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The recent announcement of a United Egg Producers and Humane Society of the United States agreement reinforces the need for the research sponsored by the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply (CSES) that is currently underway.

This research is important for providing egg producers with evidence-based information to help them be successful in housing systems used to produce eggs in the U.S., as well as for helping food companies and other organizations make independent, informed purchasing decisions.

The CSES Laying Hen Housing Research Project is the first to be conducted in houses built to U.S. commercial production scale, evaluating conventional, enriched colony and cage-free housing systems and encompassing the full spectrum of sustainability aspects. A balanced and holistic approach, which includes environmental impact, food safety, worker safety, animal health and well-being, and food affordability, is needed when evaluating the sustainability of egg production.

CSES remains committed to working with all stakeholders who share its interest in a sustainable egg supply.

For more information about CSES and the research the group is conducting, please visit http://www.sustainableeggcoalition.com.

Posted by Charlie.

You’ve likely heard about the so-called “ag gag” bills, proposed in a number of states, limiting unauthorized entry and videotaping in livestock barns and buildings.  

Those who commit livestock abuse should be held accountable, but closing the barn doors is not the way to build public trust in today’s food system. Instead, we should encourage greater vigilance in animal care and reporting.

Being more open and transparent about today’s production methods would help show that farmers are responsible stewards of the land, producing safe, nutritious and affordable food, while providing livestock with great care.

Further, those who witness animal abuse and record it instead of stopping it should also be held to account. The public would be outraged if someone videotaped willful elder or child abuse and chose not to stop it. We should expect the same when it comes to the willful abuse of animals.

Posted by Mark

Following a food safety recall, do you run to your fridge to check to see whether you’re affected? Do you switch to a different brand following a food recall? How do food recalls affect the way you eat and purchase food for you and your family?

Earlier this year, President Obama signed a food safety bill into law following a string of national food recalls. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is designed to improve preventive measures and enhance inspection to keep food safe and to expedite response time to food safety issues.

The bill is an important step forward in building consumer trust in the food system. A 2009 Harris Interactive® survey conducted for the American Society for Quality revealed 61% of U.S. adults feel the U.S. food recall process is only fair or poor. As the survey results indicate, food recalls are a serious concern for nearly 50% of adults. Food system members, from farm to fork, proactively work to prevent food contamination, while continually evaluating and improving their standards, processes, technologies and protocols to ensure food safety. 

One thing that hasn’t changed: the food system remains committed to producing safe, wholesome and nutritious food.

Individuals and organizations within the food system take extensive steps to produce the world’s safest food supplies, including,

• Employing strict on-farm, or in-house, measures
• Administering extensive environmental, laboratory and equipment testing
• Conducting rigorous employee training on programs built by experts
• Meeting and exceeding standards established food safety and quality assurance programs, such as the Pork Quality Assurance Plus® program and Produce Quality Assurance Program

As the safety measures above demonstrate, the food industry takes food safety very seriously. However, food safety is a shared responsibility. Keeping your food safe, understanding labels and knowing how to store and prepare healthy and nutritious meals are all part of making good food choices. According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), Americans can prevent foodborne illness through four easy steps:

• Clean — Wash hands, utensils, and cutting boards before and after contact with raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs
• Separate — Keep raw meat and poultry apart from foods that won’t be cooked
• Cook — Use a food thermometer – you can’t tell food is cooked safely by how it looks
• Chill — Chill leftovers and takeout foods within two hours and keep the fridge at 40°F or below

Foodborne illnesses are preventable. As Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety, stated at the 2011 American Farm Bureau Annual Meeting, “Food safety is a farm to fork effort… Everybody wins when food is safe, and nobody wins when it's not.”

Posted by Maggie
May 9, 2011

Information sources:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS)
• FoodSafety.gov
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Spring has sprung, and each of us is itching to get outdoors again. For many, that means planting a garden. There is not a more noble endeavor than working in cooperation with the sun and soil to grow food.

Safe, nutritious, and affordable food is produced in a variety of ways.  Buying local, organic or from a farmer’s market are all great choices, but it is overly simplistic to assert that a certain type or size of farming or food production is inherently better than another.

So plant a garden and purchase food that best fits your lifestyle. But also understand that food production must double on the same amount of land by 2050 in order to meet the basic needs of a rapidly growing global population. This will not happen without increased use of responsible technological advancements in farming. Without it, somebody, somewhere, will go hungry. 

Posted by Mark

April 11, 2011

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, food prices have risen for seven consecutive months and are at near-historic levels,  their highest since July 2008, pushing millions into extreme poverty.

And with poor around the world already struggling to feed their families, the current spike in commodity prices is putting even more pressure on families, communities, and governments. This pressure has been called “an aggravating factor” in the recent unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, and elsewhere.

In fact, according to a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor, the Middle East, and increasingly China and India, will likely continue to be a hotbed of tension as their water tables fall and wells dry up and less is available for the irrigation of cropland. The result will be decreased crop yields, and higher food prices due to a decreased supply.

So what’s the ethical choice when it comes to feeding a global population? Certainly the conservation of water and other natural resources remains a priority. Ultimately, we’ll need to produce more food using fewer resources. And we’ll need to do so every year for the next four decades, just to keep up with demand as we see the population increase.

To meet this end, we need to support continued innovation and responsible food systems that allow us to produce food through responsible conventional farming, processing and distribution.

Otherwise, somebody somewhere will go hungry. 

Posted by Mark

March 28, 2011