Potato Famine Culprit Found & Cost of a Cheeseburger
Potato Famine Culprit Found & Cost of a Cheeseburger plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.
This past long Memorial weekend is traditionally the time when families fire up the grill and enjoy the backyard barbecue of cheeseburgers and other cookout favorites. But according to USDA Economist Ricky Volpe, that cheeseburger probably came with some bit of sticker shock.
VOLPE: The bad news of course is that if you take the long view, if you take a look at how the price of this cheeseburger has changed over time - it’s gone up quite a bit. Since 2000, we estimate the price of a cheeseburger cooked at home has increased from between 53 to 56% depending on what kind of beef you want to use.
And yes, there were cheeseburgers on the Martin family grill this weekend!
Between 1845 and 1852 over a million people died in what has become known as the potato famine. Over the years a strain of a funguslike organism was suspect but now researchers have studied samples of preserved potato leaves and found intact DNA which has led to the discovery of a new strain of potato blight being called Herb-1. The new study marks the first time scientists have decoded the genome of a plant pathogen and its host from dried herbarium samples.
Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.
Tragedy always seems to bring out the best and the worst in the human equation. Following the massive tornados that touched down in Oklahoma last week the Better Business Bureau, along with numerous state Attorney General’s Offices and Secretaries of State are warning people who are trying to help the victims through financial donations to be wary of “opportunistic fraudsters”. While most of us follow the headlines in horror wondering what we can do to help those affected by natural disasters, there are those people, and I use that term loosely, that follow the headlines in search of a way to prey on the good nature of those wanting to help the victims. That’s why before you do make a donation you need to make sure that you know the organization you are donating funds to. The best way to make donations is to contact potential charities directly. And remember never, ever give out your credit card numbers over the phone to unknown solicitors. Donate smartly and safely - visit the BBB’s charity review for tips on giving wisely. All of us at the Ag Information Network express our sincere and heartfelt sympathy to the families, friends and neighbors of those who lost loved ones or who were injured in the tornado in Oklahoma.
Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
