A journalist by trade, Cookson Beecher spent the past 12 years working as an agricultural & environmental reporter for Capital Press, a four-state newspaper that covers agricultural and forestry issues in the Pacific Northwest. Before working at Capital Press, she was the editor of a small-town newspaper, the Courier Times, in Skagit County, Wash. She received her B.A. in political science from Hunter College in New York City, and before moving West, she worked for publishing companies in mid-town Manhattan. In the 1970s and 80s, she and her family lived in North Idaho, where they built a log home and lived a "pioneer life" without running water and electricity for almost ten years. She currently lives in rural Skagit County of Washington State.
In a victory for raw-milk farmers, Maine's Portland City Council has given a unanimous thumbs-up to allow raw-milk sales at the city's farmers' markets.The City Council also handed the dairy farmers another victory by voting 5 to 4 against an amendment that would have required them to post a placard informing consumers of the potential health risks linked to drinking...
In the world of food safety, it's not just about food poisoning outbreaks and recalls. Sometimes there's some good news to share. That's the case in breakthroughs and advances in science and technology that can stop foodborne pathogens dead in their tracks. And sometimes that sort of news appears in unexpected places.Take, for example, the January edition of Popular Mechanics....
Like a persistent mosquito that keeps coming back no matter how many times you bat it away, the controversial issue of mandated labeling for genetically engineered foods in the United States just won't go away.The latest example of that persistence is legislation proposed in Washington state that would require genetically engineered foods, or food items that contain genetically engineered foods,...
Frisia Dairy and Creamery of Tenino, WA is recalling its raw milk because it may be contaminated with a dangerous strain of E. coli, according to a Jan. 17 news release issued by the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) at the dairy's request.The recall, which covers all expiration dates, was voluntarily initiated by the dairy after the department's routine...
Organic Pastures will no longer be producing or selling raw colostrum for human consumption, according to an announcement on the dairy's Facebook page.Based in Fresno, CA, Organic Pastures is the largest producer of raw milk (milk that hasn't been pasteurized) in the nation. Colostrum, which is the first "milk" produced by mammals, including humans, after giving birth, confers passive immunity...
"QUARANTINE IS LIFTED AND WE ARE OFF RECALL !!!!!!!!!!"That was the "holiday" message on Organic Pasture Dairy's Facebook page on Dec. 16 -- 31 days after California's Department of Food and Agriculture imposed a statewide quarantine on all the dairy's raw milk and raw-milk products, except for aged cheese. During that time, the department conducted a rigorous testing regime in search...
"Buyer, be informed."That's the goal of a raw-milk "package deal" in Maine sent last month to the Portland City Council for consideration. It not only recommends that raw-milk sales be allowed at the city's farmers markets, but would also require raw-milk vendors at the city's three farmers markets to supply customers with information advising them of the potential health risks...
It's become a tradition -- or at least a habit -- for Food Safety News to host virtual potlucks on holidays as a way to share our favorite recipes and love of food, and also to take a little break from writing about the potential risks in what we eat. Always, but especially at Thanksgiving, we're grateful for the many...
If you're a farmer or food manufacturer, don't drive the food-safety bus off the cliff.That was the message that Seattle food-safety attorney Bill Marler, publisher of Food Safety News, shared with his audience of more than 500 people, many of them small-scale farmers and local-food advocates, during his keynote presentation, "Producing Food Can Be a Risky Business," at the Nov. 3...
Canadian raw-milk dairy farmer Michael Schmidt has called off his 5-week hunger strike, after having had the chance on Nov. 4 to meet with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.In an earlier interview with Food Safety News, Schmidt had vowed to "go until death" if the premier didn't agree to meet with him in person to discuss raw-milk issues and what he...
For Canadian raw-milk farmer Michael Schmidt, a citizen's fundamental right to choose what he or she eats is a matter of life or death. Literally.On Sept. 29, he began a hunger strike, which he describes as the continuation of his efforts over the past 17 years to engage the authorities in a "constructive dialogue about the issue of non-pasteurized milk...
The much-anticipated Raw Milk Institute has gone live.The brainchild of Mark McAfee, co-owner of Organic Pastures near Fresno, CA, the institute introduced its website -- www.rawmilkinstitute.org -- on Tuesday.Simply put, the goal of the institute is to use science-based food-safety principles to shore up a strong foundation for the growing raw-milk movement.Raw milk is milk that hasn't been pasteurized to kill...
The whole cantaloupes now available in the stores are safe to eat -- as long as basic food-safety practices are followed -- and they have no connection with the Listeria-contaminated cantaloupes that as of Sept. 24 have sickened at least 61 and killed 10 or more people, several food-safety experts told Food Safety News.The reason for those assurances comes down...
Pride & Joy Creamery, a dairy farm in Eastern Washington state, has recalled its raw milk because it may be contaminated with E. coli, a bacteria that can cause serious illness, according to a news release issued by the state's Agriculture Department at the dairy's request.The raw milk was sold at the dairy's farm store near Granger in the Yakima Valley and...
If you're like many gardeners, this is the time of the year when zucchini and yellow crookneck squash are so prolific that you're tempted to leave some on your neighbors' porches when they're not home. At the same time, the lettuce you planted in the spring is all gone, and the lettuce starts you've planted for your fall garden are...
Copyright © Marler Clark
Free Lance Writer
