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Regional Farm & Food Project August 2005 News If you believe the food system is the foundation of the healthcare system, these stories should interest you! 6 news stories:
1. Factory Farm Spills 3 Million Gallons of Manure in Black River 3 Million Gallons of Manure Spilled into New York State's Black River on August 11, 2005 NY Times says (in article excerpted below), "the contamination grew to roughly a fourth the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill." "It's the biggest fish kill I've ever seen," said Frank Flack, the regional fisheries manager for the State Department of Environmental Conservation. Tomorrow morning, Wednesday, August 17 at 11:00 AM (Albany, Legislative Office Building, Room 130) you are encouraged to join the Sierra Club and Citizen's Environmental Coalition at a press conference to release a report on factory farming in New York State called, "The Wasting of New York State: Factory Farms and Public Health." The report was written by Mike Schade from the CEC and reviewed by experts from a coalition of farm and environmental groups in New York State, including the Regional Farm & Food Project. The report is being released early due to the Black River manure spill. New York Times (nytimes.com) August 15, 2005 issue "Workers Trying to Contain Effects of Big Spill Upstate" by Michelle York Excerpt: "The toxin was liquid cow manure - three million gallons in all - creating a murky plume that stretched for miles and giving unfortunate new meaning to the river's name. The manure did not so much spill as gushed from an earthen reservoir at one of the largest dairy farms in the state, Marks Farm, in the nearby town of Lowville. ... Workers tried to shore up the pit, but so much manure escaped that the contamination grew to roughly a fourth the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. "It started killing all the fish," Mr. Martin said. "Black River is known for its fish." ... "It's the biggest fish kill I've ever seen," said Frank Flack, the regional fisheries manager for the State Department of Environmental Conservation, as he paused while taking oxygen measurements from the river in Carthage, an Adirondack town about 15 miles east of Watertown. "Before it's all done, it could end up to be millions of fish," he said. "Some of those pike are 20 pounds, so they're 10 to 20 years old. It will be years before the river completely recovers." 2. First Ever FDA Ban on Antibiotic Use (Cipro) in Factory Farms Keep Antibiotics Working Praises FDA's First Ever Ban of Agricultural Drug Due to Antibiotic-Resistance Effects in Humans Ban on Cipro-like Drugs in Poultry Initiated During Clinton Administration Washington D.C. -- Excerpt: The Keep Antibiotics Working (KAW) coalition commended newly confirmed U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Lester Crawford for today issuing a precedent-setting, final decision to withdraw approval for use of Cipro-like antibiotics in poultry (see FDA decision at http://www.fda.gov/oc/antimicrobial/baytril.pdf). This action is the first time that FDA has ever withdrawn an agricultural antibiotic from the market because of concerns about antibiotic resistance affecting human health. The ban was proposed in October 2000, but took nearly five years to finalize because of numerous procedural delays created by Bayer Corp., the only manufacturer of the drug, whose trade name is Baytril. Both Baytril and Cipro are members of the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics. FDA has shown that use of Baytril in poultry reduces the effectiveness of Cipro in treating Campylobacter, one of the most common causes of severe bacterial food poisoning. The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that resistance to Cipro in Campylobacter in humans has risen to 21 percent as of 2002; when Cipro-like drugs were first approved for use in poultry in 1995, such resistance was negligible. ... "This is a very important decision because it is the first time FDA has cited antibiotic resistance as the reason for banning use of a drug," said Margaret Mellon, Ph.D., J.D., Director of the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "But FDA also needs to take additional steps to address inappropriate antibiotic use in agriculture, particularly use of medically important antibiotics as feed additive uses." The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates 70 percent of all antibiotics used in the U.S. - about 25 million pounds annually - are routinely fed to poultry, swine, and beef cattle not to treat illness but rather to promote slightly faster growth and to compensate for overcrowded and unhealthy conditions in concentrated animal feeding operations. More than half of these drugs are identical or similar to antibiotics that are important in human medicine. Use of antibiotic feed additives spurs the development and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria in our food supply and the environment. www.keepantibioticsworking.com 3. Organic Farms Produce the Same Yields as Conventional Farms Ithaca, NY -- Excerpt: Organic farming produces the same yields of corn and soybeans as does conventional farming, but uses 30 percent less energy, less water and no pesticides, a review of a 22-year farming trial study concludes. David Pimentel, a Cornell University professor of ecology and agriculture, concludes, "Organic farming offers real advantages for such crops as corn and soybeans." Pimentel is the lead author of a study that is published in the July issue of Bioscience (Vol. 55:7) analyzing the environmental, energy and economic costs and benefits of growing soybeans and corn organically versus conventionally. The study is a review of the Rodale Institute Farming Systems Trial, the longest running comparison of organic vs. conventional farming in the United States. "Organic farming approaches for these crops not only use an average of 30 percent less fossil energy but also conserve more water in the soil, induce less erosion, maintain soil quality and conserve more biological resources than conventional farming does," Pimentel added. ... "The fact that organic agriculture systems also absorb and retain significant amounts of carbon in the soil has implications for global warming," Pimentel said, pointing out that soil carbon in the organic systems increased by 15 to 28 percent, the equivalent of taking about 3,500 pounds of carbon dioxide per hectare out of the air. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050714004407.htm 4. Half of All Fed Ag Subsidies Go to Cheap Crop Ingredients in Processed Food ASSOCIATED PRESS (August 11, 2005) -- Excerpt: The government says half your diet should be fruits and vegetables, but it doesn't subsidize the farmers who grow them. Instead, half of all federal agriculture subsidies go to grain farmers, whose crops feed animals for meat, milk and eggs and become cheap ingredients in processed food. What's wrong with that? ''Obesity. That's clearly the problem, if you look at the outcome in today's society,'' said Andy Fischer, executive director of the Community Food Security Coalition, a Venice, California, advocacy group. Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. People clearly are getting the calories they need and more, but they're not getting enough nutrition, diet and disease experts say. ... Here is what the food pyramid says you should eat, based on a 2,000-calorie daily diet:
Your plate would look quite different if it matched farm subsidies. Estimated to cost $17 billion this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the breakdown of farm subsidies includes:
5. Giant Ag Businesses Use PBS Series to Put a Pretty Face on Poison in Your Food Monsanto and the American Farm Bureau Federation, along with the National Corn Growers Association, U.S. Grains Council, American Soybean Association, National Cotton Council, and United Soybean Board, are planning to use PBS as the mouthpiece for their latest round of industrial agriculture propaganda. If you haven’t heard, beginning this September, PBS and American Public Television are planning to launch a weekly television series called “America's Heartland” that will, no doubt, attempt mightily to put a pretty face on industrial agriculture in the U.S., with lots of lipstick and hair gel reserved for genetically engineered food. If everything goes according to Monsanto’s plan, 20 half-hour episodes will appear weekly on 300 public television stations across the country and will extol the virtues of Monsanto’s, et al, products and preferred farming practices. Not a single group that represents sustainable agriculture or America's traditional family farmers is anywhere to be found. And you can bet the farm that their interests and concerns will not be featured in this obvious public relations vehicle. www.centerforfoodsafety.org/home.cfm 6. Through Farmers’ Hands – A Country Prom Monday, September 26, 2005, 6:00 to 10:00 pm Bar & Appetizers at 6:00, Live Music & Food Tasting at 7:00 Festive Country Attire Requested A celebration of our region’s farms and foods, and the country they come from, set to the tune of new and old country music, and presented in an elegant turn-of-the-century Victorian ballroom to benefit the Regional Farm & Food Project. For more information or to purchase tickets call 518-271-0744. |
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