Sustainable Agriculture

Salmonella saintpaul on tomatoes...er, fresh salsa...er, we're not exactly sure yet.

Following up of previous reports - Are local tomatoes safe? and Tomato Update, the current outbreak of Salmonella saintpaul is continuing.  Since April, 922 persons have been sickened by Salmonella saintpaul.  The likely source are red raw tomatoes, red Roma or Plum tomatoes.  However, the CDC and FDA are now suggesting that the source of contamination may not be tomatoes, but rather a fresh food item such as salsa made with fresh tomatoes.  

The map, from the CDC as of July 3, 2008,  illustrates the distribution of the cases of Salmonellosis across the country.  Most of the cases are in Texas, New Mexico and Illinois.   The most recent CDC update is available.  The outbreak is continuing.   Since June 1, 2008, 210 cases have been reported, which indicates that the contamination is continuing.  

To date, NO CASES have been found in Hawaii.   

News reports are now suggesting that the source of the contamination might be products made with fresh tomatoes such as salsa..  The CDC and state health officials are investigating clusters of people who became ill and ate at 29 different restaurants.  Most reported eating foods commonly served with tomatoes.  Most appear to have been restaurants that featured Mexican food.   The FDA update as of July 3, 2008 is available.

The Barfblog, the Marler Blog and eFoodAlert.com all have regular updates on the outbreak. 

Of greater concern is the ongoing ground beef recall from Nebraska Beef contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.   

Wash hands with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling raw meat and poultry. Wash cutting boards, dishes and utensils with hot, soapy water. Immediately clean spills.

Keep raw meat, fish and poultry away from other food that will not be cooked. Use separate cutting boards for raw meat, poultry and egg products and cooked foods.

Consumers should only eat ground beef or ground beef patties that have been cooked to a safe internal temperature of 160°F.

Color is NOT a reliable indicator that ground beef or ground beef patties have been cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7.
The only way to be sure ground beef is cooked to a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria is to use a thermometer to measure the internal temperature.

Refrigerate raw meat and poultry within two hours after purchase or one hour if temperatures exceed 90°F. Refrigerate cooked meat and poultry within two hours after cooking.

Food for Thought: Three books for summer reading....

The summer is here and we're looking for ways to keep our minds busy while we trundle the kids off to the beach or while we are on that long flight to the mainland.  Just to keep the discussions going about issues related to sustainable agriculture there are three books worth considering for your summer reading. 

Claire Hope Cummings, is an environmental lawyer, journalist and activist and has spoken many times in Hawaii, usually sponsored by Hawaii SEED or other activist groups.  She was one of the plenary speakers at the Hawaii Island Food Summit held last October, 2007.  Her new book, Uncertain Peril: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds, is a persuasive account of the threat that privatization of agricultural seeds by industrial agriculture poses to the Earth's ecology and Food Supply.  Her story exposes the rise of industrial agriculture and plant biotechnology and why patenting seeds is such a threat to our future. 

Robert Paarlbert is the Betty F. Johnson Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College.  Professor Paarlbert's book, Starved for Science: How Biotechnology is Being Kept Out of Africa, explains why poor African farmers are denied access to productive technologies, particularly genetically engineered seeds with improved resistance to insects and drought.  Paarlbert  places the blame, not on the African countries themselves, but wealthy countries who prevent the use of this new technology.  The book describes how modern agricultural technologies are being kept out of Africa.  The book's forewords are written by Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug and Former President Jimmy Carter.

The third book is a convergence of views written by a husband and wife team, one an organic farmer and one a plant geneticist at UC-Davis.  Pamela Ronald is Chair of the Plant Genomics Program and Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of California at Davis.  Raoul Adamchak has been an organic farmer for over twenty years, has served as an inspector for the California Certified Organic Farmers, and currently works at U.C.- Davis as the Market Garden Coordinator at the certified organic student farm on campus.  Their book, Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food, argues that a judicious blend of organic agriculture and genetic engineering may be a key to feeding the world's growing population.  Low input sustainable agriculture and the use of genetically engineered crops often have the same goals - to reduce the amount of pesticides and herbicides used on our crops.  At a time when both sides are shouting at one another, compromise might be in order! 

