Feeding America: A Weekend of Hope 5 - The View From Oregon

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Saturday May 09, 2009 · 7:02 PM PDT

2009/05/09 · 19:02

Greetings from Portland, Oregon. In this beautiful lush and green fertile valley where anything that can grow does, sitting just on the other side of the Cascade Range from some of the best grazing and grain-growing land in North America, in a city where food literally grows wild along sidewalks, alleyways, in parks and trails, where every other house has a huge garden and keeps backyard chickens; thousands upon thousands of my fellow Portlanders go to bed hungry each night, as do scores more across the rest of our state and country.

This isn't the way our America should be. For right now, we can start by lending a hand here. But systemic change is ultimately what is needed.

Just so we can put a face to things here -

Photobucket

Let's talk about hunger in America...

Hardhat Democrat

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Wednesday April 22, 2009 · 7:20 PM PDT

2009/04/22 · 19:20

Shouldn't every day be Earth Day? Well, for right now I figure I'll throw up some news items - focusing just on recent fish & water news, because to focus on all of the problems we currently face would take me roughly 678 years to summarize.

Anyways, let's start here...

Two California-based environmentalists and researchers are cycling 2,000 miles down the Pacific Coast to raise awareness about the massive plastic soup in the North Pacific. I can't even come up with the words to describe how angry the picture with this article makes me - an adult turtle who was grossly deformed by crawling into a plastic ring while young, and whose body grew around it.

Crossposted from La Vida Locavore, more below the fold...

Hardhat Democrat

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Monday April 13, 2009 · 7:12 PM PDT

2009/04/13 · 19:12

Jill Richardson, the blogger formerly known here as OrangeClouds115, has a Recipe for America; and I suggest we read it, hop on into the kitchen and get to cooking!

I recently had the great pleasure of reading Jill Richardson's soon to be released book, "Recipe for America" (available for pre order here or here), and my only fear is that I'm not a good enough writer to get across just how wonderful this book is. But I'll try...

Disclaimer: Jill wants me to mention here that this will be a very "biased" review, since she and I are good friends and all. BUT! I'll add my own "disclaimer" here, and make it very clear that this was really one of the most fun reads I've ever had.

Crossposted from La Vida Locavore; review below the fold...

Hardhat Democrat

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Sunday March 22, 2009 · 5:41 PM PDT

2009/03/22 · 17:41

Greetings from Portland, Oregon. For this weekend's entry in LaughingPlanet's travel series, I'm gonna go for another walk around the city with my camera. This time I'm going to stay around my way, and focus on some of my favorite neighborhoods here in Southeast Portland.

My earlier entry in this series can be found here. A list of past and future entries can be found at the end of this diary. Also, we need volunteers for future installments! If you'd like to do so, contact LaughingPlanet. Photos or not, just a write-up on your city or region or favorite place, as brief or as in-depth as you'd like. Share your world with us!

Anyways - a whole bunch of pics, ramblings and shameless restaurant and food cart plugs below the fold...

Hardhat Democrat

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Saturday March 21, 2009 · 7:21 PM PDT

2009/03/21 · 19:21

I went on a field trip Thursday morning as part of the National Farm to Cafeteria Conference here in Portland, and had the chance to visit two urban farm sites here in the city, and another just a short hop up the road out on Sauvie Island. This was the 4th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference, hosted by the Community Food Security Coalition and the Farm to School Network.

I was also on Friday's Social Media panel at the conference along with the most awesome Debra Eschmeyer of the National Farm to School Network and the Center for Food & Justice at Occidental College, who also frequently blogs at the Ethicurean; and Nicole de Beaufort of Fourth Sector Consulting. More about that in a future diary very soon, for now I want to share some pictures (and etc...) from the field trip.

Hardhat Democrat

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Saturday March 14, 2009 · 1:29 PM PDT

2009/03/14 · 13:29

Great news for human health and those of us who believe in real science - following up on last week's news that six major manufacturers will stop selling baby bottles containing the dangerous industrial chemical BPA, legislation was introduced yesterday in the US House by Edward Markey (D-MA) and in the US Senate by Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) that would ban bisphenol A from all food and drink containers in the US -

The move came a day after Sunoco, the gas and chemical company, sent word to investors that it is now refusing to sell bisphenol A, known as BPA, to companies for use in food and water containers for children younger than 3. The company told investors that it cannot be certain of the chemical compound's safety. Last week, six baby-bottle manufacturers, including Playtex and Gerber, announced that they will stop using BPA in bottles.

Crossposted from La Vida Locavore, more below the fold...

Hardhat Democrat

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Sunday March 08, 2009 · 6:21 AM PDT

2009/03/08 · 06:21

Billionaire New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is fighting to deny extended food stamp benefits to single New Yorkers without children -

A fight is brewing over federal money earmarked for food stamps. Part of the stimulus package would bring about $155 million to the city to cover food stamps through September 2010.

But so far, Mayor Michael Bloomberg hasn't signed a waiver to extend those benefits to single adults who don't have dependents.

