Even if our government is ignoring the most pressing health risks posed by industrial agriculture, it's nice to see that other nations are being proactive...
South Korea recently passed a complete ban on the mixing of antibiotics with animal feed (1). Feeding animals with low levels of antibiotics has become widespread practice throughout the agriculture industry because of the unhealthy conditions that most livestock are raised in. In order to stave off the disease and infection that would otherwise result from grossly overcrowded living conditions, many farmers maintain a steady supply of antibiotics in their animal feed. Rather than make our food safer, however, this practice creates an even greater danger: the cultivation of antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
The CDC has linked this practice of feeding animals on sub-therapeutic levels of antibiotics to the rise of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Furthermore, it has found that these pathogens affect humans as well as animals (2).
To understand just how frighteningly prevalent this practice is, consider that eighty percent of antibiotics used in the U.S. go to animals rather than humans, and that North Carolina alone uses more antibiotics on animals than the entire country does on humans (3).
Of course, the bad news for South Koreans is that despite their good sense, this ban on antibiotics in animal feed won't do much to prevent the development of antibiotic-resistant pathogens world-wide. As long as the United States continues this practice, not only our country, but the whole world is endangered. It is time that we recognized the part we play in advancing this common peril to humanity.
__________
1) http://www.allaboutfeed.net/news/south-korea-to-ban-antibiotics-in-animal-feed-11846.html
2) http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol10no6/04-0403.htm
3) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/opinion/12kristof.html?src=me&ref=general
Monday, June 13, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
German E. Coli Update
Well, the German authorities have changed their minds once again. They are now certain that the E. Coli outbreak originated at the same organic sprouts farm that they had just recently cleared of any involvement in the issue. Tests have still NOT found E. coli on any sprouts from the farm, but German health officials claim that enough epidemiological evidence exists to link the outbreak to the sprouts. Specifically, they have linked a number of the E. coli cases to twenty-six restaurants that received sprouts from the farm (1). The U.S. Center for Disease Control, however, is more reluctant to use this evidence as certain proof of a link between the farm and the outbreak, and they have urged German officials to be cautious.
Indeed, it is difficult not to be wary of the German authorities' latest conclusion (First E. coli and then Roundup, all in one week!). This is not the first time that they have been "certain" of the outbreak's source, although it looks like it will be the last. What was already a tragic event for Germany has also become a national embarrassment and health officials were desperate to pinpoint its cause. The epidemiological evidence they found points to a high likelihood that the outbreak originated at the organic sprouts farm, although it cannot provide the certainty that E. coli positive tests would have done. Nevertheless, it is not this blogs place to dispute the conclusions of German health officials.
Regardless of whether or not the outbreak originated at an organic farm, it must be reiterated that industrial scale agriculture, not organic vs. conventional farming, is the true issue here. The arguments for this can be found in our post dated June 8th. Food contamination has occurred, and likely will continue to occur, at both organic and conventional farms. It is our cumbersome and corporate-dominated global food system, however, which turns these contaminations into international outbreaks.
Furthermore, when food is produced and consumed locally, farmers have a reputation to uphold in the surrounding community. If their produce becomes contaminated they cannot hide behind an impersonal food system. They are directly accountable for the quality and safety of their produce and it becomes a financial, not to mention moral, necessity that they avoid outbreaks of this kind. In an industrial scale food system accountability is diluted and consumers have far less knowledge about where there food is coming from and, thus, less power to make informed decision about what they eat. In this situation it often seems to consumers that the only way to be safe is to adhere to blanket condemnations of organic farming or bean sprouts, for instance.
Let us not be fooled into believing that industrial-conventional agriculture, which often utilizes harmful chemicals, is our best bet for safe food. There is no other more ironic conclusion that we could arrive at from this E. coli outbreak. Now more than ever, we need local quality, local safety, and local accountability.
