Tag: Food Supply

These Are The ‘Cleanest’

Continuing with my FYI Sunday….

My previous post I warned my readers about the ‘dirtiest’ fruits and veggies….today I want to show that not all our produce is ‘dirty’.

 

This is the list of the ‘cleanest’ produce in our local markets.

And, as a bit of a palate-cleanser, the group lists its “Clean 15” fruits and vegetables. In order of least to most contaminated:

  1. Avocados
  2. Sweet corn
  3. Pineapple
  4. Onions
  5. Papaya
  6. Frozen sweet peas
  7. Asparagus
  8. Honeydew melon
  9. Kiwi
  10. Cabbage
  11. Mushrooms
  12. Mangoes
  13. Sweet potatoes
  14. Watermelon
  15. Carrots

These may be considered ‘safe’ but I still suggest that you wash them thoroughly before preparing and consuming.

I hope that these two post were helpful in some small way….I do try to keep my readers abreast of health issues.

Be Smart!

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I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

These Are The ‘Dirtiest’

A little FYI for your Sunday.

In these days when most people are concerned with the food they eat I feel I need to help them out as much as possible.

When you grow to the store to buy your fresh fruits and veggies this list i a good one to have with you.

These are the ‘dirtiest’ fruits and veggies….

Mama (and the US government) always said to eat your fruits and veggies, but nowhere in that conventional wisdom was there anything about getting your daily allotment of pesticides. Yet, as CNN reports, that’s exactly what some of us are inadvertently doing. The nonprofit Environmental Working Group rounds up a list of the “Dirty Dozen” most contaminated nonorganic fruits and veggies, according to the group’s testing after washing the produce in a way normal Americans might. And sorry, blueberry lovers: Your blue gold has found its way onto the 2023 list. In order of most to least contaminated:

  1. Strawberries
  2. Spinach
  3. Kale, collard greens, mustard greens
  4. Peaches
  5. Pears
  6. Nectarines
  7. Apples
  8. Grapes
  9. Bell and hot peppers
  10. Cherries
  11. Blueberries
  12. Green beans

This produce needs to be thoroughly cleaned before then are consumed.

So are all our fruits and veggies the ‘dirtiest’?

No they are not….

Tune in tomorrow for the cleanest fruits and veggies.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is It Price Gouging?

By now we all have been to the grocery store and have been flabbergasted at the high price of eggs….my experience has been a wide range of prices for a dozen from $4.32 to $7.52….

Would there be some form of price gouging going on with these prices….

A US senator has joined farmers in calling for an investigation to crack the problem of soaring egg prices. Government data shows the national average retail price for a dozen eggs reached $4.25 in December, for a 138% increase from the $1.79 average a year earlier, though the average price nears $10 in some parts of the country, per Vice. All this has led to more shouts of price gouging, per the AP. Farm Action, a farmer-led advocacy group, has called for the FTC to investigate Cal-Maine Foods, the largest US egg producer, after it reported a 110% increase in quarterly sales and 600% increase in gross profits, per the Hill. Cal-Maine logged profits of $198.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2023, compared to $1.1 million a year earlier.

Cal-Maine says its eggs cost $2.71 a dozen on average in the most recent quarter, which is almost double the price of a year ago but well shy of the prices consumers are paying. In explaining the prices, set in negotiations with distributors and stores, the company cites increased demand, higher costs, and fewer chickens as a result of the avian flu outbreak. The slaughter of 43 million egg-laying chickens within the last year reduced the supply by 5% to 6%, per the AP. However, chickens have been laying more eggs on average, per Vice. Though some experts disagree, Farm Action’s Joe Van Wye says supply concerns accompanied by a 22% increase in production and input costs since 2021 fails to explain the price spike.

There “appears to be a collusive scheme among industry leaders to turn inflationary conditions and an avian flu outbreak into an opportunity to extract egregious profits,” said Farm Action, which has long warned about major firms driving up consumer prices, per the Hill. Sen. Jack Reed of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies added to the pile on Tuesday, asking the FTC to investigate “the industry’s role in perpetuating high prices and hold those responsible accountable for their actions.” The Rhode Island Democrat noted “small producers, which have faced many of the same market challenges as the biggest producers, have managed to keep prices under control.”

