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August 23, 2007
·
Local produce is farm fresh, Internet direct
·
AgJobs bill to resurface on Capitol Hill
·
Rain takes heavy toll on Midwest organic farms
· Broccoli benefits the immune system – study
· USDA offers $21.9 M for rural energy bills
Local produce is farm fresh, Internet direct
(Charlotte.com) RUTHERFORDTON -- Richard
Davis grows shiitake mushrooms, red Russian kale and six varieties of heirloom
tomatoes on his
Dave McLuckie, a sous chef at
Tim Will hopes his new Internet project will
connect them. He is executive director of Foothills Connect, a business
technology center established in
In June, he launched www.Farmersfreshmarket.org, where
farmers in
Will said he has seen many small-scale
Local, local, local
With at least 1,400 restaurants in
The new Web site is one of several efforts
across the state that are aimed at connecting local farmers with customers.
Organizations such as the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project in
Gabriele Grigolon, executive chef of Luce
Ristorante & Bar, Coco Osteria, Toscana, Il Posto and the upcoming
Mezzanote, said he uses locally grown produce and likes the idea of connecting
to Rutherford County farmers through the Internet.
"What (chefs) would like is to see more
farmers come into town," Grigolon said. "He's going to help me to be
more like a niche restaurant where the customers are going to come in and
they're going to try something different."
He said he wants to buy 70 percent of his
produce from
"The Internet is equivalent to having
your farmers market," said Gary Bullen, an agribusiness development
specialist at
Being on the Internet has worked for Baucom's
Best cattle farm in
"It's pretty vital to our
business," she said. "The more convenient that you make it, the more
profitable you will be."
Davis, 37, of Rutherfordton, said he signed
up for the new Foothills Connect program at no cost because he likes the idea
of growing niche crops for chefs and making a profit by selling his produce to
a larger market.
"All I have to concentrate on is
growing, harvesting and getting it to where it needs to go, and from there it's
handled."
Luring back ex-farmers
The Internet approach also could lure back
former farmers such as Joel McDaniel of
"I couldn't compete. I had to have a
certain amount of money for my product," said McDaniel, 41, who left
farming in the late 1990s for a construction job.
Prices became too competitive at farmers
markets and with corporate food distributors who dominated grocery stores, said
McDaniel. He believes the Web site can help create a new market for farmers.
"I'd go back tomorrow if I could make a living out of it."
Many of those textile workers had grown up
around farming and could go back to it, Will said.
"What we're doing is mobilizing these
farmers and making them businessmen," Will said. He wants to have 20
In the late 1970s, Will spent three years as
a Peace Corps volunteer in
"I just need to teach the people here
that their competitive advantage is proximity to this new expediently growing
market in
Daniel and Gale Gilbert believe the Internet
program could help them sell more produce from the 32-acre
"Now we have a new market opening up to
us," Daniel Gilbert said. "And I think it's going to work out."
AgJobs bill to resurface on Capitol Hill
(mercedsunstar.com)
On Thursday, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein
will be assuring a
"Agriculture is going to push this
thing," Manuel Cunha, president of the Fresno-based Nisei Farmers League,
said Wednesday.
The agricultural guest-worker package is
getting its second wind two months after comprehensive immigration reform
collapsed in the Senate. Realistically, it still faces very steep odds. Still,
political optimists can sketch out a scenario for snatching success from
seeming defeat.
Dubbed AgJobs, the legislation first
introduced in September 2003 culminated years of negotiations among farmers and
the United Farm Workers. It would offer legal residency, and eventually
Step one in the plan for passage calls for
farmers and their allies to emphasize anew the dangers of losing an
agricultural workforce.
One-third or more of
"You can't pick peaches or operate a
canning plant if you don't have the people," Cunha said.
An active player in immigration negotiations,
Cunha will be watching Feinstein's appearance Thursday at
Step two relies on the latest promise by
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., that he will help pass an
agricultural guest-worker bill this year. With Senate floor time limited, and
the legislative calendar running out, a commitment like this becomes essential.
"I am committed to doing something about
AgJobs," Reid declared in late July, in response to Feinstein's questions.
"I hope we can do something soon."
Revealing one potential but controversial new
tactic, Reid specified he "will do everything" he can to include the
agricultural guest-worker package as part of a larger farm bill. The House
already has passed its version of a farm bill, without immigration provisions.
