Pundit’s Mailbag — If Wishes Were Horses, Then Beggars Would Ride — Wishing For A Better Way To Feed The Planet
Our piece, Organics, Crop Yields And Feeding The World, brought many responses including this letter from one active in the organic industry. I think the most efficient way to respond to this article is to offer this link which debunks the idea that GMOs and large scale agriculture are the answer to feeding the world’s […]
Marion Nestle, Organic Facts, And Why The Organic Trade Association's Numbers Don't Make Any Sense
Marion Nestle wrote a piece titled, Jim Prevor on Organics, Crop Yields and Food Politics. We were, of course, flattered to be quoted so extensively by such a thoughtful and eminent scholar. Yet when we read the piece, we were reminded of how often what seems like differences of opinion are actually differences in regard […]
Could There Be Common Ground Between The Spinach Crisis And The Cantaloupe Catastrophe?
Might Both Have Been Sourced From Transitional Acreage?
After a weekend of reflection, we have come to think we may have been a little hasty in dismissing the concern raised by Eric Schwartz, President and Chief Executive Officer at Patterson Vegetable Company, in his recent letter to the Pundit that we included in our piece titled, Pundit’s Mailbag — Are Consumers Entitled To […]
FDA, Stealth Recalls, Public Health And Other Interests
We thought our piece, Food Safety, Recalls And Why Consumers Don’t Always Need Notification, was fairly persuasive. We didn’t, however, persuade the person we addressed it to. That was Phyllis Entis, a microbiologist who had published a piece titled, 114 Tons of Spinach Recalled By Stealth. In that piece, she asked a question: …I cannot […]
Marketing Gone Wild: The Use And Abuse Of Food Safety ‘Certifications’
The produce industry has come to work so hard on food safety. This is seen collectively through institutions such as the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement and the Center for Produce Safety. It is also true on an individual company level. Anyone who has been involved in the produce trade for an extended period has […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — Are Consumers Entitled To Know If Organic Or Transitional Product Is Sold As Conventional?
Although recently our interview with Dr. Steve Savage — which we ran under the title Organics, Crop Yields And Feeding The World — has been attracting all the attention when it comes to organics, we had previously run a piece on organic produce that attracted its own response. Our article, As Organic Produce Grows Beyond Local […]
Marion Nestle On Organics, Crop Yields And Food Politics
Our piece, Organics, Crop Yields And Feeding The World, brought many letters and public comments, including an article from one of the most prominent food analysts writing today. Marion Nestle, the Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health at New York University and the author of many food and […]
Pundit’s Mailbag — Truman, Eisenhower And Leadership: The Distinction Between Business And Politics
Our piece, Business Strategies Don’t Often Translate In Politics, which dealt with an article we wrote for The Weekly Standard titled, Ron Paul — and the ‘Pink Slip’, brought this note: Business and politics are not the same. It is a mistake to assume that a successful business executive and/or entrepreneur would make a good political […]
Support Grows For Vitamin D Enhanced Mushroom
Our piece — Vitamin D Enhancement In Mushrooms: Can This Be A Portal For The Produce Department Into Functional Foods? Professor Neal Hooker Of St. Joseph’s University Unveils The Latest Research At New York Produce Show And Conference — dealt with the mushroom industry’s efforts to produce and market mushrooms that are rich in Vitamin […]
Government User Fees And The Inherent Conflict Of Interest They Create
With all the severe fiscal problems government at all levels is experiencing, there is a temptation to impose lots of user fees on industry. In fact, it is hard to imagine how the Food Safety Bill that President Obama pushed will ever be funded without substantial user fees. There is just no budget for all […]
