Laura Bradford

Yesterday the ethics committee decided that Laura Bradford was not guilty of ethics violation. The committee, made up of three Republicans and two Democrats, voted unanimously. What the committee did not do is heal the rift between Laura Bradford and the Speaker of the House. Rumor has it that the Speaker of the House has rifts with lots of people.

Thank Heavens for the Internet

Yesterday Colorado’s House voted to extend the “Make My Day” law to include businesses. So, if a clerk feels threatened, they could have the right to shoot the person threatening them. This bill hasn’t passed the Senate, but if it does I’m hoping that it will become possible to buy all groceries on line and have them delivered by UPS, or better yet the besieged U.S. Postal Service.

While the NRA will, no doubt, support this bill and threaten any legislator opposing it, I have a real problem believing that this won’t result in more violence, not less.  The probability of innocent shoppers getting hit by crossfire when a clerk and a criminal engage in a gun battle is great. Been there, done that, not interested in the T-shirt.

Years ago I witnessed a gun battle between a purse snatcher and an off duty Denver cop in the lobby of a bank on Denver’s 17th Street. Bullets often do not find their targets, and a miss generates more bullets. In this case the secretary to the bank president, who was trying to get under her desk to avoid the bedlam, was shot. In a near miss, one bullet went through the wheel chair of an installment loan officer who, because of his disability was not able to move out of the way.

Cottage Foods Act

The bill that will allow me to buy more food at farmers markets and at roadside stands passed the Senate and is headed toward the House.  If I can’t buy food on the internet maybe I can buy it at a roadside stand!

War on Women

The GOP and Catholic Church are continuing their war on women. I’m so dismayed by this insanity that I’m temporarily speechless, but the New York Times isn’t—read the link below.

Homework
Sentinel Story About Bradford

Business Make My Day Law

Who Supports the Cottage Food Act

New York Times Editorial About the War on Women

I’ve previously mentioned that, as a board member of both Western Colorado Congress and Western Colorado Congress of Mesa County, I’ve been working on the issue of promoting local foods, and making it easier for farmers to make a living.

A bill has been introduced in the legislature to do just that. Senator Gail Schwartz, in the Senate, and Representative Don Coram, in the House, have introduced the Cottage Foods Act. A similar bill was introduced last year, but never came up for a vote.

What this bill does is reduce regulations for small family farmers and home based businesses that make jellies, jams, cakes and cookies and sell them locally at places like Farmer’s Markets or food stands. Authors of the bill believe that it will promote agritourism in Colorado communities, thus creating jobs. It should also provide better access to fresh healthy food in places like Grand Junction, where we have many orchards and farms capable of delivering product into our local markets.

Clearly some concerns with the 2011 bill have been addressed in the 2012 bill. It specifically exempts food kitchens from any liability from serving food produced in this lower regulation environment. It also exempts schools from any liability if the food is prepared in the schools’ kitchens.

For foods sold directly to the consumer, the Act limits the reduced regulations to foods that do not require refrigeration, such as nuts, honey, seeds, jams, jellies, spices, teas, dehydrated foods (think sun dried tomatoes!), candies and baked goods. However, these producers must be certified in the safe handling of food. Certification is to come from an entity like the USDA or the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Service. The pool of producers is further limited to vendors with annual net sales of $2,500 or less.

The Act goes on to describe the label requirements on each food item, which includes contact information for the producer. Finally the Act describes how eggs could be sold under this Act.

Please contact your representatives and ask them to support this bill. While you are at it, how about sending a note to the two  sponsors, and thank them for their work to make it easier to eat foods that are produced locally.

Homework:

Colorado Cottage Foods Act

Senator Gail Schwartz

Representative Don Coram

Companies Lie

A San Francisco Newspaper did some interesting research. They compared testimony given in hearings held by House Republicans with what they reported in their SEC filings. Every publicly traded company must file quarterly reports with the SEC, which then become a matter of public record. Testimony in hearings is also public record. Comparing the two depositories of public information, the enterprising reporter on this story discovered that companies were telling the House hearings that EPA regulations were going to kill jobs, and drive them out of business. (I exaggerated a little in that last sentence, but not by much.) But, when the same companies filed their quarterly reports with the SEC, sometimes within days of their House hearing testimony, they told their shareholders that their cashflow would not be impacted by proposed EPA regulations. Since they are persons now, these companies should be prosecuted either for contempt of congress or investor fraud.

