01/18/07 Eagles Return and Snow Slowdown

Eagles Return & Snow Slowdown. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Snow has been falling in parts of the northwest for a few days now and due to the cold temperatures it appears it will hang around for a few days. In Seattle, residents usually see the snow for only a couple of days before it's gone. On the East side of Washington state over 150 vehicular accidents, mostly fender benders occurred in the Columbia Basin when snow began falling on Tuesday. Only a couple of inches of snow fell but wet, icy condition plagued motorists. Residents up and down Oregon's I-5 corridor are continuing to deal with icy conditions. 2007 is starting off on a high note when it comes to the national symbol. It seems the bald eagle has made quite a comeback and in fact is putting on quite a show along the Skagit River. A record 580 bald eagles were counted Jan. 3 along an 11 1/2-mile stretch of the river, well over the old mark of 477 in the winter of 1991-92. Biologists are not sure why the large number of eagles are gathering but speculate that an unusually stormy winter has driven the raptors south. Since DDT was banned in the 70's, bald eagles have done so well that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering taking them off the endangered species list. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Susan Allen. In 2006 food became a political statement. We watched Michael Pollan author of an Omnivores Dilemma become the grand poo-pa of the sustainable movement. But most of us didn't watch the movie Fast Food Nation, an attempt to expose the evils of the fast food industry that bombed at the box office, proving that the majority of American s aren't ready to be parted with their burger and fries. As a response to animal rights groups, foi gras was banned from Chicago stirring up a rebellion from a bevy of celebrity chefs. At the urging of animal activists, Whole Foods stopped selling live lobsters and in 2006 consumers could purchase meat based on a variety of humane labels. We all voted with our shopping carts taking the organic movement so mainstream that Wal-Mart saw big dollar signs and jumped on board, forever changing the bucolic and elite image of organic foods. Despite the medical community urging us to eat more fresh produce in 2006 it made us sick and food born illness, even organic spinach caused us to face the politics of food safety and the impact and dangers of imports. Thanks Susan. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.