" . . . The quality of the fruits and vegetables available at grocery stores is terrible. Most are laden with toxic substances, such as sulfates on grapes, pesticides . . . many times fruits and vegetables are imported from foreign countries that use toxic pesticides that are illegal in the United States." As stated by Dr. Ronald Steriti in our article Antioxidants and Organic Foods
The Saudi Organic Farming Association (SOFA) is working in connection to create a state-of-the-art organic sector, better market place for organic goods, and close adherence to worldwide food safety standards.
GTZ will also set up the SOFA’s organizational framework, and share expertise with the government.
While SOFA will monitor organic production, protect farmers, promote consumer awareness, and keep with food quality policies of many European countries.
Saudi Arabia is a major importer of agricultural goods, with figures expected to grow 25%. So successful organic farming would keep more food raised in house.
As an, at times, ethnocentric American, it surprises me to see non-Western nations taking interest into issues like this. I seem to think a country like Saudi Arabia has more pressing matters at hand than organic farming.
Charlotte Vallaeys, Farm and Food Policy Analyst at The Cornucopia Institute and her colleagues oppose The Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement as it stands.
Charlotte weighed in on comments from a supporter of The Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement and member of the Western Growers Association, an organization that, according to its website, provides ‘quality services and programs that benefit and enhance the competitiveness of its members in the Arizona and California fresh produce industry.’
Check out the debate for yourself:
Western Growers Association: No one is guaranteeing the safety of anything; however, the program aims t o develop scientifically defensible, regionally-based growing, handling and manufacturing practices – developed by a coalition of stakeholders including government entities, academics and the industry. These practices have NOT been developed. This proposal sets up the infrastructure by which a coalition of stakeholders can come to the table and develop those practices. Indeed, there is currently no way of guaranteeing that fresh leafy greens are 100% safe as scientists do not yet have a clear understanding of food borne pathogens on leafy greens.
Cornucopia: Our main concern is with the “coalition of stakeholders” that would oversee the development and implementation of the rules. Most members on the committee (19 of 23) will be handlers and growers, and 17 of those 19 will likely represent the large-scale, corporate leafy greens industry. The committee members that are not growers or handlers will include a retail industry representative, a food service industry representative, a member of the public and an importer.
There will be a separate committee that will assist the Administrative Committee in developing the rules, which will indeed be required to include academics and government entities, including a National Resource Conservation Service representative and a representative of the Environmental Protection Agency, which is very positive. But ultimately, it is the Administrative Committee that holds the power to make the rules (see section 970.49 of the proposal). Just to reiterate, this Committee will consist of industry representatives with no academics or government representatives.
Western Growers Association: The proposal, as is currently drafted would require that at least two “small” growers participate in the development of these practices.
Cornucopia: This is a token representation of “small” growers who will not have real power. A two-thirds majority will be needed on important votes, and with 23 members, the two “small” representatives will not be able to influence policy or the outcome of a vote.
Western Growers Association: The “seal” is to be used primarily on bills of lading. California and Arizona have had a similar program in place for multiple years now; has anyone seen a USDA-approved “seal” on any of the leafy greens in the market? No. The seal is used on bills of lading so retailers know that the product in question was handled and grown according to the practices outlined in those state’s agreements.
Cornucopia: There is currently nothing in the proposal that would prevent signatories from extending the use of this seal beyond bills of lading and manifests. There is no prohibition against using the seal on packaging visible to the consumer, and it will probably be only a matter of time before the seal is used as a marketing tool. It is, after all, a Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement.
Western Growers Association: Regarding transparency, there was an open comment period on the need for USDA to pursue a marketing agreement about a year ago. There has been a Web site – www.nlgma.com – on-line for about a year calling for stakeholders to provide comments on the proposal. Many of those comments and suggestions have been added to the proposed agreement. Furthermore, the proposed NLGMA has been prominently covered on the USDA AMS site. There was a Webinar where proponents explained the proposal and answered every question offered up by the more than 200 attendees, nationwide (the Webinar along with those questions and answers are available at www.nlgma.com). A large group of regional, state and national proponents have been communicating this process with their respective constituents for more than a year. The proponents called for, and USDA granted, a series of public hearings, across the nation, (which are ongoing) to discuss the merits of the proposal. I am not sure how this process could be more transparent.
Cornucopia: I don’t believe that lack of transparency is a concern listed in the blog post.
Western Growers Association: There are a handful of different “metrics” or standards out there, and many of them are very costly. The entire industry needs to work toward one set of practices, defensible by sound science, which can replace those “super metrics” being handed down by the buying community. The National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement would afford stakeholders that opportunity.
Cornucopia: The problem is that the proposed Marketing Agreement would put the power to develop the metrics in the hands of 23 people, most of whom will be representatives of large-scale handlers and growers. Food safety is a serious issue, and any government regulation for food safety should be done with the citizens’ safety in mind. Industry representatives will be serving two masters—citizens’ need for safe food, and their industry’s interests. The likelihood that the resulting standards will be self-serving to their industry, disregarding the needs of other stakeholders (such as small growers) are much higher than if government agencies, staffed by public servants, were charged with developing the rules.
