MY previous column reflected on the apparent tension surrounding agriculture and food. It is a conflict that has seemingly become more fervent in recent years. The tug-of-war pits one side — which emphasizes the need to feed a growing population — against the other side — which is concerned about the underlying nature of our food system. It has been described as "an intensifying war between the farm sector and its critics over how food is made." However…

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By Christopher B. Barrett    HOW many of us read a story of disaster striking people half a world away and respond by getting out our checkbooks? Tens of millions of us in any given year, and Americans are especially generous. Relief agencies received more than $1.2 billion in the wake of the disastrous 2010 earthquake in Haiti and $3.9 billion following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami (according to Global Humanitarian Assistance). But is anyone foolish enough to go…

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 BY JAYSON LUSK   MICHAEL Moss's New York Times bestselling book Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us is the latest in a long stream of journalistic exposés decrying the state of food and agriculture in America. The work has been met with fawning praise. Although it melds with the emerging cultural narrative about food, Moss's book is overwrought. Moss reveals a shocking secret: Food manufacturers diligently and deliberately try to make…

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THERE is an enduring tension in the food system that has seemingly grown in recent years. We spend a lot of time navigating various issues that inherently arise because of a divergence of views, and because of our abundance, the tug-of-war is especially prevalent in the U.S. One side cites a rapidly growing global population and the need to feed 9 billion people by 2050. That outlook invokes a focus on producing more food to ensure that people don't go hungry. The other side…

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EVERY industry has its own jargon, vernacular and sayings; agriculture is no different. I may be biased, but I believe agriculture has the best of these industry-specific lexicons, from funny, old-timey sayings like "Don't squat with your spurs on" to highly scientific terms and sometimes "scary" terms such as lean finely textured beef, pesticides or genetically modified organisms. Recently, I have heard several well-known agricultural advocates calling for a…

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CONSUMER Reports has managed to generate headlines for the food world yet again with its recent research that found that 90% of 257 samples of ground turkey meat and patties tested positive for at least one major class of bacteria. More important to this discussion, Consumer Reports further indicated that more than half of the samples were resistant to three or more different classes of antibiotics. However, bacteria isolated from samples labeled as "organic" or some other…

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HIMP, or the HACCP-based Inspection Models Project, is going to be a much more routine inspection program in the U.S. if USDA’s Undersecretary for Food Safety, Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, and her Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Administrator, Al Almanza, have their way. USDA published a proposal in January of 2012 to expand HIMP beyond its current limited size, and initiated a public comment period to their proposed rule. Hagen recently re-confirmed her intent at a March…

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By Dennis T. Avery A WALL Street billionaire is pledging to spend "whatever it takes" to make manmade global warming the "defining issue of our generation." Most recently, he paid for airplanes to fly over Boston, Mass., with banners that read, "Steve Lynch for Oil Evil Empire." U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D., Mass.), a Senate hopeful, favors the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline and the jobs it would create. "The goal here is not to win,"…

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TALKING points get used because they're effective. That's especially true when the issue is complicated, the strategy being to repeat an oversimplified statement again and again until it's largely perceived as truth within the general population. The problem, though, is that talking points often distort and ignore the broader reality of an issue. No better example of that exists than with the issue of antibiotic use in animal agriculture -- one that has received quite a…

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A RECENT headline in one of America's daily e-magazines read: "Livestock-to-Human MRSA Transmission Confirmed." "Confirmed" really can have only one meaning when used in this context, and that is to "prove to be true and correct," according to my dictionary. The story was about a study published in EMBO Molecular Medicine in March. I am sure there were other similar headlines that also tried to sway readers to oppose antibiotic use in animals…

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