11/13/06

While there`s certainly been a big shake-up on Capitol Hill as a result of Tuesday`s election - the current Congress still has some unfinished business to take care of. And President Bush says the fiscal 2007 appropriations bill should be priority one. Before the elections - Congress only enacted two spending bills - Defense and Homeland Security. That means a number of appropriations bills require Congressional attention in the upcoming lame duck session - including agriculture. The President is also calling on Congress to finish bipartisan energy legislation to ease restrictions on offshore oil and gas drilling. Nearly 18 inches of rain in 36 hours. That`s how much fell at Mount Rainier National Park, one of the crown jewels of the Pacific Northwest, and more rain and snow is forecast through the weekend. The deluge on Monday and Tuesday swamped roads and bridges, cut power and sewer lines, and forced park officials to close the gates for the first time in 26 years. Roads around both Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier have been destroyed and even further east Montana`s Glacier National Park received close to a foot of rain, causing widespread flooding and damaging the popular Going-to-the-Sun Road. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Susan Allen. The next time you stand in line for a latte consider the fact that maybe Starbucks is getting too big for their britches. The purchasing clout of Starbucks is sobering, especially in light of a new report from the non-profit group Oxfam, who protect the rights of third world farmers. Oxfam is calling on Starbucks to stop bullying Ethiopian coffee farmers and allow them to trademark three of their most famous coffee names. Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee and the worlds finest coffee beans are harvested from a nation considered one the poorest. 95 percent of this coveted Ethiopian coffee is produced by small farms so it would seem natural that Starbucks'emmence buying clout should have improved their lot. It hasn't . The Ethiopian government has filed to secure the rights to three coffee names, believing that trade marking would enable poor farmers to receive a larger share of the retail price, an estimated $88 million more a year. Starbucks refuses to negotiate so Oxfarm is fighting back through an aggressive print campaign in major newspapers. The caffeine jolt from that $3.50 lattee would do well to wake us up. Thanks Susan. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.