One World Award winner to be announced during the Organic World Congress

With just over one week until the start of the Organic World Congress in Modena, Italy, five finalists for the prestigious One World Award, which is sponsored by IFOAM, have been announced. The award aims to recognize people committed to permanently protecting and conserving the world we enjoy. The five finalists of the One World Award 2008 have all shown extraordinary commitment to protecting the viability of the planet for future generations. In doing so, they have demonstrated that the future of globalization is positive. The finalists are:

Harald Schützeichel started the foundation for solar energy in Ethiopia in 2004 with the aim of supplying the rural population of Africa with energy. He is consistently trying “to help people help themselves” by creating jobs to promote economic development and education.

Anil Rana, started the Janhit foundation in India in 1988, with the aim of providing cleaner drinking water and fighting water pollution. He also started an ecological cultivation program in 2002 to make a contribution to bio diversity.

Lal Emmanuel, started the Nagenahiru foundation in Sri Lanka in 1991, to campaign for the protection and the reforestation of Mangrove woods. To this day, about 15 hectares have been forested. He has also set up a teaching and training center, to educate teenagers about ecological issues.

Master Sheng Lyun, started the Fo Fa Shan foundation in Taiwan in 1995. Using ecological methods tea, vegetables and other agricultural products are cultivated on about 45 hactares of land. The aims of the foundation are the promotion of ecological farming, ecology and conservation, as well as cultural education.

Victor Ananias, opened his first bio store in Turkey about ten years ago and founded the organization Bugday to support the development of ecological farming and environmental protection.

The winner of this exciting competition will receive the first, hand manufactured One World Award statue and prize money of 25,000 euros made available by Rapunzel Naturkost AG. The jury members are: Joseph Wilhelm, founder of Rapunzel Naturkost AG, two previous Nobel Prize winners Vandana Shiva from India and Tewolde Egzeabher from Ethiopia, as well as the IFOAM vice-president Alberto Pipo Lernoud from Argentina.

As the patron of the OWA, IFOAM will lead the selection of the One World Lifetime Achievement Award. The Lifetime Achievement Award acknowledges pioneers and personalities who have played very active roles in the ecology movement and the winner will as well be announced in Modena during the Organic World Congress.

New study predicts climate change will make pesticides more lethal to fish

Australian scientists have found that fish exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of endosulfan and chlorpyrifos showed significant reductions in the ability to survive in warmer waters. Both endosulfan and chlorpyrifos are commonly used in cotton, horticulture and sugar cane production.

The study published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry predicts that global warming will make fish more susceptible to dying from pesticide-contaminated water. According to the study affected fish displayed “erratic swimming…, uncoordinated movement with body quivering, rolling over on sides or back” and loss of the ability to swim upright.

Combine this with the strain already imposed on global fish stocks as a consequence of over-fishing by commercial operators and it’s not difficult to envisage a future without many popular fish varieties.

So, what exactly are endosulfan and chlorpyrifos?

According to the Pesticide Action Network of North America, endosulfan is an antiquated insecticide. Here are some facts about endosulfan:

• It is highly toxic and persistent
• It has been banned in the European Union
• It is used extensively throughout rural U.S., India, China, and many other countries.
• Studies indicate that it endangers the health and wellbeing of children, farmworkers, and those living proximate to affected areas
• Poisoning symptoms include headaches, nausea, vomiting, seizures, and in extreme cases unconsciousness and even death
• It is a suspected endocrine disruptor, with low dose exposure while in the womb being linked to autism, male reproductive harm, and birth defects.

Much like endosulfan, chlorpyrifos is a dangerous yet widely used pesticide. Here are some facts about chlorpyrifos:

• It is a neurotoxic organophosphate insecticide, acaricide and miticide used to control foliage and soil-borne insect pests on a variety of food and feed crops.
• About 20 million pounds of chlorpyrifos are applied in the U.S. every year according to the EPA, with about half for agricultural uses and half for residential uses
• Until recently it was used extensively in homes for pest control (mostly as a termiticide and in pet flea collars)
• It causes cholinesterase inhibition in humans which can result in nausea, dizziness, confusion, respiratory paralysis and even death.

 
What can be done?
Studies such as this are an important reminder of the need to remove dangerous pesticides from our food chain. Apart from the obvious potentially adverse health consequences associated with pesticide use, their persistent nature means that many of them will continue to wreak environmental havoc long after their initial application. Here are some steps to take if you’re keen to remove pesticides from our food chain:

• Support organic agriculture
• Join PANNA.
• Write to your local politician requesting that endosulfan and chlorpyrifos be banned from use.