I believe it is price gouging and the big retailers are the worse.

Are there any thoughts on this turn in our food supply?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those Egg Prices

Okay I will jump onto the bandwagon and tackle egg prices.

Yesterday I went shopping and bought a dozen brown eggs…..it cost me $7.52 plus tax. That is more than a pound of lean hamburger.

I asked the same question I suppose everyone asks when they get hit with the reality of wanting an egg for breakfast.

I guess an explanation is in order.

So what is causing it….is it because of the avian flu or what?

The price of eggs is taking its toll on American families, and in some states, it’s even getting harder to find eggs on the shelves. 

Since December 2021, the average price of eggs in U.S. households has soared nearly 60 percent, according to the latest economic release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

The current state of inflated egg prices is primarily due to the worst breakout of Avian bird flu that the United States has seen. Since early 2022, more than 50 million laying hens have died.  And, although those hens account for only about 5 percent of the laying population, the feed cost has also taken a toll on producers and consumers alike.

Skyrocketing soybean prices coupled with an increased holiday demand for eggs and lagging production rates have also contributed to the pricing conundrum. Fortunately, according to Curt Covington, senior director of partner relations at AgAmerica, egg prices will see some corrections even if Avian flu continues to threaten poultry producers.

“Inflated prices are expected to decline in the first half of 2023 due to the decrease in demand for eggs after the holidays. But if input costs continue to increase and the bird flu continues to kill large quantities of hens, the costs will most likely be passed on to consumers,” said Covington.

Even though consumers probably won’t find a bargain at the supermarkets, they can buy lower grade eggs, buy eggs in bulk, and price shop to navigate current egg prices. Consumers may also find lower priced products at farmers’ markets. 

Unfortunately, most supermarkets won’t be able hedge the price of eggs by purchasing for local growers, as their products are contracted on a national scale by corporate offices. 

“As holiday demand subsides, we will likely see a 25 to 30 percent correction in inflated egg prices by the second quarter of 2023, if not sooner,” Covington said. “However, bird flu will continue to be a challenge for poultry farmers who have been playing catch up to meet demand even prior to COVID.”

(agdaily.com)

No consolation at all….but it does answer what happen….

How about egg smuggling?

Eggs are much cheaper in Mexico but anybody caught trying to bring them across the border could have to shell out a lot of money, officials say. American egg prices were up 60% year-on-year in December due to factors including avian flu, making Mexican eggs an appealing prospect for residents of states including California, where a dozen eggs can cost around $8, compared to less than $3 in Tijuana, the BBC reports. “The San Diego Field Office has recently noticed an increase in the number of eggs intercepted at our ports of entry,” tweeted Jennifer De La O, the office’s director of field operations. “As a reminder, uncooked eggs are prohibited entry from Mexico into the US. Failure to declare agriculture items can result in penalties of up to $10,000.”

“My advice is, don’t bring them over,” CBP Supervisory Agriculture Specialist Charles Payne tells Border Report. “If you fail to declare them or try to smuggle them, you face civil penalties.” He says the fines up of to $10,000 are for commercial operations caught smuggling eggs. For ordinary consumers, the penalty is around $300. According to Department of Agriculture statistics, egg and poultry seizures at the border rose 108% between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 last year. Payne says that if people declare eggs when they’re crossing into the US, the eggs will be seized but no fine will be issued. “If you fail to declare it or if you attempt to smuggle it, there’s going to be a penalty,” he says.

Good idea we would not want to cut into Walmart’s profits now would we?

Finally I check three different stores on egg prices…..for a dozen it ranged from $3.27…to $7.00….the higher price was from a national ‘low cost’ chain….

I bet egg prices will stray high even after the crisis subsides….

You happy now?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

That Usual Saturday News

It is the Saturday after Thanksgiving and since I avoid the ‘regular’ news on the weekends I thought a couple of food stories might be of interest to my readers….

