Welcome to The Roundtable Review, a collection of newsworthy items about food, nutrition, agriculture, the environment, and human health. We encourage you to read the summaries that we’ve written but to also dig deeper into the original articles, videos, and resources that you’ll discover below. So, take a seat at the table and enjoy the view as you see for yourself what’s true.
June 2022
Bad News for Bacon Lovers?
Smithfield Foods, the largest pork packer in the United States., is closing its Vernon, California facility and reducing hog production in the western U.S. The Chinese-owned company cited the “escalating cost of doing business in California,” The Center Square reports. California’s Farm Animal Confinement Proposition (Prop 12), which mandates space requirements for hogs and other livestock, is receiving a large part of the blame, but Californians supported the 2018 ballot initiative by more than 62%.
Are Capacitors Like Sunscreen?
Sunburns pale in comparison to solar storms, events that can disrupt radio and satellite communications here on Earth. If solar weather becomes particularly foul, the transformers used in the electrical grid can fail, Wired reports. Fortunately, the solution is a simple as applying sunscreen in summertime. Capacitors, relatively inexpensive devices that block the flow of direct current, could harden the entire U.S. grid at a cost of a few billion dollars. Some utility companies, however, don’t seem worried about getting burned.
Will Lab-Grown Meat Walk on GRAS?
The FDA’s Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) program provides a way to bypass the public comment process that is normally required for regulatory approval. If a company can provide FDA with sufficient documentation that a product is safe, the agency may issue a GRAS exemption notice. According to The Defender, some experts worry that the well-financed companies that are investing in lab-grown meat could receive a GRAS exemption before the effects of these substances can be fully known.
Are Whole-Muscle Analogues Pumped for Profits?
Beyond Meat, a producer of plant-based meat substitutes, is investigating plant-analogue products that mimic whole-muscle meat cuts, according to Food Processing. Like its main rival, Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat has been limited to products that imitate ground and formed meat products like sausage links and patties. Founded in 2009, Beyond Meat recently posted a loss of more than $100 million as it faces diminished interest in meat analogues.
Are Vaccines the Solution for Ruminant Methane Emissions?
With the recent deaths of thousands of cattle in Kansas, ruminant health beyond just heat resistance is a food security concern. Ruminants, hooved animals with a drum-like stomach called the rumen, are biological processing plans that release methane during their digestive process. Methane, a greenhouse gas, is blamed in part for climate change, which is why researchers are seeking vaccines that can mitigate bovine methane emissions. This NIH technical paper examines advances and knowledge gaps.
Featured Video: Why are Children so Sick?
Episode 56 of “The Defender Show”, a video from Children’s Health Defense, examines the health of America’s children during and after COVID-19. Host Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. interviews Los Angeles pediatrician Dr. Joel Gator Warsh, a native of Canada with a degree in epidemiology and community health. Dr. Warsh reveals that a significant number of U.S. children have a chronic health problems such as asthma, diabetes, and obesity. These problems pre-date the COVID-19 epidemic, which is why the solution has less to do with preventing the next pandemic and more to do with healthy food and nutrition.
May 2022
Will “Trash Farming” Become the New Tradition?
Rick Jeans and his father, Don, have started what may become a family tradition. The Oklahoma farmers are using no-till agriculture, a practice that Rick’s grandfather once dismissed as “trash farming”. After watching topsoil wash away, however, the father and son decided to put away their plow. “When you’re no-tilling you realize you’re doing the worms a great favor,” Jeans said in an article that appeared in No-Till Farmer, “not to mention what they leave behind that benefits new crops.”
Were These Pesticide Researchers Pressured?
The Defender reports that U.S. Right to Know, a non-profit investigative research group, has obtained communications that could sting a chemical giant. Bayer, the multinational agrichemical giant, paid for a study to determine how much its insecticide-coated seeds affected bees, and then allegedly pressured researchers to exclude some findings. Bayer is a manufacturer of neonicotinoids, the world’s most widely used insecticide – and a substance that has been linked to honeybee die-offs.
Is a Global Food Crisis Coming?
Bob Unanue, CEO of Goya Foods, believes that the world is on the verge of a food crisis. Inflation is rising, supply chains are constrained, and the Russian war in Ukraine threatens to disrupt shipments of grain from both countries. Unanue says that U.S. consumers won’t feel the effects right away but claims that everyone will feel the pinch eventually. In an interview with Epoch TV, the CEO of America’s largest provider of Hispanic foods said that “the world is on the precipice of a food shortage”.
Why Did India Ban Wheat Exports Now?
India’s recent ban on wheat exports is being blamed for pushing world grain prices to near record levels, reports farmonline national. India is the world’s second largest producer of wheat (Russia is the first), but the Asian nation traditionally has not been a major supplier of wheat. As India defends its decision, government officials there note that the nation’s wheat exports are less than one percent of global trade. Just days before announcing the ban, however, India expressed interest in promoting what exports.
April 2022
Is Regenerative Grazing Good for the Environment?
YES! Solutions Journalisms reports that dairy farmers in the mid-Atlantic are practicing regenerative grazing, a pasture management practice that can improve biodiversity and increase soil carbon sequestration. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is at the forefront of this effort and has produced models that also show a significant decrease in nitrogen, phosphorous, and sediment runoff.
Is Lab Grown Meat Part of the Planet’s Problems?
