2009

Table of Contents


January 2009 to September 2009

Following are the contents of some of our recent issues. Feel free to read the feature article of that issue by clicking on the red titles. If the articles pique your interest, and you'd like to see more, please contact us for a subscription or sample copy. We can also help with serious research. See also our Current Issue page.

 

#268: October-November 2009 TOC pdf 
Climate Leadership? - PM Harper seems determined to do nothing to address the world's greatest crisis
More pork, more contradictions - The pork producers' aid program is not likely to help much
Three Sisters and Friends - Henry Lickers draws out lessons from traditional Indigenous agriculture
Half-Baked Potato Turned Back - South Africa has rejected GM potatoes, citing inadequate testing
The Meaning of Monoculture - McDonald's governs the varieties commercial potato farmers must grow
Dealing with distancing and energy - A grain CSA is shipping in sailboats across Kootenay Lake in BC
In other shipping news - US soy is turned away from European ports on reports of GM contamination
Maui bans GE Taro - Citing the cultural importance of taro, Maui rejects GE
Big Meat - More mergers, this time JBS SA (Brazil) taking over US Pilgrim's Pride
Meat Safety from Apples - A new edible film is claimed to stop pathogenic bacteria on meat surfaces
India suspends approval of GE brinjal - A GM brinjal (eggplant) has been delayed
Electronic vs. paper - Subscribers can choose either (or both) versions of the Ram's Horn.
Students Wanted - by the organic agriculture curriculum at the University of Guelph
Lobbying - Immense spending by pharmaceutical industry

#267: September 2009 TOC pdf 
The Tyranny of Rights: introducing Brewster's new book
Roundup Kills -- weeds, and much more: new research shows that the so-called inert ingredients in Roundup are even more harmful than the glyphosate
    Publish and ... :Argentinian scientist is viciously attacked for exposing effects of glyphosate spray on people
    More and more: more soy, more glyphosate
    Carry On Regardless: Dow and Monsanto continue to get approval of their new GE crops
Smarter Than They Look: apparently lambs can self-medicate
"Mother Nature Is A Bad Person": according to persistent organic deniers Denis and Alex Avery
    Review of interesting work by The Nature Institute on the Goethean approach to science: much more respectful!
Spreading Triffid: 8 years ago we reported Alan McHughen's flamboyantly self-serving release of GE flax; now Canadian farmers stand to lose their most inportant markets
Cargill: information webs; bioplastics; attitude to organic and sustainable agriculture
Tapping into Bottled Water: more on Nestle's attempts to brand bottles as sustainable
Get Rich Quick: 35% return promised on investment in agricultural land.

#266: August 2009 TOC sites/ramshorn.ca/files/rh-266%20web.pdfpdf 
Not Quite the Whole Hog: analysis of the Government's bail-out of the failing hog industry
Look But Don't Touch: Scientific American calls for open research on patented varieties
Fighting Food Terror: Kerala (India) State Ag. Minister calls for defense against 'greedy corporates'
and Supporting Organics: Brazilian Ministry of Ag booklet critiquing GM is distributed by civil society
We indulge in Schadenfreude: as Nestle's bottled water business declines
Making Promises Sound Like Facts: Washington University teams up with Gates foundation to save Africa again
Antibiotic Resistant Salmonella Recall: Cargill subsidiary BPI has to recall beef due to salmonella, also faces animal-handling charges
Consumers lose trust: IBM survey reports US consumers do not trust food companies
New GM Corn Not Tested: Globe & Mail report on "SmartStax" from Monsanto/Dow
Monsanto Business Plan: Keep Roundup prices high despite market share loss, look to GM seeds as profit centre
Cokecolonization: Coke doubles investment in China, its third-largest market
Colonization by Monsanto: teaching Indian farmers how to go into debt
Myth of Enhanced Yields: New study shows Bt Cotton performs poorly in India; company blames bad weather
No Yields: Colombian cotton growers face huge crop losses, want to sue Monsanto
Fake Real Food or Real Fake Food: analysis of Hellman's "Eat Real Local"
website and campaign
Improvements?: Monsanto and Dole are working on 'improving' vegetable varieties

#265: June 2009 TOC pdf 
Prison Farms: Corrections Canada is determined to close six prison farms which provide training and fresh food to the prisoners
Ontario Organic Turkey: outcry over a new regulation forcing turkey farmers to keep their birds in confinement
How Sweet It Is: Cargill wins at every turn with natural and artificial sweeteners
Roundup Time: Chinese herbicides are cutting into Monsanto's profits
Love the Language!: Monsanto describes Monsanto
A peoples' victory over Monsanto: South Africa: an environmental group does not have to pay court costs in suit against Monsanto
Labour-intensive farming boosts development: conclusions of an"Agribusiness Forum" in South Africa
Outside the Box: Venezuelan President Chavez disrespects Tetra Pak's patents
On the menu: Brazilian Amazon forest beef or Canadian grain-fed
(feed-lot) beef: not much of a choice, is it?
Uncivilized Behaviour from Dow: Dow is pushing 2,4D in Brazil -- a compound which is was part of the infamous 'Agent Orange'
GMO Corn & Soy: Negligible Yield Increases: a new independent study shows that genetic engineering doesn't really increase yields

#264: May 2009 TOC pdf 
Silencing Spring: Canadian government has taken 25 years to act against a toxic chemical
Serious Seeds: Patrick Steiner writes about the increase in independent seed business
Don't blame the pigs!: Cathy Holtslander explains how factory farming is the clear cause of diseases such as swine flu
Dying Hog Industry Asks for a Billion: Paul Beingessner describes the decline in pig farming after decades of financial disaster
Billionaires' greed: CEOs continue to rip off immense compensations
Kerala labourers return from Dubai: the loss of migrant jobs threatens poor communities
Full Cost-Accounting: Corn-based ethanol uses 50 gallons of water per mile driven
Meat Packers Update: Competition Bureau has no trouble with only two corporations in meat packing
Germany Bans Cultivation of Monsanto GM Maize: courts take the precautionary approach
Imposing a Business Model: AGRA is described as a way to build agri-business in Africa, not sustainable food production
Fumigating Argentina: the use of glyphosate on GE soy is creating a health catastrophe in the rural sector
"Transgenic treadmill": Glyphosate resistant johnsongrass is forcing more dependence on agri-technology
Brazil's Coffee Crop Threatened: climate change on top of the economic crisis will reduce Brazil's agriculture capacity

#263: March/April 2009 TOC pdf 
Signs of spring: and hope in the resurgence of interest and action to create a sustainable local food system
Promises and Propaganda: EuropaBio says biotech promises to solve water problems
- Following the footsteps of tobacco: looking at the biotech propaganda strategies
- The complete propaganda machine: Monsanto enters the blogosphere (to control the messaging, of course)
- Monsanto funds scholarships and a journalism training course
- University of Regina associate dean shills for biotech
- Ingo Potrykus continues to seek Vatican blessing for biotech Growing
Resistance: A message from Kenya in support of the resilience of local varieties
- Mexico City to protect historic maize varieties
- Brazil Soy State loses taste for GMO seed
- Non-GE soy demand growing North and South
Sweet Treats:
- Industrial Gelato
- Industrial Ice Cream
Farmworkers: a story from tomato central, Immokalee Floride
"Changing the Vocation of the Land": Venezuela's Chavez moves to protect environment