This whole ‘plant based’ marketing has never been very appealing to me….after all I am a predatory and as such I eat meat and meat based products….for those people that think they are doing the planet a favor by becoming vegan I have story for you.

This story is about the company known as “Beyond Meat’….

This has not been a stellar stretch for meat-substitute company Beyond Meat. Both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are out with stories attempting to explain why the company—which had a wildly successful IPO in 2019—is struggling this year. As in, the stock is down a staggering 83%, and the company has begun layoffs. Bloomberg, meanwhile, came out with a story Monday based on internal documents and photos suggesting the presence of “apparent mold, Listeria and other food-safety issues” at a Pennsylvania plant. The company adamantly denies any safety problems. (And all of this comes after a company exec made police-blotter headlines for allegedly biting somebody’s nose.)

As the Journal and Times explain, some of the company’s problems are out of its control. Inflation, for example, may be making consumers less thrilled about paying more money for plant-based products than they would for meat. Plus, the plant-based niche is now crowded with competitors offering their own products. But, while overall sales for plant-based substitutes are falling—by 8% in the 12 weeks ended Oct. 8—Beyond Meat’s sales are falling even faster (by 12%). What’s more, rival Impossible Burger saw its sales rise 49% in the same span.

The Journal story in particular singles out Beyond Meat’s founder and chief executive, Ethan Brown, for blame. Based on interviews with current and former employees, “Brown has struggled to stick to priorities and manage Beyond’s growth—switching gears frequently in ways that [have] left teams confused and frustrated,” per the Journal. Brown, though, maintains that short-term hitches are expected in such a new industry and that the long-term picture for Beyond Meat remains bright. Still, one big question is whether these problems are specific to the company or “a harbinger of deeper issues in the plant-based meat industry,” per the Times.

People are strange in their food desires….like spending hundreds of dollars for a coffee that is passed through a monkey’s ass….and then there is the outrageous story about the world’s longest waiting list…..

If you’re looking to hold a party in 2052 and would like to serve what the Mirror says are “arguably the most famous croquettes in the world,” you’d better order now. That’s because there’s a 30-year-plus waiting list for the “Extreme” Kobe beef croquettes from Japan’s Asahiya family-run butcher shop, which is located in Hyogo prefecture. CNN reports that Asahiya has been in business for nearly a century; after World War II, the deep-fried potato and beef delicacy popped up on the butcher’s menu.

But the croquettes didn’t take off until 2000, a year or so after Shigeru Nitta, the third-generation owner of the butcher, decided to sell the croquettes for $1.80 each—though the beef alone to make one cost $2.70 at the time. A newspaper article about the croquettes, which are made fresh every day using locally sourced beef and potatoes, brought them instant fame. People started placing their orders (domestic only) online, and the croquettes became so popular that Asahiya stopped making them in 2016 because the waiting list had become more than 14 years long. But the public clamored for their return, and Asahiya agreed, bringing them back the following year, but with a new price of $3.70 per croquette (a box of five costs $18.40 or so).

Despite the price hike, Nitta continued to take a loss on the croquettes, as the price of beef had also risen substantially. So why would he agree to keep taking such a financial hit? Nitta explains to CNN that once people get a taste of the croquettes, they decide they want to order more of the delicious Kobe beef via other menu samplings; Nitta estimates that about half of his croquette tasters end up doing so. Asahiya is now churning out 200 croquettes a day—the output used to be 200 per week—and folks wait patiently for them. One woman tells the Mirror she put in her order in 2013 and just recently received her box. In the interim, she’s been married twice and moved to Tokyo, and so she’s grateful the croquettes still managed to get to her.

Since Thanksgiving was only a couple of days ago….have you ever wondered why turkey is considered traditional?  Was it the Native Americans that helped bring this tradition to life?

The reality is this ‘tradition’ is not that old.