Crosposted from La Vida Locavore, more below the fold...

Hardhat Democrat

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Friday February 20, 2009 · 8:59 PM PST

2009/02/20 · 20:59

What do you do after turning Africa's breadbasket into Africa's basketcase, where the latest estimate puts inflation at 231 million percent, where unemployment currently stands at 94 percent, where over 6 million people are currently starving, where 1 in 10 children will die before the age of 5, where the life expectancy of men is 37 and women is 34, where a raging cholera outbreak has sickened 80,000 and killed over 3,700 people over the past 6 months, where the loser of last year's election held onto the presidency solely by killing and torturing supporters of his opponent, and where the newly appointed Agriculture Minister, Roy Bennett, was just arrested last week, charged with treason / terrorism / whatever they'll think of next, and locked away in an infamous torture prison?

If you're Zimbabwe's 'President' Robert Mugabe, you throw yourself a $100,000 feast of which Marie Antoinette would have been proud...

More below the fold...

Hardhat Democrat

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Saturday February 14, 2009 · 3:05 PM PST

2009/02/14 · 15:05

I was gonna start this one another way, but thanks to FireCrow's comment in the first entry of our blogathon from our fantastic organizer noweasels, I've hit upon a better intro. Tell 'em, FireCrow -

thank you for not using the term "food insecure" anywhere in your diary. Out of all the politically correct mumbo jumbo words they have come up with to mask the humanity and pain underlying things like hunger and starvation, I hate that one the worst. People aren't food insecure, they're friggin' hungry.

It's time we stopped sugarcoating the pain and misery of human beings with technical jargon that feels more comfortable for some to use. Hunger isn't "insecurity", it's a matter of life and death.

Let's Feed America below the fold...

Post #4 is up! Please give boatsie a rec here!!!

Hardhat Democrat

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Wednesday February 11, 2009 · 8:52 AM PST

2009/02/11 · 08:52

And now we're coming up on the home stretch in the salmonella peanut butter case.

AP reports this morning that internal company emails obtained by a House Committee show that PCA president Stewart Parnell ordered his company to ship the poisonous peanuts that have killed 8 people and sickened countless thousands, because he was worried about lost sales -

WASHINGTON (AP) — The owner of a peanut company urged his workers to ship tainted products after receiving test results identifying salmonella, according to internal company e-mails disclosed Wednesday by a House committee.

The company e-mails obtained by the House panel showed that Peanut Corp. of America owner Stewart Parnell ordered the shipments tainted with the bacteria because he was worried about lost sales.

More below the fold...

Hardhat Democrat

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Tuesday February 10, 2009 · 1:28 PM PST

2009/02/10 · 13:28

Earlier this morning, it was reported that salmonella peanut company PCA "voluntarily suspended operations" at its Texas plant which operated unlicensed and uninspected since at least 2005. Over all that time, PCA was still shipping peanut products to food companies and institutions (I want to know who was buying them?!).

Apparently, PCA didn't shut down their Texas plant out of civic duty while the federal criminal investigation continues into their poisoning of Americans. They shut down their Texas plant because more salmonella was just found in samples of peanuts taken there just 6 days ago -

Peanut Corporation of America shuttered its Plainview, Texas plant last night at the request of state health officials, said Doug McBride, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services. The action came after laboratory results from samples taken on Feb. 4 of roasted peanuts, peanut meal and granulated peanuts were positive for salmonella.

More below the fold...

Hardhat Democrat

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Monday February 02, 2009 · 10:15 PM PST

2009/02/02 · 22:15

Back in high school, I used to have to ask the teacher for permission to use the restroom. In English class, I also had to be sure to begin my request with "may I", rather than "can I"...otherwise, I'd be running the risk of the "I don't know, can you?" reply. The New York Times reports tonight that, much like a student in class, FDA required permission from Peanut Corporation of America before they were allowed to publish their expanded recall last week.

That probably doesn't come as a surprise to many of us here, but I couldn't let this article slip by without comment -

Even though federal health officials have begun a criminal investigation into whether the Peanut Corporation of America deliberately sold contaminated products, the government still needed the company’s permission last week before announcing a huge recall of its products.

Crossposted from La Vida Locavore, more below the fold...

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Feeding America: A Weekend of Hope 5 - The View From Oregon

Fish & Water News: Turtles Deformed By Our Plastic, and etc...

Book Review: Jill Richardson's "Recipe For America"

DKos Travel Board: The Streets of SE Portland

Portland Urban Agriculture: A Photo Essay; Chicks In The Dirt and etc...

Bill To Ban BPA, Other Toxic Chemicals From Our Food

Bloomberg To City: Drop Dead

Let Them Eat Cholera

Filling Empty Bowls: 36 Hours for Feeding America (3), People Are Starving Now!

"Cancer Couldn't Claim Her, But Peanut Butter Did": Lost Sales Over Lost Lives

More Crap In Your Peanuts: New Salmonella Find In TX Plant

FDA To Killers: May We Take Action? Please?