New School Menu & Growing in High Tunnels

New School Menu & Growing in High Tunnels plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The new school meal standards may change quite a bit if the Agriculture Department's proposed new standards for school meals are adopted. First Under Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Concannon and then Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack saying the idea of the new standards is not to ban foods like potatoes and meat, but rather to offer more balance. 

CONCANNON: They are certainly allowable. The recommendation is to reduce the amount of starchy vegetables over the course of a week but they are certainly part of the diet as is true also of lean meats.

VILSACK: And if I might add this is also taking into consideration what we know about general consumption patterns outside of school in terms of the average American family.

Farmers have blessed and cursed Mother Nature over the years. Finding the Goldilock’s happy medium may be a bit closer as the federal government has spent millions of dollars to help farmers nationwide buy greenhouse-like structures called high tunnels or hoop houses that can add valuable weeks and even months to their growing seasons by protecting produce from chilly temperatures. About $13 million has gone to more than 2,400 farmers in 43 states to help pay for the low-tech structures that have been particularly beneficial in the north, where they allow farmers to plant as much as four weeks early and keep growing later in the fall.

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

Like a starlet in tinsel town, bottled water has gone from being a hot commodity to being the has been no one wants to associate with. Many cities are seriously entertaining banning bottled water. Residents in Concord, Massachusetts already voted to ban the sale of all bottled water last May, to be put into effect this year. The reason for all the discord over bottled water revolves around the pollution caused by discarded bottles, and the simple fact that most of it comes straight from the tap anyway. And yes, plastic bottles are recyclable, but sadly a large majority of people who drink bottled water for it’s convenience do not find recycling convenient. While I agree that drinking from a reusable water container whenever possible is best, there are times when bottled water has a needed place, emergency relief for one. So is prohibiting bottled water truly the only answer to this ever growing problem? Plus, there is the simple fact that once government tips the scale in this direction which beverages sold in plastic bottles will be next in line for banning consideration, soda, fruit juices, milk? Will we return to all glass containers? Only time will tell.

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