Food prices did not go up much in 2010 and anticipated increases for the remainder of the year and next should also be about 1 percent, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.
Ephraim Leibtag, of ERS, says food prices should remain weak and fairly stable across the board even into 2011 when a food price increase of 2 to 3 percent is anticipated through next spring. This is on a par with historical norms, he says, noting that modest inflation is actually a positive indicator of an improving economy.
The irony of the release of the USDA data and video was not missed by those in agriculture who were troubled by comments yesterday coming from what was billed as a global leadership conference. Speaking in Naples, Florida Ian Goldin of Oxford University blamed corn prices and increased ethanol usage specifically for higher food prices.
Goldin, a former vice president of the World Bank, proved to be the loosest cannon on the conference’s energy panel at what was billed as a global leadership conference. “Former” is the key word in his title here because it was a bogus World Bank report that set off the food vs. fuel media hysteria in 2008 that tried to finger corn and ethanol for higher consumer prices.
World Bank later recanted saying that the report was mistaken and not properly fact-checked, and it was soaring petroleum prices and wild speculation in the markets topping the list of food price drivers. Apparently Mr. Goldin missed the memo.
Given the rational and thorough debunking of the original World Bank report and their own weak but transparent apology it is bad form for this so called global leader” to continue to disseminate this drivel. It is unthinkable that he did so in such an irresponsible and incendiary manner blaming corn ethanol for causing “people to die of starvation.”
Today’s guest blogger is Jeff Fowle a fourth generation family farmer and rancher from Etna, California. He also writes a blog called Common Sense Agriculture.
I am writing in response to the opinion piece that was published in your Lifestyle section on October 11, 2010. It is sad that you would publish an article by an animal rights activist that paints every farm, ranch and animal facility with one broad brush of inaccuracy and fallacy. The vast majority of farmers and ranchers treat their animals humanely and respectfully. As a rancher and an active animal welfarist, I would like to share the following thoughts.
First, this is a personal issue for family farmers and ranchers like me. We consider our animals a part of our family and often spend more time caring for our animals than we spend with our families. We make sure our animals have the highest quality food, water and veterinary care; health is paramount. We also do our best to protect our animals from disease, competition, injury and predators.
Second, the writer makes it sound as though these practices are typical. Those of us involved in farming and ranching know that is not so. Without healthy, content animals, farmers and ranchers could not stay in business. We understand the importance of animal care in assuring safe and high-quality meat, milk and eggs for our communities. Some of us personally know our consumers, others do not, but we always make it a priority to ensure that the food we are raising is the best cared for and of the highest quality.
Third, farmers and ranchers are as disgusted as anyone by the abuse alleged in this opinion piece. If people are abusing animals, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. One incident of mishandling is one too many. There must be zero tolerance for inhumane animal treatment, period.
There are a lot of dedicated people who specialize in animal care, people like veterinarians, animal scientists and experts on animal well-being. Farmers and ranchers have been actively working with them to create quality-assurance programs that set guidelines for animal handling to eliminate stress, decrease risk of injury (to both animal and human) and ensure the highest quality of animal products for American consumers.
In closing, as a family rancher, I thank you for the opportunity to respond as an individual who depends on ensuring the health and welfare of the livestock I raise to be able to continue to provide a high quality, safe, wholesome and nutritious product.
Farmers and ranchers across the United States are telling their stories through videos, blogging and photos. Consumers can connect with them to see how they care for their animals and raise the safest food possible at http://www.agchat.org. You can contact Jeff here.
Our dependence on foreign oil has a cost. It is an enormous cost and the drain on our nation’s economy creates all kinds of issues for our society that nobody wants to talk about. And the oil companies least of all.
Big oil spends millions annually attempting to give alternative sources of energy a black eye, while some few in that industry see benefits and are investing in things like ethanol production. But most are avoiding engaging in a real dialogue regarding consumer’s future fuel needs, growing environmental concerns, and our national security.
