Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Canadian pesticide regulations among the worst: Suzuki report

Pesticide residue regulation on Canadian produce is amongst the worst in the industrialized world, according to The Food We Eat, a report published by the David Suzuki Foundation this month.

Certifiers weed through plenty to keep organic farmers in the green

Robert Magenheimer depends on ducks, mosquito fish and smart irrigation techniques to take care of his 500 acres of organic rice on a farm northwest of Lodi.

"It's a fun challenge," he said.

But early one morning in September, he waited at the edge of his property for a different sort of challenge: inspection day.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

The art of organic living

Organic food includes food produced without the use of conventional pesticides or artificial fertilisers or sewage sludge, animals reared without the routine use of antibiotics and without the use of growth hormones and food processed without ionising radiation and without the use of a wide range of food additives. With artificial chemicals out of the equation, organic food is believed to be healthier than conventional foods.

Study Reveals Produce With Most Pesticides

Consumers are flocking to organic foods. Sales topped $10 billion last year.

But does buying organic pay off? As NBC5 health reporter Nesita Kwan found out, it depends on what you're eating.

Twenty steps to a greener lifestyle

We are, it seems, a hungry nation, and not just in our appetite for food or football. This week, the World Wildlife Fund reported that the average person in the UK is living a "three-planet lifestyle" with each of us using the equivalent of six football pitches worth of resources to support our way of life.

Number of organic farms on decline, stats show

Organic food might be taking over Canada's pantries but not our farms, a new report released Monday suggests.

Hershey enters organic chocolate market

US confectionery company Hershey has extended its foothold in the premium chocolate sector with the purchase of Dagoba organic chocolate company.

Fair to the last drop?

Dean's Beans, a coffee company in the rolling woods of Orange, north of the Quabbin Reservoir, comes across like a hyperactive little international development organization: The company shares profits with farmers and funds reforestation initiatives, health programs, and women's loan projects from Nicaragua to Ethiopia. Its 10 employees enjoy profit sharing and full retirement plans and the company contributes to programs for the disabled and the homeless across the state.

Fair-trade coffee begins to heat up mainstream market

For all the buzz about the importance of buying fair-trade coffee, it represents only 2.2 percent of beans sold in the United States.

It has been a phenomenon of the specialty-coffee market, where better quality brew tends to sell at higher prices. That category includes Starbucks, which says it's the largest purchaser of fair-trade coffee in North America.

Be a Smart Organic Shopper

All fruit is not created equal. Step into any major grocery store and you will notice the ever-growing presence of organic produce. Beside the usual mound of shiny red apples is often another pile, seemingly identical except for a heftier price tag, and maybe, a little less shine.

The difference is in the green sticker, designating the latter as USDA Certified Organic, grown without the use of chemical or synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.

Agribusiness likely cause of E. coli outbreak

The tragic outbreak of E. coli spinach that recently killed three people and hospitalized more than a hundred others mistakenly has been linked to the organic farming practice of using animal manure as fertilizer compost.

Over the years, agribusiness and biotech-funded think tanks such as the Hudson Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute have repeated the canard that composted fertilizer used as a non-chemical fertilizer on organic farms is dangerous when in fact there have been only a tiny number of reported cases of food poisoning caused by organic products.

The growing philosophies on food

We've swapped our full-cream milk for the skinny stuff, our wholemeal bread for gluten-free. We're drinking litres of water a day, we're buying organic but we're not eating meat, dairy or carbohydrates. Actually, we're not sure what we should eat.

Meanwhile, our waist-lines are expanding, the rate of diabetes is rising, food disorders are increasing among teenagers and the jury is still out on which food philosophy is best.

Marketing Gimmick or More Value?

As certified organic products make their way into the marketplace, more critics emerge about the health benefits of organic.

"Bottom line, organic is better for all people and our planet," says Anthony Zolezzi, chairman of the board of The Organic Center and author of, "Chemical-Free Kids," (Kensington). "Whether you choose to eat healthy or not, purchasing certified organic products makes a huge impact on the environment and your personal health."

Tips on Buying "Organic" Foods

Shoppers may see signs and labels promoting organic foods in the grocery store. But many consumers are confused about what exactly makes a product "organic"; what are the advantages of buying organic and whether organics cost more. Tricia DiPersio, a registered dietician from the Wild Oats Marketplace is here with some useful advice on buying organic foods.

