The White House Office of Management and Budget significantly weakened the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s draft food safety rules, documents posted on the Federal Register last week show. The hundreds of pages of documents, first discovered and reported by Food and Chemical News (subscription only) on Friday, confirm what food safety insiders had suspected… Continue Reading
If Congress allows the sequester to kick in on March 1, cuts to food safety would be one of the “most damaging” consequences of the automatic budget reductions, according to a memo put out by the White House on Friday. The analysis by the Obama administration’s Office of Management and Budget said the U.S. Food… Continue Reading
A proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to label mechanically tenderized beef products is now under extended review at the White House Office of Management and Budget. Food safety advocates, the meat industry and FSIS said they do not know details about the status of the review or… Continue Reading
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is making a big effort to enact the delayed Food Safety Modernization Act, but the rules being developed are complex and need more time, the agency argued in a motion to dismiss a lawsuit over the delay, which was filed Friday. The FDA submitted drafts of the four of… Continue Reading
The Obama administration delivered its official response last week to the 6,078 signors of a petition on WhiteHouse.gov who requested federal-level legalization of all raw milk sales. The response indicated that the White House continues to support the current regulation of raw milk sales, which allow states to determine legality but prohibits its sale across… Continue Reading
David Lazarus, a senior advisor to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, is moving to the White House to serve as advisor to President Obama on agriculture and rural affairs, a position on the Domestic Policy Council that has been vacant for 18 months. Lazarus, who made the transition from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) yesterday,… Continue Reading
After the South Lawn of the White House was stormed by over 500 chefs from 37 states rallying behind First Lady Michelle Obama’s new Chefs Move to Schools initiative, a core group of chefs and some local elementary students harvested, washed, and prepared vegetables straight out of the Kitchen Garden on Friday. Here are some… Continue Reading
“I think it’s safe to say there have never been this many chefs on the South Lawn,” announced Sam Kass, assistant White House chef, to a sea of chefs dressed in their whites. “What an amazing day.” Over 500 chefs from 37 states, including celebrities Rachael Ray, Tom Colicchio and Cat Cora–a formidable healthy food… Continue Reading
At the sound of a herd of cow bells, the farmers market by the White House kicked off yesterday. Surrounded by Washington, DC-area sustainable and local food advocates, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan helped ring in the 2010 season of the FRESHFARM Market. Merrigan–who recently landed on the 2010 TIME 100 list of the world’s… Continue Reading
The White House opened its gates to the public last weekend for the annual Spring garden and grounds tour, a tradition begun by First Lady Pat Nixon in 1972. Thousands of visitors wandered the grounds on the self-guided tour, featuring the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, the Rose Garden, Sasha and Malia Obama’s swing set, and, the… Continue Reading
I bought the 1887 White House Cook Book at a yard sale and enjoy opening it up every Christmas to see how much things have changed through the years. Here are a few “tidbits” from the 1887 edition: Medicinal food Spinach has a direct effect upon complaints of the kidneys; the common dandelion, used as… Continue Reading