FEED - July 2009
Contents
1. Landmark climate legislation moves on to Senate
2. Congress considers food safety legislation
3. Monsanto loses again: GE alfalfa banned nationwide
4. Food documentary attacks industrial food corporations
5. Cool Cuisine book links climate change and dinner
1. Landmark climate legislation moves on to Senate
In the coming weeks, the Senate will consider the American Clean Energy and Security Act, a comprehensive climate and energy bill with implications for agriculture that the House recently passed. The bill includes a cap system, which places a limit on global warming pollution—with deeper cuts required over time—while charging polluters for their emissions. Companies that choose not to reduce their emissions would have the option to purchase “offsets” in the form of pollution-reducing projects elsewhere, including climate-friendly agricultural and forestry practices. If implemented correctly, the offset program could give farmers incentives to farm in ways that build and protect soil and reduce energy-intensive chemical inputs. Read more from UCS or more from The New York Times.
| "As the bill goes to the Senate, UCS will be working to ensure that any practices eligible for offsets will deliver genuine climate benefits." ~ Margaret Mellon, Food & Environment Program Director |
2. Congress considers food safety legislation
A federal bill that would significantly reform oversight of food safety by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 would give the FDA more authority to recall contaminated food, require more frequent inspections of food facilities, and improve traceability of foodborne pathogens. At the urging of UCS, an amendment was offered to address the growing problem of foodborne pathogens that are resistant to antibiotics due to overuse in animal agriculture, but the amendment was withdrawn during debate. UCS also urged the committee to amend the bill to ensure that it does not place a disproportionate burden on small and organic producers. The bill will be voted on by the full House soon. Read more about H.R. 2749 (pdf) and more about UCS's work to end antibiotic overuse.
3. Monsanto loses again: GE alfalfa banned nationwide
A federal court has upheld a ban on the planting of Monsanto's genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa in the United States. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed its previous ruling that the alfalfa, which is engineered to tolerate the herbicide Roundup, could contaminate conventional and organic alfalfa and thus cause "irreversible harm" to the farmers whose livelihoods depend on these crops and to the environment. In the original lawsuit, the Center for Food Safety, other nonprofit organizations, and two alfalfa seed producers sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for approving GE alfalfa without preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) as required by federal law. After the district court issued its original ruling in 2008 to ban the alfalfa, Monsanto and another biotechnology company appealed the ban, but their appeal was denied in this final ruling. The ban will remain in place until the USDA completes the EIS. Read more from Reuters, or read the decision (pdf).
| "We hope the USDA finally gets the message that it must fully evaluate the public health, environmental, and economic risks of GE crops before allowing them to be widely planted." ~ Jane Rissler, Deputy Director/Senior Scientist |
4. Food documentary attacks industrial food corporations
A new documentary challenges the industrial system that grows, processes, and distributes most U.S. food, the system's domination by a few large corporations, and the slew of problems it creates. Food, Inc. weaves together the stories of farmers and others in agriculture-related enterprises facing Monsanto lawsuits for patent infringement; families stricken by foodborne illness; and animals fed inappropriate diets in CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations). It features food journalists Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation, also coproducer of Food, Inc.), Stonyfield Farm's Gary Hirshberg, and celebrity organic farmer Joel Salatin. In the style of An Inconvenient Truth, the movie encourages viewers to take action by urging changes in government policies while opting for local and organic foods whenever possible. Congresswoman Louise Slaughter's office is sponsoring a screening of the film this week for congressional staffers and others. Read more.
5. Cool Cuisine book links climate change and dinner
If you're looking for some inspiring summer reading, check out Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite out of Global Warming. Coauthored by a chef (Laura Stec) and a climate scientist (Eugene Cordero), the book calls the standard American diet "a hummer on a plate." In an engaging, easy-to-read format packed with stories, recipes, and shopping tips, the book explains the connection between food and the climate and presents simple personal solutions. While they acknowledge that changing your diet won't single-handedly solve global warming, Stec and Cordero offer readers tools for evaluating the carbon "foodprint" of commonly eaten foods and a three-step plan for reducing the carbon impact of daily meals. Read more.
