Category: Sustainable Settlement and Agriculture

Analysis of US food safety act

admin /11 March, 2009

What this will do is force anyone who produces food of any kind, and then transports it to a different location for sale, to register with a new federal agency called the “Food Safety Administration.” Even growers who only sell only fruit and/or vegetables at farmers markets would not only have to register, but they would be subject inspections by federal agents of their property and all records related to food production. The frequency of these inspections will be determined by the whim of the Food Safety Administration. Mandatory “safety” records would have to be kept. Anyone who fails to register and comply with all of this nonsense could be facing a fine of up to $1,000,000 per violation.

I’ve bought food at several farmers markets for years and I have yet to meet any vendors who are fond of the government. I think it’s pretty safe to say that most vendors at farmers markets won’t go along with this. The problem will be that the people who run the farmers markets will be forced to make sure that vendors are “registered” with the government.

US legislates against farmer’s markets

admin /11 March, 2009

A set of three bills before the Congress of the United States will effectively outlaw organic farms, farmers markets and small, local food producers according to critics. The bills aim to establish a Food Safety Administration with the power to inspect and close down all food production and retailing businesses and to dictate what fertilizers and pesticides will be used on farms any where in the world growing food for consumption in the United States. The new US Secretary for Agriculture Tom Vilsak has announced that he supports the bills. Before being appointed by President Barak Obama, Vilsack passed a number of bills as governor of Iowa supporting biofuels, genetically grown crops and cloning of animals. Farmers in Iowa opposed many of his initiatives which effectively outlawed the on farm collection and storage of seed.

Read an account of India’s campaign against agribusiness laws

Dock delays threaten wheat exports

admin /8 March, 2009

South Korea and Indonesia, two major Australia wheat customers are threatening to source high value wheat from other nations, potentially devastating the one bright spot in our economy.

The Shadow Minister for Agriculture, John Cobb, is calling on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to personally intervene.

This follows the threat by the Korea Flours Mills Industrial Association, South Korea’s top wheat buyer, to stop buying Australian wheat.

“The association delivered a letter to the Australian Embassy which is reported to have stated ‘if delays in loading wheat on ships in Western Australia aren’t fixed, then South Korean importers would have no choice but to source wheat from elsewhere, lest they run out of the cereal’,” Mr Cobb said in a statement to the media.

“The Koreans are Australia’s third largest customer, we cannot afford to lose this market.

Tropical pastures may help fight climate chaos

admin /8 March, 2009

Goondiwindi, Queensland, next week will hear two different approaches to reducing the impact of Australian agriculture on global warming. The Tropical Pastures Conference, held on March 18 and 19 will host Dr Myles Fisher who has experimented widely on pasture management to sequester carbon and water in the soil, improving productivity as well as potentially earning cash from carbon trading schemes. Dr Beverly Henry will also tell the conference about her work in reducing methane emissions from livestock through feed supplements that slow down the process of nitrification. About 60 percent of Australia’s methane emissions come from livestock, and represent more than 10 percent of the nation’s entire emissions.

 

Conference website: www.tropicalgrasslands.asn.au

Wine prices chaotic as market and crops fail

admin /1 March, 2009

A combination of failing grape crops and a shrinking market will cause chaos in the price of Australian wine, predicts Wine Australia. The Australian grape crop is expected to be 15 percent smaller than predicted because of the effects of the heat wave, fires and the drought. The crop was already reduced from previous years because of a glut of Australian grapes. Despite the reduced supply, farmers are unsure what the effect on prices will be because global demand for wine has shrunk as a result of the global recession.

Food prices to soar after fire and floods

admin /1 March, 2009

Food prices will rise sharply during winter warned the Australian Agriculture Minister Tony Burke. He said that estimates of the number of cattle killed in the Queensland floods stand at around 150,000 but accurate figures will not be known until musters take place in May or June.”Certainly most of last season’s calves will have been taken out” he said. Up to 20 percent of the cane crop has also been lost to floods. The fires across Victoria have destroyed a large percentage of the state’s fruit crop with apples and stone fruits the most affected.”If there was ever a time to be picky, it’s not the next few months,”the minister concluded.