March 15, 2009
Interest grows in preservation
April class focuses on canning, other methods
By Tom Kaser
For The Chronicle
Even before the economy began contracting, there were indications that increasing numbers of Americans were rejecting processed foods in favor of preserving foods they grew or bought themselves, usually from local farmers.
That’s why OSU’s Wasco County Extension Service at Columbia Gorge Community College has increased its efforts to “train trainers” to show homemakers how to safely and efficiently do that.
“It’s easy for those who know what they’re doing,” says extension educator Fern Wilcox, the extension service’s primary trainer. “It can be dangerous — because of food poisoning — for those who don’t.”
Interest in home food preservation has surged, not just because it can save a lot of money, but also because more and more people want to eat wholesome, locally grown foods year-round, Wilcox says.
OSU’s Wasco County Extension Service periodically holds eight-week classes, usually meeting at 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoons, at which it trains Family Food Educators to show homemakers how to preserve food. The next class, which costs $50, begins April 1 in The Dalles. Application deadline is March 20. For information, call 296-5494.
The trained food educators appear at county fairs, farmers markets, and before service clubs, organizations, granges, church groups, mothers’ groups, 4-H clubs, and other organizations to demonstrate the do’s and don’ts of food preservation during the June-September food preservation season.
OSU makes sure they know their stuff. They must complete 30 hours of training and pass a competency exam.
“The whole idea,” notes Wilcox, “is for me to train these people to spread the word about food preservation, since I can’t do it by myself. It’s a good way to extend our service.”
Last year, Wilcox trained eight food educators, and they will be helping her train new volunteers this year.
One of the trainers’ most important services, especially at farmers markets, is to test the gauges on pressure-cooker lids.
“Pressure cookers are a valuable tool in preserving food, but sometimes their gauges go bad and the cooker doesn’t heat the food to a high enough temperature to kill bacteria,” Wilcox says. “You may end up with tainted canned food and not know it.” There are five cornerstones of the extension service’s Family Food Educators program: canning, freezing, drying, pickling, and jam- and jelly-making.
Canning is especially important because it can easily go awry, with fatal results, Wilcox notes.
“We show how to prepare the fruit or vegetable before putting it in the canning jar, how — and how much — to put in the jar, how to put the jars in a bath of boiling water, and how to apply the lid and ring so they will seal the jar.
“Safety should always be the No. 1 concern; you have to know what you’re doing. It’s not safe, for example, to put low-acid foods like beans in a boiling-water bath. For these foods, you should use a pressure canner to prevent anaerobic microorganisms from growing in the food.”
Freezing usually requires blanching the fresh produce first — dipping it quickly into hot water to prevent deterioration from enzymes. “Then you put it in a container that will prevent ice crystals from forming and freezer burn from happening,” Wilcox says.
“As for freezing vs. canning, your preference will probably depend on how much storage space you have. Some people prefer frozen foods because they have plenty of freezer space but not much pantry space. Other people have the opposite situation. And some people just prefer the taste of one over the other. I, for example, prefer frozen peas to canned peas.”
Drying, as the name implies, means removing moisture from the food so it can be consumed later without having to freeze or can it, Wilcox says, citing jerky as an example. Dried pears are particularly popular in this area, she added.
Pickling, using vinegar as the primary preserving agent, is another canning process, and it adds flavor to the vegetable.
Making jams and jellies involves chopping or mashing fruit so it assumes a spreadable state, then adding sugar and pectin, a natural thickener found in smaller amounts in ripe fruits. Jam and jelly containers, too, are processed in a boiling water bath.
Food preservation need not be difficult or expensive, Wilcox emphasizes, “especially if you shop garage sales and can find food-preservation equipment at a good price. The jars can be re-used each year, so once you’ve made the initial investment, canning becomes inexpensive.”
Statewide, OSU’s Extension Service has been disseminating information on safe food handling for 25 years. The overall aim of the program is to avoid food-borne illnesses, food waste, and medical bills from food poisoning.
When OSU’s Wasco County food preservation program began in 1980, it was called the Master Food Preserver volunteer program. It was later renamed the Family Food Educator program and enhanced to include nutrition education. The program is patterned after OSU’s Master Gardener program, which aims to sharpen home-gardening skills.
The OSU Extension Service brings a variety of university services and programs to local adults and youth.
http://www.thedalleschronicle.com/news/2009/03/news03-15-09-03.shtml
Controlling the World’s Seed Supply
More on control of our seed supplies...
March 25, 2009
by Devinder Sharma
Op Ed News
Let there be no doubt. There is a global effort — some call it a master plan — (involving not only seed corporations, but also governments, CGIAR and the FAO) to control the entire seed heritage. Privatisation and commercialisation of seed, which means through it controlling the entire food chain, began several decades ago. With governments, CGIAR/World Bank/FAO facilitating the process, the private seed companies are slowly and steadily ensuring that farmers all over the world fall in line. They are left with no choice but to buy seed every cropping season from the agribusiness companies.
