Meeting Requirements & Tainted Diet

Meeting Requirements & Tainted Diet plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Internal Revenue Service have begun efforts to ensure that high-income individuals and entities who request USDA payments meet income limits set forth in the 2008 Farm Bill. This is in response to the discovery of nearly 50-million dollars in payments to ineligible farmers. Beginning with the 2009 crop year and for successive years, in order to be eligible for USDA payments, all recipients will be required to sign a separate form which grants IRS the authority to provide income information to USDA for verification purposes. Press Secretary Nayyera Haq says they found a lot of money going where it shouldn’t.

HAQ: The GAO revealed a report in 2008 stating that about $50-million dollars had been allocated to farmers that were not eligible for those payments.

The FDA has released a list of tainted diet products that contain undeclared products and even prescription drugs in amounts that greatly exceed maximum recommended dosages and can cause serious health consequences. To see the complete list visit the FDA website, fda.gov. The health risks posed by these products can be very serious and include high blood pressure, seizures, tachycardia or rapid heartbeat, palpitations, heart attack, and stroke.

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

Over the last thirty plus years America has worked hard to prove that we can and do produce world class wines. And although Europe regularly turned their nose up at New World wines in the past, a blind taste test in 1976, in Paris no less, rated a Napa Valley cabernet over a French Bordeaux proving to be the turning point for American wines. The same is now happening for American cheese producers. Traditionally, raw milk cheeses have been Europe’s domain, but at the risk of sounding trite, the cheese wheel is turning. American cheese producers are receiving applause here and worldwide as a result of years of perfecting their craft. In 2003 the World Cheese Awards in London recognized Rogue Creamery out of Oregon for having the best blue cheese; giving American cheese makers the recognition and acclaim from world cheese producers that they have worked so long and hard for. It’s a fact; American cheese is food fit for the kings, queens and all peoples of the world!

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