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San Francisco Newspaper Story of Companies Differing Stories

USDA  Looking at Local Foods

As consumers become aware of the impact of their carbon footprints on the health of the planet, they are increasingly turning to locally produced foods. This movement is relatively small in the world of agriculture, and data has not been systematically collected over time, but a recent USDA study found some interesting facts.

Marketing local foods grossed $4.8 billion in 2008.

Small farms, defined as those with gross revenues of less than $50,000 in annual sales, accounted for 81% of farmers reporting local food sales. They primarily sold their food at farmers markets and roadside stands. The average annual revenue from local food sales for these farms is $7,800.

Medium sized farms, defined as those with gross revenues of $50,000 to $250,000, represented 17% of  farmers reporting local food sales, using the same marketing channels as the small farmer. The average  revenue from local food sales for the medium sized farm is $70,000.

Farmers with gross revenues greater than $250,000 represented 5% of farmers producing local foods. They had $770,000 in average annual local food sales, using the same marketing channels. Because of their higher volumes of production, they accounted for 92% of the $4.8 billion.

The report issued by the USDA opines that there is too little data to know how the local foods movement is impacting local food systems, local economic development, or nutrition. They also say the jury is still out on the idea that local farms reduce energy consumption or greenhouse gas emissions.

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Minnesota Newspaper Story of USDA's Look at Local Foods

USDA Report

One of the books that most influenced me over the past year was Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Vegetable Miracle. It is the story of one family’s quest to only eat foods grown locally. There are lots of reasons to eat locally grown foods, but the best reason is they taste better.

Take tomatoes, as an example. Super market tomatoes just don’t have the same flavor as those that we grow in our own backyards. They never have the taste that inspired novelist Tom Robbins to write an essay describing the meal he would request if he were a prisoner on death row. If he had to choose his last meal, he’d ask for a Colorado homegrown tomato sandwich. Homegrown tomatoes also inspired a song recorded by Texas singer/songwriter Guy Clark.

Consumers have been conditioned to think that tomatoes are perfectly round red fruits that taste like cardboard. Tomatoes with those characteristics are easier to ship to markets far from the soil in which they grow. They are picked green, and turn red while in transit. That makes them easy to pack and ship, but also eliminates the vine-ripened rich flavors. Before we were conditioned to eat standardized tomatoes, we ate tomatoes that were green, deep burgundy, yellow, striped. They sometimes had cracks across the top or white spots from where the sun burned them, and rarely were shaped like a tennis ball. In fact, there are over 600 varieties of heritage tomatoes offered by one organic seed company.

I planted seven of those heirloom varieties this summer. On my recent trip to Denver I took along a few of the ripe ones, and staged a tomato tasting for a friend. Not being a gardener, he was surprised at how good a tomato could taste. His favorite was the Brandywine. It may be the ugliest tomato ever produced with a green top and burgundy bottom and a tendency to crack along the top. It may also be the best tasting tomato ever produced.

There are other reasons to eat locally grown foods. The act of shipping produce all over the globe increases the carbon footprint of our meals. According to the Sustainable Table website, “growing 10% more produce for local consumption in Iowa would result in an annual savings ranging from 280,000 to 346,000 gallons of fuel, and an annual reduction in CO2 emissions ranging from 6.7 to 7.9 million pounds.”

Clean air, healthy soil, reduced carbon emissions, flavorful foods—what’s not to like? Today is my birthday. I’m celebrating with a homegrown tomato sandwich and a locally grown peach pie made by my mother. I wish she’d enter her recipe into the Palisade Peach Festival’s annual contest. I’m sure she would win.

Homework

Animal Vegetable Miracle

Tom Robbins--Wild Ducks Flying Backward

Youtube Guy Clark sings about homegrown tomatoes

Tomato Seeds

Brandywine Tomatoes

Sustainable Table

Recipes From the Palisade Peach Festival