in the news: action against BPA, curbing rice consumption

this first item is a couple of weeks old now, but the Canadian government appears to be preparing to take action against the use of bisphenol-a (BPA) in plastics. according to The New York Times, Canada's health department is planning to declare BPA toxic, based on research showing its effects as an endocrine disruptor, even at small amounts of exposure:

"Canada Likely to Label Plastic Ingredient 'Toxic'"

hopefully this move, besides encouraging the government to ban BPA in certain products, will also furnish further support for more careful investigation of its safety in the US, where plastics manufacturers have been avidly defending its harmlessness. for more information on BPA in household products, see my past post, "avoiding bisphenol A." the Green Guide also offers a useful overview of which plastic numbers are which resins, and what common products are made with, "Plastic Products at a Glance." of course, trying to reduce plastic consumption will both limit your exposure to toxic plasticizers and reduce non-biodegradable waste.

secondly, the San Francisco Chronicle today reported on how worldwide grain shortages are having an impact on the availability of rice in the US:

"Global rice squeeze hitting U.S. consumers"

apparently, droughts in many rice-growing countries are contributing to the shortage of long-grain rice, and these countries are responding by restricting exports to protect the price of the grain for their own domestic consumption. American wholesalers have responded by limiting sales of rice to consumers and restaurateurs per visit. the article goes on to discuss briefly Raj Patel's work on the "world food system" and the negative effects of global climate change, rising fuel and fertilizer costs, and increasing meat production. Patel describes how growing demand for meat is linked to economic development, reminding us how much more grain is required to raise a pound of meat than to feed a human being. but Westerners should be careful not to blame the developing world for food production excesses we've promoted at home for over 50 years, including factory farming and industrialized agribusiness. instead, we might think about why meat retains its status as desirable and privileged food, and how we can promote (or lobby the government to do so) a more sustainable balance of smallscale, humane meat production alongside decentralized grain and produce farming.

what's most clear, however, is how a confluence of modern food production and transportation practices are engendering an untenable set of conditions, in which increased oil consumption has contributed both to global warming through fossil fuels and poor soil quality through reliance on nitrogen fertilizers. centralized, industrialized food production has provided us both with poor nutrition and an unstable world system, which puts many people in a vulnerable position when a monoculture crop is threatened or transportation costs spike up sharply. it's unfortunate that Western countries have established such an unsustainable model for food production, and it may be that the weaknesses of the system only force us to change our ways under great duress.

avoiding bisphenol A

in light of ongoing criticism of BPA in food packaging, i conducted a little online snooping around to find out more about which products are likely to contain BPA in the first place. i found a couple of informative articles, including the Green Guide's coverage of BPA in can liners, even organic ones ("The Bisphenol-A Debate: A Suspect Chemical in Plastic Bottles and Cans"), which covers how low doses of the chemical may actually be more harmful as a hormone disruptor than high ones, especially in fetuses and newborns. the article follows up with some tips to minimize BPA exposure, though unfortunately, simply trying to avoid canned goods altogether may not be practical for many of us.

OrganicConsumers.org has reproduced an article from Terrain Magazine, which goes into more depth on the risk of BPA from canned goods, explaining how the polymer is commonly used in the epoxy which lines the insides of cans, in both organic and conventional products ("Consumer Alert: Toxic Hormone-Disrupting Chemical BPA is Leaching from Food Can Liners"). the problem is that acidic foods like tomatoes will cause steel cans to rust over time -- but at the same time, canned tomatoes are far superior to the pale, grainy tomatoes available in the market off-season. foods like beans are less of an issue since they don't require a lining, though some companies may use epoxy in those cans anyhow. This article also offers some useful suggestions for avoiding BPA, like using stainless steel reusable water bottles instead of polycarbonate, keeping #7 plastics out of the dishwasher and microwave (since heat may cause the BPA to leach more quickly), and learning to put up dried beans rather than use canned (i soak large quantities of beans at a time, then cook them and freeze whatever i'm not ready to use, with the added benefit that homemade frozen beans are much firmer and better-tasting than canned, and cost less, too). lastly, the article helpfully links to the full report from the Environmental Working Group (http://ewg.org/reports/bisphenola/execsumm.php).

finally, OrganicGrace.com has compiled a useful list of which organic food companies use BPA in their can liners, and which do not. notably, Trader Joe's is one of the few companies that offers organic canned foods that claims not to use BPA in their liners -- Muir Glen, Eden Foods, Amy's, Bionaturae and others all use BPA-containing epoxy in their cans of tomatoes (although Eden does not use BPA in their organic beans, and Bionaturae also sells excellent strained tomatoes in glass jars). i emailed Muir Glen last week to protest their use of BPA (the company is now owned by General Mills, and has an online contact form), but they were slow to respond. this week, i finally received an emailed response, but they largely overlooked the concerns i raised over growing scientific evidence against BPA, and claimed that the FDA still considers its use in can linings to be safe for food preservation. of course, it's worth noting that the FDA equally considers conventional produce with trace pesticides to be safe for consumption -- so by that logic, why offer an organic product at all? it seems contradictory to make claims about the benefits of organic while using a potentially unsafe chemical in food packaging.