Foundation Journal

Votes on key amendments to the Food Safety Modernization Act (S510) continue today, November 30, 2010 in the Senate, as legislators take up measures on the Tester Amendment and the controversial earmarks amendment. Several groups advocating for small farmers have taken stands on the bill, like Food Democracy Now : Now Big Ag is trying to kill these provisions, which exempt farmers that have sales of less than $500,000 and sell within 275 miles of their farm, and others are hoping to kill the bill outright. We can't let that happen, tell your Senators to vote YES on the Manager's amendment and pass the food safety bill to protect family farmers and consumers. For a re-cap of the bill and update on the latest votes see this from Food Safety News , which mentions a final vote on the Senate vote should occur today, too. The Senate food safety bill, which has been inching towards passage the past few weeks, cleared a key procedural hurdle Monday, but Senate leaders put off t...

Gary Rodkin, President and CEO of ConAgra, a leading US food manufacturer, gave a presentation labeled the "Politics of Food" at the Central Region Feeding America Conference on October 6 in Omaha, Nebraska. During the keynote address to attendees he acknowledged understanding "it's tough out there" for people seeking services and jobs, but also pointed out it's tough from a retail business standpoint. His talk focused on ConAgra's signficant contributions to food assistance organizations like Feeding America, but included some surprising comments that seemed at odds with the direction of US food banks. For background he explained ConAgra's roots going back to 1867, operating the largest flour milling operation. It's now a Fortune 200 company with 20,000 workers. It's products are found in 97% of US households.One-third of ConAgra's business is with commercial businesses, like milling for Pizza Hut. It's the largest potato produ...