Improving Stimulus & NW Recall

Tuesday Feb 3rd, 2009 41 Views Northwest Report

Improving Stimulus & NW Recall plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The economic stimulus bill, now moving through the Senate, contains more than 30 billion dollars for Department of Energy projects - but only about 250 million for USDA programs to promote biofuels and rural energy conservation. Ag Secretary, Tom Vilsack.

VILSACK: Today we are announcing in conjunction with the Department of Energy, $25-million dollars of available funds for research. In looking at advanced biofuels, new feedstocks, new production processes, all of which designed to sort of push the biofuels and renewable energy program forward which the President indicated is a clear priority.

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says he is not pleased. Harkin says, many of the DOE's projects sound green -- improving energy efficiency in schools and hospitals, for example. But the 40-billion also includes nearly 5-billion for fossil energy, research and demonstration projects, which Harkin said is to develop clean coal technology, which involves trying to capture the carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Werner Gourmet Meat Snacks Inc. of Tillamook is recalling a variety of trail mixes and peanut products, because they could be contaminated with salmonella. No illness has been reported. The recalled snacks are available at stores in more than 20 states, including all those on the West Coast.

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

Digging through my recipe books the other day I came across my Grandmother’s casserole recipe collection. Now there was a woman who knew how to stretch the contents of a pantry or a pocketbook! Having survived the depression years Grandma was always on the lookout for a new and different way to cook up leftovers. Today’s economy is creating a whole new generation of frugal and creative cooks. Busy families who are carefully watching their spending dollar have rediscovered the casserole. Mom or Dad don’t have to be the only ones who can put a meal together, even the kids can get in the frig and find enough combined leftovers of meat, veggies and cheese to come up with a tasty dinner dish. Another old time favorite finding resurgence in sales despite price increases due to hikes in commodity pricing is pasta; a package of spaghetti can stretch a long way! Armed with her recipes and a refrigerator stock full of leftovers I’m sure I can come up with a week’s worth of casseroles that would make Grandma proud.

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