Record Export Month & Sewage Back Up
Record Export Month & Sewage Back Up plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.
It appears that the current 2011 fiscal year is starting off with a bang and that includes U.S. Ag Exports according to USDA economist, Nora Brooks.
BROOKS: We have a new monthly record of $11.9 billion dollars. The reason for the big increase is that major bulk exports are up 74% and the whole story is from soybeans. They rose $850 million dollars from September to October to $3 and a half billion dollars.
She says the overall ag export picture is a good one too.
BROOKS: It’s just over $90 billion dollars which is up 16% over the same period in 2009.
More than one million gallons of raw sewage backed up into Lake Washington over the weekend. The sewer system in Medina was unable to handle all the rainfall from the storm, causing raw sewage to back up into peoples' homes and into the lake. According to King County Wastewater Treatment, about 1.6 million gallons of sewage spilled into Lake Washington over a period of 17 hours. Samples were taken on Monday to find out how much dangerous bacteria from human waste is now in the lake. A number of homes were also inundated with that sewage flow.
Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.
What gets food activists worked up into a foaming at the mouth rage, why high fructose corn syrup of course. And what better time of the year to get in everybody’s face about it than Christmas, when nearly everyone and their dog are making and enjoying all kinds of sweet goodies. So lets go over some of the myths surrounding corn syrup. Myth number one, HFCS is sweeter than table sugar: fact is the HFCS found in most grocery products is equal in sweetness to sucrose. Myth number two, HFCS is addictive: addiction is a behavior disorder with physical symptoms, people with a “sweet tooth” do not suffer withdrawals. Myth number three, some sugars are more natural than others: the FDA considers cane, beet, corn sugar and honey “natural”, containing nothing artificial or synthetic. Myth number four, Santa Claus...whoops, wrong myth, I’ll let you deal with that one. But as for holiday goodies, don’t let myths about different sugars get in your way of enjoying Aunt Jenny’s chocolate fudge, or Grandpa Bill’s peanut brittle this holiday season. Just know that with the new year comes a brand new gym membership!
Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
