"california" news and stories

Some big news hit the hen house on Tuesday. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed bill A.B. 1437 into law, which states that all whole eggs must come from birds that can "fully extend their limbs, lie down and spread their wings without touching each other or the sides of their enclosure," as the Humane Society of the United States describes it. In other words, when the law goes into full effect in 2015, the Golden State will be effectively cage free.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of HSUS, wrote in the Huffington Post that the new law will likely have an impact far beyond the California state line -- this being the eighth largest economy in the world, what happens in California rarely stays in California. "With 40 million consumers . . . it would be hard to overestimate the potential of this bill to change the way laying hens are treated throughout the United States," Pacelle pointed out.

So how much of a lifestyle change is this for hens? Let's define our terms. Cage free does not equal free range. According to the HSUS, cage-free hens are still confined by the thousands, indoors, and may still be debeaked and force-molted. Even so, life in battery cages is arguably worse, as the hens literally can not turn around or spread their wings -- ever.

There's no denying the obvious: In-N-Out Burger is close to the hearts of Californians. The fast-food burger joint is known for its simple approach (burgers and fries and nothing else) as well as the staggering length of its drive-through lines, which often wind hundreds of feet around their restaurants. The chain got its start in 1948 in the community of Baldwin Park, California -- the first drive-through in the state. But town officials aren't erecting a sign to commemorate it. In fact, they're banning new drive-throughs altogether.

The problem? Well, it turns out that the town's 17 drive-throughs are a little too popular, and politicians are hoping to curb the town's reputation as a hotspot for fast food and tame traffic problems. Baldwin Park, 15 miles east of Los Angeles, is home to about 90,000 people but is only about 6.5 square miles, so drive-through lines often stretch into residential streets.

The City Council voted unanimously last month to put a nine-month moratorium on new drive-through restaurants. "We here in Baldwin Park have taken strides to create a healthy community, and allowing one more drive-through in is not going to meet that goal," city planner Salvador Lopez, who helped craft the ordinance, told the Associated Press.

About 35,000 pounds of ground beef has been recalled by a Southern California meat distributor for potential E. coli contamination, the Associated Press reported.

The affected beef was produced by the South Gate Meat Co. between June 7 and 21. It was shipped to Los Angeles area restaurants, the AP reported.

A person who answered the South Gate Meat telephone told the AP the company was meeting with the USDA and unavailable for comment.

More about the recall after the jump.

Remember how ten or twenty years ago, a trip to the grocery store always concluded with the same question: "Paper or plastic?" That question has largely been answered, as grocers now default to plastic about 80 percent of the time. Those plastic bags are cheap, convenient -- and an environmental menace. At best, they mar the landscape, lending an aimless, trashy vibe to urban streets. Far more disturbingly, they clog our landfills, use up nonrenewable resources such as petroleum, and kill wildlife both on land and in water, according to the Earth Resource Foundation.

Some communities and even entire countries are attempting to kick the plastic bag habit by taxing them, encouraging citizens to switch to reusable shopping bags. The state of California may be next, according to the L.A. Times. Bill AB 1998 would take things a bit farther than a simple tax, however -- it would enforce an outright ban. Customers who forget to bring reusable bags to the store would have the option to pay a minimum of 5 cents apiece for recycled paper bags.

Remember when the biggest beverage controversy to hit the lunchroom was chocolate vs. plain milk? These days, vending machines packed full of soda, sports drinks and sugary juice are the target: A new California bill banning sugar-sweetened sports drinks in middle schools and high schools passed last week. But some officials think the measure robs kids of choice.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sponsored the measure -- childhood obesity is one of his pet projects, and he succeeded in banning sodas from all California schools in 2007. Sports drinks were also banned in grade schools, but they remained an exception for older kids, hiding behind a guise of health and hydration.

But the neon-hued drinks are really just glorified sugar water with added salt, and they pack a lot of calories into that 20-oz bottle. For example, regular Gatorade has 50 calories and 14 grams of sugar per 8 oz serving. But really -- who drinks a cup of Gatorade? Nobody. Guzzling the whole bottle on a hot afternoon -- a more likely scenario -- means kids are actually getting about 125 calories and 35 grams of sugar. Drinking a 32-oz Powerade delivers 280 calories, 220 milligrams of sodium and 76 grams of sugar.