New USDA Energy Website and Poultry Inspections

New USDA Energy Website and Poultry Inspections plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

Over the past three years - USDA has taken important steps to help meet President Obama’s goal of building a secure energy future for the nation. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says USDA has helped back the research and planning to expand production of biofuels and other bio-based products. Also - Vilsack says USDA has supported farmers and entrepreneurs working to produce renewable energy and become more energy efficient with the help of a new energy website.

VILSACK: The new energy website provides access to all USDA energy resources including agricultural, forestry economic and social data. A set of new web-based tools including a renewable energy investment map and an energy matrix focus on USDA’s investments and projects providing useful information to a broad spectrum of stakeholders. It makes it easy to navigate USDA’s energy resources.

In a shift that will save money for businesses and taxpayers while improving food safety, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service is proposing a modernization of young chicken and turkey slaughter inspection in the United States. This new approach will focus FSIS inspection resources on the areas of the poultry production system that pose the greatest risk to food safety.

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

The story last week about the new Utah high school that rejected its student’ choice of the cougar for the school mascot because it might offend middle aged women offended me because of the sheer absurdity involved. This has to be political correctness at its most obtuse. At this rate we will have to do away with all school mascots, and or team monikers. When you think about it, all names, all words might offend someone, somewhere at any given time. The Wichita State University mascot known as the WuShock, a giant stock of wheat with eyes and a big nose might offend wheat farmers. Duke University’s Blue Devil mascot might offend religious leaders, Georgia Tech’s Ramblin’ Wreck, a 1930 Ford Model A Coupe might offend Ford lovers, and we won’t even go into who might be offended over Purdue University’s mascot Rowdy. The list could be endless. What this school now needs to worry about are the number of parents who will be finding a different school for their kids, oops, children, oops, teenagers, or is it that now young adults? If this report has possibly offended anyone, how better to make my point?

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