It’s not really a stretch to find a motivation considering the enormous profits these multi-national oil giants have squeezed from Americans as a result of their absolute control of the market. Former CIA Director R. James Woolsey has been a big ethanol supporter for one primary reason – it diverts dollars to US energy producers otherwise being sent to the Middle East for imported oil.
He says $3-4 billion of the $160 billion we send the Saudi’s every year ends up with the “bad guys.” We subsidize our enemies with every barrel of oil that we import.
We now appear to be days away from an announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency regarding the approval of up to E15 (15% ethanol mixed with gasoline) in our cars. The blend has been thoroughly tested for motor vehicles yet the anti ethanol forces such as big oil and some curious minions like the Grocery Manufacturers Association (the cheap corn fan club) are asking people to write President Obama asking him to stop impending EPA approval of E15.
Groups such as FollowtheScience and Energy Citizens are really nothing but fronts for organizations like National Petrochemical & Refiners Association and the American Petroleum Institute.
Large numbers of Americans strongly supports the EPA’s approval of E-15 for motor vehicles mainly based on their positive experiences with E10. EPA has the information it needs to act. So if you want to counteract the naysayers email the president and tell him “yes, for tested and proven E15.” Or call the White House at 202-456-1414.
U.S. ethanol production currently eliminates the need for 98.6% of Venezuelan crude oil imports, or 95.7% of crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia. It is representative of 55.6% of total Persian Gulf crude oil imports. I’d say the ethanol industry has provided a good start to negating the National Security risks associated with our dependence on foreign oil.
Remember when social media was the shared black & white TV at the coffee shop? Whatever happened to college kids avoiding extra work? Since when did young farmers become social activists, bloggers, and even models for national advertising campaigns? It’s a brave new world and it couldn’t come too soon.
Don’t get me wrong, I have spent much of my adult life working with and for farmers, and they make unbelievable sacrifices. Managing large and complex businesses and constantly improving farming techniques, raising families, and most are pillars of their local communities. Church board meetings, school board meetings, and even volunteer fire department gatherings might well be a Farm Bureau meeting or a Corn Grower conclave.
But what is happening today is almost revolutionary. Once content to take care of business in their own backyard, today’s rural youth and young farmers seek to carry on the aforementioned legacy of civic responsibility but they are also stepping up to become citizens of the world.
Modern communications have helped to assure city limits are largely arbitrary. Your “community” is limited only by your imagination. Social media tools like Facebook,Twitter and You Tube have kicked open the door to the world, and timing couldn’t be better.
Consumers have never been so removed from (and in some cases afraid of) their food supply and this window to the world provided by social media allows people to look into your life and vice-a-versa. Dialogue ensues and with it, hopefully, better understanding and rapport.
Success stories about those who have made the leap (see blogger link above) are getting more common and as a result these once lone voices are amplified. I came across a perfect example today. College student Kelly Rivard (@kmrivard on Twitter) pursued an internship with a commodity group to help her efforts to eventually land a job in Ag communications. The internship included starting a blog. The internship ended but the blog is alive and well.
Recently it was picked up by a Fox affiliate that services people in much of Central Illinois, including four large cities. Because it is web-based the audience is really unlimited. Blogs by these 20-something college students and YouTube videos by FFA’ers with flip cams are capturing their love for one of our most critical industries and sharing it with the masses.
Another good example is Kurt Hora shown in the accompanying photo. This young farmer from Iowa grows corn and soybeans, raises hogs and has a young family to fill his days. Lots of responsibility, and yet he took time to be a part of the Corn Farmers Coalition project this year in order to put a face on family farmers, to give his fellow farmers a voice, to spread key messages consumers need to know.
Examples abound. A new generation of voices is speaking out for agriculture and they are using every tool and opportunity available. This bodes well for the future. If you would like to know more check out Seven Secrets to Successful Social Media Farming.
Ribeyes and bacon and wings oh my! In case you missed it, today is World Vegetarian Day, the annual kick off of Vegetarian Month. The effort even has a web site to try to convince you of the benefits of the practice of going meatless.
