The Locavore's Dilemma (38 page)

15
Based on Patricia Cohen. 2011. “Technology Advances; Human Supersize.”
New York Times
(April 26)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/books/robert-w-fogel-investigates-human-evolution.html?_r=1
; and Gina Kolata. 2006. “So Big and Healthy Granpa Wouldn't Even Know You.”
New York Times
(July 30)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/health/30age.html?ex=1155009600&en=6342cb47f342cde2&ei=5070&emc=eta1
.

16
Robert Rector and Rachel Sheffield. 2011.
Air Conditioning, Cable TV, and an Xbox: What Is Poverty in the United States Today?
Backgrounder #2575, Heritage Foundation
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2011/07/What-is-Poverty
.

17
Stephen L. Morgan. 2000. “Richer and Taller: Stature and Living Standards in China, 1979–1995.”
China Journal
44: 1–39.

18
Daniel Schwekendiek. 2009. “Height and Weight Differences between North and South Korea.”
Journal of Biosocial Science
41 (1): 51-55. For nearly three decades, the North Korean regime has been pursuing an autarkic policy known as Juche with disastrous results. For a concise introduction to the issue, see Jordan Weissmann. 2012. “How Kim Jong Il Starved North Korea.”
The Atlantic
(December 20)
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/12/how-kim-jong-il-starved-north-korea/250244/
.

19
For the latest statistics and a more detailed discussion of the issue, see the “Obesity” webpage of the World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/topics/obesity/en/
.

20
Greg Easterbrook. 2004.
The Progress Paradox
, Random House, p. xiv.

21
John Page. 1880. “The Sources of Supply of the Manchester Fruit and Vegetable Markets
.” Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England
16 (2nd series), p. 482
http://books.google.ca/books?id=epoEAAAAYAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s
.

22
Robert Paarlberg. 2010.
Food Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know
. Oxford University Press, p. 86.

23
Extracted from the pyrethrum flower, it was first used to kill body lice on people in the early nineteenth century and then household pests. It is very similar in its chemical composition to military nerve weapons.

24
For a more detailed discussion of the true nature and real shortcomings of organic agriculture, see Alex Avery. 2006.
The Truth about Organic Foods
. Henderson Communications.

25
Gary Blumenthal. 2011. “Creating False Markets.”
World Perspectives, Inc
(February), p. 2. Blumenthal observes that the National Organic Act “was required in the U.S. because government regulators lacked a science-based rationale” for organic foods. Furthermore, unlike conventional food products which are regulated by USDA, EPA and FDA scientists, organic products are regulated by marketing specialists at the Agricultural Marketing Service and overseen by a National Organic Standards Board comprised predominantly of organic growers, handlers, organic certifiers, consumer representatives and environmentalists. The sole scientist on the committee makes her living by giving advice to an organic foods marketer.

26
From the U.K. Food Standards Agency press release for the study (July 29, 2009) available at
http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2009/jul/organic
.The study is Alan D. Dangour, Sakhi K. Dodhia, Arabella Hayter, Elizabeth Allen, Karen Lock and Ricardo Uauy. 2009. “Nutrional Quality of Organic Foods: A Systematic Review.”
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
93 (6): 680–685
http://www.ajcn.org/content/early/2009/07/29/ajcn.2009.28041.full.pdf+html
.

27
For several quotes to this effect see Alex Avery. 2006.
The Truth about Organic Foods
. Henderson Communications, chapter 12. To give but one illustration taken from Avery's book, the Organic Trade Association stated over a decade ago that “Whenever you buy organic products, [you are telling] farmers, producers and retailers that you care about the earth, too, and that you want them to continue with their efforts to save the planet.”.

28
OECD, 2010.
Obesity and the Economics of Prevention: Fit not Fat
. OECD
http://www.oecd.org/document/31/0,3746,en_2649_37407_45999775_1_1_1_37407,00.html
.

29
For more elaborate introductions to food safety issues in the American context, see the respective webpages of the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service on “Food Safety Education”
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Food_Safety_Education/index.asp
; the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on “Food Safety”
http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/
; the Partnership for Food Safety Education
http://www.fightbac.org/
; and the US FDA on “Food Safety”
http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/default.htm
.