__________
1) http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/06/10/germany-confirms-sprouts-to-blame-for-killer-bacteria/
Indeed, it is difficult not to be wary of the German authorities' latest conclusion (First E. coli and then Roundup, all in one week!). This is not the first time that they have been "certain" of the outbreak's source, although it looks like it will be the last. What was already a tragic event for Germany has also become a national embarrassment and health officials were desperate to pinpoint its cause. The epidemiological evidence they found points to a high likelihood that the outbreak originated at the organic sprouts farm, although it cannot provide the certainty that E. coli positive tests would have done. Nevertheless, it is not this blogs place to dispute the conclusions of German health officials.
Regardless of whether or not the outbreak originated at an organic farm, it must be reiterated that industrial scale agriculture, not organic vs. conventional farming, is the true issue here. The arguments for this can be found in our post dated June 8th. Food contamination has occurred, and likely will continue to occur, at both organic and conventional farms. It is our cumbersome and corporate-dominated global food system, however, which turns these contaminations into international outbreaks.
Furthermore, when food is produced and consumed locally, farmers have a reputation to uphold in the surrounding community. If their produce becomes contaminated they cannot hide behind an impersonal food system. They are directly accountable for the quality and safety of their produce and it becomes a financial, not to mention moral, necessity that they avoid outbreaks of this kind. In an industrial scale food system accountability is diluted and consumers have far less knowledge about where there food is coming from and, thus, less power to make informed decision about what they eat. In this situation it often seems to consumers that the only way to be safe is to adhere to blanket condemnations of organic farming or bean sprouts, for instance.
Let us not be fooled into believing that industrial-conventional agriculture, which often utilizes harmful chemicals, is our best bet for safe food. There is no other more ironic conclusion that we could arrive at from this E. coli outbreak. Now more than ever, we need local quality, local safety, and local accountability.
__________
1) http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/06/10/germany-confirms-sprouts-to-blame-for-killer-bacteria/
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
A Roundup Update
A report released on Tuesday by a group of European scientists and professors thoroughly demonstrates that industry and government have been aware from at least the 1980s that glyphosate, the chemical on which Monsanto's Roundup weed killer is based, has repeatedly been shown in laboratory tests to cause serious birth defects in frogs, chickens, rats and rabbits. These birth defects, along with endocrine damage and cancer, were found when test animals were subjected to levels of glyphosate that are comparable to those found in food and the environment in the form of pesticide residue.
Furthermore, the report details emerging evidence of Roundup's toxicity to humans in South America, where it is used extensively. According to the report, one study has found glyphosate to be toxic to human cells, and doctors, activists, and scientists in South America are reporting increased rates of human birth defects in areas of high Roundup use.
Monsanto, DuPont, and a number of other corporate interests have been covering this up with the help of the incompetence, and possible cooperation, of the German Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL). Roundup was due to be reevaluated by the EU in 2012, but this date was recently pushed back to 2015.
The conclusions of this report, especially concerning the BVL's blatant disregard of scientific findings, are shocking. They demonstrate why public, independent, and peer-reviewed science regarding pesticides and transgenic crops is so vital to public health. These corporations are out to make a profit, apparently at whatever cost. When government fails to protect consumers, who will?
The report can be found at:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/57277946/RoundupandBirthDefectsv5
And an article outlining its findings is located at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/07/roundup-birth-defects-herbicide-regulators_n_872862.html?ref=fb&src=sp
Furthermore, the report details emerging evidence of Roundup's toxicity to humans in South America, where it is used extensively. According to the report, one study has found glyphosate to be toxic to human cells, and doctors, activists, and scientists in South America are reporting increased rates of human birth defects in areas of high Roundup use.
Monsanto, DuPont, and a number of other corporate interests have been covering this up with the help of the incompetence, and possible cooperation, of the German Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL). Roundup was due to be reevaluated by the EU in 2012, but this date was recently pushed back to 2015.
The conclusions of this report, especially concerning the BVL's blatant disregard of scientific findings, are shocking. They demonstrate why public, independent, and peer-reviewed science regarding pesticides and transgenic crops is so vital to public health. These corporations are out to make a profit, apparently at whatever cost. When government fails to protect consumers, who will?
