One in 3 U.S. Households are Now Growing Food

According to a new National Gardening Association report – One in 3 USA households are now growing food ? the highest overall participation and spending levels seen in a decade. During the past five years there?s been a significant shift toward more Americans growing their own food in home and community gardens, increasing from 36 million households in 2008 to 42 million in 2013. The report shows that more young people, particularly millennials (ages 18-34), are the fastest growing population segment of food gardeners. In 2008 there were 8 million millennial food gardeners. That figure rose to 13 million in 2013, an increase of 63 percent. Millennials also nearly doubled their spending on food gardening, from $632 million in 2008 to $1.2 billion in 2013. Additionally, there was a 29 percent increase in food gardening by people living in urban areas, up from 7 million in 2008 to 9 million in 2013. This report clearly shows that more people are paying attention to where their food comes from. Growing your own food is the best way to ensure the quality of what your family eats.

Most Norovirus Outbreaks Caused By Food Preparation Workers

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found t it is more likely to catch a stomach bug in a restaurant or cafeteria than on a cruise ship. ?Norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne disease outbreaks and illnesses in the U.S. Through infected food workers ? from cooks and handlers to servers and waiters. They’re responsible for about 70 percent of reported norovirus outbreaks from contaminated food. The typical scenario involves an infected food worker who is preparing foods, particularly handling them after they’ve been cooked, and then, the food is served to a customer who goes on to get sick. Also, the virus stays on countertops, spoons and other kitchen surfaces for up to two weeks. And hand sanitizers won’t necessarily kill it. The best strategy to prevent foodborne illness from bacteria, such as salmonella, is to cook food well. This kills off the pathogens that can harm us. But this strategy doesn’t seem to be very effective in preventing norovirus transmission in the restaurant setting. It’s not that heat doesn’t kill the virus. It does ? above 140 degrees Fahrenheit. But, unfortunately, in 92 percent of reported norovirus cases in which a particular food was pegged as the culprit, the food was contaminated by infected food workers during the final preparation step, after the food was cooked. While strict enforcement of hand-washing would certainly help, paid sick days for those employed in the food industry would be the most effective way of reducing outbreaks.

Greenpeace Seafood Sustainability Scorecard

Greenpeace evaluated 26 major retailers on sustainability using a variety of factors including the sale of “red list” seafood, engagement with conservation initiatives, transparency of supply, and the establishment of cohesive internal policies to score each retailer on a scale of 0-10. Click here to see the results of their study.