'Agriculture' Archive
Many momentous events took place in 1959. Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and their communist guerrilla forces took over Cuba. A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway. The Dalai Lama fled Tibet and went into exile in India. Khrushchev and Nixon had their “kitchen debate” in Moscow. The St. Lawrence Seaway was opened. Miles Davis released Kind of Blue.
In the world of business, Honda Motor opened its first overseas subsidiary, American Honda Motor, in a Los Angeles storefront. Hitachi established Hitachi America. And National Semiconductor was born.
National Semiconductor makes its headquarters in Silicon Valley, of course, but the company was started in Danbury, Connecticut, on May 27, 1959, and incorporated in Delaware. It was less than a year after the integrated circuit (IC) was invented by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments, and not long after Fairchild Semiconductor’s Robert Noyce came up with an IC design that was easier to manufacture than Kilby’s design.
National Semi moved its headquarters from Connecticut to Santa Clara, California, in 1967, before Intel or Advanced Micro Devices were established, and about the time people started talking about the Santa Clara Valley, “the Valley of Heart’s Delight” that was covered with fruit orchards (Orchard Supply Hardware got its start there in 1931, and still makes its headquarters in San Jose), as this “Silicon Valley,” filled with companies making semiconductors on silicon wafers.
National’s been around for 50 years, but it’s not half as well known as AMD, Fairchild, or Intel. In fact, it bought Fairchild from Schlumberger in 1987, and then spun off the venerable chip company a decade later. National became famous in the industry for churning out low-cost logic devices, analog chips, and transistors. The company became infamous for a long-standing practice of reverse-engineering its competitors’ devices (an entirely legal yet costly and time-consuming way of designing ICs).
National pioneered many industry firsts in semiconductor products, yet it never really launched a home-run chip, like Intel did with the microprocessor, TI did with the digital signal processor, and ZiLOG did with the microcontroller. It was content to make huge volumes of microchips for its customers and never saw the need for a “National Inside” marketing campaign. National now is pinning hopes on its SolarMagic line of power management devices.
The company is noted for some long tenures among its CEOs. Charles (Charlie) Sporck led National for 25 years, from 1966 to 1991; he helped establish the SEMATECH research consortium. The incumbent CEO, Brian Halla, has held the job for 13 years, which is close to a lifetime appointment in hard-charging Silicon Valley.
Happy 50th, National Semiconductor Corporation! Here’s to 50 more.
What do the Empire State Building, Scottish seaweed, and Merino wool have in common? They are all being used to improve energy efficiency.
According to Alternative Energy News, these disparate entities are among many that are being looked at from an energy efficiency perspective, with an eye to either reducing their carbon footprint or harnessing their natural energy efficiencies.
The Empire State Building has begun a $500 million upgrade program expected to reduce energy consumption by up to 38%, with the idea that it would provide a replicable model for similar projects around the world. The massive refit is being spearheaded by Bill Clinton’s Clinton Climate Initiative, along with the Rocky Mountain Institute, Johnson Controls Inc. and Jones Lang LaSalle. When finished, the greener building will save $4.4 million in annual energy costs.
In Scotland, the European Union (EU), Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the Crown Estate, Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government, are collectively investing $8 million in an endeavor to harness Scotland’s fast-growing seaweed as a reliable biofuel. Not only could it help the EU meet its goal of 10% of all energy from renewable sources by 2020. Seaweeds harness carbon dioxide and have simple structures which make them easily converted to fuel. The bulk of this natural resource is in remote, rural, and sparsely populated areas. In addition, Scotland also has about 25% of Europe’s tidal and offshore wind energy assets, giving it leg up on other countries in developing complementary offshore renewable energy sources.
And finally, a study by the Ergonomics Unit at the Polytechnic Institute of Wales showed that individuals’ heart rates were lower while sleeping under Merino wool-filled comforters (compared to polyester-filled comforters). Wool absorbs up to 30% of the moisture. Synthetics can only absorb moisture up to 4% of their weight. Merino wool — more energy efficient than polyester, is better for you, in addition to being totally organic.
And should any of these ideas seem to be fanciful, Alternative Energy News offers a real flight of fancy — flying cars by 2011. You’re joking, right? No. This month, students at MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics have flight-tested the Terrafugia Transition Roadable Aircraft, with a 20-gallon tank and a 450-mile range, and which runs on unleaded gasoline.