#262: February 2009 TOC pdf 
Three Blind Mice:: Sarah Martin explores the three giants in the institutional foodservice business
Cheese [made from milk] Please: The Big Three cheesemakers object to a ruling that cheese must be made mostly out of real milk
Marketing:
    New CWB executive changes tack: government-appointed CEO now admits that the CWB plays an important role for farmers
    Profits - but not for the farmers: Viterra posts a record profit as a private corporation
    And more agrifuels subsidies
DNA Testing for Adulteration: UK researchers can now identify pure Basmati rice
Not a Straight Line: UK author says development is complex
Sohpisticated Science: Kenyan organization researches pest and vector management for pest control
Plant breeding in China: Scientists use non-invasive genetic technologies
The Taro Story (cont.): Hawaiian legislators are trying to protect the crop which is sacred to Native Hawaiians
Crop destruction in Gaza: Economic and military siege of Gaza has contaminated and destroyed land and water sources
Cooking the GMO Books: Friends of the Earth unmask the industry front group, ISAAA
A More Reliable Source: IFOAM reports an increase in organic food production
rBGH failing: New England dairy industry rejects the growth hormone

#261: January 2009 TOC pdf 
Growth, Energy and Food: Brewster reflects on distancing in energy policy
The Seed Policy Project: a new initiative towards seed sovereignty in Canada
GMO-free Ice Cream: an opportunity for an Irish dairy
Guns and Peanut butter: a BMJ article on misguided food policy regarding allergens
Global sourcing: shipping by sea is cheaper than overland, even if it means importing from overseas
GMO-free food and feed: Japanese seek non-GMO seeds, while the Western Canadian Wheat Growers tout GMOs
Seaweed shortage: due to over-exploitation or climate change?
Financial Crisis: Monsanto loses in recession
Cargill goes public, sweetly: the company is advertising its new sweetener to the public
Stevia gets USFDA go-ahead: stevia extract is classified as 95% purity
The ABCD of Global Agriculture: ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus in China
Need to Stretch: laying hens in cages
GM crops only a fraction of primary global crop production: despite claims by Monsanto et. al. GM crops are not widely popular


 

November 2008 to December 2009

Following are the contents of some of our recent issues. Feel free to download the whole issue by clicking on the icon. If the articles pique your interest, and you'd like to see more, please subscribe!

Please Note:  We make each issue of The Ram's Horn available for free download as it appears in print. Whether or not you want a paper copy mailed to you, we invite you to make a contribution to our research and production costs - the regular subscription is $25 CDN per year (10 issues) plus extra postage to addresses outside Canada, and you can add $25 or more to support us as a Patron.

 

#269, December 2009 TOC 
Food and Population - it's not that there are too many of "them", it's that we are systematically robbing them of the capacity to feed themselves
Eliminating Diversity - in paper for printing, seeds, dairy ...
Ecological Absurdity - shipping hay from Ontario to Saudi Arabia!
Climate Change - in the midst of the Copenhagen meetings, looking at the relation between sustainable agriculture and climate; also: The Angry Mermaid award goes to Monsanto
More on Monsanto:The real cost of GE seeds; A Questionable Legacy (Norman Borlaug as the spiritual father of Monsanto)
Who's Who in Biotech Seeds - a current list of the main players
Fish in Your Garden - Growing Power in Milwaukee has a unique and provocative urban agriculture set-up which includes raising fish in the inner city
Big Sky and small farms - Saskatchewan's largest pork producer folds its tents, leaving little for its farmer-suppliers
Tory spending makes priorities clear - cuts to food inspection staff and environmental programs

#268: October-November 2009 TOC pdf
Climate Leadership? - PM Harper seems determined to do nothing to address the world's greatest crisis
More pork, more contradictions - The pork producers' aid program is not likely to help much
Three Sisters and Friends - Henry Lickers draws out lessons from traditional Indigenous agriculture
Half-Baked Potato Turned Back - South Africa has rejected GM potatoes, citing inadequate testing
The Meaning of Monoculture - McDonald's governs the varieties commercial potato farmers must grow
Dealing with distancing and energy - A grain CSA is shipping in sailboats across Kootenay Lake in BC
In other shipping news - US soy is turned away from European ports on reports of GM contamination
Maui bans GE Taro - Citing the cultural importance of taro, Maui rejects GE
Big Meat - More mergers, this time JBS SA (Brazil) taking over US Pilgrim's Pride
Meat Safety from Apples - A new edible film is claimed to stop pathogenic bacteria on meat surfaces
India suspends approval of GE brinjal - A GM brinjal (eggplant) has been delayed
Electronic vs. paper - Subscribers can choose either (or both) versions of the Ram's Horn.
Students Wanted - by the organic agriculture curriculum at the University of Guelph
Lobbying - Immense spending by pharmaceutical industry

#267: September 2009 TOC pdf
The Tyranny of Rights: introducing Brewster's new book
Roundup Kills -- weeds, and much more: new research shows that the so-called inert ingredients in Roundup are even more harmful than the glyphosate
    Publish and ... :Argentinian scientist is viciously attacked for exposing effects of glyphosate spray on people
    More and more: more soy, more glyphosate
    Carry On Regardless: Dow and Monsanto continue to get approval of their new GE crops
Smarter Than They Look: apparently lambs can self-medicate
"Mother Nature Is A Bad Person": according to persistent organic deniers Denis and Alex Avery
    Review of interesting work by The Nature Institute on the Goethean approach to science: much more respectful!
Spreading Triffid: 8 years ago we reported Alan McHughen's flamboyantly self-serving release of GE flax; now Canadian farmers stand to lose their most inportant markets
Cargill: information webs; bioplastics; attitude to organic and sustainable agriculture
Tapping into Bottled Water: more on Nestle's attempts to brand bottles as sustainable
Get Rich Quick: 35% return promised on investment in agricultural land.

#266: August 2009 TOC pdf
Not Quite the Whole Hog: analysis of the Government's bail-out of the failing hog industry
Look But Don't Touch: Scientific American calls for open research on patented varieties
Fighting Food Terror: Kerala (India) State Ag. Minister calls for defense against 'greedy corporates'
and Supporting Organics: Brazilian Ministry of Ag booklet critiquing GM is distributed by civil society
We indulge in Schadenfreude: as Nestle's bottled water business declines
Making Promises Sound Like Facts: Washington University teams up with Gates foundation to save Africa again
Antibiotic Resistant Salmonella Recall: Cargill subsidiary BPI has to recall beef due to salmonella, also faces animal-handling charges
Consumers lose trust: IBM survey reports US consumers do not trust food companies
New GM Corn Not Tested: Globe & Mail report on "SmartStax" from Monsanto/Dow
Monsanto Business Plan: Keep Roundup prices high despite market share loss, look to GM seeds as profit centre
Cokecolonization: Coke doubles investment in China, its third-largest market
Colonization by Monsanto: teaching Indian farmers how to go into debt
Myth of Enhanced Yields: New study shows Bt Cotton performs poorly in India; company blames bad weather
No Yields: Colombian cotton growers face huge crop losses, want to sue Monsanto
Fake Real Food or Real Fake Food: analysis of Hellman's "Eat Real Local"
website and campaign
Improvements?: Monsanto and Dole are working on 'improving' vegetable varieties

#265: June 2009 TOC pdf
Prison Farms: Corrections Canada is determined to close six prison farms which provide training and fresh food to the prisoners
Ontario Organic Turkey: outcry over a new regulation forcing turkey farmers to keep their birds in confinement
How Sweet It Is: Cargill wins at every turn with natural and artificial sweeteners
Roundup Time: Chinese herbicides are cutting into Monsanto's profits
Love the Language!: Monsanto describes Monsanto
A peoples' victory over Monsanto: South Africa: an environmental group does not have to pay court costs in suit against Monsanto
Labour-intensive farming boosts development: conclusions of an"Agribusiness Forum" in South Africa
Outside the Box: Venezuelan President Chavez disrespects Tetra Pak's patents
On the menu: Brazilian Amazon forest beef or Canadian grain-fed
(feed-lot) beef: not much of a choice, is it?
Uncivilized Behaviour from Dow: Dow is pushing 2,4D in Brazil -- a compound which is was part of the infamous 'Agent Orange'
GMO Corn & Soy: Negligible Yield Increases: a new independent study shows that genetic engineering doesn't really increase yields

