Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/13483
Saturday, July 17, 2010 – Daily News – 5A Agriculture & farm Tehama County Cattle- Women will be partnering with the Downtown Red Bluff Business Associa- tion to present a “Beef N’ Brew” tasting event Sept. 18 in downtown Red Bluff. Save the date. The event will start with a tasting of beef appetizers made by the downtown merchants from 5-7 p.m. with local stores pouring a two ounce sample of micro brews/beer. Lost Coast Brewery, Eureka, has said that they will have Tangerine Wheat, Great White and Downtown Brown avail- able for the tasting. There will be a contest for the best tasting beef recipe, and local digni- taries have been asked to be judges. Business own- ers, their employees, and their customers will be participating in a beef appetizer contest that will be held in conjunction with brew tasting in par- ticipating stores. A street dance with the “Rough Cut” band will follow from 7-10 p.m. at the Cone & Kimball Plaza. There will be a $10 presale available at Heart Felt Design or $ 15 at the gate, charge to enter the dance and this will also get you a Vic Woolery tri tip beef sand- wich and one beer. More beer will be available for pur- chase. This celebration will be open to anyone 21 and older. This is a new venture for promoting beef in Tehama County, and what better place to celebrate than downtown Red Bluff? Fourth of July was cel- ebrated at the Five Dot Ranch in Susanville, when Midge Swickard, son Todd and daughter-in-law Lori welcomed the neigh- boring ranchers and friends to their 50th annu- al picnic and barbecue in Lassen County. The tradition had start- ed in San Jose when it was a rural area, and they raised cattle in the area. They had a corral for the men to rope in, and a small creek by the house where the small children played and mothers watched over the children followed by a picnic. When Jack and Midge with their two very young sons moved to Willow Creek Valley in Septem- ber of 1959, the tradition of a picnic and barbecue on the 4th continued. Midge remembered how the babies and toddlers were put in playpens; the men played horseshoes, the women visited and watched the children. When the children were older there was baseball on the meadow with first base being a muddy wet spot. I still remember how muddy the children and young adults became. She said it was a hum- bling experience to realize ranch Beef N’Brew coming to downtown Almond symposium held MODESTO — More than 200 almond growers, han- dlers and allied industry members from across Califor- nia gathered at the Almond Board of California’s 12th annual Food Quality and Safety Symposium held in Modesto July 1. In fact, 80 peercent of the California almond crop was represented at the event, which brings together leading experts on food quality and safety to facilitate the sharing of best practices and the latest research. “One of the themes we heard from the guest speak- ers was that food safety is not proprietary, and that everyone in the food industry must continue to think proactively about improving processes and safety mea- sures,” said Tim Birmingham, Associate Director, Quality Assurance and Industry Services for the Almond Board of California. “That aligns with the Cal- ifornia Almond industry’s commitment to food safety and it’s why we continue to invest in new research, technologies, and educational initiatives to provide consumers with a reliable supply of safe, high-quality almonds.” Courtesy photo Midge Swickard and son Todd were hosts of the 50th annual 4th of July picnic at Five Dot Ranch. that for 50 years her fami- ly and the neighbors, their good friends, had gathered for the 4th. In honor of the day we saluted the flag of the United States of America. Jean Barton country. *** When I was grocery shopping the other day, I watched packages of meat placed in the same reusable grocery bag with produce and dairy prod- ucts. I thought of the food- safety research report issued June 24th by the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University of California. “Reusable grocery bags can be a breeding ground for dangerous food-borne bacteria and pose a serious risk to pub- lic health, according to a joint food-safety research report. “The research study — which randomly tested reusable grocery bags car- ried by shoppers in Tuc- son, Los Angeles and San Francisco — also found consumers were almost completely unaware of the need to regularly wash their bags. “Our findings suggest a serious threat to public health, especially from coliform bacteria includ- ing E.coli, which were detected in half of the bags sampled,” said Charles Gerba, a UA pro- fessor of soil, water and environmental science and co- author of the study. “Furthermore, consumers are alarmingly unaware of these risks and the critical need to sanitize their bags on a weekly basis.” “Bacteria levels found in reusable bags were sig- nificant enough to cause a wide range of serious health problems and even Midge told about the Sign- ers of the Dec- laration of Inde- pendence and reminded us they fought for freedom. We as freedom loving people must, at all cost, protect our freedom and guard against letting tyranny happen right here before our eyes in our own death. They are a particu- lar danger for young chil- dren, who are especially vulnerable to food-borne illnesses,” Gerba said. “The study also found that awareness of potential risks was very low. A full 97 percent of those inter- viewed never washed or bleached their reusable bags, said Gerba, adding that thorough washing kills nearly all bacteria that accumulate in the reusable bags. “The report comes at a time when some members of the California Legisla- ture, through Assembly Bill 1998, are seeking to promote increased con- sumer use of reusable bags by banning plastic bags from California stores.” “If this is the direction California wants to go, our policymakers should be prepared to address the ramifications for public health,” said co-author Ryan Sinclair, a professor at Loma Linda Universi- ty’s School of Public Health. The report noted that “a sudden or significant increase in use of reusable bags without a major pub- lic education campaign on how to reduce cross cont- amination would create the risk of significant adverse public health impact.” The report, “Assess- ment of the Potential for Cross Contamination of Food Products by Reusable Shopping Bags,” offered the following poli- cy recommendations for lawmakers, as well as tips for consumers who use reusable grocery bags: • States should consid- er requiring printed instructions on reusable bags indicating they need to be cleaned or bleached between uses. • State and local gov- ernments should invest in a public education cam- paign to alert the public about risk and prevention. • When using reusable bags, consumers should be careful to separate raw foods from other food products. • Consumers should not use reusable food bags for other purposes such as carrying books or gym clothes. “As scientists, our focus was not on the rela- tive merits of paper, plas- tic or reusable grocery bags,” Gerba said. “Our intent was purely to pro- vide relevant data to better inform consumers and lawmakers about the pub- lic health dimensions that could arise from increased use of reusable bags. With this knowledge, people will be in a better position to protect their health and that of their children.” The samples tested included 84 actual con- sumer reusable bags — 25 in Los Angeles, 25 in San Francisco, 34 in Tucson. All but four of those bags were made of woven polypropylene. New reusable bags and plastic bags were tested; none contained any contamina- tion. The American Chem- istry Council underwrote the research project, which was conducted independently of the orga- nization. Jean Barton can be reached at jbarton@theskybeam.co m. Spring/Summer Veggies Buy 1 get 1 FREE Garden Center Red Bluff 766 Antelope Blvd. (Next to the Fairground) 527-0886 (530) 365-1403 (800) 464-1403 LIC #808524 Call For Free Information Toll-Free (800) 464-1403 or (530) 365-1403 6183 MEISTER WAY ANDERSON, CA 96007