UC Blog
Media continue to crack egg puns
In the media coverage of Proposition 2's campaign and passage, reporters have made liberal use of puns. Here are a few examples:
Prop 2 . . .
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would crack the state's egg industry
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lays an egg for state producers
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is a study in cage fighting
There were many more, but Jim Downing of the Sacramento Bee came up with what I think is the best pun. In a story published last Saturday, he wrote:
"To a huge majority of California voters, it seems, the chicken does come before the egg."
For the story, Downing spoke to animal welfare expert Joy Mench, an animal science professor at UC Davis. She told the reporter it is unclear whether the risk of salmonella contamination is higher in caged or cage-free systems. Downing also sought comment from Dan Summer, the director of the UC Agricutlural Issues Center. Even if the cage-free movement spreads to other states (as proponents of the initiative intend), he said the California egg industry is facing steep transition costs and some farms will likely go out of business.
Backyard chickens need same level of care as other pets
The latter third of a 1,100-word article on backyard chickens published today in the Christian Science Monitor was based on information from UC Davis Cooperative Extension specialist Francine Bradley.
The article was a trend piece on growing interest in keeping chickens in urban or suburban settings to supply families with fresh eggs, organic fertilizer and pest control.
Bradley told reporter Maryann Mott that the responsibility taken on when adopting chickens is no different from that for more traditional pets, like dogs and cats.
"If you're going to be the steward of an animal, you should know how to take care of it before you purchase one," Bradley was quoted.
She told the reporter that information on rearing healthful chickens is available from Cooperative Extension offices in nearly every U.S. county.
"We know more about the nutrition for chickens than any other living animal, including humans," she says, "so there's no excuse for not feeding a bird well."
Luke Shapiro with backyard chicken.
North Coast olive oil production a labor of love
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat ran a story today marking harvest time for North Coast artisan olive oil producers. Though the area's high-end olive oil producers are "making money," reporter Robert Digitale wrote that the high labor cost associated with harvest makes olive oil production a "labor of love."
With information from UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Paul Vossen, the article compared the small-scale, specialty olive oil production of the North Coast with large-scale olive operations in California's Central Valley.
The growth of the industry in the valley is due to “super-high-density” orchards and mechanical harvesters that greatly reduce labor costs. Valley growers plant 650 to 900 trees per acre, compared to no more than 300 per acre at the North Coast. Artisan olive oil producers on the North Coast mostly “are doing it for the love of it," Vossen was quoted.
Digitale spoke to Colleen McGlynn, whose husband Ridgely Evers founded the online small-business management program NetBooks, about their olive farm's bottom line. In olive oil, she told the reporter, you have to take the long view.
“You plant grapes for your kids and olives for your grandkids," she was quoted.
Beer is healthy
You may have heard it before, but it bears repeating: beer is healthy in moderation. The Birmingham (Alabama) News ran a story yesterday with all the details from UC Davis brewing scientist Charles Bamforth. Bamforth, chair of the UC Davis Food Science and Technology Department, is the author of "Grape vs. Grain, A Historical, Technological, and Social Comparison of Wine and Beer" (available for just $17.82 on Amazon.com).
According to the story, Bamforth extolled the virtues of beer in a speech to the Birmingham Rotary Club last week. Among his grains of wisdom:
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Beer is the perfect accompaniment for more foods than wine.
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No pathogens grow in beer. It's the safest item in the grocery store.
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The best dose is two 12-ounce servings of beer a day, every day.
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Beer is a good source of most B vitamins and folic acid.
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Beer is a rich source of silicon, which helps bone and cartilage health.
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Beer beats wine in providing antioxidants.
beer
Media turns to UC for egg industry information
As media outlets begin to analyze the impact of Proposition 2's passage, they are turning to UC for information.
The headline of the Los Angeles Times story - "Prop. 2 probably won't hike egg prices" - is based on the report by the UC Agricultural Issues Center about the potential impact of implementing the provisions of Proposition 2. The article, written by reporter Carla Hall, says egg prices probably won't go up because out-of-state farmers, who already supply a third of Californians' eggs -- and could provide more -- are not affected by the new law, so they won't have to change their housing.
The San Francisco Chronicle ran an Associated Press analysis of Proposition 2. It quoted the UC Ag Issues Center report in noting that the new law will be felt largely by the state's egg farmers, whose production last year was valued at $337 million.
The Chronicle article predicted that uncertainty about how Proposition 2 will be enforced means that fights lie ahead over how much room "factory farm animals" should be provided.
UC Riverside poultry specialist emeritus Don Bell was quoted in the AP story about the measure's economic impact.
"It will be the loss of an entire industry in California," he said, according to reporter Samantha Young.
Egg industry faces change.