Agriculture Daily News 2/21

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's plans to designate Sacramento's fast-growing Natomas sector, north of the Sacramento and American rivers, as a Special Flood Hazard Area AE Zone in December is stirring up widespread concern that the new requirements could amount to a building moratorium for the city during a time of budget constraints. Insurance Journal 2/21/08

 

Unless California curtails its appetite for sprawl development, it will pave over 2.1 million acres of farmland in the next four decades and jeopardize the state's role as one of the nation's top food-growers, according to an American Farmland Trust study. The new report, "Paving Paradise: A New Perspective on California Farmland Conversion," calls for the state to shift growth away from valuable agricultural lands, eschew land-gobbling ranchette development and accommodate new homes and businesses in higher densities. CC Times 2/21/08

 

Concern for the state of honey bees and its potential impact on the food industry led the premium ice-cream maker, Haagen Dazs, to launch a campaign intended to raise $250,000 for research into what's ailing the honey bees, said Katty Pien, brand director of Haagen-Dazs in the United States. Money raised through the sales of honey bee-dependent flavors will be donated to researchers at UC Davis. CC Times 2/21/08

 

Last June, laboratory tests showed high levels of mercury in dolphin and pilot whale, a small whale that resembles a dolphin, that were caught and sold in Taiji, Japan. A scare has divided the community. Most local officials and the fishermen’s union insist that the mercury danger is overblown, while some others have begun to question a tradition. NY Times 2/21/08

 

On Wednesday the U.S. government said the Consumer Price Index rose a greater-than-expected 0.4 percent in January, the result of steep jumps in food and energy prices. Food alone rose 0.7 percent, the biggest one-month jump since February 2007.  Scores of grocery items have become pricier. Sacramento Bee 2/21/08

 

Modern efforts to help endangered fish coexist with two dams on the Yuba Riverhave not gone well, according to environmental groups who last week sued the federal government and the Yuba County Water Agency. Sacramento Bee 2/21/08

 

Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, both California Democrats, have asked for investigations of a Southern California slaughter facility, the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., a supplier to federal food and nutrition programs, into possible violations of laws intended to prevent animal cruelty and preserve food safety.  SF Chronicle 2/21/08

 

Amid growing concerns of Bay Area residents, a state legislator is pushing for a moratorium on aerial spraying of a moth pesticide over San Francisco and Marin counties. Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, will ask representatives of the 10 other counties where the moth has been found to join her resolution, she said. The resolution, if passed, would delay the application of a synthetic pheromone that disrupts the mating of the light brown apple moth. SF Chronicle 2/20/08