There’s a 91% chance there will be turkey on your Thanksgiving table. But why? As Texas A&M history professor Troy Bickham explains at the Conversation, it’s not just that it tastes good or even that we’re mimicking the Pilgrims. Firstly, it’s not clear that the Pilgrims ate turkey at the so-called first Thanksgiving, a harvest celebration with the Wampanoag tribe at Plymouth Colony in 1621. The only firsthand account mentions “fowle,” which could refer to various wild birds, though other accounts of the time make clear that wild turkeys were in great supply. Rather, Bickham traces the popularization of turkey at Thanksgiving celebrations to 19th century writer Sarah Hale, who happened to boost another animal in penning “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Hale was also editor of the popular women’s magazine Godey’s Lady’s Book. “Fiercely religious and family-focused, it crusaded for the creation of an annual national holiday of ‘Thanksgiving and Praise’ commemorating the Pilgrims’ thanksgiving feast,” with turkey at the center, Bickham writes. Though the Pilgrims and Wampanoag may have also dined on deer, lobster, clams, and possibly eels, per Smithsonian, Hale’s fixation on turkey likely came from the bird’s abundance. It may have also come from President Abraham Lincoln, who sat for an “unofficial Thanksgiving dinner that featured roast turkey, reportedly his favorite meal,” in 1860, three years before he made Thanksgiving a national holiday, writes Debra Kelly at Mashed.

Four years later, organizations began collecting turkeys for soldiers so they, too, could have a proper Thanksgiving meal, Kelly notes. Kelly and Bickham argue Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, published in 1843, may have also played a role in bringing turkeys to our tables. It placed the bird at the center of “the prayerful family meal,” Bickham writes. The fact that a roasted turkey makes a lovely centerpiece and is great for feeding a crowd probably helped the tradition stick, the pair note. “Since turkeys are big and one bird can feed a whole family, that makes it easier than sacrificing and cooking a dozen chickens,” writes Kelly, adding a large part of Thanksgiving is “making sure there’s plenty of meat on the table.”

That is my offering for this Saturday….you may return to your normal holiday shopping routine.

If you are on the road either traveling or shopping please careful…..

Be well and be safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

More Info On Thanksgiving

This is for those last minute food shoppers for the Thanksgiving meal…..

Just days away from the big day when families and friends get together and enjoy a meal and some time together…..as we all know inflation is eating away at our budgets and your big meal will be really expensive this year.

Thanksgiving dinner will be pricier than last year, according to economists, who say it might actually be cheaper to eat out. The cost of a turkey is expected to rise 23% compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, according to a report from Wells Fargo analysts Courtney Schmidt and Brad Rubin. However, the New York Times recently reported turkey prices could double over last year as a result of avian flu outbreaks, drought, and higher costs of feed, fuel, and labor. In the week of Oct. 21, the average retail price for a frozen turkey was $1.99 per pound, up 73% from 2021. And “more limited” supplies mean you won’t necessarily get your pick of the bunch, per Fox Business.

The cost of eggs, butter, flour, and fruits and vegetables are already up 32.5%, 25.8%, 17.1%, and 7.3% respectively year over year, according to the report. Cranberry sauce is expected to be more expensive than last year “due to cranberry producers that faced rising input costs.” While cooler spring weather has delayed crops of white potatoes in Idaho and Washington, meaning “prices will be higher based on supply and demand principles,” sweet potatoes “have a surplus at the moment,” Rubin tells Fox. If you’d rather not cook, eating out is a “great value this year,” he adds, noting the “cost of eating out has increased slower than at home.” For a family of four, eating out could cost roughly the same as dining at home, though it will be less economical for larger groups.

Have a great Sunday and enjoy your time……

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–31Aug22

If you visit many buffets these days one of the big draws is crab….Dungeness, King, Snow, Blue and Stone….all you can eat for 19.95….but sadly like the Atlantic Cod the King and Snow crabs are getting scarce….

Where did the Alaskan king and snow crabs go? The tasty crustaceans have all but vanished from their usual haunts within safe range of Alaska’s crabbing fleet. Per the Washington Post,king crabs—by far the larger of the two species—have been in decline for years, but the industry was unprepared for the sudden collapse of the snow crab population. Commercial crabbers, including many small business owners, went deep into debt in anticipation of a great 2021 snow crab harvest. Those expectations were based on 2018–19 surveys showing record populations of juveniles; but when 2021 rolled around, the stock of mature snow crabs was down by some 90% compared to prior years.