#264: May 2009 TOC pdf
Silencing Spring: Canadian government has taken 25 years to act against a toxic chemical
Serious Seeds: Patrick Steiner writes about the increase in independent seed business
Don't blame the pigs!: Cathy Holtslander explains how factory farming is the clear cause of diseases such as swine flu
Dying Hog Industry Asks for a Billion: Paul Beingessner describes the decline in pig farming after decades of financial disaster
Billionaires' greed: CEOs continue to rip off immense compensations
Kerala labourers return from Dubai: the loss of migrant jobs threatens poor communities
Full Cost-Accounting: Corn-based ethanol uses 50 gallons of water per mile driven
Meat Packers Update: Competition Bureau has no trouble with only two corporations in meat packing
Germany Bans Cultivation of Monsanto GM Maize: courts take the precautionary approach
Imposing a Business Model: AGRA is described as a way to build agri-business in Africa, not sustainable food production
Fumigating Argentina: the use of glyphosate on GE soy is creating a health catastrophe in the rural sector
"Transgenic treadmill": Glyphosate resistant johnsongrass is forcing more dependence on agri-technology
Brazil's Coffee Crop Threatened: climate change on top of the economic crisis will reduce Brazil's agriculture capacity

#263: March/April 2009 TOC pdf
Signs of spring: and hope in the resurgence of interest and action to create a sustainable local food system

#262: February 2009 TOC pdf
Three Blind Mice: Sarah Martin explores the three giants in the institutional foodservice business

#261: January 2009 TOC pdf
Growth, Energy and Food: Brewster reflects on distancing in energy policy

#260: November 2008 TOC pdf
Reclaim the Food System! - Cathleen reports on the National Assembly of Food Secure Canada The Hunger Count - Food Banks Canada reports steady numbers at food banks, more groups serving hot meals

Issue 261: January 2009

 Growth, Energy and Food

by Brewster Kneen

The first issue of The Ram’s Horn appeared in November, 1980. That means we are beginning our 29th full year of publication. Much has changed. Not enough has changed. Our governments and the economic wizards still believe in the mindless magic of ‘productivity’ and ‘economic growth’ (growth of the money economy as counted by the Gross Domestic Product). They appear to actually believe that economic growth is both good and absolutely essential if we are to survive as energy-bloated competitive individuals. They don’t evidence much concern about the destruction of society and environmental collapse.

In 1989 my first book was published – From Land to Mouth: Understanding the Food System. After two sold out print runs I revised and expanded the book to take into account the changes that had occurred between 1989 and 1993, when From Land to Mouth: Second Helping came out. Since then, the distance between the ‘family-community’ side and the corporate side of the food system has grown into a grand canyon.

On the local food side we are seeing the construction of energy efficient, ecologically sensitive food systems that observe our slogan, ‘feed the family and trade the leftovers,’ while on the corporate side we now have three mega-corps (not the same three in all cases, and 20 years ago it was six) dominating and determining on a global scale seeds, fertilizers, agrotoxins, processing (from commodity to consumer end) and distribution-retailing. 

While this corporate side claims to be efficient, it does not take more than a world map to observe the geographic distances that agricultural commodities move, from field to terminal (inland or seaport), from export terminal to import terminal to central distribution warehouse to retail. All this travel in high-energy transport (except by sea) is anything but efficient, nor are all the warehousing and processing facilities unless you really do believe in efficiencies of scale and ignore all the externalized costs of environmental destruction, energy source depletion, pollution, and social disruption and community destruction – worldwide.

Next time you visit  – or drive by – a shopping mall plus superstore (or two), pause to consider the parking lot and what it contains and represents, besides a huge public subsidy for the mall owner.

   chasm

‘Distancing’ was the term I came up with to describe the global food system in 1989, and it is distancing that I just described. When I finished the first draft of From Land To Mouth, our son Jamie said, so what’s the alternative? 

I thought about that and came up with ‘proximity,’ and that is obviously descriptive of what is guiding developing local food systems around the world, from Japan’s million-member Seikatsu Club Consumers’ Cooperative (SCCC) to the farmers’ markets in Ottawa. We can all be encouraged by the changes taking place on the one side even as we work against the consolidation and domination on the ‘Dark Side’.

Now with the spectacular failure of the economy of capitalism, it should be easier to think about efficiency and sufficiency – what Maria Mies termed “the subsistence perspective” – or what we might describe as an economy of enough for all. This is the alternative to the global social and physical destruction being wrought by economic growth and the industrial food system. We – the world – can no longer afford to operate such an incredibly inefficient economic system that requires so much energy to produce too much for too few while profoundly disturbing the atmospheric climate we all live in.

Unfortunately, there is no evidence that the current government of Canada has any understanding of all this – that we must halt economic growth and instead start building a society based on sufficiency, (‘enoughness’), greatly reduced energy consumption in any and every form, and ecological sensitivity.

Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper has insisted (when he was last addressing Canadians publicly) that environmental issues could not be dealt with at the expense of the economy: “we cannot separate environmental and economic policy.” His new Minister of the Environment, Jim Prentice, said that “balancing our responsibilities as stewards of the environment, on the one hand, and our responsibilities to protect and enhance the Canadian economy on the other” are the most challenging issues he’s seen. A couple of weeks later he brightly said, “climate-change pressures are unlikely to fade.” Of course this does not mean that he will let those pressures affect government policy of putting economic growth first. – G&M, 31/10/08, 30/12/08

“Sticking with an economic model that is driving toward ecological catastrophe will kill us,” wrote Peter Brown and Geoffrey Garver in the Toronto Star, “so it is essential to address the financial and ecological crises together.” They came to a rather different conclusion than Prentice, though: “We must recognize that the economy is part of the biosphere” and that “the global economy is a subsidiary of the natural order. . . Economic policy must promote not more affluence as currently defined, but more sufficiency for all Canadians.” – www.thestar.com/ 26/12/08

Noise output is one way to measure efficiency.  Think of the noise a bicycle makes on its way to the farmers’ market compared to that of an automobile – or the 18-wheeler full of produce from California headed to the supermarket. Of course, walking (especially barefoot) need not make any noise at all and does not require any equipment that consumed energy in its manufacture. In between the bike and the truck there could be electric trams and a subway. Remember, noise = energy. Can you hear your garden growing? Now think quietly about the energy it will produce when eaten.

Now, as our growth-economy crumbles, we are faced with a tremendous opportunity to trade it in for a model that works for everyone, not just an elite at the globe’s expense. But we face a huge lobbying effort by energy interests, such as the Alberta oilsands investors and the automobile industry, including, sadly, the leaders of the auto workers union.

Offering bailouts to keep the dinosaur auto industry alive so it can continue to destroy our cities and pollute the environment, while offering massive subsidies to the oil sands to supply fuel for the cars may appear to serve the purposes of the growth economy, but we would all be better off if no new automobiles were produced for at least one year, and then only cars that meet the most stringent pollution controls and fuel economy standards. The ‘buzz’ about the new electric cars conveniently ignores where the electricity is generated. It’s really only moving fuel consumption somewhere else. What we have to do is radically reduce it.

dino auto

In the meantime, the auto workers could learn to repair machinery (including cars) and build interesting and useful new equipment just like farmers have always done. On the side, the auto workers – along with their neighbours – could engage in non-profit food production in their own backyards and community gardens.

