Documents

Making Public Agricultural Research Work for the Public: Research and the Farm Bill

Colleen Borgendale — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:20:23 +0000

Language: English IATP author(s): Mark Muller Author(s) (external): Michael Pursell File: 07_Research_f_web.pdf The importance of the Farm Bill’s Research title is hard to overstate. It may not have a direct impact on people’s lives as the food assistance programs and farm programs do, but it is a crucial driver in the long-term direction of U.S. agriculture. Its impact goes far beyond the USDA research institutions. It also drives research at land grant universities and many other entities, subsequently helping to shape the long-term future of food and agricultural systems. The decisions that farmers make about what crops to grow and practices to use, the decisions that food corporations make about what food...

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Planting for the Future: Health and the Farm Bill

Colleen Borgendale — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:26:10 +0000

Language: English IATP author(s): Jennifer Billig Dr. David Wallinga File: 08_Health_f_web.pdf In the U.S., and increasingly around the world, it’s very easy for consumers to find high-calorie, high-sugar, nutrient-poor foods, including sugar sweetened drinks, fast foods and highly processed snack foods. This food environment is one where such foods are aggressively marketed, easily accessible and often considered more “affordable,” as measured by calorie per unit weight. In contrast, healthier foods like fruits and vegetables are often more difficult to access, less marketed and perceived as more expensive. We’ve paid a big price for our unhealthy food environment. The U.S. has the highest obesity rates in the world. In...

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IATP featured in HBO series on obesity epidemic

Andrew Ranallo — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:36:36 +0000

Language: English IATP author(s): Andrew Ranallo File: 2012_05_14_WeightoftheNation.pdf The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s (IATP) Dr. David Wallinga is featured in a new HBO multi-movie series on the nation’s obesity epidemic and the systemic drivers of it. Dr. Wallinga joins other experts in public health, health policy and obesity prevention research to discuss an issue that costs the country an estimated $190 billion per year, and will impact more than 42 percent of the population by 2030. The Weight of the Nation premieres on Monday, May 14 and Tuesday, May 15. Dr. Wallinga is featured in part IV: Challenges, where he talks about food and agricultural policy as contributors to the obesity epidemic. An essay on the same topic written by Dr. Wallinga appeared...

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IATP applauds lawmakers’ call to FDA for action on antibiotics in ethanol production

Colleen Borgendale — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:21:05 +0000

Subtitle: FDA neglects responsibility to public health, highlighted by IATP investigation Language: English IATP author(s): Andrew Ranallo File: 2012_05_11_CallToFDA_PR.pdf Just 10 days after the release of IATP’s latest report, Bugs in the System: How the FDA Fails to Regulate Antibiotics in Ethanol Production, Representatives Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) have written to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ask hard questions about whether the agency is doing its job to protect the public in addressing the issue of antibiotic use in ethanol. As the letter highlights, and as reported earlier by IATP, antibiotics used in ethanol production are ending up in a byproduct known as dried...

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International Standards for Trade in Nano-coated Produce?

Colleen Borgendale — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:31:53 +0000

Language: English IATP author(s): Dr. Steve Suppan File: 2012_05_14_CodexNano_SS.pdf Nanotechnology-based food and health products and food packaging materials are available to consumers in some countries already, and additional products and applications are currently in the research and development stage, and some may reach the market soon. In view of such progress, it is expected that nanotechnology-derived food products will be increasingly available to consumers worldwide in the coming years.1 World Health Organization/United Nations Food and Agriculture joint expert report, 2010 Yes, we have no nano-coated bananas, no bananas today According to the WHO/FAO expert panel, it is “progress” that agri-nanotechnology products are on the market and that more products are on...

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Sustained pressure by nonprofits forces change in FDA nanotech policy

Andrew Ranallo — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:21:44 +0000

Subtitle: FDA responses to litigation show some progress, continued failings Language: English IATP author(s): Dr. Steve Suppan Author(s) (external): ICT, CFS, FOE File: 2012 FDA Nano joint PR_5-2 FINAL_5_2_2012.pdf WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today several leading non-profits working on nanotechnology oversight—Center for Food Safety (CFS), Friends of the Earth (FoE), Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)and the International Center for Technology Assessment—issued a statement responding to recent steps taken by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that represent marginal progress toward regulation of products made with this new...

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Senate Agriculture Committee falls short on the Farm Bill

Colleen Borgendale — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:43:39 +0000

Subtitle: Major cuts coming for farmers, rural communities, conservation and those facing hunger Language: English IATP author(s): Andrew Ranallo File: 2012_05_03_SenateAgFBReaction_PR.pdf MINNEAPOLIS – The Farm Bill approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee last week makes $23 billion in cuts to critical programs including those for Americans struggling to put food on the table, farmers employing conservation practices and rural communities, said the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP). Overall, the bill represents a step backwards for efforts to bring about a more fair, sustainable and healthy food and farm system. The bill included a major overhaul of commodity programs, shifting money from...

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FDA, ethanol industry ignore regulations and allow unnecessary antibiotics in ethanol production

Colleen Borgendale — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:20:25 +0000

Language: English IATP author(s): Andrew Ranallo File: 2012_05_02_EthanolABX_PR.pdf MINNEAPOLIS – Despite federal regulations to the contrary, unapproved antibiotics used in ethanol production are ending up in animal feed. As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fails to enforce its own ruling on the matter, drug companies and ethanol producers are knowingly taking advantage, skirting the rules and driving up unnecessary antibiotic use, according to a new investigation from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP). Despite available alternatives, antibiotic use in ethanol production is widespread as a tool to manage bacterial outbreaks. According to FDA and university testing, those same antibiotics remain present in the nutrient-rich leftover corn mash from the...

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Bugs in the System

Colleen Borgendale — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:11:43 +0000

Subtitle: How the FDA Fails to Regulate Antibiotics in Ethanol Production Language: English IATP author(s): Julia Olmstead File: 2012_05_02_AntibioticsInEthanol_JO.pdf Executive summary Basic microbiology and the principle of natural selection dictate that antibiotic use will tend to spur bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics. This fact underlays growing concern about the public health effects of the 29 million pounds of antibiotics sold annually for animal agriculture, weighing in at over four times the tonnage sold for use in treating sick humans. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), tasked with protecting public health, has taken a lax stance on the use of antibiotics in livestock or poultry feed,...

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This Land, Our Land: Rural Development, Energy and Conservation in the Farm Bill

Colleen Borgendale — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:26:27 +0000

Language: English IATP author(s): Jim Kleinschmit Anna Claussen File: 06_RuralDevelopment_f.pdf Rural America makes up only 16 percent of the U.S. population, but 90 percent of the land.1 Most of the resources we depend upon—food, water, energy, fiber and minerals—are either derived from or heavily impacted by rural land use, and stewarded by rural community members. These resources are imperative to the success and basic survival of our country, yet there is no comprehensive rural policy in the United States to plan, develop or sustainably manage these resources. Moreover, the current piecemeal approach to rural policy that we have today, found within the U.S. Farm Bill, is both chronically underfunded and, in the most recent...

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