Chefs Speak Up Against Fracking

Well-known chefs, Mario Batali and Bill Telepan spoke about the dangers of fracking (specifically within our food system), in Thursday’s New York Daily News. They urged Governor Cuomo ? who has been a huge proponent of NY State agriculture ? to ?serve food, not fracking.?? Chef Batali and Chef Telepan, along with myself and many other chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, brewers, vintners, and other food professionals, have come together to protect our regional foodshed from the dangers of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas (fracking) through the campaign, Chefs for the Marcellus.? Please get involved by signing a letter to Governor?Cuomo?asking him to ban fracking in New York State.

How Did GMO Wheat End Up in Oregon?

A farmer in Oregon recently found genetically engineered wheat growing on his land. Why is this newsworthy? Because this type of wheat had never been approved for commercial planting. When the farmer sprayed the unwanted wheat with Roundup, (Monsanto?s famous herbicide,) it did not die. The farmer sent samples of these curious plants to a scientist at Oregon State University who has investigated other cases in which genetically engineered crops spread beyond their approved boundaries. She found that this wheat was, in fact, genetically engineered.? The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it’s trying to find out how this wheat got there. The USDA says there’s no risk to public health,(of course, I disagree) but wheat growers are worried about how their customers in Asia and Europe will react. Many countries, including some that import wheat from the U.S., are quite hostile to genetically engineered crops. For good reason! It is clear that Monsanto?s is completely negligent in controlling the spread of their genetically engineered crops – crops that have proven time and time again to be harmful for people, animals and the planet.

Japan and South Korea Ban U.S. Imports of Wheat

Japan and South Korea have suspended some imports of American wheat, and the European Union urged its 27 nations to increase testing, after? a strain of genetically engineered wheat that was never approved for sale was found growing in an Oregon field.?Although none of the wheat, developed by Monsanto Company, was found in any grain shipments, governments in Asia and Europe acted quickly to limit their risk.?South Korea, which last year purchased roughly half of its total wheat imports of five million tons from the United States, said Friday it would suspend purchases until tests were performed on arriving shipments. Seoul also raised quarantine measures on wheat for livestock feed, while Thailand put ports on alert.?The European Union, which has a ?zero tolerance? approach to genetically modified crops, said through its consumer protection office Friday that if any shipments tested positive, they would not be sold.?It also said it was seeking ?further information and reassurance? from Washington and had asked Monsanto for help in developing a reliable test for the genetically modified strain.

Ben and Jerry’s Announces Plans to Eliminate GMO Ingredients

Ben and Jerry’s announced that it will be GMO-free by 2015. As of now, only 80% of Ben & Jerry’s ingredients are sourced non-GMO, according to the ice cream maker. But by the end of the year, the company aims to completely phase out genetically modified products from its ice cream. The Vermont-based ice cream maker said on its website that the undertaking will be “complex” because a single flavor can contain up to 40 ingredients. As a result, the conversion process may continue into 2014.