TEDxSMU Tuesday 4.19.11
Mark Bittman Website
Mark Bittman in the New York Times
Food in the News
GOP budget proposes $30B in cuts to farm subsidies, April 11, 2011, USA Today
“The Republican head of the House Budget Committee has proposed cutting agriculture subsidies by $30 billion over 10 years as part of a broad effort to slash federal spending, but his ideas may not make it into the bill that sets funding for agriculture programs.”
Obama’s budget would deeply cut farm subsidies, February 14, 2011, LA Times
“The White House wants to cap direct payments to farmers — which go mainly to producers of core commodities, regardless of market prices — and limit who is eligible to receive the subsidies.”
DuPont urges U.S. to curb Monsanto seed monopoly, January 8, 2010, Reuters
“DuPont (DD.N) on Friday asked U.S. regulators to rein in practices by seed industry leader Monsanto Co, claiming its rival is hindering competition and limiting innovation needed to feed a growing world population.”
Rising obesity will cost U.S. health care $344 billion a year, November 17, 2009, USA Today
“If Americans continue to pack on pounds, obesity will cost the USA about $344 billion in medical-related expenses by 2018, eating up about 21% of health-care spending, says the first analysis to estimate the future medical costs of excess weight.”
Five Days in the (Food) Desert, June 2, 2010, PBS
“…the Southern Rural Development Center and researchers at Mississippi State University found that 256 of those same 873 southern counties were food deserts. Texas, Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma had the highest percentage of counties classified as food deserts. But the Mississippi Delta — birthplace of the blues and home to some of the country’s poorest people — despite its rich farmland had significant clusters of food deserts as well.”
Study: Half Of Supermarket Meat May Have Staph Bug, April 15, 2011, NPR
“Half the meat and poultry sold in the supermarket may be tainted with the staph germ, a new report suggests. The new estimate is based on just 136 samples of beef, chicken, pork and turkey purchased from grocery stores in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Flagstaff, Ariz. and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Proper cooking kills the germs, and federal health officials estimate staph accounts for less than 3 percent of foodborne illnesses, far less than more common bugs like salmonella and E. coli.”
Climate Change- Greenhouse Gases
Farm Subsidy Database
Local Efforts
- Paul Quinn College- Food for Good Farm
- Dallas Farmers Market
- REAL School Gardens
- Dallas Area Community Gardens
- Deep Ellum Outdoor Market
- Local Harvest
- Windy Meadows Family Farm, Campbell, TX
- Burgundy Pasture Beef, Grandview, TX
- Texas Daily Harvest, Yantis, TX
- Lucky Layla Farms, Plano, TX
Related Media
Food, Inc.
The Story of Stuff
Farmers’ Market Finder iPhone App Keeps You Rolling in Fresh Food, Treehugger.com
Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food, TED 2010
Sharing powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, W. Va., TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food.
Dan Barber: How I fell in love with a fish, TED 2010
Chef Dan Barber squares off with a dilemma facing many chefs today: how to keep fish on the menu. With impeccable research and deadpan humor, he chronicles his pursuit of a sustainable fish he could love, and the foodie’s honeymoon he’s enjoyed since discovering an outrageously delicious fish raised using a revolutionary farming method in Spain.
Graham Hill: Why I’m a weekday vegetarian, TED 2010
We all know the arguments that being vegetarian is better for the environment and for the animals — but in a carnivorous culture, it can be hard to make the change. Graham Hill has a powerful, pragmatic suggestion: Be a weekday veg.
Click here for more TED talks on all things food.