The federal government, for its part, could redirect the corporate bailout funds to community projects such as all-weather bike paths so the former autoworkers could keep their aging autos in storage while auto-recycling facilities are developed with some of the federal funds.

 

#261: January 2009 TOC
Growth, Energy and Food: Brewster reflects on distancing in energy policy
The Seed Policy Project: a new initiative towards seed sovereignty in Canada
GMO-free Ice Cream: an opportunity for an Irish dairy
Guns and Peanut butter: a BMJ article on misguided food policy regarding allergens
Global sourcing: shipping by sea is cheaper than overland, even if it means importing from overseas
GMO-free food and feed: Japanese seek non-GMO seeds, while the Western Canadian Wheat Growers tout GMOs
Seaweed shortage: due to over-exploitation or climate change?
Financial Crisis: Monsanto loses in recession
Cargill goes public, sweetly: the company is advertising its new sweetener to the public
Stevia gets USFDA go-ahead: stevia extract is classified as 95% purity
The ABCD of Global Agriculture: ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus in China
Need to Stretch: laying hens in cages
GM crops only a fraction of primary global crop production: despite claims by Monsanto et. al. GM crops are not widely popular

 

 

Issue 262: February 2009

 Three Blind Mice

In the first edition (1989) of From Land to Mouth: Understanding the Food System, Brewster wrote that six corporations in a sector seemed to be the lowest number for a ‘sustainable oligopoly’. That number now seems to have dropped to three (though some sectors still entertain more than that), for example: Kraft-Saputo-Parmalat (dairy), Cargill-ADM-Bunge (grain), Nestlé-PepsiCo-Kraft (food & beverage), Monsanto-DuPont-Syngenta (seeds), (Hewlitt-Packard-IBM-Microsoft (computing), Aramark-Compass-Sodexo (food service). . . 
       – for more, go to www.etcgroup.org/en/materials/publications.html?pub_id=707

Industrial feeding

Edited and adapted from the thesis research of Sarah Martin, Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies, Carleton University

3 blind miceToday the institutional food service sector is overwhelmingly dominated by three transnational corporations: Aramark, headquartered in Philadelphia, Compass, in London and Sodexho, in Paris. All three corporations have undergone massive growth since the Second World War due to industry consolidation and public agencies, including hospitals and schools, contracting out their food services. The sales for the sector are estimated to be over US$234 billion annually worldwide.

Institutional foodservices are located primarily in workplaces and educational and healthcare facilities. The Canadian institutional foodservice market makes up just over 2% of the total global market with $5.2 billion in sales. It fills 32.7% of the total foodservice market in Canada, higher than fast food at 23.3% but lower than cafes and restaurants at 42.9%. However, its growth rate has far outstripped all other foodservice areas, and this trend is expected to continue, especially  with universities and colleges; in 2006 the educational sector generated 40% of institutional food’s total value, and the healthcare sector followed with 28%.

Institutional foodservice really got underway during the Second World War, when “proper feeding stations” were installed in factories to counter the war-time loss of labour, resulting in increased production, fewer accidents and mistakes and a claim of up to 300% savings in production costs. The government provided “industrial feeding specialists” to assist companies in improving food facilities, especially targeting larger plants, such as shipyards and aircraft plants (with a Boeing plant reporting simultaneous feeding of 30,000 employees). It was also a new avenue for moving unexpected agricultural surpluses, and surplus that had been previously sent to relief agencies was now shifted to the industrial sector.

In 1941, Canada created the Nutrition Service as part of the Department of Pensions and National Health. The first function of the service was to “study the food facilities in defence industries from a nutritional viewpoint, and to suggest improvements where possible.” Thus a precedent was set for government involvement in  population nutrition.

. . .  See How They Run  . . .

The two founders of Aramark met in a Second World War aircraft plant because they both had contracts to supply peanut vending machines to Douglas Aircraft. Dave Davidson and Bill Fishman of the Automatic Merchandising Company, both signed contracts to supply Douglas Aircraft plants in Santa Monica and Chicago during the Second World War. Davidson was moving his machines from retail outlets to factories and offices in Chicago, and Fishman was attempting to transform his vending operation into a food service operation. The two owners individually tried throughout the 1950s to expand into food services but were unsuccessful. However, they merged the two companies in 1959 into the Automatic Retailers of America, (ARA), and from this position were able to consolidate their holdings and buy more than 150 vending companies between 1959 and 1964. The expansion included the purchase of Slater Systems, a “manual” (as opposed to automatic) foodservice operator; they then bought a company that specialized in institutional markets such as college and university cafeterias.

ARA continued moving into new service areas including nursing homes and magazine distribution companies. By 1964 they were operating over 750 manual food operations and began an aggressive expansion into airline catering, periodical sales, resort management and laundry services among others. Despite several run-ins with the  Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for market monopoly and price-fixing, ARA continued to expand by buying up smaller service companies, for example, laundry, trucking and daycare, along with new services like airline catering. During the late 1970s the company began to expand into Europe and Canada and became the largest food services company in the Canada with the purchase of VS Services. New management in the 1980s in the 1990s changed ARA’s name to Aramark and the food services division, in particular began to prosper.

As in Canada, the British government legislated industrial feeding facilities and programs during the Second World War. In 1967, Factory Canteens was bought by Grand Metropolitan, a food and spirits company, and spun it off into Compass Group in 1987. Compass began with the goal to become the world’s largest foodservice corporation which began with the acquisition of railway caterers, airline catering and Canteen Corp, the third largest vending and foodservice company in the US in the early 1990s. By purchasing Eurest Compass in 1995, Compass met its goal and became the largest food service organization in the world.

Farmer's WifeAt this point all three corporations continued aggressive expansions and bought up smaller dining services. For example, Compass was able to gain large contracts like IBM and secure advantageous terms from suppliers. Sodexho moved into prison management in the US, bought the largest British catering firm, and in 1998 bought the foodservice arm of Marriott. Along with the entire institutional foodservice sector Compass has experienced “record expansion” including new sites in Africa, and purchasing Brazil’s largest caterer. In Canada, as market leader it is forecast to have sales of $1.1billion. In addition to its position as the world’s largest foodservice corporation, Compass is now the seventh largest employer in the world.

Sodexho (now Sodexo), for its part, promotes itself as an important player in the fight against hunger, and was one of the  corporate sponsors of the US Community Food Security Coalition’s conference last fall.

 

 

#262: February 2009 TOC
Three Blind Mice:: Sarah Martin explores the three giants in the institutional foodservice business
Cheese [made from milk] Please: The Big Three cheesemakers object to a ruling that cheese must be made mostly out of real milk
Marketing:
    New CWB executive changes tack: government-appointed CEO now admits that the CWB plays an important role for farmers
    Profits - but not for the farmers: Viterra posts a record profit as a private corporation
    And more agrifuels subsidies
DNA Testing for Adulteration: UK researchers can now identify pure Basmati rice
Not a Straight Line: UK author says development is complex
Sohpisticated Science: Kenyan organization researches pest and vector management for pest control
Plant breeding in China: Scientists use non-invasive genetic technologies
The Taro Story (cont.): Hawaiian legislators are trying to protect the crop which is sacred to Native Hawaiians
Crop destruction in Gaza: Economic and military siege of Gaza has contaminated and destroyed land and water sources
Cooking the GMO Books: Friends of the Earth unmask the industry front group, ISAAA
A More Reliable Source: IFOAM reports an increase in organic food production
rBGH failing: New England dairy industry rejects the growth hormone
 

 

 

Issue 263: March/April 2009

 Signs of Spring

Yes, we missed March – slipping a little, what with Cathleen away out west for almost two weeks, and Brewster trying to finish his book, The Tyranny of Rights. Now the promise of Spring is giving the lie to those who think that the meltdown of Capital means the end of the world. Maybe the World As We Know It, but that model is due for a trade-in, anyway.

