Food group items, 2 Nov 09 edition
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Lance Christie
Nov 25, 2009, 6:16:26 PM11/25/09
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TO: Canyonlands Sustainable
Solutions, Food Group items, 2 Nov 09 edition
FROM: Richard Lance Christie, CSS Relocalization Network coordinator
(1) $50 million was set aside for organic producers in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) allocation for FY2010 in the 2008 Farm Bill. In May 2009 the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NCIS) held a three-week sign-up. Despite the short sign-up window which fell at planting time for many organic crops, demand was strong and the entire set-aside was obligated. The top 10 states in terms of applications were Wisconsin, Iowa, California, Oregon, Minnesota, Washington, Pennsylvania, New York, Nebraska and Georgia.
The set-aside is for farmers and ranchers in the process of converting to organically-certified status, producers expanding their production, and existing organic farmers and ranchers seeking to increase their environmental performance.
Under this initiative, organic farmers can receive compensation for six core conservation practices at higher payment rates than available under regular EQIP:
-Conservation Crop Rotation, 34% higher -growing different crops in a planned sequence in the same field.
-Cover Cropping, 46% higher - planting grasses, legumes and/or forbs for seasonal cover to prevent erosion and build soil health.
-Integrated Pest Management, 60% higher - combining practices to control pest numbers at a low level that does not compromise crop yield.
-Nutrient Management, 30% higher - developing and implementing a plan to ensure proper application and utilization of soil amendments such as manure.
-Rotational Grazing, 2% higher - managing grazing herds by rotating them through paddock systems rather than allowing them to graze an entire pasture continuously.
-Forage Harvest Management, 2% higher - properly managing the cutting and removal of forage crops to optimize quality and promote vigorous plant re-growth.
(2) The Senate Nutrition and Food Assistance, Sustainable and Organic Agriculture Committee has been rechristened the Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition, and Family Farms. It is chaired by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and is a subcommittee of the Senate Agriculture Committee. The doings of the subcommittee can be followed on the Senate Agriculture Committee website.
(3) Michigan State University professor Philip Howard has a chart showing the consolidation of the seed industry on the Internet.
(4) According to IFOAM, global certified organic acreage has been stuck at circa 30 million hectares from 2006-2008. However, there are national initiatives underway to vastly increase certified organic farming in nations. For example, in January 2009 the French government committed to their “Organic Horizon 2012" plan, which set a goal of 6% of all cropland in France being certified organic by 2012, and 20% being organic by 2020. The European Union Certifiers Council reports there are over 30 organic certifying bodies operating in the EU as of 2008.
The Technology Research Platform - Organics was formed EU-wide 2 Dec 08 to empower rural communities at the regional and global level, securing food and ecosystems by eco-functional intensification of agriculture and the production of high-quality foods. As of the end of 2009 there were 28 EU organizations which were members of the technology research consortium.
(5) In Europe, the review of the ISO 65 agricultural standard begun in 2008 seeks to integrate environmental and social certification schemes into the organic certification scheme. The ISEAL Alliance has committed to developing such combined organic + environmental + social justice certification if the International Standards Organization (ISO) 65 effort doesn’t successfully produce one. In March of 2009 Italy adopted the Social Accountability Watch System (social justice) criteria into its national organic certification scheme.
(6) In February 2009 the European environmental commissioner called for banning all new genetically-engineered crop approvals in the European Union. France is using “the safeguard clause” in international trade agreements to stop growing of genetically-engineered crops.
(7) In February 2009 the United Kingdom banned the use of nano materials in certified organic food. In April, the Organic Crop Improvement Association of the United States followed suit.
(8) In Taiwan as of 2007, there were 936 certified organic producers farming 2013 hectares, 0.25% of total Taiwanese farmland. This is up from 450 certified hectares in 1997. As of 2008, 782 Taiwanese shops carried certified organic food products.
(9) As of 2009, the U.S. Accredited Certifiers Association has 41 U.S. certifying bodies in its membership.
(10) Digging their way out of recession
Feb 26th 2009 | LITTLE ROCK
From print edition (published in the United Kingdom)
Allotments by any other name
IN 1943 Eleanor Roosevelt encouraged a return to the “victory gardens” that had become popular during the first world war, when the country faced food shortages. Mrs Roosevelt planted a garden at the White House; some 20m Americans followed her lead, and by the end of the war grew 40% of the nation’s vegetables.
Now a grassroots movement wants Barack Obama to plant another White House victory garden. The new secretary of agriculture, Tom Vilsack, announced recently that his department would create “The People’s Garden” out of a paved area outside their building. And he won’t stop there. Mr Vilsack wants there to be a community garden at each of the department’s offices around the world.
