FEED - October 2011
Contents
- Report documents government failure to tackle antibiotic use in agriculture
- Philly farmers market program a success
- Major corn pest develops resistance to engineered toxin
- New book reveals the story of the modern tomato
Dear FEED Readers,
After six years of providing news and information from the world of food and agriculture, FEED is coming to an end this month. Going forward, you can interact directly with our staff experts and get the same quality analysis you’ve come to expect from FEED on the UCS blog, The Equation. In addition, you can read about breaking news and opportunities to take action via Twitter or Facebook. Thank you for reading!
1. Report documents government failure to tackle antibiotic use in agriculture
A new report from the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress exposes the federal government’s dismal performance addressing the overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture. The report—released last month by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and aptly titled, "Agencies Have Made Limited Progress Addressing Antibiotic Use in Animals"—reveals myriad failures by the Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture in the areas of data collection, producer education, and research on alternatives to antibiotic use. In many instances, the two agencies simply did not perform data and research collection tasks they themselves had agreed were necessary in action plans published more than a decade ago. Without reliable comprehensive data on antibiotic use in specific species, public health officials cannot monitor trends or design effective interventions to reduce antibiotic use. Read the full report.
“As the GAO report demonstrates, the federal government has done next to nothing in the last ten years to effectively reduce the high levels of antibiotic use in animal agriculture in the United States. To waste a decade in a battle against a major public health threat is very disappointing.” — Margaret Mellon, Food & Environment Program Director
2. Philly farmers market program a success
Low-income Philadelphia residents who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (formerly known as “food stamps”) are spending more money than ever at farmers markets. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health partially attributes this increase in spending to a pilot program called Philly Food Bucks, which provides matching funds of two SNAP dollars for every five SNAP dollars spent at farmers markets in the Philadelphia region. SNAP sales at Philadelphia farmers markets more than doubled in 2010 (the program’s first year) and sales are projected to continue to increase in 2011, meaning that more low-income residents are taking advantage of access to fresh and local foods. Read more about Philly Food Bucks at grist.org, and then read our latest report, "Market Forces," to learn more about how programs like this improve community health and support local economies.
3. Major corn pest develops resistance to engineered toxin
A serious agricultural pest, the western corn rootworm, has developed resistance to one of the toxins produced by the genetically engineered (GE) corn plants known as Bt corn, according to a new study by entomologists at Iowa State University. If this new development leads farmers to resort to increasing chemical insecticide use to kill the rootworm—an outcome that seems increasingly likely—it will bear out a longstanding concern about widespread adoption of GE crops. The study found the rootworm’s ability to adapt was strongest in fields where Bt corn was planted for three consecutive years. Farmers can delay Bt resistance by planting large “refuge areas” containing crops without the Bt modification. This practice allows rootworms without Bt resistance to survive and breed with resistant rootworms in order to produce offspring that are not Bt resistant. Today, however, only half of the Bt corn fields planted in the Midwest have refuge areas of the size and location required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). And the agency allows refuge areas that are less than half the size recommended by an independent panel of scientists that EPA asked for advice. Read more about Bt toxin resistance.
4. New book reveals the story of the modern tomato
You may never look at a tomato the same way again after reading Barry Estabrook’s Tomatoland. While many shoppers have bemoaned bland and generic grocery store tomatoes for years, Tomatoland shows readers that there are more problems with supermarket tomatoes than just a lack of flavor. With a focus on the tomato fields of Florida, the second-largest producer of tomatoes in the United States, Estabrook reveals the story of how industrial agriculture has reshaped the tomato not only at the expense of taste, but with little regard to the environment or the health of farm workers and their families. Read a Tomatoland book review from the Washington Post.
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