Promote organic farming

ACCORDING to a study on 'Sustainability Analysis of Ecological and Conventional Agriculture Systems in Bangladesh', ecological agriculture is relatively more sustainable and it can be an economically and environmentally viable alternative to the conventional agriculture system. Organic farming is a system which uses natural (organic) materials to nourish the soil which in turn produces vegetables, fruits and other crops. It does not use pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilisers and it is the system which had been used until the end of World War II, and which nature has used for millions of years. Inorganic or chemical product is harmful for health and environment as the WHO (World Health Organisation) estimated 5 lakh cases of pesticide poisoning annually and 20,640 deaths globally.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

E. coli's effects linger

It could be at least a year before fallout from the E. coli spinach outbreak settles in the Salinas Valley.

A month into the largest agricultural crisis in recent county history, the FBI probe into the incident that killed three people and sickened nearly 200 others continues. The Mexican government is holding strong on a ban against California lettuce, tangentially connected to the outbreak.

Picked to imperfection

Step through the eucalyptus trees tracing the southern edge of Knoll Farms and a neighboring field of dirt unfolds, flat and tilled into tidy rows.

In the summer, a single plant, corn, overruns nearly all of the 50-some acres. Through the remaining seasons, the Brentwood land mostly lies dormant, uncovered, as winds continually abrade the topsoil.

Fertile niche

Joe Hamill has come a long way since he harvested his first crop of organic produce in 2002. That year, he raised enough food to make two trips to the Yellowstone Valley Farmers’ Market in downtown Billings.

“I sold everything, but I was still many hundreds of dollars in the hole,” he said.

These days the Lavina farmer is selling his produce to restaurants and stores in Billings, Red Lodge, Big Sky, Bozeman and Livingston. He spends three days a week on the road, delivering his products and those of like-minded farmers and ranchers to an expanding circle of customers.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Coffee leads the way as we play it Fair

WALES' booming cafe culture and taste for Fairtrade coffee has led to soaring demand for other ethical goods.

Ethical food spending rockets

A third of British shoppers are prepared to spend more on "ethical" foods, and this year they will spend more than £2bn on Fairtrade, free range, local or organic produce.

It's David vs. Goliath in organics

From his small farm in the heart of Ontario's Mennonite country, Wolfgang Pfenning is doing his best to fend off the wave of organic produce coming into Canada from California and what is being called "the pathology of bigness."

In the wake of recent food scares over organic carrot juice and spinach, a fresh light has been cast on the organics industry, leaving people like Pfenning to plead that consumers not confuse his small organic operation with the giant farms dominating the business.

From farm to fork: The food safety system

Recent cases of food-borne illness raise questions not only about farming practices and government regulations, but also what steps consumers need take to ensure their own safety.

Ha Noi boosts use of organic vegetables

Capital Ha Noi is investing VND100 billion (US$6.25 million) in expanding organic vegetation to 80 percent of the municipal total 8,000 ha of vegetables fields by 2010.

Organic vegetables made up 44 percent of the city's total vegetable areas and 38 percent of the total output with a production of almost 58,000 tonnes last year.

Environmentalist say safe food options can be found on local farms

As the spinach crisis shows, eating smart or even organic isn't necessarily what's best for you or the environment -- not if the food is grown en masse at giant farms far away.

Putting your money where your mouth is with your produce

People often complain about the price difference between organic and commercially grown produce. While organically grown foods might appear more expensive, they are actually less, because we are paying for the full cost of the food. If we had to pay the real cost of commercially grown produce, we could more easily see the real bargain that organic food really is.

If you're looking for organic wine, be sure to ask

I had the pleasure of spending some time in Portland, Maine last week. The fall color was kicking into gear and I got the chance to rent a bicycle and pedal to various state beaches and lighthouses to appreciate it all.

I talked to the owner of a wine shop on the waterfront and asked him about organic wines. He carried some Bonterra but not much more. But he did point out that a number of wineries follow organic practices, they just don't go through the paperwork of being certified organic. The moral of the story is...if you're looking for organic wine, ask. A wine you're looking at might in fact be from organically grown grapes, but the label doesn't say so.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

The battle for the soul of the organic movement

When Lawrence Woodward started out in organic farming he was a self-described "naive, drop-out", with a simple interest in how people eat. He did a farming course and learned to drive a tractor. He learned the hard way how to turn a conventional farm "organic."