30
This is not to say that some herbal remedies were not effective in some cases, if only as painkillers or for their narcotic properties. It is also worth noting that some chimpanzees in Tanzania have been observed to consume more than a dozen different kinds of plants for their curative rather than nutritional properties.

31
Heather Pringle, 1998. “The Sickness of the Mummies.”
Discover
19 (12) (December), pp. 74–83.

32
The scientist is Dr. Tim Sly of the School of Occupational and Public Health, Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada).

33
Thomas R. DeGregori. 2001.
Bountiful Harvest: Technology, Food Safety and the Environment
. Cato Institute, p. 90. The molehill and mountain metaphor is borrowed from journalist William Kay's review of an earlier version of DeGregori's book on his personal website. William Kay. 2007. Review of Thomas R. DeGregori's
Agriculture and Modern Technology: A Defense
(Iowa State University Press, 2001)
http://www.ecofascism.com/review10.html
.

34
See Bruce N. Ames and Lois Swirsky Gold. 1993. “Environmental Pollution and Cancer: Some Misconceptions.” In Kenneth R. Foster, David E. Bernstein, and Peter W. Huber.
Phantom Risk: Scientific Inference and the Law
. MIT Press, p. 157.

35
Most (58%) illnesses with known agents were caused by norovirus, followed by nontyphoidal
Salmonella
spp. (11%),
Clostridium perfringens
(10%), and
Campylobacter
spp. (9%). Leading causes of hospitalization were nontyphoidal
Salmonella
spp. (35%), norovirus (26%),
Campylobacter
spp. (15%), and
Toxoplasma gondii
(8%). Leading causes of death were nontyphoidal
Salmonella
spp.
(28%),
T. gondii
(24%),
Listeria monocytogenes
(19%), and norovirus (11%). 80% of foodborne illness are attributed to unspecified agents, but again these have very little to do with herbicide and pesticide residues. For more detail, see Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Estimates of Foodborne Illness In the United States: 2011 Estimate Findings”
http://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/2011-foodborne-estimates.html
; Elaine Scallan, Robert M. Hoekstra, Frederick J. Angulo, Robert V. Tauxe, Marc-Alain Widdowson, Sharon L. Roy, Jeffery L. Jones, and Patricia M. Griffin. 2011. “Foodborne Illness Acquired in the United States—Major Pathogens»
Emerging Infectious Diseases
17 (1)
http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/17/1/7.htm#1
; Elaine Scallan, Patricia M. Griffin, Frederick J. Angulo, Robert V. Tauxe, and Robert M. Hoekstra. 2011. “Foodborne Illness Acquired in the United States—Unspecified Agents.”
Emerging Infectious Diseases
17 (1)
http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/17/1/16.htm
.

36
Thomas R. DeGregori. 2001.
Bountiful Harvest: Technology, Food Safety and the Environment
. Cato Institute, chapters 3 and 4.

37
For a brief introduction to the issue, see the CDC entry on raw milk at
http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/rawmilk/raw-milk-index.html
.

38
For a brief history of advances in this respect in the United States in the 20th century, see EPA et al. 1999. “Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Safer and Healthier Foods.”
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) 48 (40): 905–913
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4840a1.htm
.

39
Steve Ettlinger. 2007.
Twinkie, Deconstructed
. Hudson Street Press, pp. 129–130.

40
The main approach in this respect is known as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) See the U.S. FDA webpage on this approach at
http://www.fda.gov/food/foodsafety/hazardanalysiscriticalcontrolpointshaccp/default.htm
.

41
Dennis Avery. 2010. “Why Tolerate Deadly Food Bacteria?” Hudson Institute (October 5)
http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=7398&pubType=FoodPolicy
.

42
Richard Williams, Robert L. Scharff, and David Bieler. 2010. “Food Safety in the 21st Century.”
Mercatus on Policy
no. 71 (February)
http://mercatus.org/sites/default/files/publication/MOP71_Food%20Safety_web.pdf
.

43
From the Jensen Farms website at
http://www.jensenfarms.com/index.cfm/pages/view/id/8/page/ROCKY-FORD-CANTALOUPE
.

44
Source: US FDA. 2011. Information on the Recalled Jensen Farms Whole Cantaloupes, (October 21)
http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/CORENet-work/ucm272372.htm
.