If necessity is the mother of invention, then national and state legislation retricting greenhouse gases, the declining base of fossil fuel assets, and a growing green sensibility in populations worldwide are all pointing to the necessity of alternative energy solutions. Alternative Energy News is offering a front row seat to view the experimention and inventiveness underway in the green energy sector.
A COOL government agency? Well, kind of. They’re acronym-ing it up over at the Department of Agriculture. You know, the folks in Washington who are in charge of the safety of our food.
COOL stands for “country of origin labeling”: a food labeling requirement that — the government (the USDA and the Congress in this case) being slower than, well, the arrival of one’s tax refund check — has been explored, discussed, paneled, and legislated upon since the Jazz Age.
It started way back with the passage of the Tariff Act of 1930 which says “every article of foreign origin … imported into the United States shall be marked in a conspicuous place … to indicate to an ultimate purchaser in the United States the English name of the country of origin of the article.” However, the Bureau of Customs & Border Protection has long exempted many imported food products from the country-of-origin marking requirement.
Trying for a modicum of reform (a mere 70 years later, gotta love our Washington watchdogs) the 2002 Farm Bill tried to establish mandatory country of origin labeling for beef, lamb, pork, fish, peanuts, and “perishable agricultural commodities” or “covered commodities.” Under the bill, producers were let off the hook and it was the retailers who became responsible for informing consumers where food was produced.
The 2002 bill mandated the country of origin must be stated whether the product is domestic or imported. If the country of origin is stated on the label, the retailer’s obligation for that product was met. If it’s not on the label (or if there is no label), the retailer must display country of origin information on a placard or sign.
(So that’s why sometimes there’s a sign in the supermarket says “Mexican oranges” and right next to it is a bin of some exotic food — goji berries, the latest foodie food — that has no sign at all. It’s the feds.)
The bill further directed the USDA to issue guidelines for voluntary country-of-origin labeling by 2002 and to issue regulations to implement the requirement on a mandatory basis by 2004.
Some people in the food industry began to get their undies in a twit about this labeling thing. Domestic producers of covered commodities tended to support COOL but many others opposed it. Opponents obtained legislative relief with the 2004 Consolidated Appropriations Act.
The act delayed the deadline for mandatory COOL to 2006 for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish. For fish and shellfish, the deadline remained 2004.
(Note to Congress: Ever put off taking out the garbage? It tends to stink up the place.)
There have been numerous efforts in Congress since then to modify COOL laws, repeal them, and/or substitute a voluntary labeling program, none of which came to fruition (pun intended). Despite, or maybe because of the uncertainty about the future of mandatory COOL, USDA soldiered on and published an “interim final rule” in 2004.
(Note to self: What the heck is an interim final rule anyway? Our government at its finest, I guess.)
Here’s what the USDA ruled in 2004: Mandatory COOL labeling applied only to fish and shellfish. It remained voluntary for other covered commodities. It covered food retailers but excluded butcher shops and fish markets, as well as food service establishments, such as restaurants, lunchrooms, cafeterias, and food stands.
Processed food items were already exempted from COOL under the 2002 Farm Bill. The interim final rule included a lengthy definition of “processed food item.” For example (Are you expecting government-speak? Well, you’re correct): Items derived from a covered commodity that have undergone a physical or chemical change (such as cooking, curing, or smoking) or that have been combined with other covered commodities or other substantive food components (e.g., chocolate, breading, tomato sauce) are excluded from COOL labeling.
(Another note to self: Geez, only seafood? How did this clear things up?)
The glacial governmental process has moved up to 2009 (hallelujah). It seems we have a final COOL rule. It became effective on March 16, 2009.
Here are a few of its points: The final rule covers muscle cuts and ground beef, lamb, chicken, goat and pork; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; perishable agricultural commodities (specifically fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables); macadamia nuts; pecans; ginseng; and peanuts.
Commodities covered under COOL must be labeled by retailers to indicate its country of origin. For fish and shellfish, the method of production for both wild and farm-raised varieties must be specified. Commodities are excluded from mandatory COOL if the commodity is an ingredient in a processed food item. The definition of a processed food remained the same tangled mess — the physical and chemical change blather (see above). And, food service establishments remain exempt.
What? Food service is still exempt? And the worrisome wiggle room with respect to processed foods remains?
Now, all this COOL labeling took place during the Bush administration, which was many things but cool was not one of them. What are the Obamans doing? The brand new Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, sent a letter out to food industry representatives regarding the final COOL rule, such as it is, urging voluntary labeling, where mandatory is not specified. If the industry doesn’t comply, Vilsak threatened to reopen the whole rulemaking mess, er, process.
