- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources is in the news today. For example, UPI ran a story about a UC Davis study that determined daily consumption of vegetable juice is an effective way for people to increase their vegetable intake. AgAlert released an article about a UC Riverside scientist's conclusion that fertilizer savings make growing a cowpea cover crop of value even to non-organic farmers.
These are important developments, but somehow it doesn't seem right to go into the details on the day...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
With the "historic" 2008 election coming to a close tomorrow, media are winding up their own information and endorsement campaigns. An informal review of media endorsements on Proposition 2, the Humane Society's initiative to prohibit what it considers cruel animal confinement procedures for egg-laying hens, sows and calves, looks like good news for opponents of the measure.
Here's my tally . . .
Opposed:
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- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
With just two weeks until the election, California's Proposition 2 is getting attention from the Hollywood elite, out-of-state agricultural interests and many media outlets. Here are a few tidbits from recent days involving UC experts:
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Veterinarian Nancy Reimers, who speaks for the opposition, said caged hens already have space for turning and flapping their wings, and seem content. "If I'm going into a house of otherwise healthy hens -- in cages or not -- they sing," Reimers was quoted in the Los Angeles Times. . . . . "There is not, to my knowledge, a behavior called singing on the part...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Proposition 2 continues to make news. Coverage of the initiative, which will set new standards for confining farm animals in California, in many cases mentions the UC Agricultural Issues Center research project that drew conclusions about the probable economic effects of the proposition's passage.
Here's a sampling of stories and editorials from the last week:
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Animal rights activists want more space for hens - San Jose Mercury News
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
An article in the San Diego Union Tribune over the weekend presented both sides of the debate over Proposition 2, the initiative on the November ballot that, if passed, will set new standards for farm animal confinement.
The story implied that UC Riverside poultry specialist emeritus Don Bell is an "opponent of the measure" when it followed a statement about concerns that Prop 2 will increase food prices with his quote.
According to the story, Bell said:
“Pennies, nickels, dimes and dollars add up as today's prices for everything (increase) –...