EcoRadio

Category: Sustainable Settlement and Agriculture

The Generator is founded on the simple premise that we should leave the world in better condition than we found it. The news items in this category outline the attempts people have made to do this. They are mainly concerned with our food supply and settlement patterns. The impact that the human race has on the planet.

  • US warns of food vs fuel wars

    Larry Pope, chief executive of Smithfield Foods, the largest US pork processor, warned delegates of a wave of “real food inflation” just at the time central banks were under pressure to cut interest rates.

    “I think we need to tell the American consumer that [prices] are going up,” he said. “We’re seeing cost increases that we’ve never seen in our business.”

    The comments highlighted one of the conference’s main concerns – that rising agricultural prices have reached a stage at which the impact will be felt not only on fresh food but will also filter through the supply chain and raise the cost of processed food.

    Tom Knutzen, chief executive of Danisco, one of the world’s largest ingredients companies, said rising vegetable oil costs made it more expensive to produce preservatives, colourings and flavourings.

    “Our products are based on vegetable oil. “Our input cost has gone up so we are increasing prices,” he said in an interview in Brussels. He added that preservatives, colourings and flavourings made up only 1-2 per cent of the cost of food but there would be a ripple effect as they were present in almost all the food sold worldwide.

    US agriculture officials forecast that food inflation will rise this year at an annual rate of 3-4 per cent, warning that the risks were skewed to the upside. Last year, food inflation rose 4 per cent, the highest annual rate since 1990.

    Joseph Glauber, the USDA’s chief economist, said in an interview that until now some companies had absorbed the rise in commodities prices, but that trend was about to change.

    He said that wheat prices had previously moved from $3 to $5 a bushel without significant pain for consumers. “But now the wheat price has jumped to nearly $20 a bushel. These large increases will show up [in consumer prices].”

    Some people hope a slowdown in the US or global economy would push down agricultural commodities prices. But Mr Glauber said that would have a limited impact on agriculture commodities prices. “I am more concerned about higher prices than lower prices.”

    However, Simon Johnson, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, said in an interview that for most agricultural commodities and metal markets the global slowdown would push prices down.

    “The commodities market believes in the decoupling of developing countries’ growth,” Mr Johnson said. “The IMF does not believe in decoupling to that extent.”

    But even if commodities prices do slow down, other forces could still push consumer prices higher, food industry executives said.

    Companies until now have moderated consumer price increases thanks to large inventories and financial hedges in the commodities market futures. But during the course of this year those mitigating factors would vanish, executives said.

    “The final result will be higher prices,” Mr Lapp said. The global economy is “at the beginning of a period in which consumer will face higher food prices”.

    Additional reporting by Andy Bounds in Brussels

    Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

  • UN rations food aid

    WFP officials hope the cuts can be avoided, but warned that the agency’s budget requirements were rising by several million dollars a week because of climbing food prices.

    The WFP crisis talks come as the body sees the emergence of a “new area of hunger” in developing countries where even middle-class, urban people are being “priced out of the food market” because of rising food prices.

    The warning suggests that the price jump in agricultural commodities – such as wheat, corn, rice and soyabeans – is having a wider impact than thought, hitting countries that have previously largely escaped hunger.

    “We are seeing a new face of hunger in which people are being priced out of the food market,” said Ms Sheeran.

    Hunger is now “affecting a wide range of countries”, she said, pointing to Indonesia, Yemen and Mexico. “Situations that were previously not urgent – they are now.”

    The main focus of the WFP to date has been to provide aid in areas where food was unavailable. But the programme now faces having to help countries where the price of food, rather than shortages, is the problem.

    Ms Sheeran said that in response to rising food costs, families in developing countries were moving in some cases from three meals a day to just one, or dropping a diverse diet to rely on one staple food.

    In response to increasing food prices, Egypt has widened its food rationing system for the first time in two decades while Pakistan has reintroduced a ration card system that was abandoned in the mid-1980s.

    Countries such as China and Russia are imposing price controls while others, such as Argentina and Vietnam, are enforcing foreign sales taxes or export bans. Importing countries are lowering their tariffs.

    Food prices are rising on a mix of strong demand from developing countries; a rising global population; more frequent floods and droughts caused by climate change; and the biofuel industry’s appetite for grains, analysts say. Soyabean prices on Friday hit an all-time high of $14.22 a bushel while corn prices jumped to a fresh 12-year high of $5.25 a bushel.