The Senate will take up the issue next.
But with billions of dollars of agricultural
subsidies at stake, the farm bill has a political constituency that may be
hesitant about getting bogged down in immigration.
"There are some issues that are going to
require some major amending before we will be agreeable to bringing that bill
up on the farm bill," Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia cautioned
during debate.
If the farm bill doesn't work out as a
vehicle, Reid added, he will try to bring up the 109-page agricultural
guest-worker bill as a "freestanding" bill or perhaps attach it to
something else.
"There is no industry in the
Step three in the AgJobs game plan relies on
employer anxiety over a new Bush administration plan for cracking down on
companies that hire illegal immigrants. Two weeks ago, the White House
announced plans to send out tens of thousands of so-called "no-match"
letters.
These letters will notify employers that an
employee's name and Social Security number don't match government records.
Potentially, employers could be fined for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.
More than one agricultural lobbyist believes the White House hopes angry business
leaders will now lean on Congress to change the immigration laws.
"I think that's going to increase the
motivation," Cunha said.
Thirty senators currently co-sponsor the
AgJobs bill, although Feinstein said she believes she has the 60 votes needed to
overcome a potential filibuster. Even so, the House would then have to approve
its own version of the bill, which is something that Reps. Jim Costa, D-Fresno,
and George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, have urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to do
in a new letter.
Rain takes heavy toll on Midwest
organic farms
(AP)
"Out of our 100 acres of vegetables, we
had easily 30 under water," de Wilde, one of the state's largest organic
farmers, said in a phone interview Tuesday. "If that was all a loss, it's
$300,000. I'm thinking we're going to be able to salvage some out of there, but
certainly it's more than $200,000 just counting crops."
He'll also have to replace fences, equipment
and other water-damaged property at the 200-acre Harmony Valley Farm.
The damage from this week's floods could push
some of
Organic farms in southeast
Mark Kastel, co-founder of The Cornucopia
Institute, a farm policy group, said many farmers could be forced out of
business, unable to cover their losses because crop insurance might not pay
them the same price they would have received for selling their products at
market.
"You could see a farmer who is making a
modest profit and doing fine pushed into a very serious financial deficit for
this growing year," Kastel said.
Along the swollen Kickapoo River, more than a
third of the
"I've been here 15 years, and this is
one of the strongest and most violent episodes I've ever seen," he said.
In Winona County, Minn., agriculture
officials said the storms could set back organic cattle farming, which has
grown in popularity in recent years.
"We have a lot of steep, hilly country
and we've had a lot of mudslides," said Tom Van Der Linden, the local
Jack Hedin, who owns an 80-acre family
produce farm in and around
"It will be days if not weeks until the
roads are repaired," he said.
Hedin said nearly a third of the farm's
entire cash flow for 2007 has been washed away.
"I spent all morning with our
bookkeeper, and at this point we've already written off $200,000 worth of
produce," he said.
Even where the water has receded in
Broccoli benefits the immune system – study
(UC Berkeley) – A compound found in broccoli and related
vegetables may have more health-boosting tricks up its sleeves, according to a
new study led by researchers at the
Veggie fans can already point to some cancer-fighting properties of
3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM), a chemical produced from the compound
indole-3-carbinol when Brassica vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and kale
are chewed and digested. Animal studies have shown that DIM can actually stop the
growth of certain cancer cells.
This new study in mice, published online today (Monday, Aug. 20) in the Journal
of Nutritional Biochemistry, shows that DIM may help boost the immune system as
well.
"We provide clear evidence that DIM is effective in augmenting the immune
response for the mice in the study, and we know that the immune system is
important in defending the body against infections of many kinds and
cancer," said Leonard Bjeldanes, UC Berkeley professor of toxicology and
principal investigator of the study. "This finding bodes well for DIM as a
protective agent against major human maladies."
Previous studies led by Bjeldanes and Gary Firestone, UC Berkeley professor of
molecular and cell biology, have shown that DIM halts the division of breast
cancer cells and inhibits testosterone, the male hormone needed for growth of
prostate cancer cells.