The state sharply reduced the allowable snow crab harvest from 45 million to 5.5 million pounds, but fishers didn’t even get that much. Many now face bankruptcy or are looking for creative ways to make ends meet. Meanwhile, there was no 2021 season for king crabs, and the state will announce what’s in store for 2022 on Oct. 15. Per the Anchorage Daily News, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is also developing a “snow crab rebuilding plan,” which it is on track to unveil in December. In any event, the outlook seems grim, not only for crabbers but also for dozens of remote, indigenous villages in western Alaska, where crab processing is the only economic game around.

The Bering Sea has experienced several straight years of above-average temperatures, and while scientists aren’t sure of the exact reasons for the mass crab die-off, temperature seems to be key. Higher temps could make crabs more vulnerable to parasites or predators like cod, which shy from frigid waters. In any case, the decline is dramatic in both scale and speed. Mike Litzow, director of the National Marine Fisheries Service lab in Kodiak, refers to it as the “borealization” of the Bering Sea, which, like the nearby boreal forests, is rapidly transforming due to climate change.

Climate change claims another victim….

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

How Much For Meat?

When the pandemic started we were warned that prices for food would go up because of the precautions and fear the food supply chain would be effected….and I’ll be damned my meat went sky high……then the war in Ukraine and the prices of gas soared which in turn affected meat prices….they went through the roof.

I admit it….I am a meat eater….I truly enjoy a steak or a good burger or a stew and a pot roast….recently I got sticker shock when I went to the store for some ground chuck for burgers on the grill….but it is not just beef….pork, bacon, chicken all are quickly becoming prohibitive for some…..when will this madness stop?

Then my stack got smoked (thanx to Doug for that term) when I read this piece…..

Workers at meat-processing plants were forced to clock in to work during the early days of the pandemic, thanks to an executive order out of the Trump administration deeming them essential workers amid what was said to be a beef and pork shortage. Except now it seems that last part wasn’t exactly true, according to a new report out from the House panel studying how the US responded to COVID, per the Washington Post. What the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis concluded instead in its 61-page release was that the meat industry’s biggest players, with Tyson Foods in the driver’s seat, crafted a draft filled with “baseless” claims on meat shortages, then sent it along to the White House, which in turn issued an executive order that forced meat-processing factories nationwide to remain open for business.

“Meatpacking companies knew the risk posed by the coronavirus to their workers and knew it wasn’t a risk that the country needed them to take,” the panel’s report says, adding that, despite this knowledge, the companies pushed “aggressively” to keep workers on the clock in “unsafe conditions,” and to shield themselves from legal action if anyone got sick or died. Among the misleading info promoted by Tyson, Smithfield Foods, Cargill, JBS, and National Beef was that shuttering the plants “would lead to “an imminent meat shortage,” according to the report, which was culled from a review of 150,000-plus documents, as well as interviews with union reps, officials from OSHA and the Department of Agriculture, and health authorities. John H. Tyson, chairman of Tyson’s board, even took out a full-page ad in major newspapers in April 2020, proclaiming, “The food supply chain is breaking.”

Before Trump signed that executive order around the same time, top dogs from Tyson and Smithfield were said to have been in contact with members of the White House, including chief of staff Mark Meadows and VP Mike Pence’s own chief of staff, Marc Short, per the report. In January, a Reuters analysis found the vast majority—nearly 90%—of processing plants owned by the nation’s five biggest meat companies were slammed with COVID cases in 2020 and the beginning of 2021. Research from last year out of UC Davis found nearly 335,000 COVID cases in the US can be tied to the meatpacking plants, with an $11 billion price tag. A Tyson rep tells the Post the company has worked with officials within both the Trump and Biden administrations to wrangle with the pandemic, while a Smithfield executive notes that his company has sunk more than $900 million into worker safety initiatives.

My question is what will the government do?

I mean they cannot seem to te3ar themselves away from giving taxpayer money away for war….so9 what will the do for the people of this country….

My idea is prices controls and price roll backs….then a fine, a substantial fine not some slap on the wrist.