(Note to Sec. Vilsack: Don’t hold your breath, Tom.)
When is final final? When is safe safe? With the government (and importantly our food supply) it seems never.
And I thought being cool just meant wearing sunglasses indoors.
Adam’s post about the travails of shipping companies segues nicely (thanks, Adam!) into mine about food distribution.
Seems people aren’t eating out as much, which affects the restaurant industry, but they are cooking more, so that’s good for the supermarkets. They aren’t buying as many convenience foods either. But food distribution giants such as SYSCO’s or SUPERVALU (which also operates grocery stores) are still trucking food across country. Discretionary purchases might be down, affecting the ground shipping business, but people gotta eat.
Even farmers aren’t worried, and farmers always worry. From an article on farming and the economy comes this quote:
Traditional thinking says that when the economy is struggling, people tend to not frequent restaurants as much and tend to eat at home more. The consequence of that is we tend to pick up that business,” said [Don] Armock, president and co-owner of Riveridge Produce Marketing in Sparta.
Certainly my pantry is filling up with beans and grains and other staples. We were never big on processed foods, although there are certainly some freezer stand-bys for those days when a cooked-from-scratch dinner is just not gonna happen. But it’s not like I’m going to say, “That’s it! No more food until this recession ends!”
Face it — this country depends on far flung food distribution networks. Food prices are affected by energy prices, as we saw last summer, but unlike their counterparts in the shipping industry, food distributors will probably just keep on truckin.’
Consider: E. coli in green onions, spinach, and ground beef; melamine in infant formula and powdered milk; and salmonella in peanut butter and the myriad of other food products peanuts are added to.
What’s next — steel shavings in apple pie? America’s food-safety net isn’t a net at all. It’s a large-holed sieve that allows dangerous, sometimes fatal, contaminants to enter our food supply. The Chinese, in an ironic turn of events, have banned the importation of American products containing peanuts. (Cautionary aside, to whomever needs cautioning: The Chinese punish food-safety offenses with hanging.)
Who’s in charge of our food anyway? The answer reveals a chink in our food armor. Two huge governmental agencies, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), split the duties of overseeing what happens at our food producers’ facilities. The USDA monitors meat, poultry, and some egg products, while the FDA is in charge of most other foods.
Here’s another little — you should pardon the expression — tasty tidbit: The FDA gets about 20% of the food-safety budget to protect some 80% of the food supply and, as a result, it has only about one-tenth the number of inspectors that the USDA does. So, under the current US food-safety system, cheese pizza gets far fewer inspections than pepperoni pizza does. The current peanut butter recall is another example of our leaking sieve of a system. The last time an FDA inspector looked at the Peanut Corporation of America’s Blakely, Georgia, plant was about eight years ago. And if ever a company needed watching, it’s PCA, which knowingly sold contaminated products.
Another problem is that the FDA is charged with overseeing both food and drugs, and a vast majority of time and money it spends is directed at drug safety, and rightly so. But I feel a dope-slap moment of insight coming on … maybe we should put the FDA in charge of drugs only and the USDA in charge of food? Duh.
Bureaucracies, however, are really, really averse to change. Long-time employees dig in their heels. “But we’ve always done it that way,” is the prime directive. Shoulder-shrugging of the, “it’s not our problem,” variety are all too common. Governing agencies have entrenched rules and regulations, protocols and procedures. The inability to say, “We screwed up,” is rampant. (Fortunately, our new President is able to fess up to a screw-up.)
Territoriality is the survival concept of all civil servants. (Those of you who watched SEC officials squirm under questioning by members of congress wanting to know why the that agency didn’t shut down Bernie Madoff and his sinister too-good-to-be-true Ponzi scheme sooner know what I mean.)
Furthermore, government entities are notoriously unable or unwilling to talk to one another. (The two houses of Congress can’t even agree on a stimulus package to save our faltering economy.) It’s time to stop the non-communication.
We need to have a single food inspection system where pizza is pizza no matter its toppings. There needs to be one set of rules, one agency. We need to get rid of our failing, fragmented regulatory system, which has the lives of American citizens in its hands, and replace it with one agency that is generously funded. One that puts the consumer, not its own self-interest, first. Perhaps then the only three-eyed fish around will be Blinky on The Simpsons.