The new seeds are not only being genetically modified but are also being genetically programmed. We will talk about the genetic programming of these seeds sometimes later, but first let us look at the ways of the seed mafia.
The WTO provides the legal instruments to make it possible. Strengthening of intellectual proprietary control over seed comes through UPOV and WIPO, both being the public face of the seed industry. These IPRs are being further tightened through the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), bilateral and regional agreements. All these agreements seek IPR-Plus treatments, and developing country governmets are being made to swallow the bitter pill.
The governments are more than willing to facilitate the process. India is a classic example, where the Agriculture Ministry appears to be on a fast track mode to increase the seed relacement ratio. In the next 15-20 years, it wants to replace 50 per cent of the farmers seed with so called ‘improved seeds’ being produced and marketed by the private companies. No wonder, more than 500 seed companies are operating India now. All looking forward to the farmers pocket, keen to take out the last penny from his soiled kurta.
As the article below (excerpted from the book Seeds of Deception by Jeffrey Smith) tells us briefly, an alert civil society and some farming groups worldwide have slowed down the process of takeover of the seed supply — as per the master plan.
On May 23, 2003, President Bush proposed an Initiative to End Hunger in Africa [1] using genetically modified (GM) foods. He also blamed Europe’s “unfounded, unscientific fears” of these foods for thwarting recovery efforts. Bush was convinced that GM foods held the key to greater yields, expanded U.S. exports, and a better world. His rhetoric was not new. It had been passed down from president to president, and delivered to the American people through regular news reports and industry advertisements.
The message was part of a master plan that had been crafted by corporations determined to control the world’s food supply. This was made clear at a biotech industry conference in January 1999, where a representative from Arthur Anderson Consulting Group explained how his company had helped Monsanto create that plan.
First, they asked Monsanto what their ideal future looked like in fifteen to twenty years. Monsanto executives described a world with 100% of all commercial seeds genetically modified and patented. Anderson Consulting then worked backwards from that goal, and developed the strategy and tactics to achieve it. They presented Monsanto with the steps and procedures needed to obtain a place of industry dominance in a world in which natural seeds were virtually extinct.
Integral to the plan was Monsanto’s influence in government, whose role was to promote the technology worldwide and to help get the foods into the marketplace quickly, before resistance could get in the way. A biotech consultant later said, “The hope of the industry is that over time, the market is so flooded that there’s nothing you can do about it. You just sort of surrender.” [2]
The anticipated pace of conquest was revealed by a conference speaker from another biotech company. He showed graphs projecting the year-by-year decrease of natural seeds, estimating that in five years, about 95% of all seeds would be genetically modified.
While some audience members were appalled at what they judged to be an arrogant and dangerous disrespect for nature, to the industry this was good business. Their attitude was illustrated in an excerpt from one of Monsanto’s advertisements: “So you see, there really isn’t much difference between foods made by Mother Nature and those made by man. What’s artificial is the line drawn between them.” [3]
To implement their strategy, the biotech companies needed to control the seeds-so they went on a buying spree, taking possession of about 23% of the world’s seed companies. Monsanto did achieve the dominant position, capturing 91% of the GM food market. [4] But the industry has not met their projections of converting the natural seed supply. Citizens around the world, who do not share the industry’s conviction that these foods are safe or better, have not “just sort of surrendered.”
Widespread resistance to GM food has resulted in a global showdown. U.S. exports of genetically modified corn and soy are down, and hungry African nations won’t even accept the crops as food aid. Monsanto is faltering financially and is desperate to open new markets. The U.S. government is convinced that EU resistance is the primary obstacle and is determined to change that. On May 13, 2003, the U.S. filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO), charging that the European Union’s restrictive policy on GM food violates international agreements.
On the day the WTO suit was filed, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick declared, “Overwhelming scientific research shows that biotech foods are safe and healthy.” [5] This has been industry’s chant from the start. It is the key assumption at the basis of their master plan, the WTO challenge, and the president’s campaign to end hunger. It is also, however, untrue.
The following chapters reveal that it was industry influence, not sound science, which allowed these foods onto the market. Moreover, if overwhelming scientific research suggests anything, it is that the foods should never have been approved.
References:
[1] See the White House press release on this available here. The comments mentioned are about two-thirds of the way down the web page.
[2] Stuart Laidlaw, “StarLink Fallout Could Cost Billions,” The Toronto Star, Jan. 9, 2001. Article can be purchased in the Toronto Star archives available here, or find a free copy by clicking here.
[3] Robert Cohen, Milk, The Deadly Poison, Argus Publishing, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1998, p. 133
[4] See www.foodfirst.org/media/news/2003/butterfliesvsusda.html
[5] See www.ustrade-wto.gov/03052102.html
Take action — Contact your local newspaper or congress people:
Withdraw HR 875 and companion bills which will allow Monsanto and other corporations to take control of all US seed
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Controlling-the-world-s-se-by-Devinder-Sharma-090323-773.html