Food & Agriculture Update Spring 2009
Contents
- Summary
- Efforts restricting antibiotic use gain momentum
- Pesticide use data restored!
- The Real Scoop rebuffs industry myths
Program Updates
Clean Energy
Clean Vehicles
Food and Agriculture
Global Warming
Nuclear Weapons and Global Security
Scientific Integrity
Summary
UCS gained new allies this summer in our fight to keep antibiotics working for disease treatment when a top Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official announced the agency’s first-ever support of restrictions on the use of these drugs in the feed and water of livestock and poultry that are not sick. UCS also claimed victory when the U.S. Department of Agriculture reversed a decision to end the collection of pesticide use data. At the same time, UCS continues to counter claims by Monsanto and other biotechnology corporations that genetically engineered (GE) crops increase crop yields via the Real Scoop, an online column by UCS scientist Doug Gurian-Sherman.
Efforts restricting antibiotic use gain momentum
An estimated 70 percent of antibiotics and related drugs in the United States are used in the feed and water of animals that are not sick to promote faster growth and to prevent diseases caused by overcrowded conditions in CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations). This practice has serious consequences for human health. Bacteria that are constantly exposed to antibiotics develop resistance to these drugs. When humans get sick from resistant bacteria, the antibiotics prescribed will no longer work.
The Obama administration is prepared to combat antibiotic resistance by setting limits on the nontherapeutic use of medically valuable antibiotics in agriculture, according to FDA Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein, speaking at a July congressional hearing on the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (PAMTA). The administration is considering ending the use of clinically valuable antibiotics for growth promotion and feed efficiency and restricting over-the-counter use of antibiotics. The announcement, which stunned the animal agriculture industry, reverses decades of agency policy. UCS scientist Margaret Mellon also testified at the hearing, which gave new energy to PAMTA’s supporters in Congress and throughout the country.
Pesticide use data restored!
UCS joined other groups in a successful effort urging the USDA to resurrect a program for tracking pesticide use on U.S. food crops, which had been halted by the Bush administration. The pesticide use surveys, conducted by the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), provide the only free, publicly available data on the agricultural chemicals applied to crops. Government agencies, environmental groups, academic scientists, and others use the data to evaluate the human health and environmental risks posed by pesticides and compare the amount of pesticides applied to GE versus conventional crops, among other purposes. As the first step in restoring the program, NASS will gather data on pesticide applications to fruit and nut crops this fall. If Congress approves the full funding specified in the president's 2010 budget, the agency will resume data collection for vegetables, major row crops, and pesticides applied to crops after harvest. We thank the UCS activists who wrote letters to help convince the USDA to preserve this valuable program.
The Real Scoop rebuffs industry myths
UCS scientist Doug Gurian-Sherman, author of the groundbreaking report, Failure to Yield, continued to fight the biotech industry spin machine in its attempts to convince decision leaders around the world that GE crops will produce higher yields than conventional crops. Monsanto and other proponents of GE crops have argued that these crops hold the answer to growing concerns about food security around the world. "The Real Scoop," an online column by Gurian-Sherman, offers a science-based perspective on industrial-style agriculture approaches, including CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations), genetic engineering, and other methods with enormous impacts on human health, the environment, and society. Read Doug’s column to get the full story.
