prospects for improvement.
- Ethanol yields are up 10% in the last 20 years.
- Corn yields have increased 39% in the last 20 years, requiring less land to produce ethanol.
Titled 2008 Energy Balance for the Corn Ethanol Industry the report surveyed ethanol producers about ethanol yield per bushel of corn and energy used in ethanol plants.
While we are rolling out the good news on ethanol keep these statistics in mind too:
- For the 1st time, DDG availability will displace more than 1 billion bushels of corn in livestock rations this marketing year, providing a high-quality, high-value feed product for livestock producers, both in the US and abroad.
- In the U.S., corn production has more than doubled since 1980, on only 3% more land. That’s an impressive move from 6.6 billion bushels o 13.2 billion bushels, pushed by yields gorwing from 91 bushels an acre to 163.5 bushels per acre today.
Posted By Cindy September 21, 2010
What a difference a year makes! Last year at this time, you may remember, wet weather was delaying the harvest all over the corn belt. This year, some areas have been getting rain, but the harvest is making great progress.
According to USDA, crop maturation continued at a rapid pace as warm, mostly dry weather prevailed throughout much of the major producing areas during the week. By September 19, sixty-nine percent of the crop was at or beyond the mature stage, 49 percentage points, or 20 days, ahead of last year and 21 percentage points ahead of the 5-year average. Crop maturity was 58 percentage points or more ahead last year and 30 percentage points or more ahead of the 5-year average in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio. Producers had harvested 18 percent of the Nation’s corn crop by week’s end, 14 percentage points ahead of last year and 8 percentage points ahead of the 5-year average. Most notably, harvest advanced 20 points in Illinois during the week, leaving overall progress 37 percentage points ahead of last year and 26 percentage points ahead of the 5-year average. Overall, 68 percent of the corn crop was reported in good to excellent condition, unchanged from both last week and the same time last year.
The photo comes from the All Things Corn photo album on the Facebook of Tricia Braid with Illinois Corn Growers. According to Tricia, the corn in this McLean County plot “averaged 190 bushels, third year of corn, with a minimal nitrogen program. As were many acres this year, this field was planted in fairly crummy spring conditions after an even crummier 2009 harvest.”
Posted By Cindy September 21, 2010
Despite fears of opening the floodgates to more “frankenfoods”, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is poised to approve a new genetically-engineered salmon that grows twice as fast as the natural variety. If they do, it would make the first genetically engineered animal ever approved for sale to consumers.
Armed with pitchforks and torches, the usual suspects who fear the monsters are storming the Hill. Food & Water Watch, the Center for Food Safety and Friends of the Earth are among those who are raising the alarm to save the women and children from harmful allergens if the monster gets in the food supply, or certain death for wild salmon if the monster gets loose.
The frankenfish in question is a salmon developed by AquaBounty Technologies that contains a growth hormone gene from the Chinook salmon and a genetic switch from the ocean pout that turns on a gene that allows the salmon to make the growth hormone in colder weather. AquaBounty’s mission is to bring together “biological sciences and molecular technology to enable an aquaculture industry capable of large-scale, efficient, and environmentally sustainable production of high quality seafood.” In other words, produce high quality protein faster and more efficiently to feed a growing human population. What a monstrous thought!
Even if FDA approves the sale of the fish this week, it will still be a couple of years before we see it on the market, but it could pave the way for other genetically-engineered animals to enter the food supply. In fact, FDA has already determined that the fish is safe to eat, but not yet decided that it’s okay to commercially produce and sell it. The company has been trying to obtain FDA approval for more than a decade, but the concerns being raised are that there is not enough data. AquaBounty is putting all of its fish eggs in this one basket, reporting a $4.8 million loss last year with no revenues. They are certainly not stinting on the research end and have been patiently jumping through the hoops being raised by the government for approval.
If you read some of the comments posted on stories about this and you will find that many, if not most, of those who are opposed to genetic engineering of food are opposed to humans in general. The real answer to feeding our growing population, according to them, is not to create ways to make more food more efficiently, it is to create less people – or get rid of some of the ones we have. They are in favor of birth control, sterilization, and abortion to cut down on the human population, yet consistently oppose any and all technologies and means to create more food with less resources. In fact, many would be happy to see us produce LESS food, LESS efficiently by instituting locally produced, organic foods with no animal protein. To me, that is a whole lot more frightening.
Posted By Mark September 20, 2010
“Deepening pain and unrest in Cuba are provoking bold actions that the U.S. government should note,” according to an editorial in the St. Louis Post Dispatch today. After decades of economic stagnation even Fidel Castro recently noted “the Cuban model doesn’t work anymore.”
What spurred Castro’s comment and the editorial is the dramatic change taking place 90 miles from our shore. After decades of economic erosion the worldwide recession is ravaging Cuba, an island nation of 11 million people who largely are dependent on imported food and many other products.
As the editorial points out the Cuban economy has been faltering since the since the Soviet Axis collapsed in 1991 and withdrew its economic support that had become so ingrained in Cuban politics and culture. Cuba lacks a modern manufacturing infrastructure today but what they do seem to have is a growing awareness that they will need to seek foreign investment and outside sources of private capital if they are to bounce back.
The Post rightfully points out the ripe opportunity that presents itself to improve our relationships with one our nearest neighbors. After 58 years of nothing but acid-based rhetoric being the only commodity traversing the Carribean Sea, it is time to regroup and reconsider our relationship with Cuba.
Politics come in many shades and flavors but human nature is not so different. Many Cubans struggle to get enough to eat, so like new neighbors (or at least reformed one’s) let’s reach out with the hand of friendship.
It might produce some positive results, especially if that hand contains the aforementioned food they need. We have the opportunity and the means but do we have the will to do what is right?
A freelance designer from New York City took a decidedly rural perspective when submitting his design idea for potential new looks for US currency. Lu Tapuch chose to put corn prominently in his design for a new $2 bill.