Most prominent among the signs of Spring in food-related matters is the incredible proliferation of local/regional/organic/holistic foodie activities and projects. Of course as the snow melts we get not just crocuses and returning songbirds, but uncovered dog turds too; and so we also see a concerted, not to say frantic, effort by the biotech industry to claim that it alone holds the keys to the storehouse of food for all.
The messages that appear in the press in various guises (and disguises) bear a striking similarity to one another, as if they were emanating from a central bureau – which they more or less are: the closely-knit ISAAA, BioEuropa, BioteCanada, CropLife, etc. With the wealth of the Rockefeller-Gates-Buffet collegium (philanthrophy oligopoly) behind it, the biotech-agrotoxin-drug industry can well afford to commission and encourage letters to the editor, op-ed pieces, ‘scientific’ statements and so on. This industry campaign bears a striking resemblance to past tobacco industry campaigning in defense of its toxic products, a fact of which they are probably as aware as we are. The spectre of defeat looms large, thanks to the emergence of a public consciousness, around the world, about what is important and necessary – and genetic engineering of food crops accompanied by increased agrotoxin requirements of corporate seeds is not.

crocuses

Nevertheless, that is the panacea being touted to fix the food crisis, the economic crisis, and global warming or climate chaos. When food prices began to skyrocket last year, this was variously attributed to drought in Africa, speculation in food commodities, using foodlands to grow crops for fuel, or an increase in meat consumption in Asia. In addition to the genetic engineering of food crops, the proposed ‘fixes’
include an increase in food aid, increasing food production and bailout of the financial system. None of these, or all of them together, will actually resolve the ‘crisis’ because:

• They do not address the corruption and plunder of capitalism and the failure of capitalism to function according to its own ‘immutable’ laws.

• They do not eliminate or diminish corporate control of global food.

• They do not address climate change and global warming, and will therefore surely exacerbate an already perilous situation.

• They do not put an end to the ideology and pursuit of economic growth that is going to kill us all unless we halt it. An economy of enough – a ‘subsistence perspective’ as Maria Mies put it – must become the rule, personally and politically.

Underlying each of these is energy consumption – and the need to reduce it. Industrial agriculture requires high energy consumption. Economic growth requires increased energy. Corporate control requires high energy consumption due to its high degree of centralization and global sourcing and distribution. Energy consumption causes climate change and global warming.

“Nobody has really thought yet about how and if we can mitigate climate change in agriculture,” admitted Dr Josef Schmidhuber, head of the global perspectives study unit at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), indicating that although there is a lot of talk about averting the impact of climate change, no policies have been implemented yet to solve the problem.

“It starts and ends with governance, with convincing key decision makers to change strategy,” said Hans Herren, president of the Washington DC-based Millennium Institute. “We know what the solutions to climate change are, but they are not put into practice because governments are in bed with the biotechnology industry. They are more interested in making a quick buck than in the long-term benefits of farmers.” Herren believes industrial agriculture is “bankrupt by definition” because it costs too much energy to produce: “For every calorie you produce you have to put in ten, if you look at fuel, fertilizer and labour needed.” Chemical-heavy agriculture has been systematically destroying soils, says Herren, by causing mineral depletion, erosion and reducing soils’ ability to retain water. “For small-scale farmers, water is far more important than having a pest-resistant, genetically modified plant, which is only resistant to one particular type of pest anyway,” he said.
– IPS, 26/2/09, www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews3D45905

None of which seems to deter the cartel bent on solving the world’s problems by increasing their own control and profit – always couched in the language of sustainability, of course. You could call it The White Man’s Burden version 2.1.

For example, at the fourth meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in Germany: “CropLife International’s aim is to assist the Parties in implementing the Biosafety Protocol in a way that carefully balances the need for beneficial technology being available to those wishing to use it while avoiding any adverse effects on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. . . Farmers choose biotech seeds for a wide variety of reasons, from increased production and yield, to improved food quality from crops that are resistant to pests and viruses; from increased income, to reductions in the environmental impacts of agriculture; as well as more predictability and stability in crop production.”
– CropLife International Press Release, 12/3/08

Meanwhile, Swiss-based Syngenta, with more than 24,000 employees in over 90 countries “dedicated to our purpose: Bringing plant potential to life”, has crawled right up there with Monsanto in its pursuit of control of seeds and food. The company’s CEO, Mike Mack, laid out Syngenta’s corporate philosophy recently: “Our innovative products allow us to unlock the potential of plants, enabling us to do more with less – feed more people, produce more fuel and fibre, while using less water and decreasing the carbon footprint of agriculture,” he claims. Syngenta has, according to Mack, “technology that can provide the solution to the persistent and growing problems in food security and environmental sustainability . . . for us at Syngenta, technology means an entire portfolio of products, techniques and expertise that bring out the best in biotechnology, crop protection products and seed care. . .

“Now is the time to stand firmly behind corn and corn ethanol. . . We simply must keep supporting this crop as corn provides many answers to global agricultural problems. Investing in future corn yields creates healthy markets, successful farmers and food security. . . Plants can be an efficient and truly renewable way of translating the sun’s energy into our gas tanks, and with technology we don’t have to be forced into a no-win choice between growing more food or producing more fuel. . . A great part of the solution isn’t confined to biotech per se, but must include . . . crop protection technologies. This is especially pertinent when discussing climate change, as the application of effective herbicides will be an essential component in a growing trend of conservation tillage agriculture. . .

“There is only one major problem on the horizon: That’s the hostility of regulators in some parts of the world to both biotech and crop protection products . . . This is particularly true in Europe, where governments are beholden to non-governmental organizations and where the discussion of genetically-modified plants is more often based on superstition rather than science. . . If we embrace science, however, we can have a future of bounty – we can feed a growing population and fuel an energy-hungry world economy while protecting the environment.”
– Syngenta Press Release 27/2/09

The insistence that GE is essential for growth of crop productivity (whether fact or fiction matters little) is the big stick used to drive farmers to GE seeds. Corporate control and profit are not mentioned as the primary reason, of course. The fetish of growth will kill us all – whether it’s economic growth or cancer.

“Economists say declining wealth is prompting more Canadians to save money, marking a profound shift in the psyche of a generation that has never seen such a major market correction. . . The concern is that consumers will hamper growth as they cut spending.”
– G&M, 17/3/09, emphasis added.