Margaret Lloyd, a researcher on victory gardens at the University of California at Davis, finds many reasons for this new national trend. The recession is one; but people are also worried about food safety, want to eat more healthily, and are bothered about climate change. This may be a way to make a difference.
If Washington needs further inspiration it might examine the movement in Bill Clinton’s former stamping-ground. Although Arkansas is an agricultural state, urban gardening has not always been popular. But now victory gardens are springing up in backyards, school grounds and even on front lawns in posh neighbourhoods. Many gardeners are focusing on “heirloom” plants—rare varieties from earlier times that do not appeal to agribusiness.
Classes are being offered on canning vegetables and raising chickens. The Station, a new grocery store about to open in Little Rock, will sell primarily local foods. Heifer International, a non-profit group that hopes to fight world hunger and poverty through self-reliance and sustainability, will host a conference in the city later this year to encourage the use of local produce in school cafeterias.
The two-acre Dunbar Community Garden in Little Rock has served as a model for several years. More than 600 students a month have learned about gardening there. The students can take these lessons home and recreate them in their own back yards. The garden, attached to an elementary and middle school, allows inner-city students to taste fresh-grown fruit and vegetables, sometimes for the first time in their lives. Produce grown in the summer months is sold to local restaurants.
Perhaps the most positive aspect of the garden movement comes from ventures like the Backyard Garden Project, which helps inner-city families start gardens for self-sufficiency. Ms Lloyd says that the most important promoter of projects like those in Little Rock should be Mr Obama. “It would be great to have a farmer-in-chief,” says Ms Lloyd. “It would set in motion something we as Americans can do in these tough times.”
(11) Permaculture links provided by Starhawk: Permaculture Principles at Work: An introduction to permaculture principles, featuring the work of Erik Ohlsen of Permaculture Artisans and Earth Activist Training. YouTube-The short version features one of Erik Ohlsen's projects.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT_2VVXA7SY
A longer version, featuring two amazing projects, can be found at:
http://livingmandalas.ning.com/video/permaculture-principles-at
Tabor Tilth: Permaculture in the City
Connie Van Dyke's inspirational urban garden in Portland, Oregon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YYZTw_xBBs&feature=channel
and at http//:livingmandalas.ning.com/video/permaculture-principles-at
FROM: Richard Lance Christie, CSS Relocalization Network coordinator
(1) $50 million was set aside for organic producers in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) allocation for FY2010 in the 2008 Farm Bill. In May 2009 the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NCIS) held a three-week sign-up. Despite the short sign-up window which fell at planting time for many organic crops, demand was strong and the entire set-aside was obligated. The top 10 states in terms of applications were Wisconsin, Iowa, California, Oregon, Minnesota, Washington, Pennsylvania, New York, Nebraska and Georgia.
The set-aside is for farmers and ranchers in the process of converting to organically-certified status, producers expanding their production, and existing organic farmers and ranchers seeking to increase their environmental performance.
Under this initiative, organic farmers can receive compensation for six core conservation practices at higher payment rates than available under regular EQIP:
-Conservation Crop Rotation, 34% higher -growing different crops in a planned sequence in the same field.
-Cover Cropping, 46% higher - planting grasses, legumes and/or forbs for seasonal cover to prevent erosion and build soil health.
-Integrated Pest Management, 60% higher - combining practices to control pest numbers at a low level that does not compromise crop yield.
-Nutrient Management, 30% higher - developing and implementing a plan to ensure proper application and utilization of soil amendments such as manure.
-Rotational Grazing, 2% higher - managing grazing herds by rotating them through paddock systems rather than allowing them to graze an entire pasture continuously.
-Forage Harvest Management, 2% higher - properly managing the cutting and removal of forage crops to optimize quality and promote vigorous plant re-growth.
(2) The Senate Nutrition and Food Assistance, Sustainable and Organic Agriculture Committee has been rechristened the Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition, and Family Farms. It is chaired by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and is a subcommittee of the Senate Agriculture Committee. The doings of the subcommittee can be followed on the Senate Agriculture Committee website.
(3) Michigan State University professor Philip Howard has a chart showing the consolidation of the seed industry on the Internet.
(4) According to IFOAM, global certified organic acreage has been stuck at circa 30 million hectares from 2006-2008. However, there are national initiatives underway to vastly increase certified organic farming in nations. For example, in January 2009 the French government committed to their “Organic Horizon 2012" plan, which set a goal of 6% of all cropland in France being certified organic by 2012, and 20% being organic by 2020. The European Union Certifiers Council reports there are over 30 organic certifying bodies operating in the EU as of 2008.