Global organic farming shows continued growth

The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) und the Foundation Ecology and Agriculture (SÖL) will present the latest statistics about organic agriculture worldwide at BioFach 2008. The results of this year’s study titled “The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2008” will be presented at the world’s largest trade fair for organic products on Friday February 22nd 2008 at 10:00 in Room Shanghai.

The study shows that 30.4 million hectares are currently certified according to organic standards (data as at the end of 2006). Australia continues to account for the largest certified organic surface area, with 12.3 million hectares, followed by China (2.3 million hectares), Argentina (2.2 million hectares) and the USA (1.6 million hectares). The greatest share of global organic surface area is in Oceania/Australia (42%), followed by Europe (24%) and Latin America (16%). In terms of certified land under organic management as a proportion of national agricultural area, the Alpine countries, such as Austria (13%, 361,487 hectares) and Switzerland (12%, 125,596 hectares), top the statistics. Compared to the adjusted data of the previous survey, the global organic area grew by approximately 1.8 million hectares during 2006. Growth was strongest in Oceania/Australia (more than 600,000 hectares) and Europe (more than 500,000 hectares). From the first figures available for 2007, Helga Willer of FiBL expects that the area under organic management has continued to grow.

The global market for organic products reached a value of 38.6 billion US Dollars in 2006, with the vast majority of products being consumed in North America and Europe, according to Organic Monitor. This constitutes a growth of five billion US Dollars compared to the 2005 data. Healthy growth rates are expected to continue in the coming years. Angela Caudle de Freitas, IFOAM Executive Director, suggests that the ever-growing demand for organic products offers attractive opportunities for producers – especially those in developing countries.

The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2008 is being presented for the ninth consecutive year at BioFach 2008. In addition to chapters reviewing organic agriculture worldwide, numerous illustrations and graphs, and completely revised reports about the emerging trends and regional development highlights on each individual continent, the study includes a comprehensive annex with the entire data set and expanded coverage of land-use data.

Performance of the global survey and production of the yearbook has been supported by NürnbergMesse since 2000. Starting in 2008, support is now also being provided by the Swiss State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO), Berne/Switzerland, within the framework of its support activities for organic production in developing countries and by the International Trade Centre (ITC), Geneva/Switzerland, which has joined the survey as a partner. The global survey on organic farming and the publication of the yearbook have been carried out jointly by IFOAM, FiBL and SÖL since 2000.

Young children most at risk from pesticide exposure

A recent Australian study has found higher than acceptable pesticide residues in strawberries from conventional farms (Choice magazine, February 2008). It has been pointed out that this highlights the potential for chemical abuse in all produce. ‘Chemical cocktail’ mixes are shown to be of particular concern for parents and growing healthy crop plants, warns Australia’s largest organic representative group, Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA).

Soil health technician and BFA spokesperson, Mr Greg Paynter, says the mixed use of pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, rodenticides, and fungicides weaken crops in the long-term when applied in un-tested combinations at the discretion of farmers.

“Excessive reside levels are a problem – but what may be more concerning and is also carried through to the end consumer, are the unknown effects of blends of different types of synthetic farming inputs. The toxic permutation that occurs as a result is unidentified and untested with regards to human or eco-health, because standard practise is to test a chemical product in isolation,” says Mr. Paynter.

Adverse affects on health from low doses of agricultural chemical combinations have been recorded in the past, with a particularly negative response from tested animals in the pairing of Atrazine – a herbicide widely used on maize and sorghum - with nitrate fertilizer.

Mr. Paynter said chemical mixes damage a crop’s ability to respond naturally to growth obstacles, and often lead to changes in plant metabolism, physiology, chemical composition and nutritional patterns.

“Plants which take up one particular pesticide will then inevitably be exposed to other environmental problems with a weakened natural defence system. A farmer who began using one type of pesticide may be forced to apply an additional herbicide, and then another type of pesticide to compensate for a vulnerable crop (for example),” he says.

“Organic growers, in comparison, tend to utilise the design of ecosystem services to replace the use of synthetic inputs in their farming practice.”

There are around 8,700 registered agricultural and veterinary products used in Australia, a number subject to fluctuation daily.

Children are the other party most susceptible to high toxicity levels from chemical blends, according to BFA Nutritionist Shane Heaton. “Children are more vulnerable to food toxins than adults – they have a larger intake of food per kilo of body weight than adults, and immature organs and detoxification and immune systems,” he says.

