03/28/07 Mud Slide & Merging Agencies

Mudslide Road Block & merging agencies plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. On Monday, wet weather and soggy conditions sent mud and rocks crashing down onto Spirit Lake Memorial Highway blocking the only route to viewing areas at Mount Saint Helens. The slide is about 30 feet wide and 230 feet long and came down from a 350-foot bluff. The road closure means there is no access to Coldwater Visitor Center, Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitor Center and Johnston Ridge Visitor Center. Department of Transportation officials say a few days will be needed to assure that the slope is stable again before road crews begin clearing the highway. Some lawmakers have been calling for the merging of agencies that oversee the safety of the U.S. food supply. USDA's Deputy Secretary Chuck Conners is not in favor of the idea. CONNER: We have excellent cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration. I've seen no evidence at all in our particular actions that we take where having them housed in one particular location - brought together if you will - would have any way streamlined a particular regulatory action. We don't think that's an appropriate situation at this point. Both the FDA and USDA oversee food safety issues. Conners made his comments to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Susan Allen. Often individuals who have achieved great success find once they reach middle age that they have a new desire, for significance. Such is the case with the high profile celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck renowned for his bevy of restaurants with names like Spago and his fantastic academy award parties. After 25 years in the restaurant industry he now is teaming up with the Humane Society of the United States to fight animal cruelty. His efforts, coupled with his stature, stand to change standards in the food industry. Puck declared he will now only purchase eggs from cage free hens, veal from calves that have not been kept in tight confinement or shackled, will no longer serve foi gras, the fatty liver dish from force feeding ducks and geese and he will select only certified sustainable seafood. Puck says his stance against animal cruelty did not come from pressure from animal rights groups rather his belief that the best tasting food comes from animals who have been treated humanely. Thanks Susan. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.