    The price of rice and wheat has doubled in the past year while freight costs have also increased sharply on the back of rising fuel prices.

    The world’s poor countries will have to pay 35 per cent more for their cereals imports, taking the total cost to a record $33.1bn (in the year to July 2008, even as their food purchases fall 2 per cent, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.

    The US Department of Agriculture warned this week that high agricultural commodities prices would continue for at least the next two to three years.

    Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

  • Organic farmers welcome bio degradable packaging

    “The organic industry is undoubtedly the sector we see the most interest from. Organic producers and their consumers have a vested interest in sustainability and a greater level of environmental awareness.

    “The organic sector is currently the primary source of our sales to retailers who are essential to the growth of the industry – we supply them with biodegradable trays and film for their fresh organic produce.”

    Steve Skopilianos, General Manager of BFA/ACO certified organic business Ladybird Organics packages his salads and vegetables in biodegradable film.

    He launched his business six months ago and attributes its success in part to his packaging choices and the ethical value they add.

    “To me, organic and biodegradable packaging goes hand in hand” he says.

    “Approximately 95% of our produce is packaged in biodegradable material, it’s increased its shelf life by 30%, we continue to add to our environmental integrity – a primary reason for organic production – and the response from our customers is unbelievably positive.”

    Neil Thomson, Director of biodegradable packaging company Ausasia, says they registered for organic certification to better cater to organic farmers.  

    “Our biodegradable agricultural mulch film [which also exists in a smaller variety for home gardens] is registered as an allowed input making it highly attractive option to sustainable farmers,” he says. (BFA allowed inputs are another growth industry and supply agricultural products with guaranteed compliance to organic standards for use in organic farming systems.)

     “It solves the problem of disposing of soiled plastic film – you can just till any remaining pieces into the soil and there is no waste problem after ploughing,” says Mr. Thomson. 

     Ausasia also produces a range of biodegradable doggy-bags, providing dog walkers with an eco-friendly solution to dog litter.

     “This is particularly useful in areas of environmental sensitivity – for example, along the coast. Our dog-bags will biodegrade in water and are digestible by marine creatures,” he says.  

     Dr. Andrew Monk, Standards Committee Chair of BFA says under organic standards all packaging that reduces environmental impact – be it recycled materials, biodegradable, compostable – is encouraged.

     “We always welcome, and in future will be making mandatory, leading packaging solutions such as biodegradable and compostable packaging that delivers reduction of the environmental footprint of organics," he says.

     Mr. Fine says for the full environmental benefits of biodegradable packaging to be realised, the growth of industrial compost facilities is necessary and requires local authority participation.

     Facts on biodegradable and plastic packaging: 

    ·          * In 2005, Australians used 3.92 billion lightweight single use high density polyethylene (HDPE) bags, 2.14 billion of which came from supermarkets (1)

    ·          * Of the total waste generated in Australia in 2002–03 (32.4 million tonnes), more than half (54%) of waste is disposed to landfill (2)

    ·          * Biodegradable packaging remains around 2-4 times more expensive than conventional plastic counterparts but material prices are decreasing as more industries adapt (3)

    ·          * The Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts has listed areas of opportunity for biodegradable materials in: shopping bags; food waste  

    ·             film and bags; consumer packaging materials; loose fill packaging; food preparation gloves; cling wrap; agricultural mulch film and landfill cover film; and others (3)

  • Chinese farmers fight officials for fossils

    Irate residents responded by forming a "dinosaur fossil protection team" that took money donations and organized a patrol against officials who tried to enter the village in this poor, often restless farm region.

    "If government staff were discovered approaching the village, they would let off two blasts as a signal to swiftly call all the residents to the village entrance," the report said.

    The report did not say why the villagers wanted to control the dinosaur remains. But China’s regular finds of rare fossils, sometimes smuggled out of the country to be sold for big sums, can offer a windfall to struggling farmers who see them as their own property.

    In March this year, the Shaping villagers wielding hoes and other farm tools seized vehicles of officials who tried to enter. In another clash the following month they pushed a police vehicle into a gully and beat and seized officials, the report said.

    After an hour of confrontation, police took away ringleaders and ended the clash, the report said. The seven now face trial for using violence and threats to obstruct official duties.

