Food Waste Awareness & Hepatitis Lawsuits

Food Waste Awareness & Hepatitis Lawsuits plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The EPA and the USDA have launched the U.S. Food Waste Challenge, calling on others across the food chain to join the effort to reduce, recover, and recycle food waste. Food waste in the United States is estimated at roughly between 30 to 40 percent of the food supply. In 2010, an estimated 133 billion pounds of food from U.S. retail food stores, restaurants, and homes never made it into people's stomachs. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack talks about the various efforts to raise awareness about food waste.

VILSACK: We’re going to work with our schools lunch program to reduce food waste in our schools and we’re going to look for ways to increase donations of imported fresh produce that for whatever reason don’t meet our marketing order standards.

Townsend Farms in Fairview, Oregon is known for producing a frozen berry product distributed around the country. Now a pair of lawsuits have been filed agains Townsend after they were linked to a hepatitis A outbreak. About 30 cases of hepatitis have been reported in five states linked to the farm. The illnesses appeared to be associated with pomegranate seeds in the Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend sold at Costco stores.

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

Keeping your house cool in the summer while keeping energy costs to a minimum is a never ending homeowner challenge. According to the US Department of Energy air conditioners use up to 1/6th of the nation’s electricity and consume 43% of the U.S. peak power load on hot summer days. Some of the best ways to block heat and keep your house cool are provided by Mother Nature herself. Trees offer shade, and shading is one of the most simple and effective ways to cool your home while lowering your energy bill. The Department of Energy estimates that trees properly placed around a home can save the owner between $100 and $250 in energy costs. It’s too bad that our new neighbor up the street didn’t have privy to this information upon moving in, when they proceeded to remove several healthy mature shade trees from the south and west perimeters of their property. I imagine that their first electric bill this summer will have them wishing they could have those trees back. But like I learned at age five when I decided to cut my ponytail off, you can’t just glue it back on. It will grow back, but it takes a long, long time.

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