According to the 20th Australian total diet survey in 2003, dietary exposure to pesticide residues is highest for the toddler age group. Mr. Heaton said pesticides had proven effects on developing cognitive systems.

Adding to this he says “A study in South America showed impaired cognitive ability in children (aged four and five) from a village that routinely used farm pesticides – they had a lower capacity for things like hand-eye co-ordination and short term memory, and less ability for play-based learning tasks like drawing a recognisable person, or catching a ball,”.

Mr Heaton said concerned parents could opt for organic to reduce their child’s exposure to chemicals - children eating a predominantly organic diet have been proven to have less (one-sixth) the level of pesticide metabolite in their urine than those who don’t.

“At the end of the day it’s about peace of mind in parenting – organic choices reduce transferred chemical risk from ‘uncertain’ to negligible,” he says.

IFOAM World Congress Unites the Organic World in Modena, Italy

One of the great unifying events for the global organic movement, the Sixteenth IFOAM Organic World Congress, will be held in Modena from 16th to 20th June. Evo Morales, Vandana Shiva, Serge Latouche, Carlo Petrini and Wolfgang Sachs are among the delegates to have confirmed their attendance. Over 750 papers have been sent in from all over the world. Registration opens on 20th February.

If names and numbers are anything to go by, the Sixteenth IFOAM Organic World Congress promises to be one of the most noteworthy and top level organic sector conferences ever.

This June, Modena will play host not just to the Indian Vandana Shiva and the Ethiopian scientist Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, both winners of the Right Livelihood Award but also to the Bolivian President Juan Evo Morales, former trade union leader of the “cocaleros”. The food and wine connoisseur Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement and recently featured in the authoritative columns of The Guardian as “one of the 50 people who could save the planet” will partake as well in this global event. Also the agro ecologist Miguel Altieri, from the University of Berkeley (California), the doctor and obstetrician Michel Odent, pioneer of natural childbirth, and the American Frances Moore Lappé, author of the book “Diet for a Small Planet” will show presence.

The sociologist Wolfgang Sachs, Scientific Director of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, has already confirmed his attendance, as have the agronomist and geneticist Howard-Yana Shapiro, who has been one of the major exponents of organic agriculture for the past 35 years or more, the Director General of UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) Achim Steiner, the anthropologist and economist Serge Latouche, one of the greatest advocates of downscaling society and localism, and the Indonesian obstetrician and environmentalist Ibu Robin Lim.

The Conference is being organized by IFOAM and ModenaBio, a consortium created by the Province of Modena and AIAB Emilia-Romagna, and is expected to bring together about 2000 participants. It will run for five days and will provide a platform on which the latest developments in scientific research will be expounded and it will act as a catalyst for the strategies and instruments needed to preserve diversity and to disseminate ecologically and economically sustainable methods of production. 757 papers have actually been submitted by as many researchers and activists from all five continents; they will be screened by a team of 100 scientists and experts who will then select the most innovative and ground-breaking ones.

Two main threads will drive the discussions: information (Systems Values Track) regarding the presentation and exchange of practical experiences, and science (Scientific Research Track), which will illustrate the most outstanding on-going research projects. In over 100 sessions, scientists, producers, consumers and activists from all over the world will debate themes ranging from nutritional safety to the role of women in organic agriculture, international cooperation in renewable energy, market access and the importance of widespread health education, from GM products to the right to food, the protection of biodiversity to the very real contribution that Organic can make towards mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change. Wine and viticulture, textiles, organic cosmetics, aquaculture and fruit farming will be dealt with in specialized pre-conferences and modules.

Registrations for the IFOAM Organic World Congress will be accepted from 20th February onwards. Bookings can be made either online or by sending in the completed application form downloadable from the following Internet sites: www.ifoam.org.

For any further information and program updates, details of those attending and the cultural events that will be held as part of the IFOAM Congress, please log on to www.ifoam.org or www.modenabio2008.org (latter in Italian language).

Anyone for battery-farmed chicken?

As most of you are no doubt aware, British celebrity chef - Jamie Oliver - has been stirring things up again. And he’s good at it! His documentary series entitled “Jamie’s Fowl Dinners”, which recently aired in the United Kingdom, featured graphic scenes of battery hens being slaughtered. Although the scenes depicting the awful conditions and miserable existence of birds awaiting slaughter would come as no surprise to anyone that’s had anything to do with the commercial poultry industry, apparently many scenes shocked viewers.

According to a recent article published in The Telegraph, sales of organic and free-range chickens have soared following airing of the show. This sudden increase in demand for organic and free-range chooks suggests to me that many consumers are either unaware of, or at least sufficiently divorced from, the realities of modern food production.