The report can be found at:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/57277946/RoundupandBirthDefectsv5
And an article outlining its findings is located at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/07/roundup-birth-defects-herbicide-regulators_n_872862.html?ref=fb&src=sp
E. Coli, Organic Farms, and Industrial Agriculture
The outbreak of an uncommonly toxic strain of E. coli in Germany has been in the news for a week now. This rare strain of the bacteria has killed at least twenty-three people in Europe and has made over two-thousand quite ill. In their rush to pinpoint the cause of the outbreak, German authorities first labeled cucumbers grown in Spain as the culprit. These same authorities retracted this accusation only a few days later, but enough time had passed to cost Spanish farmers hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales and rotted crops. Still scrambling to locate the origin of the outbreak, German authorities next pointed to sprouts grown at an organic farm in northern Germany. On Monday, however, they once again backtracked on their claims after tests were unable to find any instances of E. coli bacteria on samples taken from the farm (1).
So, organic farmers can breathe freely once more, safe in the knowledge that they will not be wrongly implicated in the deadliest E. coli outbreak in modern history, right?
Wrong.
Even though German authorities have retracted their accusation, it seems that, like the innocent farmers in Spain, organic farmers have already suffered undue damage to their public perception. For example, an article posted on the Reuters website on Monday raises questions about the safety of organic farming (2). In fact, the article quotes a British professor of public health as saying that organic produce carries an extra risk because organic farms do not use non-organic chemical fertilizer. It boggles the mind to attempt to understand how produce can be more dangerous because it is not treated with poisonous chemicals!
The suggestion seems to be that the use of manure on organic farms causes a heightened risk of an E. coli outbreak, because E. coli is know to originate in animal intestines. This is wrong for a number of reasons. First of all, non-organic farms also use manure, but they are not regulated to the same degree. In fact, the federal regulation concerning the use of manure on organic farms is the strictest of its kind (3). It requires, for instance, that manure on organic farms be composted long enough to kill all bacteria. It comes as no surprise then that a study conducted at the University of Minnesota in 2004 concluded that organic produce was no more likely to be contaminated by E. coli than non-organic produce (4). Moreover, of all sprout recalls in the U.S. over the last two and a half years, ninety percent have come from non-organic farms (5).
Ultimately, the problem is twofold. First of all, evidence suggests that the wide-spread practice in conventional (i.e. non-organic) farming of feeding cows high-grain rations rather than the grass they were evolved to eat may be tied to increased instances of E. coli. These high-grain rations raise the pH in the cows’ rumen, which seems to lead to the creation of more deadly strains of E. coli (6).
On a much greater level, the recent E. coli outbreak is a symptom not of organic farming, nor even of conventional farming per se, but rather of the enormous scale of our industrial agricultural system. Our food system is not too big to fail; it is too big NOT to fail. When our food must travel a long and complicated path simply to reach our tables this not only increases the likelihood that somewhere along the way it will be contaminated, it also makes it difficult to trace the source of any contamination. This is evidenced by the recent blundering of the German authorities. Simply put, when our food is grown locally we know exactly where it comes from and we can quickly pinpoint and isolate any contamination.
__________
1) http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_CONTAMINATED_VEGETABLES_EUROPE?CTIME=2011-06-05-07-43-44&SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
2) http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/06/us-ecoli-beansprouts-idUSTRE7552N720110606
3) http://www.ota.com/organic/foodsafety/ecoli.html
4) Ibid.
5) http://www.cornucopia.org/2011/06/news-advisory-90-sprout-contamination-conventional-not-organic-linked-to-factory-farm-livestock-production/
6) Ibid.
So, organic farmers can breathe freely once more, safe in the knowledge that they will not be wrongly implicated in the deadliest E. coli outbreak in modern history, right?
Wrong.
Even though German authorities have retracted their accusation, it seems that, like the innocent farmers in Spain, organic farmers have already suffered undue damage to their public perception. For example, an article posted on the Reuters website on Monday raises questions about the safety of organic farming (2). In fact, the article quotes a British professor of public health as saying that organic produce carries an extra risk because organic farms do not use non-organic chemical fertilizer. It boggles the mind to attempt to understand how produce can be more dangerous because it is not treated with poisonous chemicals!