  • Food prices soaring on international markets

    Impact of international markets: Economists Katie Dean, Riki Polygenis and Amber Rabinov estimated food prices would rise 5 per cent this financial year and were unlikely to retreat much because developments in international markets would outweigh the benefits of any return to normal seasonal conditions.

    Massive price increases due to global demand, constrained supply: An increase in global food demand at a time of constrained supply had helped drive massive growth in many basic foodstuffs. In the 12 months to September the price of barley had soared by 128 per cent on global trading exchanges, while wheat had gained 60 per cent and dairy products such as powdered milk had surged 79 per cent. Adverse weather conditions had hit grain crops, with growth forecasts for global wheat production in 2007-08 slashed from 5.4 per cent to 1.7 per cent.

    Long-term constraints in food supply: Climate change and a decrease in arable land because of population growth, industrialisation and environmental degradation threatened to constrain food supply in the long term.

    The Australian Financial Review, 19/10/2007, p. 18

  • Factory Farms poison our diets

    Conditions inside animal factory farms

    To understand the conditions present in these factory farms, you must first examine what the animals in these factory farms are eating. The factory farmer has redefined what constitutes animal feed in a ‘bottom line’ effort to save money. They seem to care little about the health or the happiness of the animal, and instead treat it like a product. The low quality standards placed on animal feed by these "farmers" prove that little consideration is being taken towards the animal or the consumer.

    For example, some of the "ingredients" commonly used in animal factory feed include: (think hard about this list the next time you order a hamburger…)

    • Excessive grains — Abnormally high amounts can make the animals sick, especially natural grass eaters like cattle. Their bodies are not designed to handle a corn-rich diet; as a result, these animals can form liver abscesses and excessively acidic digestive systems.

    • Plastics — For the many animals whose digestive systems still need roughage to move food through, these factories have turned to the use of plastic pellets instead of plant-based roughage to compensate for a lack of natural fiber in the feed.

    • Meat from members of the same species — The factory farming industry is turning farm animals into cannibals. Scientific research has linked this practice to the spread of both mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE) and avian bird flu.

    • Manure and animal waste — This can include cattle manure, swine waste, and poultry waste. It can also contain wood, sand, rocks, dirt, sawdust and other non-food substances.

    • Animal byproducts — This is often categorized as "animal protein products" and may appear as rendered feathers, hair, skin, hooves, blood, internal organs, intestines, beaks and bones. These may also include dead horses, euthanized cats and dogs, and road kill.

    • Drugs and chemicals (including dangerous antibiotics) — Drugs are frequently implemented in order to fight disease, control parasites and reduce animals’ stress from overcrowded living conditions. However, the antimicrobials used on some poultry promote the accumulation of arsenic inside their bodies. This is a highly carcinogenic chemical that can then contaminate the water supply near the farm, or emerge in the meat later eaten by consumers.

    In fact, an estimated 13.5 million pounds of antibiotics are used on factory farm animals every year in the U.S. These antibiotics are grossly overused and are especially dangerous because they aid in the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria — an urgent health problem that costs the American taxpayers billions of dollars every year.

    Factories of despair

    Factory farm animals endure great suffering through the entire process of being housed, fed, transported and slaughtered. Approximately 95% of factory-raised animals are subject to deplorable conditions such as overcrowding, hunger, thirst and sometimes-fatal weather extremes. Many times, they are kept conscious or even skinned alive during the process of slaughtering.

    The only significant law regarding the handling of factory animals is the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. Although this law does require that slaughtered animals be rendered insensible to pain before the process begins, it is insufficient due to the actual wording of the law, which does not cover the handling of poultry. In addition, all other treatment of factory animals is condoned by default since it is not covered under the law. While many other industrialized nations have enacted restrictions on cruel factory farming practices, the U.S. lags behind other countries on the issue of animal cruelty. The torture of animals is well tolerated in the United States today. (And why not? The U.S. also tolerates the torture of war prisoners. This "civilized" nation has proven itself to be anything but civilized…)

    According to interviews with slaughterhouse workers included in Gail Eisnitz’s book Slaughterhouse, the end of an animal’s life is a torturous and abusive process. One employee elaborates on the abuse that animals endure by reporting, "On the farm where I work, they drag the live ones who can’t stand up anymore out of the crate. They put a metal snare around her ear or foot and drag her the full length of the building. These animals are just screaming in pain. The slaughtering part doesn’t bother me. It’s the way they’re treated when they’re alive. Dying animals unable to walk are tossed into the ‘downer pile,’ and many suffer agonies until, after one or two days, they are finally killed." Animals such as cows, calves, pigs and chickens are made to live truly horrible lives, however short, while being housed in factory farms."