In the new study, the researchers found increased blood levels of cytokines,
proteins which help regulate the cells of the immune system, in mice that had
been fed solutions containing doses of DIM at a concentration of 30 milligrams
per kilogram. Specifically, DIM led to a jump in levels of four types of
cytokines: interleukin 6, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, interleukin 12
and interferon-gamma.
"As far as we know, this is the first report to show an immune stimulating
effect for DIM," said study lead author Ling Xue, who was a Ph.D. student
in Bjeldanes' lab at the time of the study and is now a post-doctoral
researcher in molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley.
In cell cultures, the researchers also found that, compared with a control
sample, a 10 micromolar dose of DIM doubled the number of white blood cells, or
lymphocytes, which help the body fight infections by killing or engulfing pathogens.
(A large plateful of broccoli can yield a 5-10 micromolar dose of DIM.)
When DIM was combined with other agents known to induce the proliferation of
lymphocytes, the effects were even greater than any one agent acting alone,
with a three- to sixfold increase in the number of white blood cells in the
culture.
"It is well-known that the immune system can seek out and destroy tumor
cells, and even prevent tumor growth," said Xue. "An important type
of T cell, called a T killer cell, can directly kill certain tumor cells,
virally infected cells and sometimes parasites. This study provides strong
evidence that could help explain how DIM blocks tumor growth in animals."
DIM was also able to induce higher levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS),
substances which must be released by macrophages in order to kill some types of
bacteria as well as tumor cells. The induction of ROS - three times that of a
control culture - after DIM was added to the cell culture signaled the
activation of macrophages, the researchers said.
"The effects of DIM were transient, with cytokine and lymphocyte levels
going up and then down, which is what you'd expect with an immune
response," said Bjeldanes. "Interestingly, to obtain the effects on
the immune response, DIM must be given orally, not injected. It could be that
the metabolism of the compound changes when it is injected instead of
eaten."
To examine the anti-viral properties of DIM, the researchers infected mice with
reoviruses, which live in the intestines but are not life-threatening. Mice
that had been given oral doses of DIM were significantly more efficient in
clearing the virus from their gut - as measured by the level of viruses
excreted in their feces - than mice that had not been fed DIM.
"This means that DIM is augmenting the body's ability to defend itself by
inhibiting the proliferation of the virus," said Bjeldanes. "Future
studies will determine whether DIM has similar effects on pathogenic viruses
and bacteria, including those that cause diarrhea."
The discovery of DIM's effects on the immune system helps bolster its
reputation as a formidable cancer-fighter, the researchers said. "This
study shows that there is a whole new universe of cancer regulation related to
DIM," said Firestone, who also co-authored the new study. "There are
virtually no other agents known that can both directly shut down the growth of
cancer cells and enhance the function of the immune system at the same
time."
USDA offers $21.9 M for rural energy bills
(USDA) – Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced the
availability of $21.9 million to help rural communities cope with extremely
high energy costs. Communities have until October 1 to apply for grants under
this program.
"These grants will help rural residents and businesses upgrade energy
infrastructure and make other energy efficiency improvements," Johanns
said. "The rising cost of energy can challenge economic growth and
opportunity. These grants are another example of how USDA works to help rural
communities overcome economic obstacles and create opportunity."
Funds may be used to acquire, construct, extend, upgrade or otherwise improve
energy generation, transmission or distribution facilities serving communities
in which the average residential cost for home energy exceeds 275 percent of
the national average.
Grants are available to individuals, businesses, non-profit entities, states,
local governments and federally recognized Indian tribes. Grants may not be
used to pay utility bills or to purchase fuel. Also, grant funds may not be
used for the sole benefit of the applicant.
Applications for grants must be postmarked by October 1. The grant announcement
and application guide for this grant program can be found at http://www.usda.gov/rus/electric
and at http://Grants.gov under Code of Domestic Federal Assistance (CDFA)
Number 10.859.
USDA Rural Development's mission is to increase economic opportunity and
improve the quality of life for rural residents. USDA Rural Development has
invested more than $76.8 billion nationwide since 2001 for equity and technical
assistance to finance and foster growth in homeownership, business development,
and critical community and technology infrastructure. More than 1.5 million
jobs have been created or saved through these investments. Further information
on rural programs is available at a local USDA Rural Development office or by
visiting USDA's web site at http://www.rur.dev.usda.gov.
End Transmission