The suggestion seems to be that the use of manure on organic farms causes a heightened risk of an E. coli outbreak, because E. coli is know to originate in animal intestines. This is wrong for a number of reasons. First of all, non-organic farms also use manure, but they are not regulated to the same degree. In fact, the federal regulation concerning the use of manure on organic farms is the strictest of its kind (3). It requires, for instance, that manure on organic farms be composted long enough to kill all bacteria. It comes as no surprise then that a study conducted at the University of Minnesota in 2004 concluded that organic produce was no more likely to be contaminated by E. coli than non-organic produce (4). Moreover, of all sprout recalls in the U.S. over the last two and a half years, ninety percent have come from non-organic farms (5).
Ultimately, the problem is twofold. First of all, evidence suggests that the wide-spread practice in conventional (i.e. non-organic) farming of feeding cows high-grain rations rather than the grass they were evolved to eat may be tied to increased instances of E. coli. These high-grain rations raise the pH in the cows’ rumen, which seems to lead to the creation of more deadly strains of E. coli (6).
On a much greater level, the recent E. coli outbreak is a symptom not of organic farming, nor even of conventional farming per se, but rather of the enormous scale of our industrial agricultural system. Our food system is not too big to fail; it is too big NOT to fail. When our food must travel a long and complicated path simply to reach our tables this not only increases the likelihood that somewhere along the way it will be contaminated, it also makes it difficult to trace the source of any contamination. This is evidenced by the recent blundering of the German authorities. Simply put, when our food is grown locally we know exactly where it comes from and we can quickly pinpoint and isolate any contamination.
__________
1) http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_CONTAMINATED_VEGETABLES_EUROPE?CTIME=2011-06-05-07-43-44&SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
2) http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/06/us-ecoli-beansprouts-idUSTRE7552N720110606
3) http://www.ota.com/organic/foodsafety/ecoli.html
4) Ibid.
5) http://www.cornucopia.org/2011/06/news-advisory-90-sprout-contamination-conventional-not-organic-linked-to-factory-farm-livestock-production/
6) Ibid.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
The Roundup Ready Disaster
A mixture of good and bad news on the national food policy front. Let’s get the bad news out of the way first before turning to some more encouraging information...
As you may be aware, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, at the behest of the Obama administration, approved the use of a new strain of genetically engineered alfalfa seed in January of this year. This transgenic seed, which was developed by Monsanto, is called “Roundup Ready” alfalfa because it is designed to be resistant to the corporation’s widely used weed killer, Roundup. While this initially appeared to be a windfall for farmers who use transgenic seed, it has become clear that Roundup Ready alfalfa is almost certainly going to prove to be nothing less than an agricultural disaster.
Farmers and scientists across the nation have discovered solid evidence linking the use of Roundup Ready corn and soy, in conjunction with the Roundup weed killer, to massive rates of animal infertility and spontaneous abortion. In fact, infertility rates have been recorded as high as 20%, while spontaneous abortions are occurring at the unbelievable rate of 45%. Scientific evidence suggests that this disaster is being caused by severe micronutrient deficiencies in the soil on farms which use Roundup Ready seed and the weedkiller. Apparently, these deficiencies depopulate the soil of its regular microorganisms and have enabled an as yet unnamed microorganism to take their place. Along with general nutrient deficiencies in Roundup Ready crops, this new microorganism has been identified by scientists as the cause of the disaster. The situation is bad enough as is, but it promises to become even worse as Roundup Ready alfalfa is planted because alfalfa is used primarily to make hay that is fed to livestock. (http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/dr_hubers_warning/)
What comes as the largest surprise, however, is that these scientific findings are not brand new. In fact, the respected plant pathologist Dr. Don M. Huber sent a letter outlining this situation to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on January 17th, 2011. This was weeks before Secretary Vilsack approved the use of Roundup Ready Alfalfa. We are left to wonder why Secretary Vilsack disregarded Dr. Huber’s warning and request for additional time and funding for further research into Roundup Ready crops. We can be sure, however, that Monsanto was tirelessly lobbying the Obama administration for approval of its alfalfa seed.
