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1. Minnesota May Withhold Grants To Protestors
2. Harkin Asks Veneman to "Be Cool"
3. Bt Cotton: Not a Sensible Proposition
4. Consumer Trends in Food Production
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1. MINNESOTA MAY WITHHOLD GRANTS TO PROTESTERS
The Organic Consumers Association this week publicized
an anti- free speech clause that has been worked into an agriculture
bill currently before the Minnesota State Senate. The bill contains
language authorizing the commissioner of agriculture to use state and
federal funds to provide grants to help organic producers achieve
certification, educate consumers and market their products. Recently
added to the Senate version, however, is a clause stating that "The
commissioner may not provide a grant to or contract with an individual
or organization that in the previous 36 months has taken, or
participated financially in, an action to prevent a person from engaging
in agricultural activities or expanding an agricultural operation." The
effect of this provision would be that anyone who speaks out against
factory farms or other aspects of industrial agriculture would be
ineligible for this organic funding. If you live in Minnesota, please
contact your state senators and ask them to remove lines 8.6-8.11 from
SF990. You can find out who your senator is by visiting
http://www.senate.mn/members/.
The bill text can be found by searching on SF990 at
http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/legis.asp
2. HARKIN ASKS VENEMAN TO "BE COOL"
In a letter sent last week to Agriculture Secretary Ann
Veneman, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin expressed his "profound" disappointment
and frustration at the USDA's "push for unnecessarily complicated and
burdensome regulations in the country of origin labeling program."
Senator Harkin urged the USDA to undertake a "workable and feasible"
record keeping system along the lines of what Congress envisioned in the
legislation, instead of the "painstaking and impractical" one currently
being proposed. Harkin expressed his distress that the USDA has failed
to seriously consider simpler systems such as producer
self-certification and expanding on the current Customs Service country
of origin system for other commodities. Harkin also expressed his fear
that, in light of the Administration's state opposition to country of
origin labeling, the "USDA does not have an interest in creating a
workable program." The full text of the letter is available at:
http://harkin.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=203446
3. BT COTTON: NOT A SENSIBLE PROPOSITION
In India, four states that have conducted a trial of the
transgenic Bt Cotton have concluded that it is a "fraud." According to
the Ag BioIndia Bulletin, the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
Maharashtra and Gujarat agreed to try out Monsanto's Bt cotton. The
results were so poor that the four states have now asked India's Genetic
Approval Committee (GEAC) to recall the transgenic seed. Much like Bt
corn, environmentalists, as well as organic producers worry about the
effects of releasing this bacteria widely into the environment. The
committee concluded that the seed had "little merit' in being used for
commercial cultivation and observed that "the risk of reducing
biodiversity and other environmental hazards, did not make the sowing of
Bt cotton a sensible proposition." See:
www.agbioindia.org)
4. CONSUMER TRENDS IN FOOD CONSUMPTION
The USDA's research and analysis arm, the ERS, has
released a timely study that looks at consumer trends in food
consumption over the next 20 years. In this study, the ERS identified
three broad demographic trends that will shape future U.S. food markets
and found that in the future consumers will be older, more diverse, and
more plentiful. These trends were translated into projections of growth
in eating habits, food expenditures and demand for specific commodities
between 2000 and 2020. Among the many interesting facts in the study
they found that higher income families tend to consume less pork, beef,
eggs and potatoes, while higher income families consumed more fruits,
vegetables, fish, poultry, cheese, yogurt and prepared foods. They also
found that ethnically diverse populations consume few potatoes, less
dairy and sugar, and more fish, eggs, nuts, seeds and fruit. The ERS's
in-depth analysis provides a wealth of statistical research of interest
to farmers and conservationists alike. See at:www.ers.usda.gov/Amberwaves/April03/Features/ConsumerDrivenAg.htm |
5/9/03