Posted by admin | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 13-12-2007
Tags: food, health, organic, shopping, sustainability

What are the new food safety standards for organic farmers & growers?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjVXTp2WynUsEtgygSx01NHQ7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20090320125648AAfmxio
The article linked in this question suggests that Monsanto has successfully lobbied the US Federal Government into passing an Act that outlaws organic agriculture in the USA by setting minimum fertilisation and pest control standards set by Monsanto, one of whose directors is related to the Government official who got this law through.
I am from the UK. Does this mean I have to boycott American produce if I wish to support an ethical form of agriculture?
Should I also write to my MEP to extend a ban on American produce throughout the EU, because it fails to respect this method of producing food, yet still claiming to be the Land of the Free?
Despite the election of President Obama, is America still putting the interests of big business corporations above ethics and the backyard American trying to fill a niche in the market?
My reading of the article it is bringing industrial agriculture into line wiht the contamination records and traceability already practiced by certified organic farming.
But the personal interest link to Monsanto can’t be overlooked as the way the bill might be applied is delegated, not specified.
There will be a big impact on small local non-organic farms, these won’t supply the EU anyway.
Your reasoning that “it fails to respect this method of producing food” will not be valid unless you can show it is a “religeous” belief http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/tim-nicholson-a-green-martyr-1648388.html
.
|
|
Fresh Produce Sweet Pea Five-Piece Organic Layette Set $49.99 Baby Aspen goes green with an amazingly adorable, organic, five-piece layette set that makes sweet peas even sweeter! It all starts with a natural woven-wood basket filled with sweet peas. The graphic of a small, swaddled baby snuggled in half a pea pod appears on the blanket, PJs, cap and bib, and a green,sweet-pea pod rattle on top makes this magnificent baby gift ready for market! Features and facts:Soft-beige, organic layette set includes a 24 ½ “” x 28 ¾ “” blanket, footed PJ’s, cap, bib and pea-pod rattle Blanket, PJ’s, hat and bib are imprinted with the Sweet Pea graphic (a bundled baby in a pea pod) framed by sage-green faux stitching Machine-washable, 100% organic cotton |
|
|
The Produce Contamination Problem: Causes And Solutions $95.99 This book is organized into five sections beginning with an introduction in which the problem is described in terms of the number and size of produce related outbreaks the commodities involved and the human pathogens involved. The introduction also documents the failure of conventional sanitizing treatments to assure microbiological safety examining the problems of microbial attachment. The second section reviews methods of identifying a contamination source (epidemiology trace back strain identification location of Source) and then focuses on the various sources of microbial contamination (water manure airborne dust wildlife human activity) and where in the crop production sequence they might result in contamination. In the third section some of the commodities associated with major outbreaks (leafy vegetables tomatoes cantaloupes apples berries sprouts) are examined to determine what characteristics make them especially vulnerable to contamination. The fourth section then addresses means of avoiding produce contamination through use of Good Agricultural Practices and recommendations in FDA and industry guidance documents. Regulatory actions (recalls restrictions on imports) to safeguard the public from potentially hazardous products are described. Coverage includes policy and practices in the US Mexico and Central America Europe and Japan. The fifth section examines current technologies for reducing human pathogens in fresh produce including disinfection rapid methods for detecting contaminants irradiation gas-phase application and best practices acceptable to organic growers packers and processors. *Addresses foodborne contaminations from a prevention view providing pro-active solutions to the problems *Covers core sources of contamination and methodologies for identifying those sources *Includes best practice and regulatory information |
