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Seattle fish-egg auctions net hundreds of millions
Anchorage Daily News
05/12/2008
The roe is considered a delicacy in Korea and Japan.
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Salmon Gone, Fishermen Adapt
New York Times
05/09/2008
With most of Oregon and California's commercial salmon fishery shut down because of sharp declines in the number of the fish returning to the Sacramento River to spawn, many fishermen are looking for almost any alternative, trying to diversify along with the rest of the regional economy.
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Olympia Food Bank Sees Jump in Demand
Olympia Olympian
05/09/2008
The number of individuals seeking help increased 27 percent to more than 17,000 in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period last year, food bank executive director Robert Coit said. The number of households seeking help rose 28 percent to more than 7,000, he said.
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Medford's H2O is No. 1
Medford Mail-Tribune
05/09/2008
Next time you take a swig of Medford tap water, appreciate the clarity of its color in the glass, the full-mouth feel, the mineral finish.
You're drinking an award winner.
Judges at the regional conference of the American Water Works Association said Medford has the best-tasting tap water in the Northwest.
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Food prices hurt families
canada.com
05/09/2008
They're not driving as much, and are spending a lot of time searching for cheaper produce, she said.
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Boats are bringing in limits of halibut on the coast
Olympia Olympian
05/08/2008
Last week, spring chinook fishing in Columbia River tributaries was a real challenge and not very productive. And it’s not looking any better this week.
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Cherry Crop Estimate Down 27 Percent
Wenatchee World
05/08/2008
The Pacific Northwest cherry crop will be about 27 percent less than anticipated and about 18 percent less than record crops of the last two years because of April freezes in Washington and Oregon.
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B.C. Fish-Farm Critics Move Fight to Court
CBC BC
05/06/2008
Some of the most vociferous critics of fish farming on the West Coast say they will ask a B.C. court to prevent the provincial government from renewing leases on fish farms.
Alexandra Morton, a biologist, said she, an association of gillnetters and the Wilderness Tourism Association filed a petition Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court.
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Views: B.C. Fish Farms Go to Court
Vancouver Sun
05/07/2008
Debate over the future of fish farming on British Columbia's coast moved from skirmishing in scientific journals to a full-blown court battle Tuesday.
This time it's a challenge to the constitutional legality of the B.C. government regulating the same salmon farms whose rapid expansion it enthusiastically promoted.
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'Chain of Legal Actions' to Fight Fish Farms
Toronto Globe and Mail
05/07/2008
The legal authority of the provincial government to regulate fish farms on the West Coast is being challenged in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
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White House Says Farm Bill Cost Too High
USA Today
05/07/2008
The White House told members of Congress on Tuesday that the cost of the five-year farm bill is still too high, saying negotiators are using budget gimmicks to hide the real expense.
The cost of the almost $300 billion bill and the amount of subsidies directed toward wealthy farmers remain the major sticking points between the White House and both Democratic and GOP negotiators. President Bush has threatened to veto the legislation.
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Commercial Bee Hive Loss Increased
USA Today
05/07/2008
A survey of bee health released Tuesday revealed a grim picture, with 36.1% of the nation's commercially managed hives lost since last year.
Last year's survey commissioned by the Apiary Inspectors of America found losses of about 32%.
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Ashland Food Bank Sees More Hungry
Ashland Daily Tidings
05/05/2008
The tightening economy and rising food prices are starting to show up on the doorstep locally, as Carrie Applegate of Ashland noticed when she underwent the "humbling" experience of loading her cart with free groceries from the Ashland Emergency Food Bank.
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Inflation Tough for Oregon Schools to Swallow
Astoria Daily Astorian
05/05/2008
Escalating food prices worldwide are serving up trouble for local school meal programs.
With their belts already tightened, program managers are looking for ways to ease the squeeze on budgets. But they're finding few money-saving measures that aren't already in place.
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Farm Bill Cuts to Overseas School Lunch Funds
Washington Post
05/06/2008
House and Senate negotiators bargaining over a new farm bill have reduced funding for a key school lunch program for poor children abroad and agreed to sharply expand nutrition programs for low-income families and children in the United States.
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Views: A Slap for School Lunches
Washington Post
05/06/2008
How can the world's hungriest schoolchildren be denied meals while the farm bill being debated in a House-Senate conference provides millions in subsidies for wealthy farmers? That's what Congress proposes. In all fairness, it should not become law.
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Views: Food Crisis Sweeps the Globe
San Francisco Chronicle
05/06/2008
If any good can come of a global food shortage, it may be this: Farming policies need an overhaul. It's a pity that so many have to suffer to get this point across.
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Views: Food Emergency
New York Times
05/06/2008
As soaring food prices threaten to unleash widespread hunger across Africa and other poor countries, President Bush is right to press Congress for more food assistance. He is also right to insist that some of that aid be given in cash to purchase food from local farmers. Unfortunately, the American farm lobby, which supports food aid as long as it gets the profit, is fighting any change to the system.
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Thurston County Launches Food Recycling
Olympia Olympian
05/06/2008
LeMay Enterprises garbage customers in Thurston County now may place all food waste and compostable papers into their yard waste containers. Organic materials such as yard debris, food scraps and compostable papers made up 22 percent of the waste entering the Thurston County Waste and Recovery Center in Hawks Prairie, according to a county study.
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Senators Want Corn for Food, Not Fuel
Rocky Mountain News
05/06/2008
Senate Republicans have asked environmental regulators to use their power to halt the country's plans to expand ethanol production amid rising food prices.
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Yakama Tribe Considers Dairy Feedlot Ban
Yakima Herald-Republic
05/06/2008
Worried about possible health risks from feedlot and dairy operations, Yakama tribal members want to limit such operations on the reservation.
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Bio-debatable: Food vs. Fuel
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
05/04/2008
With growing fears over biofuels stealing from dinner plates to fill gas tanks, people are starting to wonder: How green are biofuels?
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The Zero Mile Diet
The Tyee
05/05/2008
Against a backdrop of global food shortages and the spectre of five dollar lettuce at the checkout, there are signs that more Western Canadians are tearing up their lawns this spring to plant vegetable gardens.
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Fishing Season Blues in BC
canada.com
05/05/2008
"Every signal we're getting from DFO is for an absolutely devastating fishing season," said MP Nathan Cullen.
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The Lost Supermarket: A Breed in Need of Replenishment
New York Times
05/05/2008
A continuing decline in the number of neighborhood supermarkets has made it harder for millions of New Yorkers to find fresh and affordable food within walking distance of their homes, according to a recent city study. The dearth of nearby supermarkets is most severe in minority and poor neighborhoods already beset by obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
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