Any thoughts of your own?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Closing Thought–16Feb22

Well crap!

I enjoy an avocado a good source of vitamins and protein….I became acquainted with them on a trip to Mexico and have enjoyed them for 40 years……and to my tastes the ones from Mexico are excellent and a great buttery taste.

Since we have been importing them from Mexico they are inexpensive….about 60 cents each…..but now we have a problem on the supply chain from Mexico.

Mexico has acknowledged that the US government has suspended all imports of Mexican avocados after a US plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threat, the AP reports. The surprise, temporary suspension was confirmed late Saturday on the eve of the Super Bowl, the biggest sales opportunity of the year for Mexican avocado growers—though it would not affect game-day consumption since those avocados had already been shipped. Avocado exports are the latest victim of the drug cartel turf battles and extortion of avocado growers in the western state of Michoacan, the only state in Mexico fully authorized to export to the US market.

The US government suspended all imports of Mexican avocados “until further notice” after a US plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threatening message, Mexico’s Agriculture Department said in a statement. “US health authorities … made the decision after one of their officials, who was carrying out inspections in Uruapan, Michoacan, received a threatening message on his official cellphone,” the department wrote. The import ban came on the day that the Mexican avocado growers and packers association unveiled its Super Bowl ad for this year. Mexican exporters have taken out the pricey ads for almost a decade in a bid to associate guacamole as a Super Bowl tradition.

This year’s ad shows Julius Caesar and a rough bunch of gladiator fans outside what appears to be the Colosseum, soothing their apparently violent differences by enjoying guacamole and avocados. The association did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ban, which hits an industry with almost $3 billion in annual exports. However, avocados for this year’s Super Bowl had already been exported in the weeks prior to the event. The US Embassy wrote that “facilitating the export of Mexican avocados to the US and guaranteeing the safety of our agricultural inspection personnel go hand in hand,” and that it is “working with the Mexican government to guarantee security conditions that would allow our personnel in Michoacan to resume operations.”

This ought to make the US avocado industry smile….for they are more expensive and less tasty so now they may have a captive audience at least for awhile.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–08Feb22

If you have been shopping in the past year or so then you will be having ‘sticker shock’ for the prices of everything has done nothing but rise….especially food and gas….we need to eat and we need transportation so we suck it up and make the sacrifice and spend the money that we worked so hard to get.

The news is much more troubling than the prices…..

A new analysis released Tuesday ahead of a congressional hearing on pandemic-era price gouging shows that U.S. corporations in the food and energy sectors—from Tyson to Exxon Mobil—are pushing higher costs onto consumers while raking in ever-increasing revenues and handing executives massive pay packages.

Conducted by the advocacy group Food & Water Watch (FWW), the analysis spotlights the fact that skyrocketing food and energy—specifically gasoline—prices have been major contributors to the overall rise of inflation in the U.S. Between December 2019 and December 2021, the nation’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped by 8.5%.

According to FWW, overall energy costs rose 20% over that period while the price per gallon of unleaded gasoline increased by 31.7%.

Meanwhile, FWW found, “the cost to feed a family of four on a ‘thrifty’ food plan has increased by 33.5%,” driven by the rising prices of ground beef (+19.2%), bacon (+31.7%), chicken breasts (+19.7%), milk (+17.4%), and eggs (+16.5%).

The analysis emphasizes that such “egregious” price increases come as leading corporations in the U.S. food and energy sectors are reporting growing revenues and huge profits. Tyson Foods—the second-largest chicken, beef, and pork processor in the world—has seen its revenue grow 11% above pre-pandemic levels.

The corporation also rewarded its top executives with higher pay in 2021 even as it raised prices for consumers, blaming supply chain issues.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/02/01/data-highlights-egregious-pandemic-profiteering-us-food-and-oil-giants

At least it is good to see that CEOs and corporations did not suffer the same fate as the rest of us mere mortals.

Biden promises to address rising inflation….and if you think this will do anything to help us peasants then you have not been paying attention for the last 50 years.

There is a way to help us peasants but it is not an option for the corporations pay Congress to see that they continue to make their obscene profits while screwing the rest of us.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”