 

#263: March/April 2009 TOC
Signs of spring: and hope in the resurgence of interest and action to create a sustainable local food system
Promises and Propaganda: EuropaBio says biotech promises to solve water problems
Following the footsteps of tobacco: looking at the biotech propaganda strategies
- The complete propaganda machine: Monsanto enters the blogosphere (to control the messaging, of course)
- Monsanto funds scholarships and a journalism training course
- University of Regina associate dean shills for biotech
-
 Ingo Potrykus continues to seek Vatican blessing for biotech
Growing Resistance: A message from Kenya in support of the resilience of local varieties
- Mexico City to protect historic maize varieties
- Brazil Soy State loses taste for GMO seed
- Non-GE soy demand growing North and South
Sweet Treats:
- Industrial Gelato
- Industrial Ice Cream
Farmworkers: a story from tomato central, Immokalee Floride
"Changing the Vocation of the Land": Venezuela's Chavez moves to protect environment

 

 

 

Issue 264: May 2009

 Silencing Spring

“It is simply a fact that the type of agriculture practiced on the prison farms is totally unrelated to modern high-technology capital intensive agriculture.” – Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan, defending the government’s decision to shut down 6 prison farms, WP, 9/4/09

In other words, please don’t maintain any illusions about federal agriculture policy. It’s still stuck in the rut that has characterized federal agriculture policy for the past three decades of neoliberal ideology. The “policy framework” is now styled “Growing Forward” but remains true to the same vision which features, not food for the people of Canada, but “innovation and competitiveness” : “A profitable, innovative, competitive, market-oriented agriculture, agri-foods and agri-based products industry.”

The good news is that we can be assured, because we have been told over and over again by the CFIA, that “Canada has one of the safest food systems in the world.”                     – Press release, 9/2/09

The guy who headed the CFIA when it was established in 1997 as a supposedly autonomous unit of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ron Doering, retired from the CFIA not long ago and now works as a lawyer-lobbyist for the food industry. When asked about the dual role of the CFIA as an industry promoter and regulator, Doering said recently that “it’s like saying a police officer cannot help an elderly person cross the street and then minutes later pull a gun to take down a bad guy”. Doering’s charming turn of phrase fails to reassure us about the CFIA’s dual mandate to promote the food industry and serve the public interest in food quality and safety. It is the CFIA, after all, that has consistently helped Monsanto across the street for more than a decade by refusing to allow non-genetically engineered food to be labelled as such, while training their guns on small-scale, locally-focused abattoirs and food processors.

Monsanto Cop

It should, then, come as no surprise that neither the CFIA nor Health Canada regard agrotoxins in and on our food as a food safety concern.

Snail’s Pace
We got married in 1964, two years after Rachel Carson published Silent Spring. In 1984, as our children were preparing to leave home for university, a farmer in Saskatchewan reported that the chemical carbofuran was killing birds. “He returned to find the bodies of several thousand Lapland Longspurs dotting the field,” according to a report on the incident by the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS). The Lapland Longspur is a sparrow-like songbird that breeds in the Arctic and winters in open fields across southern Canada and the United States.

In May 2009, 25 years later, Health Canada finally came out with a proposal to “phase out all uses” of the pesticide, decades after Canadian government officials first learned carbofuran was wiping out everything from flocks of songbirds in the Prairies to eagles in British Columbia. This much belated act was only in response to the ruling of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to forbid the sale of any domestic or imported food crops that have traces of  carbofuran, marketed as Furadan.

It’s not that the 1984 report was an isolated incident. In 1993, Agriculture Canada published a special “discussion document” on the chemical that states “carbofuran has one of the highest recorded toxicities to birds of any insecticide registered for use in Canada.” A single grain of carbofuran –  the size of piece of sand –  or a single tainted earthworm can be lethal, the document says. “On the basis of kill rates reported in company studies conducted in cornfields, it can be concluded that the use of granular carbofuran will result in the death of a large proportion of the songbirds breeding in and around treated fields.”

Despite such findings, the government allowed use of the pesticide to continue.

The Globe and Mail tried to interview Pierre Mineau, a research scientist with CWS and one of the world’s leading experts on carbofuran’s environmental impact, but when the newspaper refused to provide questions in advance, Environment Canada officials said Dr. Mineau was not available. Agriculture Canada directed all questions to Health Canada, which declined to provide anyone to be interviewed.

“Health Canada is in the process of preparing a publication on the re-evaluation of carbofuran to be released this summer, which will be proposing to phase out all uses,” Philippe Laroche, a ministry media spokesman, stated in an e-mail. “The re-evaluation of carbofuran indicates that this insecticide poses unacceptable risks to human health and the environment,” he wrote.

Jim Fitzwater, a spokesman for FMC Corp., a Philadelphia company that manufactures carbofuran under the trade nameFuradan{+AE}, said FMC is planning to file an official objection to the EPA ruling, and hopes to have that decision reviewed. He declined to say how much Furadan{+AE} is sold in Canada, but a 1991 report by Health Canada states that between 100,000 and 500,000 kilograms was being used annually on crops. – Globe and Mail, 21/5/09

Sovereignty, eh?
Dow AgroSciences, a US company, is suing the Government of Canada for $2 million in compensation under NAFTA for lost business in response to a ban by the Quebec Government on lawn (non-industrial, cosmetic) pesticides containing 2,4-D. Dow said the Quebec ban was not driven by science but by “political, social or cultural considerations.”  Federal Trade Minister Stockwell Day, responded, “The NAFTA preserves the state’s ability to regulate in the public interest, including public health and environmental issues related to pesticides.” To which Dow countered, “we filed this notice to protect our rights under NAFTA.” In the lawsuit, which is going to a three-member NAFTA arbitration panel, Dow accuses Canada of breaching its obligations under Chapter 11 of NAFTA and seeks damages covering loss of sales, profits, goodwill, investment and other costs related to the products.                                           – Ottawa Citizen, 10/4/09

 

#264: June 2009 TOC
Silencing Spring: Canadian government has taken 25 years to act against a toxic chemical
Serious Seeds: Patrick Steiner writes about the increase in independent seed business
Don't blame the pigs!: Cathy Holtslander explains how factory farming is the clear cause of diseases such as swine flu
Dying Hog Industry Asks for a Billion: Paul Beingessner describes the decline in pig farming after decades of financial disaster
Billionaires' greed: CEOs continue to rip off immense compensations
Kerala labourers return from Dubai: the loss of migrant jobs threatens poor communities
Full Cost-Accounting: Corn-based ethanol uses 50 gallons of water per mile driven
Meat Packers Update: Competition Bureau has no trouble with only two corporations in meat packing
Germany Bans Cultivation of Monsanto GM Maize: courts take the precautionary approach
Imposing a Business Model: AGRA is described as a way to build agri-business in Africa, not sustainable food production
Fumigating Argentina: the use of glyphosate on GE soy is creating a health catastrophe in the rural sector
"Transgenic treadmill": Glyphosate resistant johnsongrass is forcing more dependence on agri-technology
Brazil's Coffee Crop Threatened: climate change on top of the economic crisis will reduce Brazil's agriculture capacity

 

 

Issue 265: June 2009

 Prison Farms

One of the advantages of living in Ottawa (or maybe it’s a disadvantage) is that we are able to go up to Parliament Hill in support of important causes. This can take the form of singing with the Raging Grannies at a wonderful street-theatre demonstration organized by trade unions against the proposed free trade deal with Colombia; being a witness at a House or Senate Committee hearing, or, as I did a couple of weeks ago, appearing at a media event organized by the local National Farmers Union and others to explain why Corrections Canada should not close down the six working farms connected to Canada’s federal prisons.

Announcing the closure plans in April, Minister of Public Safety Peter Van Loan stated that “the prison farms are set up on a model of agriculture that really reflects the way it worked in the days of the old mixed farm in the 1950s”. He claimed they should be closed because they do not provide relevant employment skills in today’s economy.

Of course this is nonsense, not to mention insulting to the thousands of mixed farmers who have survived Canada’s export-commodity-oriented agriculture policies over the past forty years. They have survived – and are on the verge of a resurgence – because they work, not in terms of an industrial-level wage but in terms of providing wholesome food, healthy environment, and an economic base for their communities. It is certainly a different model than the one that has left us with a polluted environment and an epidemic of obesity and chronic disease, but that doesn’t make it irrelevant, either in terms of the economy or in terms of prisoner rehabilitation. (One does sometimes get the idea that rehabilitation is not the government’s priority – they should really call themselves “Punishment Canada” instead of “Corrections Canada”.)