Thirty years on, he has seen organic farming transform from a cottage industry into a billion dollar game played by international food companies. And it's not just about chickens, carrots and lentils. Consumers hoping to eat healthier can also salve their social conscience with organic wine, mouthwash, surfboards, paint, jeans, pram blankets -- the list is endless.

Should you go organic?

To go organic or not? That's a big question for many people. A Consumer Reports survey recently found organic produce can cost twice as much as traditionally-grown products. That's because organic farmers must meet stricter regulations in the growing, harvesting and transporting of the food. But is it worth your money?

Vineyard pioneers wine for diabetics

In the battle to find a niche in the fiercely competitive wine market, a Uruguayan vineyard is making wine without sugar aimed at the growing number of diabetics.

The 119-year-old Vinos de la Cruz family vineyard in the middle of the pampas has tapped into a flourishing new market because of the spread of the disease.

Friday, October 6, 2006

Organic wines improving and multiplying

Ah, organics. We love 'em, and they're the fastest-growing trend in food today.

Organics are difficult to manage on the farms and in the fields, and as this is especially true with grapes, the wine business has been slow to come around. But every three months, when I look for organic wines to review, there are more and more labels available and from more countries.

Organic food costs more; what does it deliver?

Ten years ago, I joined an organic food production co-op. It was the only way I could get fresh organic produce on a regular basis.

For a flat fee, I received a weekly delivery of organic vegetables or fruits during the growing season. Unfortunately, you had to accept whatever they gave you, and you tended to get whatever crop happened to come in that week.

A Perfect Fit: Ecotourism and Smallholder Coffee Communities in Oaxaca, Mexico

Every morning Ramiro Cortes Bustamante wakes up early, drinks his coffee and eats his breakfast before leaving for work.

Tuesday, October 3, 2006

When to go organic: An aisle-by-aisle guide to getting the most out of your supermarket dollar

It's a big, bright organic world out there. Organic apples and grapes glisten at Wild Oats, organic cereals intrigue at Publix, organic breads call out at Fresh Market. It seems like there's a new outlet selling a new organic product every month. You're not imagining it.

Is it Popeye's Revenge?

For those of you outside the U.S., you may not be aware that August 15 marked the beginning of a serious outbreak of E.coli, linked to bagged spinach. The bacteria has been traced to a company called Natural Selection Foods in central California. As a result, supermarkets pulled fresh spinach from their shelves and many restaurants stopped serving fresh spinach dishes. The FDA lifted its ban on Popeye's favorite energy food on September 29. The sources have been identified, but the real cause has yet to be identified.

E.coli is commonly found in human and animal digestive tracts. If you pick it up, your normal stomach acid is probably tough enough to kill it off and you're none the wiser. But this particular strain (E. coli O157:H7) causes diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps. It a more severe case it can cause "hemolytic uremic syndrome," a kidney ailment which is normally treated with intensive care and often requires blood transfusions and kidney dialysis. Two to 7 percent of infections lead to this syndrome, and of those infected, it has a mortality rate of 3-5%. Of the more than 180 people known to be infected, there is one known death and two "suspect cases" in which E. coli may have been the cause of death, but it's not yet certain.

The true source of the problem isn't known. The fact that the outbreak is so widely dispersed, known to have covered 27 states, indicates that contamination happened early in the distribution cycle - in other words, close to the farm in California.

Typically, E. coli is spread through feces contamination. So somehow the spinach came in contact with raw manure. This most likely happened through one of three ways: water, domestic or wild animal life, poor worker hygiene, or fertilizer. Water is getting the most blame, especially since rivers and creeks in the Salinas Valley area, where the spinach came from, have been known to be contaminated. In fact, California spinach was responsible for an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in October 2003, where 16 people became ill and two died.

This is all background information, and it's been all over the news. The question I wanted to answer: Are we safer when we choose organic produce?

We know that the guilty spinach in this case was not sold under the "organic" label. But does that mean that the organic vegetables were protected somehow? My research tells me...it's going to take more research. I'll address that question in my next newsletter.

Stay on top of news, specials, deals, info...www.organic-food-and-drink.com!

Monday, October 2, 2006

Will the organic dream turn sour?

Sales of organic food are booming. Once it was the preserve of specialist shops but now every major supermarket wants a slice of the action. To meet demand superstores are air-freighting organics into the UK and encouraging the type of industrial-scale production it was meant to replace. Is organics still green?