A disclaimer:  The book title hyperlinks are for Amazon.com and provided for convenience only.   Books can be obtained through a variety of book sellers. 

Salmonella Outbreak Continues - maybe tomatoes, maybe not tomatoes

The latest news regarding the Salmonella outbreak in tomatoes is not optimistic.  New cases continue to be reported.  The most recent case of Salmonellosis with the saintpaul serotype was report on June 15, 2008 and so far and since April, 810 cases have been confirmed and at least 95 people hospitalized.   The Salmonella saintpaul serotype is very rare, for the comparable period in 2007, only 7 cases of this serotype were reported.  An updated version of the CDC information about the outbreak is available. 

On June 26, 2008, the FDA and CDC held a joint press conference about the tomato-Salmonella outbreak.  To download the audio of the press conference in an MP3 format go here:  (caution big file).  The Press conference conducted by Dr. David Acheson, FDA Commissioner and Dr. Patricia Griffin of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  In their news conference, they suggested that while they continue to suspect tomatoes as the source of the contamination; in all the 1700 samples collected so far, they haven't yet confirmed Salmonella saintpaul.  They tested fruit and water from various sites along the supply chain.   They are beginning to equivocate - suggesting that the source may not be tomatoes.  CNN's Lou Dobbs has particularly hard on the FDA and CDC for their seemingly inability to trace the infection.   Estimate losses to the U.S. tomato industry is expected to be over $100,000,000.     

Tomatoes grown in Hawaii continue to be not implicated in this outbreak. 

Turn Your Passion Into Action: Envision Hawaii Conference - July 12, 2008

To register for the program or for more information see the Envision Hawaii website.  Envision Hawai'i is a network of young public servants and social entrepreneurs – people making careers out of making a difference in Hawai'i. Members are generally in their 20's and 30's and come from various lines of public-purpose work. We are educators, social workers, nonprofit staff, community activists, government workers, public interest lawyers, environmental advocates, socially-responsible business owners...the list goes on.

Ultimately, the particular issue focus, political persuasion, occupation, or sector of employment are less important than a clear and demonstrated commitment to serving the public good. The mission of Envision Hawai'i is to support and unify these diverse young professionals with opportunities for professional learning, networking, peer-support, and collective action

Smithsonian Institute Comes to Hawaii - "Key Ingredients: America by Food"

Kapi'olani Community College, in cooperation with the Hawaii Council for the Humanites, will host the Hawaii the first showing of "Key Ingredients: America by Food," a Smithsonian Institute traveling exhibition which shows us how the historical, regional and social traditions merge into everyday meals and celebrations at the American Table.  The exhibition will begin at the Lama Library of the Kapi'olani Community College beginning June 28, 2008 through August 22, 2008.  After that the exhibition moves to Kapolei Public Library from August 30, 2008 through October 20, 2008; then to the Big Island at the Lyman Museum in Hilo, from October 30, 2008 through January 31, 2009. Finally, the exhibit moves to Maui Community College, Kai'ike Building from February 14, 2009 through April 12, 2009. 

Through a selection of artifacts, photographs and illustrations, "Key Ingredients" examines how culture, enthnicity, landscape and tradition influence the foods and flavors enjoyed across the nation.  The exhibition looks at the evolution of the American kitchen and how food industries have responded to the technological innovations that have enabled Americans to choose an ever-wider variety of frozen, prepared and fresh foods. 

The Hawaii showing of "Key Ingredients" will feature a local food component, "Hawaii by Food: A Celebration of Hawaii's Food Culture," that will highlight the progression of food trends in Hawaii from the plantation days to the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement.   CTAHR has been asked to provide posters and other materials to assist with the displays.