45
Jim Prevor. 2011. “The Cantaloupe Crisis: The Truth that Dares not Speak Its Name. The Priority can be Safe or the Priority can be Local, but It cannot be Both.”
Perishable Pundit
(October 4)
http://www.perishablepundit.com/index.php?article=2664
.

46
Leigh Goessl. 2011. “Organic Shell Eggs Recalled Due to Salmonella.”
Digital Journal
(October 24)
http://digitaljournal.com/article/313273
.

47
This paragraph was adapted from Rod Smith. 2010. “Cage Housing Tie to Egg Recall Shorts Truth.”
Feedstuffs
(August 26).
http://www.feedstuffs.com/ME2/Segments/NewsHeadlines/Print.asp?Module=News&id=769A8979B98349AE8CEAB44119D8E3FF
.

48
D. Worsfold, P.M Worsfold and C.J. Griffith. 2004. “An Assessment of Food Safety and Hygiene at Farmers' Markets.”
International Journal of Environmental Health Research
14 (2): 109-119, p. 109.

49
Uwe Spiekermann. 2010. “Dangerous Meat? German-American Quarrels over Pork and Beef, 1870-1900.”
Bulletin of the German Historical Institute
46 (Spring): 93–110 p. 99.

50
Gardener's Chronicle, Horticultural Trade Journal
, Volume 78, October 17, 1925. The
Garderner's Chronicle
was a British publication that has since been incorporated in
Horticulture Week
. Quoted in Ruth deForest Lamb. 1936.
American Chamber of Horrors. The Truth about Food and Drugs.
Farrar & Rinehart, p. 207.

51
Ronald Bailey. 2006. “Don't Panic over Spinach.”
Reason.com
(September 29)
http://reason.com/archives/2006/09/29/dont-panic-over-spinach
.

52
Robert Paalberg. 2010. “Attention Whole Food Shoppers.”
Foreign Policy
(May/June)
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/04/26/attention_whole_foods_shoppers?page=full
.

1
See, among others, Thomas Hudson Middleton. 1923.
Food Production in War.
Clarendon Press, p. 324.

2
Katherine Kemp, Andrea Insch, David K. Holdsworth and John G. Knight. 2010. “Food Miles: Do UK Consumers Actually Care?”
Food Policy
35 (6): 504-513.

3
See, among others, Chantal Blouin, Jean-Frédéric Lemay, Kausar Ashraf, Jane Imai and Lazar Konforti. 2009.
Local Food Systems and Public Policy: A Review of the Literature
. Équiterre and The Center for Trade Policy and Law (Carleton University)
http://www.ctpl.ca/publications/occasional-papers/local-food-systems-and-public-policy-review-literature
; American Planning Association. 2007.
Policy Guide on Community and Regional Food Planning
. American Planning Association
http://www.planning.org/policy/guides/adopted/food.htm
; and
Wayne Caldwell, AnnelizaCollett, Therese Ludlow, Ian Sinclair and Jenny Whitehead. 2011.
Planning and Food Security within the Commonwealth: Discussion Paper
. Commonwealth Association of Planners
http://www.commonwealth-planners.org/papers/food.pdf
.

4
For a brief introduction to this issue, see Robert L. Schuettinger and Eamonn F. Butler. 1979.
Forty Centuries of Wage and Price Controls: How Not to Fight Inflation.
The Heritage Foundation
http://mises.org/books/fortycenturies.pdf
.Unless otherwise specified, the illustrations discussed in this sub-section were taken from this source.

5
For a more detailed discussion of these measures from a sympathetic perspective, see Frederic Mousseau. 2010.
The High Food Price Challenge: A Review of Responses to Combat Hunger
. Oakland Institute
http://media.oaklandinsti-tute.org/sites/oaklandinstitute.org/files/high_food_prices_web_final.pdf
See also FAO (Trade and Markets Division). 2009.
The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets. High Food Prices and the Food Crisis—Experiences and Lessons Learned.
FAO
http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i0854e/i0854e00.htm
.

6
OECD. 2010. Agricultural Policies in OECD Countries at a Glance. OECD.
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/17/0/45539870.pdf
For a much more elaborate discussion of the issue, see Kym Anderson (editor). 2009.
Distortions to Agricultural Incentives: A Global Perspective, 1955-2007
. Palgrave Macmillan and World Bank.