The Technology Research Platform - Organics was formed EU-wide 2 Dec 08 to empower rural communities at the regional and global level, securing food and ecosystems by eco-functional intensification of agriculture and the production of high-quality foods. As of the end of 2009 there were 28 EU organizations which were members of the technology research consortium.
(5) In Europe, the review of the ISO 65 agricultural standard begun in 2008 seeks to integrate environmental and social certification schemes into the organic certification scheme. The ISEAL Alliance has committed to developing such combined organic + environmental + social justice certification if the International Standards Organization (ISO) 65 effort doesn’t successfully produce one. In March of 2009 Italy adopted the Social Accountability Watch System (social justice) criteria into its national organic certification scheme.
(6) In February 2009 the European environmental commissioner called for banning all new genetically-engineered crop approvals in the European Union. France is using “the safeguard clause” in international trade agreements to stop growing of genetically-engineered crops.
(7) In February 2009 the United Kingdom banned the use of nano materials in certified organic food. In April, the Organic Crop Improvement Association of the United States followed suit.
(8) In Taiwan as of 2007, there were 936 certified organic producers farming 2013 hectares, 0.25% of total Taiwanese farmland. This is up from 450 certified hectares in 1997. As of 2008, 782 Taiwanese shops carried certified organic food products.
(9) As of 2009, the U.S. Accredited Certifiers Association has 41 U.S. certifying bodies in its membership.
(10) Digging their way out of recession
Feb 26th 2009 | LITTLE ROCK
From print edition (published in the United Kingdom)
Allotments by any other name
IN 1943 Eleanor Roosevelt encouraged a return to the “victory gardens” that had become popular during the first world war, when the country faced food shortages. Mrs Roosevelt planted a garden at the White House; some 20m Americans followed her lead, and by the end of the war grew 40% of the nation’s vegetables.
Now a grassroots movement wants Barack Obama to plant another White House victory garden. The new secretary of agriculture, Tom Vilsack, announced recently that his department would create “The People’s Garden” out of a paved area outside their building. And he won’t stop there. Mr Vilsack wants there to be a community garden at each of the department’s offices around the world.
Margaret Lloyd, a researcher on victory gardens at the University of California at Davis, finds many reasons for this new national trend. The recession is one; but people are also worried about food safety, want to eat more healthily, and are bothered about climate change. This may be a way to make a difference.
If Washington needs further inspiration it might examine the movement in Bill Clinton’s former stamping-ground. Although Arkansas is an agricultural state, urban gardening has not always been popular. But now victory gardens are springing up in backyards, school grounds and even on front lawns in posh neighbourhoods. Many gardeners are focusing on “heirloom” plants—rare varieties from earlier times that do not appeal to agribusiness.
Classes are being offered on canning vegetables and raising chickens. The Station, a new grocery store about to open in Little Rock, will sell primarily local foods. Heifer International, a non-profit group that hopes to fight world hunger and poverty through self-reliance and sustainability, will host a conference in the city later this year to encourage the use of local produce in school cafeterias.
The two-acre Dunbar Community Garden in Little Rock has served as a model for several years. More than 600 students a month have learned about gardening there. The students can take these lessons home and recreate them in their own back yards. The garden, attached to an elementary and middle school, allows inner-city students to taste fresh-grown fruit and vegetables, sometimes for the first time in their lives. Produce grown in the summer months is sold to local restaurants.
Perhaps the most positive aspect of the garden movement comes from ventures like the Backyard Garden Project, which helps inner-city families start gardens for self-sufficiency. Ms Lloyd says that the most important promoter of projects like those in Little Rock should be Mr Obama. “It would be great to have a farmer-in-chief,” says Ms Lloyd. “It would set in motion something we as Americans can do in these tough times.”
(11) Permaculture links provided by Starhawk: Permaculture Principles at Work: An introduction to permaculture principles, featuring the work of Erik Ohlsen of Permaculture Artisans and Earth Activist Training. YouTube-The short version features one of Erik Ohlsen's projects.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT_2VVXA7SY
A longer version, featuring two amazing projects, can be found at:
http://livingmandalas.ning.com/video/permaculture-principles-at
Tabor Tilth: Permaculture in the City
Connie Van Dyke's inspirational urban garden in Portland, Oregon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YYZTw_xBBs&feature=channel
and at http//:livingmandalas.ning.com/video/permaculture-principles-at
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