    The routine torture of dairy cows

    Milking cows are treated like machines; confined from all other animals including their calves, they are made to stand on concrete floors in their own waste. In order to manipulate genetics and produce more milk, farmers pump the cows full of chemicals, hormones and antibiotics, many of which may make their way into the milk we drink and the cheese we eat.

    Just like beef cattle, many of these cows suffer from disease, reproductive problems and lameness due to the stress of the factory setting. They produce milk for about eight or nine years until they are no longer able, at which time they are slaughtered. One of the most frequently cited reasons for having to send a cow to slaughter, however, is mastitis — an excruciating swelling and irritation of the mammary glands caused by bacteria.

    It’s not only the adult animals that are treated cruelly: taken away from their mothers shortly after birth, male calves are most often raised for veal from the day after they are born. For anywhere from three to 18 weeks, they are kept chained by the neck in dark, cramped stalls, unable to move in any direction. They are fed a diet consisting mainly of a milk substitute that promotes rapid weight gain but low enough in iron to cause anemia, thus keeping the flesh pale. Many of them suffer from lameness, pneumonia and diarrhea. White veal consistently has been found to contain residues of carcinogenic growth hormones. (Think twice nice time before you order veal. Consuming this is directly promoting the torture of these mammals.)

    Beef cattle don’t have it much better. Many are sent to live in overcrowded feedlots where they are given an average of 14 square feet to roam after being castrated, dehorned and branded.

    Producing pork with yet more animal torture

    Pregnant pigs, also known as sows, are confined to metal crates that are a mere two feet wide. This constriction renders them unable to satisfy their own basic psychological needs or engage in almost any natural behavior. This causes a great deal of stress and suffering for the animal, many times enabling her to do little more than stand up and lie down. The sow rarely even has the capacity to full extend her limbs or turn around.

    This is a process that the sow must go through until she is unable to have children anymore, in which case she will most likely be slaughtered. These methods are inhumane and cause sows to experience frustration, fear, and physical ailments such as lameness, repetitive bar biting, soreness, head waving, sham chewing and crippling joint disorders.

    "Forced to lie and live in their own urine and excrement, the sows chew frenziedly on bars and chains, as foraging animals will do when denied even straw to eat or sleep on, or else engage in stereotypical nest-building with straw that isn’t there. Everywhere you see tumors, ulcers, cysts, lesions, torn ears — these afflictions never examined by a vet, never even noticed anymore by the largely immigrant labor charged with their care. When the sows leave their iron crates after four months of pregnancy, it is only to be driven and dragged into other crates just as small to give birth," according to Matthew Scully, author of the book Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy. "Then it’s back to the gestation crate for another four months, and so on, for about eight or nine pregnancies, until they expire from the sheer punishment of it, or are culled as too sick and weak to go on."

    And guess what? All this negative energy goes right into the meat that consumers swallow. Once consumed by a human, the energy of that meat is absorbed into that person’s system, making them feel sick, angry or afraid, just like the emotions of the animal from which the flesh was taken. Is it any wonder that meat eaters are the most angry, violent and war-mongering individuals in society today?

    Atrocious conditions for chickens

    Like pigs, chickens grow up in a similar state of disarray, forced to live through nearly intolerable conditions. Approximately six billion "broiler" chickens are produced and sold each year by the factory farmer to sources like supermarkets and fast food chicken restaurants. As many as 60% of supermarket chickens are infected with Salmonella enteritis. Another pathogen that can be spread from chickens to humans is Campylobacter, which can cause infection, illness or death.

    ###

    About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher and author with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guies, and books on topics like health and the environment, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving personal health around the world. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a maker of energy efficient LED lights that greatly reduce CO2 emissions. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He’s also a noted pioneer in the email marketing software industry, having been the first to launch an HTML email newsletter technology that has grown to become a standard in the industry. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and regularly pursues cycling, nature photography, Capoeira and Pilates.