sustainability
Substituting fossil fuels for labor in the kitchen
Americans spend an average of 35 minutes a day preparing meals and cleaning up after them, according to the Labor Department. "That's compared to about 50 minutes just a few decades ago," says Harvest Public Media in the fifth segment of its "Feasting on Fuel" series.
New Dietary Guidelines endorse lean meat, warn against added sugars
The new edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans will be released today, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. He declined to discuss the contents of the report, which distills the government's advice about healthy diets, or how it would be released.
‘Plants are the new meat’
Traditionally a side dish, vegetables are moving to the center of the plate, says the NPR blog The Salt, adding, "it appears that plants are the new meat."
U.S. won’t mention soda taxes in Dietary Guidelines
The new edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the government's tips for a healthy diet, will not advocate soda taxes as a way to fight obesity, two Obama cabinet members told lawmakers, despite a suggestion that it should from the panel of experts that is helping to update the guidelines. Health Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said soda taxes fall outside the province of the guidelines so they will not be considered. They cited the same reason on Tuesday in excluding sustainability of food supplies as an element in recommendations for the American diet.
Sustainability excluded from Dietary Guidelines
Sustainability of the food supply is a critically important question but the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is not the appropriate place to discuss it, two Obama cabinet members said, bowing to months of criticism by food and ag groups. The decision by Health Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack overturned an initiative by the panel of experts they chose to help update the guidelines, which are the government's advice for healthful eating.
Conaway: Dietary panel strayed from nutritional evidence
The panel of experts helping the government revise the Dietary Guidelines for Americans "strays from strictly nutritional evidence" to dabble in "areas like sustainability and tax policy," charged House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway. With two cabinet members slated to testify before his committee on Wednesday, Conaway wrote an essay detailing his criticism.
Sustainability belongs in dietary guidelines, say experts
The food industry and its allies in Congress are trying "to excise sustainability from dietary discussions" out of fear of losing market share or fueling coalitions that could change the American diet, say six public health and sustainability experts. The group, which includes Kathleen Merrigan, former deputy agriculture secretary, writes in the journal Science that politics are the root of attacks on the upcoming edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).
BMJ article criticizes rigor of advice for Dietary Guidelines
The panel of experts that advised the government on the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans "used weak scientific standards, reversing recent efforts by the government to strengthen the scientific review process," says a five-page article in the British Medical Journal. The new edition of the guidelines, which present the government's advice on healthy eating, is to be released this fall.
“Earth overshoot day” arrives six days sooner
Global Footprint Network, a sustainability think tank, calculates that today is Earth Overshoot Day, "when humanity’s annual demand on nature exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year."
Bycatch is hurdle to higher ratings for U.S. fisheries
Almost all U.S. fisheries would be rated as "best choice" for environmental sustainability and would "reap rewards in the marketplace for that recognition" if they reduced losses from bycatch, says a new research paper.
Longer comment period set for Dietary Guidelines
The government will allow an additional 30 days for comment on the report by a panel of experts on how to revise the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The report has drawn criticism because it says environmental sustainability should be taken into account in recommending a healthy diet. Farm groups, especially from the meat industry, say the report is wrong to say people should eat less meat.
Local meat, seafood, produce top food trends in 2015
A survey of professional chefs says the top food trends in 2015 are locally sourced meats and seafood, and locally grown produce, says the National Restaurant Association.
FAO – Corn, rice, wheat must become more sustainable
New and more sustainable varieties of the three major food crops of the world, corn, rice and wheat, are needed to supply world food needs while conserving natural resources and withstanding climate change, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Consumer, green groups criticize Sustainable Beef criteria
Nineteen consumer, environmental and animal welfare groups says the criteria proposed for a Sustainable Beef project are "fundamentally flawed" and fail to address issues such as use of antibiotics as a growth promotant in cattle.
Farming on the urban edge, bison on the Plains
In Brentwood, a "para-urban" community in Contra Costa County on the eastern outskirts of San Francisco, an amalgam of groups combines to keep 20,000 acres of farmland in production and out of subdivisions, office parks and strip malls, says Kristina Johnson at Civil Eats.
Kellogg – Will reduce greenhouse gases by 15 percent
The world's largest cereal maker, Kellogg Co, said it will reduce energy and greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by 2020 to combat climate change.
San Francisco hospitals aim for healthier, sustainable food
Several hospitals in San Francisco are working together "to add more fresh, organic and sustainable foods to their patient and cafeteria trays," writes Ingfei Chen at The Guardian.
Canada to debut “McSustainable” beef
"McDonald’s has chosen Canada over Australia and Europe as the site of its first pilot project in its ambitious quest to serve only “sustainable beef” in its massive global restaurant empire," says the Alberta Farmer.
Agriculture adviser Rod Snyder leaves EPA on Wednesday
Rod Snyder, the first director of EPA's agriculture and rural affairs office, said on Monday that he was leaving the agency after nearly three years as its agriculture adviser. EPA administrator Michael Regan said farmers, ranchers, and rural communities "will always have a seat at EPA's table" thanks to Snyder's influence.