“U.S. and Mexico at Odds Over Trucking Issue”
Mexico continues to charge the United States with NAFTA “takebacks” after the U.S. terminated a cross-border trucking pilot program through the FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act. In retaliation, Mexico imposed tariffs on a number of U.S. goods (see the list here: http://www.drinkerbiddle.com/files/upload/Mexico_Retaliatory.pdf). About 40 members of Congress have signed on a letter urging U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to find a solution to the issue quickly.
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“New Contract Requirements Being Enforced”
The 2008 Farm Bill established new requirements for swine contracts under the Packers and Stockyards Act. USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration is working to ensure that all swine contractors are aware of and comply with the new requirements. These requirements went into effect on June 18, 2008, upon passage of the Farm Bill. GIPSA currently is focusing on contracts involving pork producers to ensure their compliance with Farm Bill requirements.
The new requirements allow swine growers to cancel growing or production contracts for up to 3 days after signing or any date specified in the contract or growing arrangement. Also, large capital investment requirements must be written into the contract and growers are permitted opt out of arbitration provisions before entering a contract.
GIPSA is increasing its audits of swine production contracts to ensure their compliance with the Farm Bill requirements. The agency is seeking civil penalties of up to 11-thousand dollars per violation when they find that swine contractors have not complied with the Farm Bill’s requirements.
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“USDA Wants More Nutritious Food Aid Packages”
Roger Beachy, director of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture says a new grant program will help insure humanitarian assistance programs provide healthier food products for recipients. Beachy said, – it is our responsibility to make sure that in emergency situations, these people are receiving food that supplies them with the nutrients they need.
NIFA’s Food Aid Nutritional Education Program supports the development and field testing of new ready-to-use foods, fortified blended foods, high-energy foods, micronutrient powders or other food products designed to improve the nutritional delivery and functional form of humanitarian food assistance. Projects funded may also field test existing food products that have not yet been approved for use in food aid programs.
Applications will be made available next month. Approximately 3.8-million dollars in grants will be awarded in Fiscal Year 2010 on a competitive basis.
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“USDA Signs Agreement with Consortium”
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack has signed an updated Memorandum of Agreement to promote increased cooperation between USDA, tribally controlled colleges and universities, and American Indian/Alaska Native communities. The agreement helps fulfill the 2002 Farm Bill’s mandate that USDA establish programs ensuring that TCUs and American Indian/Alaska Native communities participate equitably in USDA employment, programs, and activities.
The renewed USDA and AIHEC Memorandum of Agreement acknowledges the role of 1994 TCUs to the nation’s food security and to tribal self-determination through their cultural and other science based educational programs that function to improve local economies, re-invigorate the use of ancestral foods to address nutritional issues that lead to diabetes and obesity, and to develop energy programs that have the potential to benefit all Americans.
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“Merrigan Makes Funding Announcement”
Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan was in New York City Thursday to highlight USDA’s ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ initiative. Merrigan made a presentation to local leaders and students interested in food systems policy at The New School, and delivered a national funding announcement. The funding will help regional farmers and ranchers to develop new markets to sell their product.
USDA’s ‘Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food’ initiative emphasizes the need for a fundamental and critical reconnection between producers and consumers. The initiative also aims to support local and regional food systems for Americans, increase economic opportunities for local farmers, and expand access to healthy food.
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“Obesity Collaborative Strengthened”
USDA has joined the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research, a public-private research collaboration, to accelerate progress on preventing and reversing the childhood obesity epidemic. Efforts will be focused on strengthening the nation’s research tools and infrastructure, discovering what works, and communicating and spreading effective interventions more rapidly.
The Agricultural Research Service’s Human Nutrition Research Program annually commits approximately 28-million dollars to obesity prevention research, and two internationally recognized ARS research centers focus on children’s nutrition with an emphasis on childhood obesity prevention. In making the announcement, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said, – USDA can strengthen this collaboration and add valuable knowledge and considerable resources to combat this epidemic.
The National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provide financial support for the Collaboration. Through the Office of the Chief Scientist, USDA will coordinate its research programs with NIH, CDC and RWJF to ensure effective and efficient use of resources for solving the childhood obesity epidemic.
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“Researchers Working on Healthier Breads”
Agricultural Research Service scientists at the ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany, California are working to develop new and tasty whole-grain oat or barley breads that offer antioxidants, fiber, and other components in an array different from that found in whole-wheat breads. They have determined that barley, oat, and whole-wheat breads made with HPMC have cholesterol-lowering effects. HPMC is short for hydroxypropyl methylcellulose.
They want to know if HPMC can be used as a substitute for gluten, a compound present in wheat but lacking in other grains such as oats and barley. Gluten traps the airy bubbles formed by yeast, lifting dough to form high, attractive, nicely textured loaves.
The HPMC under investigation is derived from a plant source proprietary to manufacturer Dow Wolff Cellulosics of Midland, Michigan. Though this HPMC is widely used in familiar foods–as a thickener, for instance–its cholesterol-lowering properties as an ingredient in whole-grain breads haven’t been widely studied.