Kapi'olani Community College is planning a variety of activities and events to coincide with the exhibit, including lectures and films, story telling sessions and mixed plate art exhibit with local elementary schools.  Information on the Kapi'olani CC events is available.  Other events will be scheduled at the other venues as the exhibit moves around the state.

This is part of the Smithsonian Institution's Museum on Main Street.   For more information: contact Louise Yamamoto at the Kapi'olani Community College.

Tomato Update

From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention June 23, 2008 update on the Salmonella saintpaul contamination of red raw tomatoes.   To date,  613 cases of illness caused by Salmonella saintpaul with a common genetic fingerprint.  The cases have occurred in 33 states but most of the cases ahve been found in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.  For every reported case, there may be up to 38 cases that go unreported, where the individual did not visit health care practitioners.  To date, no cases have been reported in Hawaii. 

FDA has issued a warning to consumers nationwide that an outbreak of Salmonella serotype Saintpaul, an uncommon type of Salmonella, has been linked to consumption of some raw red plum, red Roma, round red tomatoes, and products containing these raw tomatoes. 

Plum or Roma tomatoes               Red round tomatoes

According to the June 23, 2008 FDA update, the FDA recommends conuming raw red plum, raw red Roma or raw red round tomatoes ONLY if grown and harvested from the following areas that HAVE NOT BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE OUTBREAK. 

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida (counties of: Jackson, Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, Madison, Suwannee, Hamilton, Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee, Hardee, DeSoto, Sarasota, Highlands, Pasco, Sumter, Citrus, Hernando, Charlotte)*
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Belgium
• Canada
• Dominican Republic
• Guatemala
• Israel
• Mexican States (Aguascalientes, Baja California Norte, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Colima, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Distrito Federal, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, México, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tobasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucatán, Zacatecas) New!
• Netherlands
• Puerto Rico

Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, from all sources, and tomatoes grown at home are also not linked to the outbreak and can be eaten.

Food safety must begin on the farm. But contamination can take place all along the process.  And if the food is meant to be eaten raw, or isn't cooked or cooked properly, there is plenty of opportunities for food borne illness.  Forbes magazine has a June 23, 2008 article on Top Food Safety Misconceptions. 

According to Forbes, Top Food Safety Misconceptions are:

• That You Can Wash it Off
• That Local Means Safe
• That Fruits and Vegetables Are Safer that Meat Products
• That it Won't Happen to You
• That Cooking Kills Everything
• That a Meat Thermometer Isn't Necessary
• That Food Left Out is Harmless

To get more about the various misconceptions about Food Safety, I suggest the BarfBlog, Musings from the International Food Safety Network. 

Proposed Rule Change for Export of Hawaiian Fruits and Vegetables

We are proposing to revise and reorganize the regulations pertaining to the interstate movement of fruits and vegetables from Hawaii and the territories to consolidate requirements of general applicability and eliminate redundant requirements, update terms and remove outdated requirements and references, and make various editorial and nonsubstantive changes to the regulations to make them easier to use. We are also proposing to make substantive changes to the regulations including establishing criteria within the regulations that, if met, would allow us to approve certain new fruits and vegetables for interstate movement in the United States and to acknowledge pest-free areas in Hawaii and U.S. territories expeditiously, and removing the listing in the regulations of some specific commodities as regulated articles. These changes are intended to simplify and expedite our processes for approving certain regulated  articles for interstate movement and pest-free areas while continuing to allow for public participation in the processes. This proposal, if adopted, would not allow for the interstate movement of any specific new fruits or vegetables, nor would it alter the conditions for interstate movement of currently approved fruits or vegetables. These proposed changes would make our domestic interstate movement regulations more consistent with our fruits and vegetables import regulations. The proposed changes would not alter the manner in which the risk associated with a regulated article interstate movement request is evaluated, nor would it alter the manner in which those risks are ultimately mitigated.

 

Waianae Farmer's Market - Grand Opening June 21, 2008 - Makaha Resort

Are local tomatoes safe? Are tomatoes from the farmer's market safe?

“Buy Fresh Buy Local” but is it safer?  Are local tomatoes safer?  As a consumer of red, raw tomatoes, these are questions on my mind.  As of June 12, 2008, the AP is now reporting that the FDA is saying that the outbreak of illness from eating Salmonella-contaminated tomatoes has increased to 228 cases; and six states that had earlier escaped the outbreak have been added – Georgia, Missouri, New York, Tennessee, Vermont and Florida.  So cases of illness have spread to 23 states.  It is also speculated that Salmonellosis may have contributed to the death of a cancer patient in Texas.  Salmonella poisoning can make you quite sick but it is particularly dangerous to the elderly, children and those with compromised immune systems.  Until the source of contamination is established, tomato growers nationwide will be hurt.  For an industry perspective on the tomato contamination, see the Fresh Talk blog, written by Tom Karst, the national editor of The Packer. 

So are Hawaii’s tomatoes safer?  Well, sort of.  In this particular outbreak, so far there have been no cases of the illness in Hawaii.  The Centers for Disease Control has not, to date, implicated tomatoes grown in Hawaii as a part of this outbreak.  The Hawaii Department of Agriculture has a press release.  Other factors that help allay fears – the market share for tomatoes in Hawaii is 75% - so most of the tomatoes marketed for consumption in Hawaii are locally produced.  But when in doubt, ask the person selling you the tomatoes. 

• What do you do for food safety? (Many farms have third party food safety certifications which establish baseline criteria to help improve conditions on the farm and in the packing house). 
  
• How do you wash your tomatoes?  With fresh, potable water or with irrigation water? (Contaminated wash water has been implicated in past contaminations.)
  
• What kind of water do you irrigate your tomatoes with?  Do you test your wash or irrigation water for contamination?  (Many cases of contamination of produce can be traced back to contaminated water used for irrigation or washing the produce.)
  
• What sorts of soil amendments or fertilizer do you use?  (Poorly composted manure used as a fertilizer can contaminate produce or run-off from neighboring livestock farms has also been implicated in past contaminations.)
  
• Do you or your suppliers train your staff on proper handwashing techniques?  (Another source of contamination can be traced to workers not washing their hands after using the bathroom and contaminating the produce with their hands).

Do Food Miles Matter?

Do food miles matter?  Well, if you are concerned about the impact on greenhouse gases, then maybe not.  A recent paper from Christopher L. Weber and H. Scott Matthews in the journal, Environmental Science and Technology (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2008. 42:3508-3513) shows that it may not play as large of role in the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG).  Weber and Mathews find that 83% of the GHG emissions associated with food are associated with production of the food and only 11% of the life cycle GHG emissions are associated with transportation, with final delivery from producer to retail only contributes 4% of the GHGs.  Wholesaling and retailing of food accounts for another 5%. 

Even in a remote location like Hawaii where the "food miles" have a greater impact on GHG emissions, the increased transportation impact is still dwarfed by the impact of the production of the food.  Weber and Matthews calculate that the climate impact of the average American household's consumption of food contributes to 8.1 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalents/household-year.  But the different foodstuffs have a different contribution to climate change.  Red meat and dairy are the two greatest contributors to climate change, nearly 2.5 mt CO2e/household-yr and nearly 1.5 mt CO2e/household-yr.  Factored into these figures are the CO2 equivalents for the delivery, transportation, wholesale/retail and the GHG produced during production.  Chicken, fish and eggs (lumped together) contribute much less  (~0.8 mt CO2e/household-yr) than red meat and dairy and surprisingly, less than the figures for cereals/carbohydrates and fruits and vegetables.  So the bottom line is that if you are concerned about your food choices and its impact on GHG emissions, cut down on the red meat and dairy but if you choose to consume animal protein, chicken, fish and eggs do not contribute as much to GHG emissions and contribute similarly as fruits and vegetables and cereals/carbohydrates.     

Figure from Weber and Matthews, 2008. 

This study begs the question, should we continue to "buy local" and worry about the impact of food miles of the foods we choose to consume? Food choice is comprised of many characteristics - taste, flavor, food safety, health or nutrition concerns, the affordability of a food, and the availability of certain foods.  Environmental concerns, such as the impact on GHG emissions, are relatively recent factors in influencing a consumer on making food choices.  Consumers may continue to want consume locally produced foods and there remain good reasons for doing so, such as supporting the local agricultural community and the freshness of the product.  But it now appears that concerns about the food miles and its impact of climate change may not be such a strong argument.       

Oahu Agriculture Technology Field Day - June 24, 2008

The Oahu Resources Conservation and Development Council, in conjunction with the Hawaii Agricultural Reseach Center will be holding a field day on Oahu at the HARC field plots in Kunia.  See below for more information.

New USDA Fruit and Tree Nut Outlook

The US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service just released on May 29, 2008, its Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook for 2008.  Lots of interesting “fruits” of information about the national outlook for fruit and nut prices, imports and exports.  But there are also strong lessons to be learned – lessons about sustainable agriculture and the potential for growth of Hawaii crops.  The authors, Agnes Perez and Susan Pollack provide lots of data about all sorts of fruit and nut crops, but I'd like to mostly focus on a few crops, important to Hawaii agriculture.  First about the prices, prices for farmers in April fell 13% from the previous month.  

Overall prices to the farmer are going down....and prices for the consumer "remain strong" which means that although the farmer is not receiving a premium for higher prices paid by consumers, the cost to consumers will continue to rise - largely because of increased transportation costs - those increases are passed along the supply chain to the consumer.   Only citrus prices declined.  The biggest increase in prices for the consumer was found in bananas, in April 2008, there was a 21.3% over the previous year.   The higher prices in bananas can be accounted for by several things - for one, the weather in Central America hasn't been so good for growing bananas - it's been wetter and cooler.  Most of the bananas imported into the US in the early part of 2008, come from five countries - Guatemala, Costa Rico, Ecuador, Honduras and Chile.  In 2007, we imported 8,827 million pounds of bananas, all but 186 million pounds came from these 5 countries.   The other factor causing increased prices is the cost of transportation.  Fuel costs to transport these items to the U.S. is increasing dramatically.  According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, retail banana prices increased each month in 2008 from January through April, reaching an all time high of 62.7 cents a pound.   Domestic consumption, remains strong, we like our bananas!  In 2007, per capita consumption of bananas was estimated at 26.2 lbs per person, higher than the 4 previous years.

So what's the point about bananas and sustainable agriculture - local bananas will cost more than imported bananas - but think about the difference -- the higher prices that we have been seeing for imported bananas, do not reach the growers that  produce the bananas.  The higher prices for imported bananas means that the "middle men" will pay more to ship the bananas to this country, and further to ship them to Hawaii.  In 2006, Hawaii imported 15 million lbs of bananas, less than we produce locally but a significant amount.  The money you pay for those imported bananas - won't stay in Hawaii.  But if you are willing to pay more for LOCAL bananas - yes, the higher costs go to pay for higher local fuel costs,  higher local labor costs in Hawaii and higher local costs of production.  But the money will remain LOCAL.  And the bananas will be THOUSANDS of MILES fresher.  Isn't that worth it?

Now, about papayas - domestic demand for papaya continues to grow.   Per capita consumption of papaya continues to grow and with it increasing importation of papaya.  Imports have grown 12% a year annually since 1990.  The growth of the ethnic populations of Hispanic, Caribbean and Asian descent have created this demand.  But there is also a growing appetite among average U.S. consumers for papaya due to its novelty, its health-promoting properties and its convenience.  In 1990, Americans consumed only 0.18 lbs per capita per year.  In the last two years, papaya consumption per capita exceeded 1.0 lb per person.   The papaya ringspot virus that devastated Hawaii papaya production could not have hit us at a time worse time - when demand for papaya was growing, Hawaii could not meet that demand.  The marketplace sought out other sources -  Mexico, Central America and the  Caribbean.  In 2007, Mexico imported over 204 million lbs of fresh papaya into this country, Belize was next with over 74 million lbs of fresh papaya.   Care to venture a guess what was Hawaii's fresh papaya production in the same period? 33.3 million pounds.  But there is some good news, Hawaii's utilized production of papaya grew 16% in 2007 over the previous year.  Hawaii county accounted for 89% of the papaya production.   There is a market, both local and for export of Hawaii papaya and with growing consumer demand for papaya, it is hoped that Hawaii growers will benefit.  You can benefit from freshness of Hawaiian papaya by purchasing Hawaiian papaya.  And if you have concerns about the "ringspot resistant transgenic papaya" - then buy organic.  Either way, you'll be taking advantage of a healthful fruit with growing popularity.  

A few words about mangoes, and a graphic.  While the US per capita consumption of papaya is just over 1 lb per person, we have developed a greater love for mangoes.  Mango consumption is almost 2.5 lbs per person.   Imported mostly from Mexico, Ecuador and Peru (for the first quarter of 2008, we imported 157 million pounds, up a whopping 43% over the same period last year). 

Why the Farm Bill is important to Hawaii

• Expands and clarifies the “Country of Origin Labeling” regulations – expands it for fruits and vegetables.  So consumers will have a choice of buying locally produced products versus imported from across the border. 

• Provides $220 million in funding in new for specialty crops and organic agriculture program.  Except for our seed corn industry, most of Hawaii agriculture is considered specialty crops – fruits, vegetables, flowers, ornamentals all fall into the category.

• Reauthorizes the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. 

• Provides new funding to develop programs to support new farmers.

• Provides over $1 Billion for biomass energy research – while Hawaii can’t devote acreage for corn-based ethanol, we are actively researching use of tropical grasses and certain oil seed crops to serve as seed stocks for bio fuels.  Hawaii researchers could benefit from these funds. 

• Promotes the use of alternative sources of energy in rural areas, which could help Hawaii reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels. 

• Reauthorizes and requires mandatory appropriations for the Sun Grant Program – which supports regional research on bio fuels.  Specifically, it creates a Sun Grant sub center out of the Western Region at the University of Hawaii.  So additional funding may come our way for bio fuels research.

• Expands important food and nutrition programs, including food stamps.  <Did you know that food stamps don’t really exist anymore – recipients use electronic benefits transfer cards to make their transactions.>  The program ties income eligibility to rates of inflation (and provides special provisions for high cost states such as Hawaii). 

• Reauthorizes and refines the Women Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program.

• Expands to all 50 states the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable School Snack Programs.   This program provides funding for states to provide fresh fruits and vegetable snacks in schools, as opposed to sugar-laden snack foods. 

• Encourages local food purchases to the greatest extent practicable for school lunch programs and child nutrition programs.    

• The bill reauthorizes the Alaska Native Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions Agricultural Education program.  This program funds the Agribusiness Incubator program as well as funding several agricultural education programs across the state.

• The bill puts two programs important to Hawaii as line-items into the USDA budget.  The TSTAR, tropical and subtropical agricultural research program and the ADAP, agricultural development in the American Pacific will become line items in the USDA budget.  We will still have to fight for inclusion of these program into each appropriation

• The Conservation Security Program, which provides incentives to promote conservation on working farm lands, is reauthorized. 

• The Conservation Reserve Program is extended through 2012.  The Conservation Reserve Program which provides incentives for landowners to put lands into conservation reserve. 

Plants can do so much more...

…strong words from a Zoologist.   One of my Zoology professors used to say that Botanists were washed out Zoologists….please no letters or e-mails.  I’m here to present evidence that plants can do much more than provide nutrition to those that eat them.   Actually “the plant journal” is providing the evidence in their May, 2008 Special Issue of their journal “Harnessing Plant Biomass for Biofuels and Biomaterials.”  Published on behalf of the Society of Experimental Biology, all the articles are available for free download.