What a storm last night! We got a lot of rain in Coshocton County in the last 12 hours. Anyone with produce may be wondering if it is safe to harvest vegetables (primarily leafy greens) that are in flooded fields. Please read this Fact Sheet from OSU Extension Produce Safety and Flooded Fields.
If the water that has flooded the field is from the flooding of a water source like a river or stream, then the vegetables should not be consumed. This is considered high risk, because there is no way to know what contamination could have been introduced into the field with that water. However, if the flooding is due to ponding, just too much rain on saturated soil, and no edible portion has contacted the water, then vegetables could be harvested. This is considered lower risk, but still requires a thorough risk assessment.
The Fact Sheet will walk you through a risk assessment to determine recommended actions.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Monday, June 10, 2013
Viewing food prices from a global perspective
Since I like to think about agriculture from both a global and local (and everything in between) perspective, I thought that this article was very interesting. World bodies say global food prices to rise
I found this fact from the article astounding - "Food consumption in developing countries has grown by up to 30 percent a year over the past decade as incomes rose, while consumption in developed countries changed little, the agencies [U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] said."
We focus on obesity and reducing food consumption in the US, but food consumption is increasing in the world. And this is not due to shear numbers of people alone. People in developing countries are using their increased income to purchase more food.
Even as many in our rural communities support local farming operations, the world is still very much connected and market prices will continue to be driven by forces beyond our community.
I found this fact from the article astounding - "Food consumption in developing countries has grown by up to 30 percent a year over the past decade as incomes rose, while consumption in developed countries changed little, the agencies [U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] said."
We focus on obesity and reducing food consumption in the US, but food consumption is increasing in the world. And this is not due to shear numbers of people alone. People in developing countries are using their increased income to purchase more food.
Even as many in our rural communities support local farming operations, the world is still very much connected and market prices will continue to be driven by forces beyond our community.
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