Western Growers Association: Lastly, this program is voluntary. If producers do not want to participate, they do not have to.
Cornucopia: It is voluntary for handlers, but not for growers. If most handlers sign up, growers will be left to choose between following the metrics or not being able to sell their crops unless they find a handler who is not a signatory.
What do you think? Let us know and let’s keep the conversation going!
Forget about swine flu, leafy green vegetables pose the greatest risk to public health, by way of foodborne illnesses like salmonella and E. coli.
It seems pathogens usually linked to meat have made the leap to vegetables, a result of outdated safety laws, mass-production, and global food markets.
Leafy greens, such as lettuce and spinach, topped a list which includes: eggs, tuna, oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts, and berries.
As the “winner” green vegetables reported 363 outbreaks with 13,568 cases of illness from 1990 to 2006. At the bottom of the list, berries got off easy with 25 outbreaks with 3,397 reported cases of illness.
So the CSPI lauds the new Food Safety Enhancement Act, passed by the House of Representatives in July, granting the FDA more authority to crackdown on food production and growing facilities.
I think within the next 10 years food safety will be greatly improved. It is becoming too obvious that a big food system requires a lot more checks and balances.
During yesterday’s successful concert, Farm Aid leaders asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support measures that help family farmers thrive.
In the 1990s, broken farm policies and consolidated corporate food production forced nearly 80% of hog farmers out of business. According to Farm Aid, similar circumstances are causing dairy farmers to be paid less than half of what it costs to produce milk, and the United States risks losing thousands of dairy farmers this year alone.
“Family farmers are the first rung of the economic ladder in this country,” said Farm Aid Founder and President Willie Nelson. “Against all odds, they have persevered and found ways to stay on their land, growing good food for all of us and creating strong communities. It’s time now for policy to rise to meet their needs with fair prices and support for their innovations.”
“We invite all Americans to join us in pressing for food production that protects our environment, our health and our economy,” added Executive Director Carolyn Mugar. “We are encouraged by the opportunity the new administration in Washington offers us all for making the needed changes.”
At the concert, USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan joined farmers and food advocates in a conversation about the many ways family farmers are rebuilding local and regional food systems and reenergizing the economy.
“Farmers face overwhelming challenges as they work each day to put food on our tables, and Farm Aid’s ongoing efforts on behalf of family farmers have helped put a human face on this vocation,” she said. “At the same time, there is a bright future for small- and mid-sized producers because there is an agricultural renaissance taking place in America. More and more consumers are wanting to better connect with their producers, and USDA’s new Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative helps to accomplish that goal.”
What unites former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and international artists like Fergie, Lily Allen, Duran Duran, Mark Ronson, Jamie Cullum, Marion Cotillard and Milla Jovovich?
Each free download will count as a signature on a “digital petition” for an ambitious, fair and international answer to the global-warming crisis. More than 1.3 million people have signed on thus far.
“Climate change is the greatest humanitarian challenge facing mankind today,” Annan says. “And it is a challenge that has a grave injustice at its heart. It is the major developed economies of the world which contribute the overwhelming majority of global greenhouse emissions. But it is the poorer and least developed nations that are hit hardest by its impact.
“By downloading ‘Beds Are Burning’ for free from major music download platforms on the Internet, people from around the world will be adding their names to this growing global petition—joining the campaign for climate justice and becoming a climate ally. This will be the first time ever that a musical petition has been created to demand decisive action from our world leaders.”
“Music is the universal language, capable of transcending cultures, generations, religions and races,” adds song producer Alexandre Sap. “A song or an artist truly has the power to translate a message or a movement more than any politician or world leader can on a global scale. This will create a voice for all of us who deserve to have a say leading up to Copenhagen in December. The goal is to draw enough attention to an event that will affect everyone’s lives on the planet.”
Michelle Obama has encouraged all Americans to save a little spot in their yard for growing fresh vegetables. She even brought back the Whitehouse garden, trying to make it organic, until she found out for a long time the lawn was fertilized with raw sewage. But that wasn’t enough to make her quit gardening.
On November 10th, Michelle will drop by Sesame Street to show Elmo and the gang how to grow vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce. Here’s a sneak peek of the episode. And I guess fame has gone to Elmo’s head. He seems a little unwilling to get his hands dirty and dig into the garden too–prima donna!
Monsanto, your friendly neighborhood producer of genetically modified organisms, is catching some heat for its water-hungry ways on the Hawaiian island of Molokai.
Molokai is where much of the research into the seed corn takes place, making Monsanto the largest employer on the island.
Monsanto wants to make money and maximize profits, so these research and farming facilities need to run full-steam ahead, which demands the lion share of the island’s water supplies.
