12/22/08 COOL Complaint & Donating Food

COOL Complaint & Donating Food plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Mexico has joined Canada by filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization opposing a new U.S. law on country-of-origin labeling for fresh beef and pork. Receipt of the complaint by the WTO starts a 60-day consultation period between Mexican and U.S. authorities. After that, Mexico can ask the WTO to set up an investigative panel. Such trade disputes can result in punitive sanctions, but usually after years of litigation. The U.S. in 2009 is expected to provide more tons of farm commodities to needy nations through the Food for Progress program. Ron Croushorn, with USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, explaining what that program is. CROUSHORN: The Food for Progress program was established by Congress back in the 1980's and it's intended to help developing countries and emerging democracies that are committed to introducing and expanding free enterprise in the agricultural sector. Through the Food for Progress program we make donations of commodities which help with nutrition in these developing countries but also allow for the support of development projects. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. I have to confess, the idea of global warming seems hard to wrap my mind around as I sit here at my computer freezing with three layers of clothing on as a blizzard rages outside. But the continued reports or "threats" of a global meltdown are hard to ignore. Scientists around the world are predicting large scale changes in weather patterns. Here in the US most reports point to a climate change future for agriculture that will be mostly business as usual for at least the next several decades. That being said, there will be regions of the nation that will face climate changes which will be beneficial for some, such as longer growing seasons, and not so for others, as in excessive or insufficient rainfall. Unfortunately, Mother Nature can be a fickle vixen at best. Even the most intensive research and climate estimations can change in an instant if even a small fraction of the equation is changed, as in disrupted ocean currents. The world's climate is an ever changing storyboard, with changes brought on by natural activity and human influences, but waking up tomorrow to a landscape right out of a "Twilight Zone" episode is highly unlikely. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.