Fracking vs. food: N.Y.’s choice BY MARIO BATALI AND BILL TELEPAN

[xchrom]

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/fracking-food-n-y-s-choice-article-1.1357913

As chefs and proprietors of New York City restaurants, we care a great deal about the ingredients going into the dishes we serve to our customers: where they come from, how they’re produced and any health or safety risks they might carry.

At the same time, we are committed to providing sustainable and ecologically friendly dining, which means buying seasonal ingredients, often from upstate New York. Whether it is fresh fruits and vegetables, grass-fed animals or dairy products, we love what this state has to offer.

For these reasons and many others, we are deeply concerned about the prospect of hydrofracking in New York. Fracking — a controversial method of extracting natural gas from deep underground — could do serious damage to our state’s agricultural industry and hurt businesses, like ours, that rely on safe, healthy, locally sourced foods.

New York’s agricultural economy is strong and vast, and is an important economic driver for our state. We have the second-largest number of farmers’ markets in the country and the fourth-highest number of organic farms — and are the third-largest dairy-producing state. New York is second only to California in its wine production.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/fracking-food-n-y-s-choice-article-1.1357913#ixzz2VkTGNSQN

[Buzz Clik]

1. This is you big chance to comment on the science behind these concerns.

I'm very interested if these chefs have a legit worry based on science or if they are being driven by or are merely propagating fear.

Please be specific: do we have to choose between fracking and food?

[sikofit3]

2. Yes

If you google Pennsylvania and the beef industry out west, in Louisiana etc.. you will find herds of cattle, horses, goats etc... being contaminated from drill sites located on the farms themselves. There is also a study from two professors at Cornell that studied symptoms of these animals exposure to the drill sites. The reason that this is not an open discussion on a broader scale is that when farmers have spills or leaks on their properties that their farm animals are exposed to, they settle in court with the gas companies but they have to sign a confidentiality agreement that says they can not discuss the details. At this point they have to quarantine their whole heard and take the loss at the market for those specific animals. The brine water that comes up draws these animals because they like the salt, somewhat like dogs loving to lick up antifreeze. Do we have to choose between fracking and food? No, but the zoning laws and private land owners who own farms allow for these drill sites to be located on our food source so regardless of your side on it, that is something we all she be concerned about. If you look at the animal study from Cornell they have done toxicology on them and it is alarming that we would be consuming those chemicals. People should take notice. It also is the air quality that they are breathing around these sites, not just leaks and spills
and there is no standard of testing, as of yet, for these animals so no one really knows and that is an issue.

[Buzz Clik]

3. Excellent response.

The fracking industry needs to be reeled in and tightly regulated.

The industry not only is secretive about the composition of the injected solutions, they have managed to squeeze off funding for research.

Research and heavy regulations. Pennsylvania got the ball rolling, and Illinois kicked it up a notch. The Feds need to quick relenting and get with the program.

[sikofit3]

4. Thanks!