Tainted Tuna & Cheaper Veggies

Tainted Tuna & Cheaper Veggies plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

We mentioned this story last week and while it’s good news there is a bit of confusion regarding the drop in fresh fruit and vegetable prices. Ricky Volpe, USDA food price economist, explains more about the prices at the grocery store.

VOLPE: We know that fruit and vegetable prices did tic up a little bit in the last month but that’s not going to change the fact that we’re still on track for serious deflation for fresh vegetables and for fruit prices to be about flat on the year. Now that’s not true for all the canned and frozen and juiced fruit in the supermarket which the contracts are still locking in some of the higher prices from 2011 for these prices. But the good news remains that consumers are on track for deflation for many fruits and vegetables and that’s one of the major factors that’s keeping overall price inflation relatively low this year despite the fact that we were hit by the drought.

Researchers at OSU have found traces of radioactive cesium in West Coast albacore tuna. The radiation is from last year's Japanese nuclear reactor disaster. The good news is that the level of contamination is far too small to harm people who eat the fish. One researcher said the discovery of the cesium was more telling about previously unknown migration habits of tuna than it does a public health threat.

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

October 25th was “Take Me Outside” day in Canada, which sounds rather pet oriented, but is actually meant to celebrate being outside. Colin Harris, head of the non-profit group that promoted Take Me Outside Day says that “a connection to nature and time spent outside is invaluable to building optimal mental, emotional, social, and physical health for every child”. I couldn’t have said it better myself. It is a common sense, simplistic approach to addressing the problem of childhood obesity. Scientific studies concur with this, and have reported that children who spend more time outside do have improved physical activity levels, tend to do better on an academic level, and have better social skills. This whole “take me outside” idea has an added bonus, it also gets parents more involved with their children while spending time together outdoors, and parents can benefit on just as many levels - they’re with their children, enjoying nature, while hopefully getting some much needed exercise themselves. Sounds like we here in the states should adopt “Take Me Outside Day” as well. In fact, this is an idea that should probably be committed to on an international level.

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