USDA to buy dark meat chicken products
By Rita Jane Gabbett on 6/16/2010
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday announced USDA will purchase up to $14 million of dark meat chicken products for federal food nutrition assistance programs, including food banks.
“The purchase … will help poultry producers who are experiencing an increase in dark meat cold storage inventories and a decreasing wholesale price,” Vilsack said in a news release.
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service buys food products each year to support the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Summer Food Service Program, the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program and the Emergency Food Assistance Program. USDA also makes emergency food purchases for distribution to victims of natural disasters.
National Chicken Council President George Watts called the purchase “a timely action that will relieve the industry of excess product while providing high-quality food to needy people here at home.”
He noted the U.S. chicken industry under normal circumstances sells about 1.5 billion pounds of chicken legs to Russia annually. Since Jan. 1, however, Russia’s ban on chicken products from plants that use chlorinated water has shut U.S. processors out of that market.
More information on purchase details is available here.
View from Across the Pond
By: John Strak
We are all responsible now
(The views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly those of the author.)
Events in the Gulf are hitting the headlines: big oil, big news, big mess. Let’s hope that the technology can handle nature’s worst. I am optimistic. But let’s hope most of all that we can all learn from this event. In particular we have to learn something about ourselves. I realized this when I was in Brazil last week listening to people in the meat supply chain trying to avoid another mess.
Oil is about energy and energy is about our modern lifestyles and economies. We have relied on fossil fuels and in the case of oil, have pushed the boundaries of oil exploration to the outer limits (or should I say the deeper limits). Long gone are the days when a simple “nodding donkey” rig was all that was needed to bring oil up from below ground in those rich and easy to harvest oil fields in Texas. Nowadays deep sea drilling needs technology that can work from the frozen wastes of the Artic to the hurricane lashed waters of the Gulf – at incredible depths.
And what is the connection with Brazil? Read on.
The reason I was in Brazil was to play a small part in the Round Table for Responsible Soy Association’s 5th International Conference and General Assembly. This Association was formed five years ago with the aim of creating a platform that could design and deliver sustainable soya production in the key soya producing and exporting countries. It now has 140 members in 20 countries and the recent Brazil meeting agreed a set of rules that will be used to benchmark “responsible soy”. In this way the people who buy soya from RTRS-certified farms will be sure that they are not destroying the world’s resources.
And how does this connect with big oil? Well, oil is about energy and so is soya. Livestock producers buy soya as a key ingredient in meat production which, of course, is used as energy for human beings. It’s also true that soya can be used to produce biodiesel – a competitor for oil used for motor transport. And Brazil has been ahead of the game in using its climate and soils to produce biofuels for many years. The EU has just introduced new regulations about these biofuels – the Renewable Energy Directive – that ensure that fuels produced from crops have to pass stringent tests on sustainability so that we don’t make the problem worse by encouraging production of non-sustainable fuels from crops.
The key issue for the new RTRS standard is, can it help stop the destruction of forests and loss of biodiversity in South America – which, if the scientist are correct – are a major factor in regulating the world’s climate? That’s the mess that the soya producers and the meat supply chain surely want to avoid. It may not be as immediate as the mess in the Gulf right now but it is just as important.
What do we learn about ourselves from this?
My view is that we must learn to look in the mirror. The mess in the Gulf has come about because we, as consumers, have demanded more and more cheap energy and the technologists and oil companies have responded by pushing their fossil fuel supply chains harder and harder. And then something broke. The meat supply chain is no different, if consumers ask for more and more then, eventually, and even with the best intentions, something will break. The mess in the Gulf has led to calls for more regulation of the oil industry. The meat supply chain, through activities like the RTRS in Brazil, will have to regulate too. But it’s not just about regulation. We are all responsible now.
Consumers have to think hard about the consequences of asking for more and more.
June 16, 2010
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Burger chain’s new menu includes pastas plus American classics
By Ann Bagel Storck on 6/16/2010
Casual-dining burger chain Red Robin announced its new menu, which includes pastas as well as classic burgers, is now available at the majority of its locations.
The new menu features:
Pastas such as Grilled Chicken Pesto Pasta and Grilled Chicken Alla Caprese
The All-American Patty Melt, topped with sautéed onions, Thousand Island dressing and cheese on marbled rye for $8.79
The Pub Burger with ale-braised onions and mushrooms, peppercorn-ranch, cheddar and Swiss cheese and tomatoes on an onion bun for $9.49
New marketing campaign
Red Robin also announced the debut of new TV and online ads created by Minneapolis-based Periscope that are designed to capitalize on the catch phrase “Red Robin … YUMMM” as well as build awareness for the chain’s quality, variety and value. Specifically, the ads aim to generate interest in a couple items available through July 25: the Big Melt Bacon Burger and the Honey Mustard Chicken Sandwich.
Greenwood Village, Colo.-based Red Robin has more than 430 restaurants across the United States and Canada.
