Cattle Escape & Food Safety Modernization Act

Cattle Escape & Food Safety Modernization Act

Cattle Escape & Food Safety Modernization Act plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

Have the cattle figured it out in Idaho? Since Friday a total of four cows have gone missing from a processing plant in Pocatello. Two of the cows have been rounded up but that still leave a pair on the lam. Employees at Anderson Custom Pack have been on the lookout for the escapees after it appears someone opened a corral and let the animals out. Initially the animals were thought to have been stolen since dozens of cattle have been stolen in recent weeks.

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, the most sweeping reform of our food safety laws in more than 70 years aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it. What does that mean for ag producers? Former FDA District Director, Charles Breen explains.

BREEN: The most important thing that you need to remember is they are not here yet, you do have time. Whatever rule is established domestically will be applied internationally. Your foreign competition will have to meet the same requirements of whatever rule is opposed upon you. The way the agency will do that is to make the importer responsible for compliance.

He does stress though it will take some time.

Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray.

Do you love having a live Christmas tree but hate the thought of chopping one down or having to figure out where to plant the potted tree once the holiday is over? Apparently, you're not alone; hence The Living Christmas Co., which rents out live trees in large pots ready for you to add festive holiday decorations. Founder of The Living Christmas Co., Scott Martin, said the idea for the company came to him after working in nurseries during his teenage years, where he saw the beautiful trees he delivered to homes for the holidays become curbside refuse. Based in California, The Living Christmas Co. has a staff of helpful "elves" who will deliver a live tree in a pot right to your doorstep. Then when the holiday is over they'll pick it back up and return it to the "North Pole", where it can continue to thrive and grow until next year. All you have to do is remember to water your rental tree, and the "elves" will help you to do that with weekly e-mail reminders. And what happens to those trees that eventually outgrow their rentability? They get put out to "pasture" of course, where they're planted and can spend their remaining years helping the environment.

Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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