There they say vegetarianism helps to create a better world because vegetarian diets have proven health benefits, save animals’ lives and help to preserve the Earth. I won’t debate the obvious holes in this sweeping litany of benefits but rather just say since when did my hamburger become a social issue?
They are even offering prizes of up to $1,000 to try to go meat free for a month. The web site comes complete with sign up cards to give to your friends. Have to admit I stopped and thought about it for a second. That much scratch would buy a lot or pork chops and filets.
Some people agree with a few of these vegetarian contentions and continue to eat meat for the simple reason that meat is good and provides pleasure at a very fundamental level.
Personally, I have the physical tools from teeth to the appropriate omnivorous body parts to eat meat and two millions years of experience in my genes so I think I will spend my energy trying to eat the balanced diet nature intended including meat and more fruits and vegetables.
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.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is the single biggest enemy facing animal agriculture today, according to the Center for Consumer Freedom. Family farmers who are at ground zero in livestock production and consumers who enjoy meat as part of a healthy diet need to fight back now.
Their goal isn’t to directly turn us all into vegetarians/vegans but rather to make meat so expensive even meat lovers will cut their intake dramatically. For hard core vegans not eating meat is an ethical choice but under HSUS’s plan depressing sales is the objective. David Martosko, CCF’s director of research, told the St. Louis Ag Club today that cutting meat demand 10-15% by would be enough to put the industry in a tailspin.
Efforts to achieve this goal are well underway with an entire generation of consumers being hit with propaganda in schools and emotional messaging through the media. He estimates HSUS already has a mailing list reaching 12% of U.S. consumers and given time their aggressive tactics will make converts unless the other side takes action.
Martosko says both and offensive and defensive strategies are needed. Farmers telling an accurate story of modern animal husbandry is the defensive part. Giving the public a peek at the real HSUS, going after their good public opinion, is the offensive part. The organization’s credibility is off the charts, Martosko says ,with an 83% public approval rating. Without exposure to HSUS’s questionable mission and business practices they will only be rivaled by the American Red Cross.
Once this happens it is time to close the barn door on public opinion because the cow has left the barn. He says we already be three to five years out from this goal being reached.
Chris Chinn, whose family raises hogs near Clarence, Missouri, has already mastered the defensive part of the formula. She spends an increasing amount of time speaking to the public directly and via Social Media. Chinn challenges anyone who cares about the future of agriculture to find 10 non-farm friends and educate them on the real HSUS and ask them to spread to word.
Here are a few tidbits you might find useful in exposing HSUS:
Less than 1% of HSUS’s massive war chest goes to help or rescue animals through shelters (.45% of their budget to be exact). Give to your local shelters if you want to help.
When you donate to help pets keep in mind HSUS puts 5 times more money into its pension fund than what they spend on local humane shelters.
Their end goal isn’t to eliminate suffering by animals but to eliminate the sufferer. HSUS assumes all animals are raised in an inhumane fashion.
Currently 59% of the public thinks HSUS donations go to help shelters and animals directly. Think again. HSUS will spend more money on payroll this year than President Obama’s White House.
HSUS generates $132 in revenue annually yet produces nothing, has no inventory and has $52 million in petty cash for marketing and lobbying.
Campaigns for going meatless one day a week abound these days but that trend goes back centuries for some, and for better reasons.
We’ve got the “Meatless Monday” group, that advocates reducing meat consumption by 15% “in order to improve your personal health and the health of the planet.” The group notes that “Presidents Wilson, Truman and Roosevelt galvanized the nation with voluntary meatless days during both world wars.” They want to “revitalize this American tradition.” However, it goes without saying that the goal of advocating a meatless day a week made by presidents during wartime had nothing to do with reducing our carbon footprint and “leading the world in the race to reduce climate change.” It was all about conserving our food resources and ensuring that we had adequate supplies for our troops.