Furthermore, the Roundup disaster provides us with yet another example of the dangers of transgenic and industrial scale agriculture. Situations like this are what makes the development of sound food policy so critical for our communities, both locally and nationally.
Now, the good news regarding all of this is that there is something each of us can do about the USDA’s questionable decision making. I encourage you to watch the video below, in which Dr. Huber explains the shocking breadth of the crisis, and then sign the petition to ask the Obama administration to ban the use of Roundup Ready alfalfa until further (independent!) research can be conducted. The petition can be found at:
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/dr_hubers_warning/
As you may be aware, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, at the behest of the Obama administration, approved the use of a new strain of genetically engineered alfalfa seed in January of this year. This transgenic seed, which was developed by Monsanto, is called “Roundup Ready” alfalfa because it is designed to be resistant to the corporation’s widely used weed killer, Roundup. While this initially appeared to be a windfall for farmers who use transgenic seed, it has become clear that Roundup Ready alfalfa is almost certainly going to prove to be nothing less than an agricultural disaster.
Farmers and scientists across the nation have discovered solid evidence linking the use of Roundup Ready corn and soy, in conjunction with the Roundup weed killer, to massive rates of animal infertility and spontaneous abortion. In fact, infertility rates have been recorded as high as 20%, while spontaneous abortions are occurring at the unbelievable rate of 45%. Scientific evidence suggests that this disaster is being caused by severe micronutrient deficiencies in the soil on farms which use Roundup Ready seed and the weedkiller. Apparently, these deficiencies depopulate the soil of its regular microorganisms and have enabled an as yet unnamed microorganism to take their place. Along with general nutrient deficiencies in Roundup Ready crops, this new microorganism has been identified by scientists as the cause of the disaster. The situation is bad enough as is, but it promises to become even worse as Roundup Ready alfalfa is planted because alfalfa is used primarily to make hay that is fed to livestock. (http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/dr_hubers_warning/)
What comes as the largest surprise, however, is that these scientific findings are not brand new. In fact, the respected plant pathologist Dr. Don M. Huber sent a letter outlining this situation to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on January 17th, 2011. This was weeks before Secretary Vilsack approved the use of Roundup Ready Alfalfa. We are left to wonder why Secretary Vilsack disregarded Dr. Huber’s warning and request for additional time and funding for further research into Roundup Ready crops. We can be sure, however, that Monsanto was tirelessly lobbying the Obama administration for approval of its alfalfa seed.
Furthermore, the Roundup disaster provides us with yet another example of the dangers of transgenic and industrial scale agriculture. Situations like this are what makes the development of sound food policy so critical for our communities, both locally and nationally.
Now, the good news regarding all of this is that there is something each of us can do about the USDA’s questionable decision making. I encourage you to watch the video below, in which Dr. Huber explains the shocking breadth of the crisis, and then sign the petition to ask the Obama administration to ban the use of Roundup Ready alfalfa until further (independent!) research can be conducted. The petition can be found at:
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/dr_hubers_warning/
Dr. Huber Explains Science Behind New Organism and Threat from Monsanto's Roundup, GMOs to Disease and Infertility from Food Democracy Now! on Vimeo.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
AGENDA: Working Group Meeting Wed June 8th!
Food Advisory Council for Memphis and Shelby County
Working Group Meeting
Wednesday June 8, 2011
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, 1000 S Cooper St.
1. Welcome and Introductions – 5 min
2. Discuss changing all meetings to evenings – 5 min
3. Review final draft of White Paper and discuss next steps, brainstorm list of necessary supporters – 30 min
4. Food Ordinance Handbook update and next steps – 30 min
5. Schedule Fundraising Plan Committee meeting - 5 min
6. General Updates/Announcements - 10 min
All meetings are open to the public, just email josephine@midsouthpeace.org or call 901-725-4990 so we know to expect you.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Food Stamps at Farmers Markets: the carrot, not the stick!
I was just directed to an excellent blog post:
The bottom line? Until you've been on food stamps, stop trying to tell people who are on food stamps what they should and should not eat. It perpetuates the popular and beloved American myth that poor people are stupid and don't know how to take care of themselves or their families. We all make bad food choices, even those of us with economic privilege make bad food choices, and we have more choices to make. In the words of my friend and co-conspirator, Connie Binkowitz, our job is to make the healthy choice the easy choice for everyone. We cannot "punish" people for eating fast food and soda while doing nothing to make affordable healthy options available and accessible in all neighborhoods and to all people.
Every corner store in Memphis takes food stamps, but how many farmers markets do? Well this year, three farmers markets have made the commitment to take food stamps market wide, the South Memphis Farmers Market, the Urban Farms Market, and the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market. Hat's off to them for their commitment to increasing access to healthy, fresh and local food. The Urban Farms market has been taking food stamps since late April, and despite using only word-of-mouth advertising, the number of folks coming to the market to use their federal benefits has been steadily increasing. "Those people" want to buy healthy, organic, farm-fresh produce just like "the rest of us". Who would have thought?
It's all about access. You can't expect someone to make a healthy choice if the option just isn't there. Or if the option is not affordable. Access means financial access, too. Soda and fast food burgers are cheap, after all. And when you need to feel full, that burger does a better job than any local organic apple. From an economic perspectives, we healthy food advocates have our work cut out for us.
Enter the Double Value Coupon Program. Wholesome Wave, a Connecticut non-profit, works with farmers markets across the country to implement programs that double people's money when they use food stamps at farmers markets. This benefits farmers, by helping redirect some of the billions of dollars in food stamps into their pockets, while also benefiting consumers by making the healthy food they want more affordable. It's a win for farmers, a win for farmers markets, and a win for consumers. It's a carrot, not a stick. And we're all for more carrots, right?
Want to see something like this in Memphis? Well just stay tuned for another couple months.....
If You Haven’t Been On Food Stamps, Stop Trying to Influence Government Policy
The bottom line? Until you've been on food stamps, stop trying to tell people who are on food stamps what they should and should not eat. It perpetuates the popular and beloved American myth that poor people are stupid and don't know how to take care of themselves or their families. We all make bad food choices, even those of us with economic privilege make bad food choices, and we have more choices to make. In the words of my friend and co-conspirator, Connie Binkowitz, our job is to make the healthy choice the easy choice for everyone. We cannot "punish" people for eating fast food and soda while doing nothing to make affordable healthy options available and accessible in all neighborhoods and to all people.
Every corner store in Memphis takes food stamps, but how many farmers markets do? Well this year, three farmers markets have made the commitment to take food stamps market wide, the South Memphis Farmers Market, the Urban Farms Market, and the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market. Hat's off to them for their commitment to increasing access to healthy, fresh and local food. The Urban Farms market has been taking food stamps since late April, and despite using only word-of-mouth advertising, the number of folks coming to the market to use their federal benefits has been steadily increasing. "Those people" want to buy healthy, organic, farm-fresh produce just like "the rest of us". Who would have thought?
It's all about access. You can't expect someone to make a healthy choice if the option just isn't there. Or if the option is not affordable. Access means financial access, too. Soda and fast food burgers are cheap, after all. And when you need to feel full, that burger does a better job than any local organic apple. From an economic perspectives, we healthy food advocates have our work cut out for us.
Enter the Double Value Coupon Program. Wholesome Wave, a Connecticut non-profit, works with farmers markets across the country to implement programs that double people's money when they use food stamps at farmers markets. This benefits farmers, by helping redirect some of the billions of dollars in food stamps into their pockets, while also benefiting consumers by making the healthy food they want more affordable. It's a win for farmers, a win for farmers markets, and a win for consumers. It's a carrot, not a stick. And we're all for more carrots, right?
Want to see something like this in Memphis? Well just stay tuned for another couple months.....
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