Food Myths – UK November 28, 2007
Posted by organicresearcher in News, slow food.Tags: , food myths, slow food
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I really like Matthew Fort, this piece on the slow food site, which makes a number of interesting and striking points, but paints the Brits with perhaps too broad a brush. I was getting a bit irritated but then at the end he admits that his own knowledge is on shaky grounds, all too rare for a journalist and really welcome. So I’ll forgive the big brush and enjoy it.
Organic Salmon killed in huge jellyfish attack November 24, 2007
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Aquaculture is a regular discussion on this blog, but this story of surreal, poor old Northern Salmon will find it hard going after this.
Genetic preference for Garlic and Coffee October 23, 2007
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A new report on how our genes influence our food choices.
Paid for Bird Flu?? April 19, 2007
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The news that Bernard Matthews is getting £589,000 compensation after an outbreak of bird flu at one of its plants is staggering. This blog has covered Bird Flu at lot (and here) and I do understand that it is important to encourage companies to come forward rather than cover up outbreaks. Yet this outbreak has found the law wanting, a series of low probability events is what defines an outbreak and the rules and regs are supposed to be there to stop it. The law and the regulations are there to stop not just the obvious risks. In a nation with such a history of small, low probability events become so serious this really beggars belief. Once again evidence that the major food companies run rough shod over the wider public interest.
Nestle’s Food Research April 18, 2007
Posted by organicresearcher in Food, Food Porn, GM food, News, Organic, Research, fast food, medicine, organic food.add a comment
A fascinating insight into how a big food company thinks about the future of food with this interview.
Petition to Ban Pharma Crops April 5, 2007
Posted by organicresearcher in Food, GM food, News, Organic, Protests, farming, organic farming, organic food, politics.add a comment
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) needs your help in order to send a strong message to the USDA as it crafts new rules concerning the oversight of pharmaceutical and industrial crops.
Individuals and organizations representing the interests of farmers, consumers, food companies, environmentalists, and more are being asked to sign the UCS petition to the USDA to ban outdoor production of pharmaceutical and industrial chemicals in food crops.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is preparing to issue new regulations for oversight of crops that have been genetically engineered (GE), including those that are designed to produce pharmaceutical (pharma) and industrial chemicals.
These pharmaceutical and industrial crops pose serious threats to growers of both organic and conventional crops, and even other, non-pharmaceutical and industrial GE crops when grown outdoors in food crops such as corn, soybeans, safflower, and rice. Agricultural experts from across the country agree that efforts to prevent contamination of the food supply by pharmaceutical and industrial crops will necessitate complicated and expensive containment systems that will ultimately fail if these crops continue to be grown outdoors in food crops.
Please help protect the food supply! Sign the UCS Petition today!
Read more about Genetic Engineering on the CCOF website…
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The BBC has just produced a documentary and a short TV piece on GM 2.0, the best link starts here.
I trusted Ollie March 30, 2007
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Tell the NOSB NO CLONING ALLOWED in Organic Production! March 25, 2007
Posted by organicresearcher in Food, GM food, News, Organic, Protests, environmentalism, farming, organic farming, organic food.1 comment so far
Take Action Now! Tell the National Organic Standards Board to recommend a ban on clones and their progeny!
Send comments to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) TODAY! Tell them to clarify that cloning is not compatible with organic production.
After the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its plan to approve food from clones in December, organic advocates quickly noted that such products would be excluded from organic production under current rules. However, biotechnology industry spokespeople have stated that they believe that cloned food should be permitted in products labeled as organic. While the National Organic Program (NOP) announced in January that clones would not be allowed under organic standards, the question of the progeny of clones remains unanswered.
The National Organic Standards Board has a meeting planned March 27 – 29, 2007, and this issue will be discussed.
Tell the NOSB to recommend a ban on animal clones and their offspring in the organic standards!
Submit your comments through the Center for Food Safety’s website now!
If you choose to submit commets through the mail, act quickly, time is running out:
Ms. Valerie Frances, Executive Director, NOSB
USDA-AMS-TMD-NOP
1400 Independence Ave., SW.
Room 4008-So., Ag Stop 0268
Washington, DC 20250-0268
Tell the NOSB to strengthen and clarify the existing rules, the NOSB should recommend that the NOP amend the regulations to ensure that animal cloning technology is excluded, and that products derived from organisms subjected to such technology should be excluded, including progeny of cloned animals and all their offspring.
In order to clarify that asexual animal cloning is prohibited, and that progeny of such animals is also prohibited, the NOSB should recommend several changes in the regulation: (underlined text indicates new language):
1. Change in the definition of excluded methods: 205.2 Definitions Excluded methods. A variety of methods used to genetically modify organisms or influence their growth and development by means that are not possible under natural conditions or processes and are not considered compatible with organic production. Such methods include cell fusion, microencapsulation and macroencapsulation, somatic cell nuclear transfer (or other asexual methods of animal cloning) and recombinant DNA technology (including gene deletion, gene doubling, introducing a foreign gene, and changing the positions of genes when achieved by recombinant DNA technology). Such methods do not include the use of traditional breeding, conjugation, fermentation, hybridization, in vitro fertilization, artificial insemination or tissue culture.
2. Change to origin of livestock section:
205.236 Origin of livestock (b) The following are prohibited:
(1) Livestock or edible livestock products that are removed from an organic operation and subsequently managed on a nonorganic operation may be not sold, labeled, or represented as organically produced.
(2) Breeder or dairy stock that has not been under continuous organic management since the last third of gestation may not be sold, labeled, or represented as organic slaughter stock.
(3) Livestock, progeny of livestock, or reproductive materials derived from animals produced using animal cloning techniques (includes somatic cell nuclear transfer or other asexual methods).
