TB Found in Beef and Biojet

TB Found in Beef and Biojet plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

I have been spending considerable time in airports lately and it is interesting that in this time of a down economy, the airports are crammed with travelers and flights over-booked. With all those people traveling it would be great to be able to find an alternate fuel source for all those jest and now lab and flight tests show jet fuel can be made from plant sources like camelina and can perform as well as conventional jet fuel according to Bill Glover, head of Boeing’s environmental strategy group.

GLOVER: There is a great potential for land owners and farmers to produce oils that can be turned into jet fuel so great potential for really an emerging business opportunity as well as an environmental opportunity

Nebraska’s tuberculosis-free designation from USDA is in jeopardy - as a beef herd in the Rock County area has tested positive for bovine tuberculosis. The herd has been quarantined and state and federal officials are trying to stem the spread of the disease. They also want to trace back to determine how the disease was introduced to the herd. Officials say it’s too early to know what the impact of this will be on the state’s roughly 10-billion dollar cattle industry given that the extent of the infection is unknown.

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

With transparency being the new buzz word from the White House on down, it comes as no surprise that the FDA wants to create a bill that aims to bring “transparency” to our nation’s food supply system. After the numerous and even fatal food scares of this last winter some “transparency” in that department is long overdue. Americans have begun to do their grocery shopping with lists made up of safe, unsafe and questionable food items, with a big question mark overall.  Reportedly this new bill would give the FDA the authority to recall tainted food and the capacity to quarantine any “suspect” food items. Through this proposed bill the FDA would also be able to impose civil penalties and criminal sanctions on any violators. It comes as a surprise to most consumers that the FDA didn’t have this capability already. Perhaps the possibility of facing criminal charges and prison time will deter any food corporations from purposefully using contaminated product in the future. American consumers deserve better from their food supply system.

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