FEED - January 2009
Contents
- Vilsack picked to head Agriculture Department
- Climate conference addresses problems of meat consumption
- Agencies rebuff congressional investigators on engineered crops
- Poultry trucks spread pollution and antibiotic-resistant diseases
- "Organic green revolution" can solve global hunger
1. Vilsack picked to head Agriculture Department
Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack is slated to be the next agriculture secretary, a position with great influence over our country's food production. Although President-elect Barack Obama was urged to break with tradition and nominate a secretary from outside the world of production agriculture, sustainable food advocates are preparing to work with a Secretary Vilsack. Supporters have praised Vilsack for creating the Iowa Food Policy Council, a group that made progress on issues including food security, local foods, and farmers' markets. He has been described as an open-minded politician who listens to differing perspectives. Read more from The New York Times and the Center for Rural Affairs.
2. Climate conference addresses problems of meat consumption
Recent climate change negotiations in Poznan, Poland, addressed the impact on global warming of raising animals for food. Gaseous emissions and manure from animals, particularly ruminants like cows, add potent heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere. Some solutions proposed were installing methane digesters on farms, tweaking animals' diets to reduce methane production, and taxing meat to discourage consumption. But these approaches fail to address the overuse of antibiotics in CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) or much of the pollution these operations generate. The conference failed to focus on more fundamental approaches like switching to so-called smart pasture operations, which graze animals on well-managed pastures. Studies have shown that such operations can both sequester carbon and minimize other farm pollution. Read more from The New York Times and see our recent issue briefing, The Hidden Costs of CAFOs (pdf).
| "The conversation started in Poznan regarding the links between agriculture practices and climate change is an important step in the right direction. But some proposed solutions, such as methane digesters, are mere band-aid approaches to climate change. We need to invest in smart, modern farming practices that will produce healthier animals and meat, respond to climate change, and sharply reduce farm pollution." ~ Doug Gurian-Sherman, Senior Scientist |
3. Agencies rebuff congressional investigators on engineered crops
Three federal agencies turned down a recommendation from congressional investigators to monitor genetically engineered (GE) crops after they are commercialized. In a recent report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, criticized the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency for allowing unapproved GE crops to enter the food supply and recommended several steps they should take to prevent further contamination. However, the agencies rejected the GAO's most important recommendation—to monitor GE crops after they are approved for commercial production. Unapproved GE crops are known to have contaminated the food supply six times since 2000, not counting the most recent incident in which an experimental GE variety of cottonseed was allowed to contaminate animal feed. Read the GAO report.
| "After two decades of regulating agricultural biotechnology, the federal government is still unable to protect the food supply from unapproved GE crops. We urge the incoming administration to overhaul the rules governing agricultural biotechnology and to adopt the GAO’s recommendations." ~ Jane Rissler, Senior Scientist/Deputy Director |
4. Poultry trucks spread antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have reported that antibiotic-resistant bacteria from open-air poultry trucks can spread to cars driving behind these trucks. Their study, published in the Journal of Infection and Public Health, found increased levels of pathogenic bacteria in the air and on surfaces in cars that followed trucks carrying broiler chickens. The bacteria were resistant to three antibiotics that are widely used in human medicine and also approved by the FDA as poultry feed additives. The study was conducted in a coastal region shared by Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia that has one of the highest densities of poultry CAFOs in the country. Read about the study in The Washington Post, or read a press release from Johns Hopkins.
5. "Organic green revolution" can solve global hunger
In a new report, the Rodale Institute calls for a dramatic shift from costly, chemical-intensive industrial farming systems to regenerative organic systems, which it says can help the world feed itself. The report cites a study of small-scale farmers in 57 countries whose yields increased by an average 79 percent when they used sustainable agriculture techniques and other research in developing countries that found organic farming was two to three times more productive than conventional farming. Organic farming methods restore nutrients and carbon to the soil, resulting in higher nutrient density in crops and increased yields. Organic soils also contain more beneficial microorganisms, are less vulnerable to erosion, and retain moisture better to help plants survive drought conditions. A 28-year side-by-side comparison of organic and conventional practices on Rodale's research farm in Pennsylvania has found that organically grown corn and soybeans are more resistant to drought, outperforming conventional crops by 30 percent and 50 to 100 percent respectively. Read the report (pdf).
