Fresh Produce Discussion Blog

Created by The Packer's National Editor Tom Karst

Friday, March 7, 2008

AMS and f/v safety

There are objections from some consumer groups, organic growers and community farm organizations about the House farm bill amendment that explicitly gives the USDA AMS authority to regulate food safety in the context of marketing orders. Luis posted this story and ongoing thread on the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group earlier in the day. Here is a good sum-up quote from that piece:

"If enacted, this scheme would fracture an already fragmented food safety system and leave consumers unnecessarily vulnerable to the risk of foodborne illness." said Rebecca Spector, West Coast Director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Food Safety. "Marketing orders are price control and quality assurance programs, not food safety programs. AMS not only lacks food safety expertise, but, as the mission of AMS is to help promote and sell agricultural commodities, it would also have a distinct conflict of interest as a food safety oversight body."

TK: Although I couldn't reach a USDA spokesman today, previous conversations have indicated that USDA AMS believes they already have authority to address food safety issues in marketing orders. In fact, for almonds and pistachios, there are marketing orders that are doing exactly that. But it does appear the USDA wants language in the farm bill to expressly spell this out and remove the threat of a legal challenge. One cautionary note: if a U.S. marketing order would prescribe food safety rules that also apply to imports (commodity marketing orders typically cover both domestic and imports), what would prevent agriculture departments in other countries to devise food safety rules that U.S. commodities would then have to meet?

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UC Davis Sustainable Agriculture Farming Systems Project

Here is some practical work on "more sustainable" methods. From the SAFS Web site:

Public concerns regarding pesticide misuse, food safety, water use and contamination, and depletion of non-renewable resources have motivated the reevaluation of some of the practices of conventional agriculture and the exploration of alternative, more sustainable approaches to growing food. In 1988, the Sustainable Agriculture Farming Systems (SAFS) project was established at the University of California’s Davis campus to study the transition from conventional to low-input or organic farm management in the Sacramento Valley. The original 28-acre replicated experiment on UC Davis’s main campus was unique within the nation. Now located at a joint research site with UCD’s Long Term Research on Agricultural Systems (LTRAS) with an expanded mission and research goals, the project continues to involve hands-on practitioners (e.g., farmers and farm advisors) in planning, executing, and interpreting all facets of the research, as well as providing a bridge to the farming community. Close ties to the agricultural community keep the farming philosophy realistic and the focus on meaningful research questions.
MISSION STATEMENT

SAFS provides leadership in scientific research and education in alternative, more sustainable approaches to growing food and fiber, including minimizing the impact of farming practices on soil and water resources. SAFS serves the California agricultural community, particularly farmers, farmworkers, ranchers, researchers, industry professionals, policy makers, educators and students. SAFS will soon be part of the University of California ANR/UC Davis campus joint Agricultural Sustainability Institute (ASI), which includes the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program
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ANSI and Leonardo

The American National Standards Institute Inc. is getting a bit of attention from the Pundit over its standard setting activities for sustainable agriculture. Here is a link to the group's IRS 990 form, and it shows a non profit group with about a $17 million budget in 2005 ($22 million now) and some $7.8 million in assets in 2005. Here is the letter that dozens of farm groups, notably Farm Bureau, wrote to ANSI relating to concerns about draft sustainability standards. