Richard Lazzara on The Tweeted Times.
Top Grocery Stores: We Won’t Sell Genetically Engineered Seafood. WASHINGTON - March 20 - A coalition of consumer, health, food safety and fishing groups today launched the “Campaign for Genetically Engineered (GE)-Free Seafood” by announcing that several major grocery retailers representing more than 2,000 stores across the United States have already committed not to sell genetically engineered seafood if it is allowed onto the market. The growing market rejection of GE fish comes as the FDA conducts its final review of a genetically engineered salmon. If approved, the salmon would be the first-ever genetically engineered animal allowed to enter the human food supply. Stores that have committed to not offer the salmon or other genetically engineered seafood include the national retailers Trader Joe’s (367 stores), Aldi (1,230 stores), Whole Foods (325 stores in US); regional chains such as Marsh Supermarkets (93 stores in Indiana and Ohio), PCC Natural Markets (9 stores in Washington State); and co-ops in Minnesota, New York, California and Kansas.
US drought, weak monsoon, boost to lentil growers. US growers of chickpeas and lentils are sat pretty having largely escaped the drought which has devastated Midwest agriculture, and are reaping a benefit from the weak Indian monsoon too. Pulse farmers in the northern US and Canada whose crops last year were hurt by unusually extreme spring flooding have "potential for significant gains in production when compared to the 2011 harvest", legumes merchant Alliance Grain Traders said. The experience contrasts with farmers in the main US corn and soybean districts, whose hopes have been dashed by the worst drought since 1956, and the hottest July on record. However, "North American pulses production has been advancing normally, with more regions reporting good-to-excellent growing conditions through the second quarter period and into harvest", Alliance Grain Traders said.
"Reported drought conditions in the US Midwest are not reaching into the sourcing area of North Dakota and Montana for Alliance Grain Traders' US operations. " Monsoon factor. Food prices soar, as corn stages fresh rally. Food prices rose last month at their fastest pace since 2009, led by the strongest rise in cereal values in more than four years, the United Nations said – as futures signalled further increases on their way. The price of food rose 6.2%, adjusted for background inflation, in July, the strongest pace of increase since November 2009, as values were recovering from world recession, the UN food agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, said. The "sharp rebound", which came despite "little change" in prices of dairy or meat products, was "mostly driven by a surge in grain and sugar prices", the FAO said.
Sugar values rose by 11.7% on the month in real terms, their fastest pace in a year, a rally "triggered by untimely rains in Brazil, the world's largest sugar exporter, which hampered sugarcane harvesting. "Concerns over India's delayed monsoon and poor rains in Australia also contributed. " Corn leads Contract high "Comments from clients are 'if it is not bullish, it can't be bearish'. "
Tell the USDA to Get the Slime Out! GOP Unveils Plan to Gut Food Stamp Program. House Republicans have passed their budget that includes slashing food stamps in an effort to save billions in cuts to the Pentagon. House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan. House Republicans have started rolling out their austerity plan including massive cuts to the food stamp program. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite/File) Politico reports that the changes mean "an average family of four would face an 11 percent cut in monthly benefits after Sept. 1 and, even more important, tighter enforcement of rules would require that households exhaust most of their liquid assets before qualifying for help.
" The Associated Press adds that elegibility changes would knock 3 million people off the program completely. The U.S. The House passed the budget by a "deeming resolution" saying it was necessary due to Senate failure to pass a budget. Politico: Republicans to slash food stamps Ezra Klein: Wonkbook: The House GOP's tax day lesson House Republicans think the Pentagon is in trouble. Synthetic Negative-Carbon Gasoline Replacement is from California.
Biofuels Published on January 20th, 2012 | by Charis Michelsen This last year has seen a lot of attention for biofuels (both positive and negative). One company that managed to miss most of the attention was the startup Cool Planet Biofuels, but given its most recent announcement, it may start getting their time in the spotlight.
Cool Planet Biofuels announced that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has approved tests of its new product, gasoline that it claims is “negative carbon.” Synthetic Gas Is What, Exactly? Before explaining exactly what it means by the phrase “negative carbon,” let me explain how Cool Planet produces its fuel. The synthetic gas is produced using proprietary technology called a “biomass fractionator,” and, at the moment, the supply is very limited. Negative Carbon Footprint The reason Cool Planet has dubbed its product “negative carbon” is its waste product; during the process, a solid carbon form that can be converted into fertilizer is formed and discarded.
The Food vs. Fuel Controversy | InnovativeIndustry.net. Arizona Proposes Ending Free School Lunches For Needy Kids. Arizona Republicans set their sights on a new target for the legislative session: poor children. Earlier this week a state senate panel agreed to let schools opt out of the federal program to offer free and reduced-priced lunches for needy students. The measure now heads to a full senate vote. Republicans sponsoring the measure voiced concern over imposing mandates on schools to take federal dollars they may not want to, relying on the familiar rhetoric of states rights federalism underscoring all social welfare policy debate these days. Of course, this argument entirely ignores the purpose of those mandates, and that is, in part, to ensure equality and uniformity of access to all citizens of all the states as part of a respect for federal civil rights.
And this move seems especially mean-spirited, even for Arizona Republicans. It’s also picking a fight, or more appropriately, picking on, a constituency that literally has no ability to fight back. Related Stories: Feeding America: We are Thankful for You. One quarter of US grain crops fed to cars - not people, new figures show | Environment. One-quarter of all the maize and other grain crops grown in the US now ends up as biofuel in cars rather than being used to feed people, according to new analysis which suggests that the biofuel revolution launched by former President George Bush in 2007 is impacting on world food supplies.
The 2009 figures from the US Department of Agriculture shows ethanol production rising to record levels driven by farm subsidies and laws which require vehicles to use increasing amounts of biofuels. "The grain grown to produce fuel in the US [in 2009] was enough to feed 330 million people for one year at average world consumption levels," said Lester Brown, the director of the Earth Policy Institute, a Washington thinktank ithat conducted the analysis. Last year 107m tonnes of grain, mostly corn, was grown by US farmers to be blended with petrol. According to Brown, the growing demand for US ethanol derived from grains helped to push world grain prices to record highs between late 2006 and 2008. Another Inconvenient Truth: Biofuels are not the answer to climate or fuel crisis. “Biofuel policies are actually helping to accelerate climate change and deepen poverty and hunger” Rob Bailey Oxfam’s biofuel policy adviser Published: 26 June 2008 Today’s biofuel policies are not solving the climate or fuel crises but are instead contributing to food insecurity and inflation.
In today’s report “Another Inconvenient Truth”, Oxfam calculates that rich country biofuel policies have dragged more than 30 million people into poverty, according to evidence that biofuels have already contributed up to 30% to the global rise in food prices. “Biofuel policies are actually helping to accelerate climate change and deepen poverty and hunger. Rich countries’ demands for more biofuels in their transport fuels are causing spiralling production and food inflation,” said report author, Oxfam’s biofuel policy adviser Rob Bailey. “If the fuel value for a crop exceeds its food value, then it will be used for fuel instead. Rich countries must stop and revise their policies now. Notes to Editors. Food vs. fuel. Food versus fuel is the dilemma regarding the risk of diverting farmland or crops for biofuels production to the detriment of the food supply. The biofuel and food price debate involves wide-ranging views, and is a long-standing, controversial one in the literature.[1][2][3][4] There is disagreement about the significance of the issue, what is causing it, and what can or should be done to remedy the situation.
This complexity and uncertainty is due to the large number of impacts and feedback loops that can positively or negatively affect the price system. Moreover, the relative strengths of these positive and negative impacts vary in the short and long terms, and involve delayed effects. The academic side of the debate is also blurred by the use of different economic models and competing forms of statistical analysis.[5] Biofuel production has increased in recent years. Food price inflation[edit] From 1974 to 2005 real food prices (adjusted for inflation) dropped by 75%. U.S. Productive Farmland Should Grow Food not Fuel.
