Mexico Blocks Potatoes & National Mammal

Mexico Blocks Potatoes & National Mammal plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

U.S. Potato exports to Mexico have stopped in response to a lawsuit by the Mexican Potato Growers Association against the Mexican government seeking to block a new rule allowing U.S. potato exports to all parts of Mexico. Mexico closed all border crossings to potato exports - so USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service stopped issuing phytosanitary certificates. The National Potato Council and U.S. Potato Board confirmed the border closing on Monday - the same day the lawsuit was filed. Officials say it's no surprise the implementation of this rule is facing challenges - and the value of annual fresh potato exports from the U.S. to Mexico could jump from 30-million to 100-million dollars.

The American bison is in the news. Congress will consider a bill "to adopt the bison as the national mammal of the United States." Dave Carter, executive director of the National Bison Association.

CARTER: We think that the Bison Legacy Act which would establish bison as the national mammal, really celebrates the fact that this animal that was a keystone of this ecosystem for thousands of years, to have the bison as the national mammal gives us a platform to continue to talk to the public about the importance of this animal and the great attributes.

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

Study findings by U.S. researchers published this week in the British Medical Journal states that eating large amounts of red meat can increase the risk for breast cancer. In tracking 88 thousand women between the ages of 26 to 45 from 1991 to 2011 and monitoring what they ate and how many contracted breast cancer in that time study researchers came to the conclusion that "higher red meat intake in early adulthood may be a risk factor for breast cancer". Many British scientists have responded by saying that "most other studies have not shown any link between breast cancer and red meat", one going so far as to say that "the available evidence indicates that red meat consumption has little or no effect on breast cancer risk, so results from a single study cannot be considered in isolation." A cancer expert at the University of Oxford points out that vegetarians don't have a lower risk of breast cancer than meat eaters. It has been said many times by doctors, dietitians, and researchers alike, that a well balance diet and eating and drinking in moderation is by far the best approach to living a healthy lifestyle.

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