| |
Sources
|
| The European Union's Novel Foods Working Group has decided that milk and meat from cloned animals and their offspring will not be treated differently from non-cloned animals, at least for the near future. |
 What Scientists Think |
| Ethanol demand has nearly doubled grain prices
at Midwest U.S. elevators. Corn has hit decade highs at $4 or so a
bushel. Sorghum currently averages around $3.65. There are more than
100 U.S, ethanol plants in production today, with another 70 to 90 due to come online in the next few years.
The 2.15 billion bushels of corn and grain sorghum currently used
for ethanol will need to be augmented by another 1 billion bushels. |
Hutchinson News
|
Farmer's Markets a Boost for B.C.
The
total economic impact of farmers' markets in British Columbia is $118.5
million annually, according to a study initiated by the B.C. Farmers'
Market Association. The study was based on a rapid survey of 7,100 market customers and 446 one-on-one interviews conducted
by researchers at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince
George and involved 28 of the over 100 farmers' markets in the
province. The study revealed that customers spend an average of
$18.18 at markets and almost half of all respondents visit farmers'
markets at least 2-3 times per month. |
Books for Farmers' Markets
|
Organics Bearing Fruit in Britain
Supermarkets
in Britain are investing heavily in the organic food sector which is
growing at 5% a year, even though it is more expensive than
conventional produce, according to The Scotsman. Figures from market analysts TNS Worldpanel that across Britain Tesco leads its supermarket with a 31.6% share of the organic market, ahead of Sainsbury's with 27.1%, Waitrose with 18.3%., and Asda with just 8.4%.
|
The
Organic Food Guide |
Credit Unions Beat the Banks
Credit unions beat
most banks hands-down as safe, profitable and consumer-friendly places
to save, borrow, and invest, according to Robert K. and Christy Heady's
"Complete
Idiot's Guide to Managing your Money." The Headys book of straightforward
financial advice includes a chapter on credit unions that explains how
credit unions operates and how to join one. "You'll save a bundle on fees,
penalties, and other charges by going though a credit union," they point
out. "Where banks may nick you as much as 10 percent for a cash advancem
a credit union may only charge you 1.5 to 2 percent of the transaction
amount. Plus, the majority of credit unions don't hit you with an annual
fee on credit cards."
|
Complete
Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Money
4th Edition
by Robert K Heady
and Christy Heady with Hugo Ottolenghi |
Mexico Losing Chile Competition
Chinese-grown chile
peppers are costing Mexico market share and profits. Total imports
of dried chiles to the United States from Mexico have doubled in 10 years,
but Mexico's share of the U.S. market for peppers fell to 16.1 percent
in 2004 from 32.5 percent in 1999. Between 50 percent and 80 percent of
the dried peppers now sold in Mexico are imported and prices have plummeted.
San
Antonio Express-News
|
The
Whole Chile Pepper Book |
Farm Machinery Costs Escalate
A series of reports
on the costs of completing field, harvesting, and forage operations on
Illinois farms show these expenses trending much higher in 2005 than in
2003, the last times costs were updated. Machinery costs rose because of
higher fuel prices and higher prices on new machinery. farmdoc |
Farm
Engines and How to Run Them |
Culinary Tours are Hot
Fine food has
always been a prime reason to leave home. For many tourists, epicurean
delights are a main ingredient in their recipes for vacation fun. Culinary
tours are a hot travel market. A typical tour by Epiculinary -- a culinary
travel agency in Lake Bluff, Illinois -- includes visits to wineries and
olive oil presses, lessons in cooking local cuisine, and shopping in farmer's
markets. CNN/Money |
Food
Lovers' Guides |
Prospering Farms Get Subsidies
"Even though farm
income has doubled in two years, federal subsidies have gone up nearly
40 percent over the same period -- projected at $15.7 billion this year
and $130 billion over the last nine years," reports Timothy Egan of the
New
York Times. Some farmers are taking advantage of record crops and falling
prices, but 70 percent of the subsidies go to the top 10 percent of agricultural
producers and the recent prosperity does not include many small to medium-size
growers. |
Rural
Renaissance
Renewing the Quest
for the Good Life |
Larger Farms Turning Organic
A study released this
week by University of California, Santa Cruz says California’s organic
farmers are no longer of the pastoral persuasion — the mom-and-pop operations
that became prominent in the ’60s. By 2024, 20 percent of California’s
cropland will grow organic crops, according to the study. "Organic farming
in California today looks a lot more like the agribusiness model than the
pastoral family-farm model most people think of," writes Julie Guthman,
an assistant professor of community studies at UCSC and author of the new
book, "Agrarian
Dreams: The Paradox of Organic Farming in California." |
Agrarian
Dreams
The Paradox of Organic
Farming in California |