“It’s 36 percent more efficient to grow grain for food than for fuel,” said the lead author of a paper that looked at 17 years worth of data to help settle the food versus fuel debate. [social_buttons] “The ideal is to grow corn for food,” said Ilya Gelfand , a Michigan State University postdoctoral researcher, “then leave the leftover stalks and leaves on the field for soil conservation and produce cellulosic ethanol with the other half.” “It comes down to what’s the most efficient use of the land,” said Phil Robertson, University Distinguished Professor of crop and soil sciences and one of the paper’s authors. “Given finite land resources, will it be more efficient to use productive farmland for food or fuel? One compromise would be to use productive farmland for both — to use the grain for food and the other parts of the plant for fuel where possible.
Another would be to reserve productive farmland for food and to grow biofuel grasses — cellulosic biomass — on less productive land.” Institute for Responsible Technology - Corn Laws. "Corn" included any grain that requires grinding, especially wheat. The laws were introduced by the Importation Act 1815 (55 Geo. 3 c. 26) and repealed by the Importation Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. 22). The laws are often considered examples of British mercantilism.[1] The economic issue was food prices. The price of grain was central to the price of the most important staple food, bread, and the working man spent much of his wages on bread. The political issue was a dispute between landowners (a long-established class, who were heavily represented in Parliament) and the new class of manufacturers and industrialists (who were not).
The Corn Laws enhanced the profits and political power associated with land ownership. Origins[edit] In 1813, a House of Commons Committee recommended excluding foreign-grown corn until the price of domestically grown corn increased to 80 shillings (£4) (2010 equivalent: £202.25) per quarter (1 quarter = 480 lb / 218.8 kg). Opposition[edit] Repeal[edit] Supreme Court decision to not hear carbofuran petition leaves growers with fewer pesticide options. The Supreme Court has denied a petition by three producer groups and FMC for a review of a lower court ruling which upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s revocation of the domestic tolerances for FMC’s carbofuran insecticide. The High Court’s refusal to consider the case cleared the way for EPA to continue its cancelation of most of the tolerances for the pesticide, also known as Furadan, which, at one time, was a staple of insect control strategies in corn, rice and potatoes. The case, the National Corn Growers Association vs.
EPA, centered around whether the agency should have held an evidentiary hearing under the Federal, Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act before taking the action. FMC, the primary registrant of carbofuran, brought the case to try to prevent EPA from canceling the remaining uses of the product. “We are greatly disappointed by the U.S. The U.S. Pakistan starts producing Japan’s rice variety.
Targets to export 100,000 tons of ‘Japonica’ to Japan. Japonica gave 100 per cent more output per acre compared to basmati and non-basmati varieties cultivated in the country. PHOTO: FILE Talking to the media at his office here on Friday, TDAP Chief Executive Tariq Iqbal Puri said Pakistan undertook the project of cultivating Japonica following a visit of President Asif Ali Zardari to Japan in February this year when Japanese buyers highlighted the importance of this variety. He said TDAP provided technical assistance to rice exporters in cultivating Japonica and now a prominent rice exporter Metco had started producing the variety. Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and the US are already producing Japonica, which is very popular among consumers of China, Japan, Far East, Europe and other countries. Japan has a 500,000-ton market for the rice, of which 90 per cent is supplied by the US. America's Best Chain Restaurants. Resisting the Corporate Theft of Seeds by Vandana Shiva.
For related articles and more information, please visit OCA's Genetic Engineering page, Millions Against Monsanto page. We are in a food emergency. Speculation and diversion of food to biofuel has contributed to an uncontrolled price rise, adding more to the billion already denied their right to food. Industrial agriculture is pushing species to extinction through the use of toxic chemicals that kill our bees and butterflies, our earthworms and soil organisms that create soil fertility.
Plant and animal varieties are disappearing as monocultures displace biodiversity. Industrial, globalized agriculture is responsible for 40 percent of greenhouse gases, which then destabilize agriculture by causing climate chaos, creating new threats to food security. But the biggest threat we face is the control of seed and food moving out of the hands of farmers and communities and into a few corporate hands.
But our efforts are like a little lamp in a very dark room.