Some universities have instituted the meatless Mondays idea on campus, and now the public school system is getting in on the act. Cattle producers and other carnivores around Columbia, Missouri fought back at the beginning of this school year when they found out that the Columbia public school system was having meatless “Wacky Wednesdays” in the cafeterias to promote vegetarian meals. I heard about this effort from a local cattle producer and the Columbia News Tribune reported on the story last week. After a grass-roots campaign took off, the school district decided they would offer a meat option on the lunch menu, although will still focus on promoting vegetables. The director of nutrition services for the school district apologized for offending meat producers, saying that “We have had meatless days before, just without advertising.”
Indeed, back in the old days, most public schools offered meatless menus on Fridays in deference to Catholics, when it was still a norm in the church to abstain from meat that day of the week. Now it is only required during Lent. I was not Catholic growing up, but I still remember that Fridays meant tasteless mac and cheese or cardboard cheese pizza for lunch. As an adult Catholic convert, we still adhere to the old school and avoid meat on Fridays, suffering instead with smoked salmon and capers or grilled tilapia. Not quite as rough!
Of course, like taking a day off from meat during wartime, the Catholic reason for meatless Fridays has nothing at all to do with opposing meat for vegetarian or “environmental” reasons. For Catholics, it means abstaining from something enjoyable to improve our spiritual health. Since my children attended parochial schools that at least have meatless menus on Friday during Lent, I really don’t know if the public schools offer a meatless option on Fridays during Lent for Catholics, but I would suspect that might mean showing a preference for someone’s religion in a taxpayer-funded public school. Besides, Meatless Mondays and Wacky Wednesdays I guess just have a better ring to them than “Fasting Fridays.”
Kansas City is known for BBQ, but a small company in Wall Lake, Iowa called Cookies, has been growing a good crop of BBQ sauce fans across the Midwest. Unfortunately, a poor marketing move against another hot commodity in Iowa, corn, has some at the Farm Progress looking for other condiments. Cookies Sauces, found at the Farm Progress and other ag shows in Iowa carries BBQ sauces, condiments and even supplies golf carts, and is now feeding into the anti-high fructose corn syrup hype, promoting a signature barbeque sauce as HFCS free. Highly questionable science aside, this is a poor marketing decision on their part.
Cookies Sauces operates out of Wall Lake, Iowa, a small town only an hour and a half from Boone, the site of the 2010 Farm Progress Show. This company is part of the agricultural community, a state where production agriculture and ag-related industries account for $72.1 billion including agri-food industries, food processing and the manufacturer of farm machinery, chemicals and fertilizer.
Cookies Sauce owner Speed Herrig has friends in the Ag industry. The Iowa Corn Growers Association and the National Corn Growers Association are disappointed to see another uneducated spilt happening in the ag industry.
If you think the sauce leaves a sour taste in your mouth, you can contact Cookies Sauces through Facebook.
As social media continues to grow, it evolves. What was commonplace even five years ago can be passé and unheard of services can become the new norm. In this environment, twitter came to be the social networking tool of choice for many on-the-go people trying to communicate succinctly as possible.
Twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows users to share messages of 140 characters or less. Users simply search for and find anyone they wish to follow. The person who they follow knows that the relationship exists, and has the power to block the follower, but, either way, does not have to reciprocate and follow the other person’s posts.
This trend toward brief, highly mobile mass communication has taken off at record speed.
400,000 tweets, single twitter posts, were recorded per quarter in 2007. This grew to 100 million tweets per quarter in 2008. By the end of 2009, this ballooned to 2 billion tweets per quarter. In February 2010 that Twitter users were sending 50 million tweets per day and, in the first quarter of 2010, 4 billion tweets were posted. As of June 2010, about 65 million tweets are posted each day, equaling about 750 tweets sent each second, according to Twitter.
This represents a major, easy opportunity for growers to get their message out. In quick 140 character bursts, growers can directly tell the story of ag to an attractive demographic. While 47 percent of users are under 34, 31 percent are between 35 and 49 with a full 21 percent of users over 50. Additionally, 46 percent of twitter users are college grads, significantly above the 27 percent national average.
So take a moment to brush up on your twitter. Below you will find all the information you need to know getting started. After that, it becomes second nature to spend just a few minutes a day promoting agriculture and reinforcing the importance of farming to America.
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. 
We’ve got the 