“Fake meat will not save the planet,” warns a recent report by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food). In a 104-page study called The Politics of Protein, the group asserts that “meat techno fixes” will not reduce environmental harm and end world hunger. In fact, IPES-Food warns, artificial meat “will make the problems with our industrial food system worse” by increasing fossil-fuel dependence and unhealthy diets.
Is There a Relationship Between Soil Health and Nutrient Density?
PeerJ has published an article about differences between fields that synthetically-fertilized and treated with herbicides, and fields that have used regenerative agricultural practices for 5 to 10 years. The study indicates that regenerative farms that combine no-till, cover crops, and diverse rotations produced crops with higher soil health scores and levels of certain vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. Regenerative farming also produced meat with a superior fatty acid profile.
Is Grass-Fed Beef Better Than Grain-Fed Beef?
All cattle begin their lives eating grass, but grain-fed beef are fed a mixture of grains and corn as part of a feedlot “finishing” process that fattens them up faster. Cows that consume only grass are leaner, but they also have less marbling, which can affect the meat’s flavor. The difference between grass-fed beef and grain-fed beef is “negligible” in terms of health benefits, truLocal claims, before adding that grass-fed beef and grain-fed beef affect the environment in different ways.
March 2022
Could Farmers Help Prevent Climate-Related Disasters?
The BBC reports that although modern technology can reduce the impact of climate change on farming, it’s not the only available tool. In Chile, for example, a farmer who lost her olive trees to fire now grows almonds and pistachios, both of which are more drought-resistant. “We keep the cover green for as long as possible throughout the year because that tends not to burn,” she explains.
Is This Really the Ideal Tomato for Tomorrow?
Tomatoes grow best between 64°F and 77°F. They also need quality water so that soil salinity won’t hinder growth. Temperatures in traditional tomato-growing regions are increasing, however, and BBC Future warns that “water scarcity” is forcing farmers to use “lower quality irrigation water.” Could CRISPR, which inserts and deletes genes from a different variety of plant, make the tomato plant in this article ideal?
Will Australia’s Grass Fed Cattle Industry Unite?
Cattle Australia, a group of ranchers who raise grass fed cattle Down Under, is preparing to officially launch on July 1. “It won’t be possible to unite all producers on all issues,” spokesperson Will Wilson told Farm On-line, “but it’s part of the responsibility of a producer to be involved.” The challenge, however, is keeping people engaged, especially when they disagree. Do you think they’ll stick together?
Is Cell-Cultured Collagen the Next Lab-Grown Meat?
Aleph Farms, the company that pioneered so-called laboratory-grown beef, is expanding into cell-cultured collagen for the beauty industry. Dr. Neta Lavon, vice president of research and development, says that the Israeli company wants “to provide alternatives to the other animal parts” because meat represents just 30 to 35% of the cow that is slaughtered. As a recent article in Farm Online explains, critics say the company’s strategy ignores the beef industry’s efforts to fully utilize the animal’s entire carcass.
February 2022
Are Plant-Based Nuggets Really Finger Lickin’ Good?
Farm Online is reporting that KFC has launched its plant-based “chicken” nuggets at stores across the United States. The company formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken is now hoping that U.S. consumers will say the meat substitute is finger lickin’ good. KFC is joins other large fast food chains such as McDonald’s in offering American consumers “fake meat” products.
Beyond Meat, the company that developed KFC’s plant-based substitute, describes the non-poultry offering as a combination of soy and wheat protein along with 11 secret herbs and spices. KFC, the world’s largest chicken restaurant chain, first tested fake meat in 2019 and claims that the pilot program was met with “overwhelming” consumer demand.
Big Farms Don’t Feed the World
Local Futures is reporting that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has released a report claiming that small farmers feed only one-third of the world’s population. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as GRAIN are questioning this conclusion and citing numerous omissions and incorrect assumptions.
For example, the NGOs dispute the assumption that big farms are both more productive and more efficient. That’s because other studies show that small farms are more productive per hectare of land and produce more nutritious foods. In addition, small farms better protect biodiversity and create more jobs that keep people on the land.
Rising Food Prices and Environmental Toxins
Episode 20 of The Empower Hour, a production of Children’s Health Defense, covers topics ranging from raising your own sources of food to the status of court cases regarding chemical pesticides and herbicides. Zen Honeycutt, the program’s host, also shares five tips for saving money when food supplies are short and prices are high.
MSA Eating Quality Series Kicks Off
Farm Online is sharing the latest from Meat Standards Australia (MSA), an initiative by the Australian red meat industry to improve the eating quality and consistency of beef, lamb, and sheep meat. Next month, beef producers who consistency deliver superior carcasses will be recognized next month at the MSA Excellence in Eating Quality Series.
This biennial event is held across six Australian states and designed to equip producers with the tools they need to make on-farm improvements. Awards are presented to the top-improved and most-improved producers, and audiences will have an opportunity to ask questions and get answers. The MSA beef program is based on almost 1.2 million consumer taste tests from more than 171,000 consumers.
Featured Resource: The Beef Traceability System in Japan
Japan has a strict traceability system for beef products that assigns a unique identification number to each cow. The system begins on the farm and extends to slaughterhouses, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, and consumers. Japan implemented this system in the wake of the September 2001 outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), which is more commonly known as “mad cow diseases”.
This paper from the Food and Fertilizer Technology Center for the Asian and Pacific Region (FFTC-AP) describes this system in detail.