So when a drought on Molokai dried up reservoirs, prompting the local irrigation company to demand water cutbacks of 20%, Monsanto petitioned for the right to take more water—threatening small farmers.
By law, two-thirds of Molokai’s water must go to homestead farmers, but companies like Monsanto drink up 84% of the irrigation system. That’s why local farmers are currently seeking legal action against Monsanto.
Hy-Line North America’s hatchery in Spencer, Iowa can’t turn on a profit on male chicks. Males can’t lay eggs and don’t grow quick enough for meat. So—and please be warned, this is a graphic video—male baby chickens are sorted from females and disposed of, but throwing them into a grinder, alive.
This shocking piece of tape was taken with a hidden camera by a Mercy for Animals—a group advocating a vegan diet—employee who got a job at the plant. The video shows chicks having their beaks cut with a laser, scolded to death with hot water and left to die on the floor of facility.
Company representatives call the grinding of unwanted male chicks “instantaneous euthanasia” and say its standard practice and supported by the veterinary community. Who cares if it is or not! This is disgusting and food producers should be held to a much higher standard than this. It’s vile!
In case you missed it, Mad Money host Jim Cramer did a killer segment a couple of weeks ago on Monsanto, the seed behemoth and Roundup weed killer manufacturer. He stated the Obama administration is stepping up its antitrust enforcement, and Monsanto is a sitting target for the Department of Justice to slap an antitrust suit against it for their monopoly on seeds.
This is great news for small, local and independent farmers.
Tom Brennan writes about Cramer’s segment:
” A series of competition-crushing acquisitions made this biotech disguised as an agriculture outfit the market leader in genetically modified US corn, soybean and cotton seeds. And Monsanto maintains strict agreements with its farmer clients that leave them virtually no choice but to feed at the corporate trough. Plus, the company plans to push through a 42% price increase on its new seeds, and there’s nothing these farmers can do about it.”
The behemoth seems to have farmers in an iron grip. Cramer states:
“When farmers buy Monsanto’s seeds they have to sign a stewardship agreement, and a contract saying they won’t save the seeds from one year to the next, or replant seeds reproduced by the crops they grow from Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds. This forces the farmers who want to buy Monsanto’s seeds to buy new ones, year after year, and pay ever higher and higher prices.”
Cramer goes on to state, “… Why is this important? Traditionally farmers have always tried to save seeds from year to year, but if you try to do it with seeds bought from Monsanto, some people say they will sue your pants off until you cave…”
Cramer says he thinks “the government is worried about the family farmer being destroyed by Monsanto’s practices” and to make matters worse, Monsanto’s increase in seed prices is “begging the Justice Department to go after them [.....] They are tempting the wrath of Obama.”
In addition, Cramer says, Monsanto “better hope the guys at [The] Justice [Department] don’t go to the movies” and see the documentary film Food, Inc. which goes head to head with Monsanto’s methods, and our industrialized food system.
Not only is it great that the current administration cares, but I think it’s pretty cool that those interested in personal financial growth – Cramer’s audience – have been turned on to this issue. I’ll be keeping an eye on this topic as it develops…in the meantime, let me know what you think!
Farm Aid is sponsoring a petition that calls on the U.S. government to suspend taxpayer funding of factory farms.
As the petition states:
Factory farms pose a real danger to our communities, our natural resources and the livelihood of hardworking family farmers. A current USDA program is funneling taxpayer money to fund new and bigger factory farm operations that lead to the gross overproduction of hogs and poultry. So much livestock is being churned out that it has caused a long-term depression of producer prices, forcing family farmers out of business.
The longer the USDA continues this misguided policy, the greater the threat to small farmers who are already being squeezed in this economy.
By signing the petition, you’ll add your name to a letter that will be sent to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. It urges the USDA “to suspend all direct or guaranteed farm ownership or operating loans for the construction or expansion of specialized hog or poultry production facilities.”
In other Farm Aid news, there’s still time to order tickets to the Oct. 4 concert in St. Louis, where performers like Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews, Neil Young and Willie Nelson will rock the house. And if you’re a photography buff, consider entering the Farm Fresh Pics photo contest; the winner will receive an expenses-paid trip and two front-row concert tickets.
With help from the German technical agency GTZ, Saudi Arabia is seeking to develop and improve its organic sector.
There are two sides to every story.
Forget about swine flu, leafy green vegetables pose the greatest risk to public health, by way of foodborne illnesses like salmonella and E. coli. 
Monsanto, your friendly neighborhood producer of genetically modified organisms, is catching some heat for its water-hungry ways on the Hawaiian island of Molokai.
In case you missed it, Mad Money host Jim Cramer did a killer segment a couple of weeks ago on Monsanto, the seed behemoth and Roundup weed killer manufacturer. He stated the Obama administration is stepping up its antitrust enforcement, and Monsanto is a sitting target for the Department of Justice to slap an antitrust suit against it for their monopoly on seeds.
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