Here are some of the realities of commercial chicken meat production:

• Birds are slaughtered after about 40 days.
• Birds are reared in cramped “battery” conditions.
• To ensure birds gain weight they are routinely fed the rendered down fat from livestock discard.
• Routine debeaking, a process involving the removal of part of a bird’s beak, is used to prevent agitated birds from pecking each other to death.
• Disease outbreaks, which are commonplace, are controlled with the routine administration of antibiotics.
• To ensure they are sufficiently large at slaughter, hormonal treatments are applied to the grain and supplemental feed given to developing birds.
• Due to them being caged and unable to roam freely, birds tend to develop abnormally large bodies that are unable to be supported by their underdeveloped legs.

Birds raised according to organic principles experience an entirely different existence. These birds have the capacity to forage for food on farms rather than being caged and force-fed in factory sheds. Unlike battery-farmed chickens, which often receive protein and fat supplements in the form of rendered down livestock discard, organic birds have the opportunity to supplement their grain diet with worms and other insects. Organically reared birds are treated humanely throughout their lives and are not permitted to receive either antibiotic or hormone treatments.

More often than not, efficiency gains come at a cost. Whether it’s food quality, safety, hygiene or animal welfare, something generally has to give. While these additional costs might not be immediately evident, they are real and they have the capacity to catch up with us. Just ask anyone with a family member or friend that was exposed to BSE during the 1990s! In our never-ending quest to squeeze more out of less, we’ve reduced food production standards to an accounting number. Unit cost - an accounting concept - has become the surrogate barometer with which we gauge the acceptability or otherwise of our food production standards. Clearly, this needs to change!

Food price inflation and the role of organic agriculture

The unfortunate reality of food price inflation, as pointed out in a recent article appearing in The Independent, is that those on fixed incomes – the unemployed, disability beneficiaries, and retirees – tend to be the hardest hit. At least that’s the case in most developed nations. But as the latest report from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) points out, high grain prices are hitting, and will continue to hit, developing countries the hardest. In some countries, such as in Mexico, Morocco, Yemen and Senegal, rioting has erupted due to the rising price of cereal based food staples.

According to The Independent’s Michael Savage, there are essentially three factors underpinning spiralling global food costs. These are:

• Higher oil costs;
• Increased demand driven largely by China’s increasingly voracious appetite for global resources, including foodstuffs; and
• The diversion of much of the world’s cereal crops away from food production to biofuel production.

With the UN suggesting that the world’s population will exceed nine billion by 2050, the current disquiet in relation to spiralling food costs may be nothing more than a prelude to more significant unrest.

While Michael’s article focuses on increases in global grain and cereal crops, the most dramatic food price increases, which many developed countries have yet to factor in, will relate to sources of animal protein.

Most animals reared for human consumption are fed grain. The conversion of grain into a source of animal protein fit for human consumption is not an efficient one. It is estimated that for every pound of lean beef produced approximately 20 pounds of grain is required. Accordingly, any increase in grain prices will also impact cattle, pig and poultry farmers.

Additionally, the as yet unaccounted for impacts of climate change, the costs of which will be far higher for animal protein production than grain production, means that the developed world is not currently paying anything close to the real price for animal protein. As social pressure and political will turns into legislative imperative, the real costs associated with animal protein consumption will inevitably be passed on to consumers.

Add to this the fact that China’s appetite for global protein sources is predicted to increase dramatically in the coming years and there exists the potential for many consumers who currently enjoy animal protein to be priced out of the market altogether.

Unfortunately, it seems inevitable that competition for sources of animal protein between those living high on the food chain and those on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder will become more pronounced.

Does organic agriculture have a role to play?

It is often argued by many that farmers applying organic agricultural principles are less efficient than their conventional counterparts. This argument, when put to the test, is often found wanting. Indeed, many scientific studies have shown that organic agricultural practices, when applied to both grain and animal protein production, are more efficient and cost-effective than so-called conventional techniques.

Additionally, there is a strong push within the organic movement toward sourcing food locally. This decreases, at least to an extent, the impact that higher oil costs have on food production.

Accordingly, while organic agriculture is by no means the panacea to all of the challenges and issues facing the world, it certainly has an important role to play.

Recognition for organic cooperatives

Within the organic sector, it remains important that innovation and enterprise be recognised and rewarded where appropriate. I have already commented on the importance and functionality of the producers cooperative, particularly in marginal economies where establishment costs of farming equipment and primary infrastructure might be shared amongst several members. The additional benefits of this model might include the ability to distribute practical agricultural knowledge and experience and to negotiate improved terms of trade.

