Organic news archive: November 2004
The European Union's opening of its markets to genetically modified crops faces a challenge from five European nations who say they have the right to say what's safe and what's not, regardless of EU decisions. Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, France and Greece today will tell regulatory authorities that they want to continue long-standing bans on types of genetically modified corn and rapeseed oil. (Wall Street Journal � 29/11/04)
Britain's farmers are going on the offensive next week with the first national advertising campaign designed to shatter their "whinging and grumpy" public image. However, campaigners for organic food and animal welfare have dismissed the adverts as little more than "spin" and called for more rigorous national quality standards for food. The article fails to say which organisation these campaigners are from. (The Daily Telegraph � 27/11/04)
Spy satellites are to be used to catch farmers who fraudulently claim EU subsidies worth billions of pounds and break health rules. The satellites, to be launched next year, will cover southern England but concentrate on Italy, where the Mafia specialises in farm rip-offs. (The Sun � 27/11/04)
Taxpayers will have to pay an extra £600 million towards the costs of the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic, according to the European Commission, because of concerns about the way the epidemic was handled. The commission has decided to disqualify nearly two thirds of Britain's claim for £948 million from the "emergency" pot which Brussels holds to pay for major animal disease epidemics. The commission's concerns centre on the Government's failure to control the compensation paid for animals killed, the cost of clean-ups and the cost of the contiguous cull, which led to the deaths of millions of healthy animals. (The Daily Telegraph � 25/11/04)
The Eco sounding column in The Guardian asked, "Could someone have a word with the Food Standards Agency?" This government body has long backed GM food and thrown doubt on organic foods and now has a new consumer website. The FSA does not mention one single doubt thrown up by years of government and industry research into the technology. When asked why, the FSA responds that "Defra and not the FSA is responsible for looking at the environmental impact of GM". See www.eatwell.gov.uk. (24/11/04)
The Times reports on a story in the Third Sector magazine on the Catholic church's support for GM. The Catholic Institute for International Relations say that the Vatican is being lobbied by biotech companies urging it to back GM, and it is now calling on its supporters to flood the Holy See with letters expressing concern about GM. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences responded by saying that GM foods were essential for feeding the hungry and poor. (23/11/04)
The GM industry has dropped its last attempts to get GM seeds approved for growing in Britain. Bayer CropScience has withdrawn the only two remaining applications for government permission for the seeds � a winter and a oilseed rape, both modified to tolerate one of the firm's herbicides. Supporters of the technology say this will put back their commercial use in Britain for years. (Independent on Sunday - 21/11/04)
Writer Deborah Orr has made a case in favour of Afghanistan's opium farmers following suggestions that, in the war against drugs, American and British soldiers be brought in to destroy this year's crop. Orr believes that since many Afghani's rely on their opium crop to survive, the West should buy the Afghanis' crop rather than Tasmania's medically sanctioned opium � but for the snag: "reluctance to transfer the power and profit knowledge confers from those with everything to those who have nothing." Her
The European Union's opening of its markets to genetically modified crops faces a challenge from five European nations who say they have the right to say what's safe and what's not, regardless of EU decisions. Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, France and Greece today will tell regulatory authorities that they want to continue long-standing bans on types of genetically modified corn and rapeseed oil. (Wall Street Journal � 29/11/04)
Britain's farmers are going on the offensive next week with the first national advertising campaign designed to shatter their "whinging and grumpy" public image. However, campaigners for organic food and animal welfare have dismissed the adverts as little more than "spin" and called for more rigorous national quality standards for food. The article fails to say which organisation these campaigners are from. (The Daily Telegraph � 27/11/04)
Spy satellites are to be used to catch farmers who fraudulently claim EU subsidies worth billions of pounds and break health rules. The satellites, to be launched next year, will cover southern England but concentrate on Italy, where the Mafia specialises in farm rip-offs. (The Sun � 27/11/04)
Taxpayers will have to pay an extra £600 million towards the costs of the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic, according to the European Commission, because of concerns about the way the epidemic was handled. The commission has decided to disqualify nearly two thirds of Britain's claim for £948 million from the "emergency" pot which Brussels holds to pay for major animal disease epidemics. The commission's concerns centre on the Government's failure to control the compensation paid for animals killed, the cost of clean-ups and the cost of the contiguous cull, which led to the deaths of millions of healthy animals. (The Daily Telegraph � 25/11/04)
The Eco sounding column in The Guardian asked, "Could someone have a word with the Food Standards Agency?" This government body has long backed GM food and thrown doubt on organic foods and now has a new consumer website. The FSA does not mention one single doubt thrown up by years of government and industry research into the technology. When asked why, the FSA responds that "Defra and not the FSA is responsible for looking at the environmental impact of GM". See www.eatwell.gov.uk. (24/11/04)
The Times reports on a story in the Third Sector magazine on the Catholic church's support for GM. The Catholic Institute for International Relations say that the Vatican is being lobbied by biotech companies urging it to back GM, and it is now calling on its supporters to flood the Holy See with letters expressing concern about GM. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences responded by saying that GM foods were essential for feeding the hungry and poor. (23/11/04)
The GM industry has dropped its last attempts to get GM seeds approved for growing in Britain. Bayer CropScience has withdrawn the only two remaining applications for government permission for the seeds � a winter and a oilseed rape, both modified to tolerate one of the firm's herbicides. Supporters of the technology say this will put back their commercial use in Britain for years. (Independent on Sunday - 21/11/04)
Writer Deborah Orr has made a case in favour of Afghanistan's opium farmers following suggestions that, in the war against drugs, American and British soldiers be brought in to destroy this year's crop. Orr believes that since many Afghani's rely on their opium crop to survive, the West should buy the Afghanis' crop rather than Tasmania's medically sanctioned opium � but for the snag: "reluctance to transfer the power and profit knowledge confers from those with everything to those who have nothing." Her