In fact, these farms are diversified, well equipped and highly respected – they are considered a model in other countries. They produce a range of foods and include facilities which are used by neighbouring farm communities such as egg grading equipment and abattoirs as well as facilities from dairy to greenhouses for their own use. In addition to providing food to their own and other federal institutions, the farms make important local donations – for example, thousands of eggs to the food bank in Kingston. The 300 inmates who work in the farms learn agricultural production and processing, teamwork, reliability and punctuality. They report that working with the animals makes them “calmer”. The nutrition provided to inmates is also important; research in the UK showed that juvenile detainees provided with nutritional supplements showed a 37% reduction in violent incidents.

prisoners    prison turkeys

Mr. Van Loan is now claiming that the farms “cost” the system $4 million a year. It is not clear where this figure comes from. The NFU has asked, and so far received no answers. It seems highly likely that this figure excludes income earmarked for training, and may be related to the potential price of the land on which the farms are located (rumoured to be $2 million for the Kingston site alone). The Federal government is busy trying to sell off any assets it can think of, even if they have to be leased back by government departments, and certainly privatization of both the food service and the prisons themselves would be part of this scenario.

Selling the farm land does not mean that it will continue to be farmed – in fact, quite the opposite. The dairy and poultry operations are outside of the supply-management quota system (since they do not sell on the open market) and any farmer would have to get the necessary quota – a huge hurdle. (see following article) Given the development pressures for these lands, it is highly likely that these lands would be lost to food production, just at the moment when we need to increase our capacity to feed ourselves. – C.K.

For more information and action, go to
www.nfuontario.ca/316/federal-decision-close-prison-farms-canada

 

Ontario Organic Turkey
Turkey Farmers of Ontario is one of the ‘family’ of supply-management marketing boards operating under federal-provincial legislation in Canada. Producers of ‘broiler’ chickens, laying birds, turkeys, and dairy farmers are allocated quota: a permit to produce a certain number of birds or litres of milk or dozens of eggs, designed to ensure that the total amount produced meets the total market demand. There are penalties for under or over-producing. The organizations are also responsible for self-regulation.

When the marketing boards were initially set up, quota was distributed to the then-current operators; since then, quota itself has become a commodity which producers have to buy, either from retiring quota-holders or the marketing boards. The high cost of quota has made it a major capital investment.

Production of eggs, poultry and milk, including organic, outside of the marketing boards is strictly limited by law. As public demand for organically produced food has grown, there have been a number of confrontations between organic farmers and marketing boards (which have appropriated the territory by changing their names to ‘Dairy Farmers of Canada, Turkey Farmers of Ontario’, etc.).

Recently Turkey Farmers of Ontario (TFO) imposed a rule which requires that “all turkeys must at all times be housed under a solid roof.” The excuse is the theory that avian flu is spread by wild birds so poultry must be kept in confinement to avoid any contact. The newly-minted Canada Organic Standard, however, requires all poultry, including turkeys, to have regular access to outdoors to be certified organic. This means farmers holding turkey quota in Ontario cannot produce turkey that meets the Canadian Organic Standard. Interestingly, this rule only applies to turkey producers who hold quota, not to ‘backyard’ flocks of under 50 birds. The effect of this rule is that organic turkey farmers would be limited to small flocks – a great way to curtail competition for the industrial turkey farmers from free-range organic turkeys.

prison

The Organic Council of Ontario has tried unsuccessfully to work within the regulatory framework to challenge the TFO rule, including direct appeals to the TFO Board, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal and the Farm Products Marketing Commission. OCO has pointed out that there is no reliable evidence linking outdoor husbandry to outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, in fact, all the outbreaks to date have occurred in confinement systems. Experts
in the field of epidemiology say that the supposed link between wild birds and the spread of HPAI is “highly conjectural”. In an attempt at compromise, OCO has asked the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Leona Dombrowsky, to intervene and instruct TFO to change the rule from total confinement to require that “all feed and water must be kept under a solid roof”, while the birds themselves can roam.

There are only 186 licensed quota holders for turkey production in Ontario, producing 63,000,000 kg. of turkey each year (45% of Canada’s total production). On average, each of Ontario’s turkey producers has over 30,000 birds. Almost all of this production is in total confinement. The National Poultry Board, of which Turkey Farmers of Ontario is a member, has a declared agenda that all poultry production be moved to total confinement.

 

#265: June 2009 TOC
Prison Farms: Corrections Canada is determined to close six prison farms which provide training and fresh food to the prisoners
Ontario Organic Turkey: outcry over a new regulation forcing turkey farmers to keep their birds in confinement
How Sweet It Is: Cargill wins at every turn with natural and artificial sweeteners
Roundup Time: Chinese herbicides are cutting into Monsanto's profits
Love the Language!: Monsanto describes Monsanto
A peoples' victory over Monsanto: South Africa: an environmental group does not have to pay court costs in suit against Monsanto
Labour-intensive farming boosts development: conclusions of an"Agribusiness Forum" in South Africa
Outside the Box: Venezuelan President Chavez disrespects Tetra Pak's patents
On the menu: Brazilian Amazon forest beef or Canadian grain-fed
(feed-lot) beef: not much of a choice, is it?
Uncivilized Behaviour from Dow: Dow is pushing 2,4D in Brazil -- a compound which is was part of the infamous 'Agent Orange'
GMO Corn & Soy: Negligible Yield Increases: a new independent study shows that genetic engineering doesn't really increase yields

 

 

Issue 266: August 2009

 Not Quite the Whole Hog

The newspaper headlines trumpet that hog farmers are ‘disappointed’ by the Federal Government’s announcement of a $92-million package to help bail out ‘the industry’ – as well they might be. Indeed, one could say that $92 million is a slap in the face, particularly since $17 million of it is to go to market research, not to farmers. The Canadian Pork Council’s survival plan called for $800-million to help farmers survive the current crisis. As one farmer put it, “We’ve got to do something. We can’t keep losing $50 a pig.”

This dire situation did not just happen, of course. Part of the cause is Federal agricultural policy. When the government repealed the Western Grain Transportation Act which subsidized the movement of grain by rail from the Prairies to seaports (the “Crow Rate”) in 1995, the suddenly cheap wheat and barley was an incentive to huge growth in livestock production, particularly swine. Inventories of hogs in Manitoba, for example, increased over 78% between 1995 and 2004. The low Canadian dollar relative to the US dollar encouraged exports, and approximately 2/3 of Canadian pigs went south. Changes in the US hog industry – the demise of ‘farrow-to-finish’ (typically smaller, family-run farms) in favour of large, vertically-integrated intensive operations – ireduced the total number of hogs produced. Slaughter facilities tied to this system and benefitting from cheap labour and more relaxed regulations out-bid Canadian abattoirs for hogs. When the Canadian dollar rose, it affected overseas markets for Canadian pork rather than the US-Canadian trade, and of course the fears engendered by “swine flu” didn’t help markets either. Meanwhile, the recent rise in the price of grain undid the effects of the death of the Crow.

Now a news story from the Brantford, Ontario, Expositor reports that farmers attending a rally organized by the Beginning Farmer Group in southwestern Ontario are beginning to call for supply management in some form to save Ontario’s pork industry from collapse, along with government support for mostly younger producers. As one farmer
commented: “I’m not saying supply management will fix everything but we have to do something.”

