Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Spinach scare caused by agri-business practices
Apparently some media have directed blame for the E coli infection that caused the death of one person and the illness of 166 others on growing practices by organic farmers. (I haven't seen the stories.) However, some tainted spinach of the non-organic variety has been found in Utah
and New Mexico. It was processed for Dole at the San Juan Bautista plant of Natural Selection Foods. Organic and locally grown spinach are considered safe.
A report in the Salt Lake City Tribune puts the blame for food-borne outbreaks on corporate agribusiness practices, which use fertilizer from force-fed livestock.
According to infectious disease specialist Professor Lee Riley at the University of California-Berkeley, these kinds of problems are only seen in developed countries.
"We don't see this disease in India, Africa, China. We only see it in highly technologically advanced countries, and the reason is because of this highly centralized food-processing system," Riley told the San Francisco Chronicle.
"Livestock that are force-fed grain in confinement have up to 300 times more pathogenic bacteria in their guts as compared to grass-fed cattle," according to researchers from Cornell University. Other studies have found similar results.
California, which is the No. 1 dairy state, uses factory-farm manure in growing much of its produce. This manure enters the food chain when it runs off into channels designed to irrigate vegetables or when it blows onto nearby produce fields.
See John E. Peck. (09/25/2006) Tainted spinach another sign of sick food, farm system. The Salt Lake Tribune. http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_4394305
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated?
Who said, "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated"? John Moore? Kevin Burton? Casino.com about the death of the World Series of Poker? Or diveintomark.org on the death of TCP/IP by Microsoft?
If you were to believe the first page of Google search, all of these and more are original sources of the phrase. All use the words unattributed to the original source who was ... Mark Twain. He first said these famous words after reading a report of his death in the New York Journal. KDE.news got the source right, but missed on the date and time: Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated by Mark Twain on Sunday 25/Aug/2002, @06:38.
Use of quotes without attribution is a real problem. But then so would reading your own obituary.
Phrases.org gives the example of Dave Swarbrick, the British folk/rock violinist. The Daily Telegraph published his obituary in April 1999, reporting that "his visit to hospital in Coventry had resulted in his death." Swarbrick profited from the mistake two ways: he got to see "a rather favourable account of his life," but also got to quip "It's not the first time I have died in Coventry". It's not often you are afforded the opportunity to say such a great line. Right, Mark? See http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/368850.html
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