Producer Cooperatives in prosperous regions often have the additional resources which enable them to undertake more sophisticated operations. This might include capacity to engage specialist technical consultants, managerial advisors, and to encourage capital investment or beneficial partnerships through a range of external sources. Closely linked to most business success these days is the ability to generate favourable media and public relation profiles. These might be limited to the promotion of a particular product or service, but can also incorporate the challenging task of educating and informing consumers.

The Canadian organic sector is admirably represented by Quinte Organic Farmers Coop (QOFC). On October 17th, QOFC received the New Cooperative of Distinction Award, presented by the Ontario Cooperative Association. In addition to supplying organically certified foods for regional farmers markets, QOFC members have demonstrated their commitment to facilitating wider appreciation and understanding of organic agriculture and food production technologies. Members express their community spirit through a series of radio programs which broadcast as “Listen to the Land”. Throughout the series of eight documentary style episodes, one learns of the challenges and rewards associated with various forms organic agriculture.

“Listen to the Land” is currently posted on the QOFC website as a series of downloadable audio files. After listening to these, I was impressed by members’ awareness of important connections between the cooperative business model and their motivation to protect the environmental resources which sustain local communities as well as ensuring a future agricultural livelihood. Highly recommended.

Australia to have a domestic organic standard

Kevin Rudd, Australia’s newly elected Prime Minister, has ratified the Kyoto Protocol. In doing so, Australia joins the growing list of countries getting serious about climate change. It’s refreshing to see a newly elected Government act on its election commitments as early as the Rudd Government has. And things are looking up for Australia’s organic industry too. The Rudd Labor Government has announced plans to fund changes to the way Australia’s organic certification system works. Finally it appears as though Australia’s burgeoning organic industry and the consumers it serves will benefit from a uniform domestic organic standard. Good news indeed!

GE canola green light means loss of choice for Australians

A recent decision by Australia’s Victorian and New South Wales State Governments to allow the planting of GE herbicide tolerant canola represents a significant blow for both Australia’s organic industry and those seeking out alternatives to Genetically Engineered food. “The announcement today by Victorian and NSW governments that they will allow the planting of Genetically Engineered food crops next year is a major affront to the organic food industry, and in turn consumers in Australia”, said Scott Kinnear, BFA GMO spokesperson today.

“The planting of GE herbicide tolerant canola will make it impossible to know whether organic or non-GE farmers are at risk, where GE canola has been planted and its pollen remains floating in the environment. Unless farmers undertake expensive tests they will not know if they have been contaminated.

“Organic and non-GE food processors will be burdened with additional requirements for tests of grains and oils to manage and eliminate contamination risk. In addition costly supply chain segregation such as containerisation will need to be considered by grain farmers and food processors. Other potential costs may include expensive food recalls where contamination has occurred.

“The support for GE canola flies in the face of significant evidence of costs to the economy, health and environment presented to the panels in both Victoria and NSW. The BFA put in a submission to both governments outlining substantial issues in all three areas and it is of significant concern that our submission appears to have been completely overlooked.”

“The organic food industry is the global good news food story that is growing at 15-20% per year. Governments would reap benefits for the environment and public health by supporting more organic food production rather than GE foods,” said Mr Kinnear.

Chairman of the BFA’s Organic Standards Committee, which presides over the Australian Organic Standard (AOS) by which the majority of the country’s organic farmers are certified, noted that “this step will mean the inevitable unleashing of pollens that cannot be completely regulated nor controlled in the open environment and the food and seed chain. This will restrict choice and freedom, particularly for organic farmers and a wider range of consumers, under current regulatory and market arrangements, said Dr Andrew Monk.

“In the absence of sufficient labeling regulation which gives consumers a transparent and complete choice of GMO and non GMO, the only real choice in the market place for non GMO foods will remain certified organic products, which prohibit such technologies as GMOs. This proposal by Victoria and NSW to potentially allow the release of food crop GMOs into the environment next year will impact on this sector by the admitted inevitable contamination of such crops and their seed lines. It will also risk future export markets and further burden that sector with compliance and regulatory costs.

“Both the National Standard, regulated for export by AQIS, as well as the Australian Organic Standard which regulates both for domestic and international markets, prohibit any presence of GMOs in organic food products. Their presence would lead to the decertification of such products and their removal from the marketplace, placing further cost, and loss of choice, on consumers and producers alike.” noted Dr Monk.

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