The paper quotes a farmer who runs a 2,000-hog farm saying it’s obvious that there is more supply than demand in the pork industry. He conceded the quota system used in the dairy, chicken and egg industries seems to be working. “No one wants to call it quota [in the hog industry] and no one wants to call it supply management,” he said.

Certainly bailing out the industry is not going to make it float. It is sinking because of gaping holes in its basic structure and assumptions.
The hog industry has been built on cheap grain, cheap oil, easy export markets, and the ideology of ‘bigger is better’. As in the US, the smaller, resilient family farms that raised pigs from farrow to finish on feeds that came from their own farms have been replaced by ‘intensive livestock operations’ (ILOs), also known as factory farms, with huge capital investments, where thousands of animals are housed in mega-barns and fed ‘scientifically developed’ grain rations, along with antibiotics to protect them from the inevitable diseases. Instead of finding a private corner in which to build their nests, sows are confined to metal crates for farrowing so they can’t accidentally lie on their piglets – who are weaned as young as 14 days “to maximize sow productivity”. The manure, which used to be a valuable by-product as fertilizer, has become a major environmental problem. Slaughterhouses are similarly set up to maximize throughput rather than considerations for either animals or humans.

There is an alternative, as we have frequently pointed out in the pages of The Ram’s Horn. Small-scale, low-tech animal production, integrated into a diverse farm, can be extremely efficient and both humane and environmentally sound. Pigs are marvellous creatures, able to use a wide variety of feeds and benefit from social interaction among themselves (production manuals for ILOs recommend providing toys for feeder pigs to keep them happy and to prevent such ‘vices’ as tail-biting).

The government approach, however, is to provide government-backed loans and payments to farmers to cut back on hog numbers for three years – by which time, they assume, their $17-million will have created new export markets and everything can chug along as before. The Canadian Pork Council’s president Jurgen Preugschas says, “There is no doubt those who come out the other side will have a higher debt load and that certainly will affect the competitiveness of the industry in export markets competing with people with less debt. But we believe it is the only way to maintain the industry.” The CPC is projecting that the industry emerging from the crisis will be ‘significantly’ smaller (with annual production dropping form 31 million hogs to 25.5 million) and less dependent on sale of live pigs to the US market (with exports of live hogs cropping from 9.3 million to 4 million per year). It is a dismal prospect: hog producers have no options other than to increase their debt load, seek beneficial repayment terms, restructure their industry and hope that market conditions improve.

It appears that the idiocy of maximizing production for export, at any price, is losing its grip on the minds of hog farmers. The obvious ‘solution’ to the ups and downs of hog supply and prices, and dependency on a market controlled by huge processors, is supply management. This would mean a sharp reduction in the hog population in Canada so that production (supply) would match domestic consumption, and no more. Such a herd reduction could be achieved by putting a cap on farm size so that hogs would be produced on smaller farms rather than in giant factories.


Sow Farrowing Crate

This is a golden opportunity to use and learn from the experience, and mistakes, of supply management in the dairy and poultry sectors. While supply and herd size would be managed by means of quota, quota would not be allowed to become a marketable commodity in its own right. If a farmer quit, the quota would return to the marketing board, to be allocated according to public policy priorities. Thus social and economic aspects of small-scale hog farming would take the place of capital-intensive industrial production. Pigs could then be welcomed back and take their rightful place in rural communities.

Moving in the opposite direction, the federal and provincial governments have agreed to require all Canadian livestock sectors to conform with mandatory traceability requirements (tagging every animal with a tag that stays with the animal – until it is cut up, that is) by 2011 for the sake of the export market. South Korea, Japan and China have said that in the future they will buy only age-verified and traceable ‘product’. This, of course, is one more cost that serves the interests of the big exporters and is virtually irrelevant for livestock produced for a local market.


Pigs on Pasture at Left Fields

 

#266: August 2009 TOC
Not Quite the Whole Hog: analysis of the Government's bail-out of the failing hog industry
Look But Don't Touch: Scientific American calls for open research on patented varieties
Fighting Food Terror: Kerala (India) State Ag. Minister calls for defense against 'greedy corporates'
and Supporting Organics: Brazilian Ministry of Ag booklet critiquing GM is distributed by civil society
We indulge in Schadenfreude: as Nestle's bottled water business declines
Making Promises Sound Like Facts: Washington University teams up with Gates foundation to save Africa again
Antibiotic Resistant Salmonella Recall: Cargill subsidiary BPI has to recall beef due to salmonella, also faces animal-handling charges
Consumers lose trust: IBM survey reports US consumers do not trust food companies
New GM Corn Not Tested: Globe & Mail report on "SmartStax" from Monsanto/Dow
Monsanto Business Plan: Keep Roundup prices high despite market share loss, look to GM seeds as profit centre
Cokecolonization: Coke doubles investment in China, its third-largest market
Colonization by Monsanto: teaching Indian farmers how to go into debt
Myth of Enhanced Yields: New study shows Bt Cotton performs poorly in India; company blames bad weather
No Yields: Colombian cotton growers face huge crop losses, want to sue Monsanto
Fake Real Food or Real Fake Food: analysis of Hellman's "Eat Real Local" website and campaign
Improvements?: Monsanto and Dole are working on 'improving' vegetable varieties

 

 

 

Issue 267: September 2009

 The Tyranny of Rights

 

#267: September 2009 TOC pdf 
The Tyranny of Rights:
 introducing Brewster's new book
Roundup Kills -- weeds, and much more: new research shows that the so-called inert ingredients in Roundup are even more harmful than the glyphosate
    Publish and ... :Argentinian scientist is viciously attacked for exposing effects of glyphosate spray on people
    More and more: more soy, more glyphosate
    Carry On Regardless: Dow and Monsanto continue to get approval of their new GE crops
Smarter Than They Look: apparently lambs can self-medicate
"Mother Nature Is A Bad Person": according to persistent organic deniers Denis and Alex Avery
    Review of interesting work by The Nature Institute on the Goethean approach to science: much more respectful!
Spreading Triffid: 8 years ago we reported Alan McHughen's flamboyantly self-serving release of GE flax; now Canadian farmers stand to lose their most inportant markets
Cargill: information webs; bioplastics; attitude to organic and sustainable agriculture
Tapping into Bottled Water: more on Nestle's attempts to brand bottles as sustainable
Get Rich Quick: 35% return promised on investment in agricultural land.

 

 

 

Issue 268:October-November 2009

 Climate Leadership?

 

#268: October-November 2009 TOC pdf 
Climate Leadership? - PM Harper seems determined to do nothing to address the world's greatest crisis
More pork, more contradictions - The pork producers' aid program is not likely to help much
Three Sisters and Friends - Henry Lickers draws out lessons from traditional Indigenous agriculture
Half-Baked Potato Turned Back - South Africa has rejected GM potatoes, citing inadequate testing
The Meaning of Monoculture - McDonald's governs the varieties commercial potato farmers must grow
Dealing with distancing and energy - A grain CSA is shipping in sailboats across Kootenay Lake in BC
In other shipping news - US soy is turned away from European ports on reports of GM contamination
Maui bans GE Taro - Citing the cultural importance of taro, Maui rejects GE
Big Meat - More mergers, this time JBS SA (Brazil) taking over US Pilgrim's Pride
Meat Safety from Apples - A new edible film is claimed to stop pathogenic bacteria on meat surfaces
India suspends approval of GE brinjal - A GM brinjal (eggplant) has been delayed
Electronic vs. paper - Subscribers can choose either (or both) versions of the Ram's Horn.
Students Wanted - by the organic agriculture curriculum at the University of Guelph
Lobbying - Immense spending by pharmaceutical industry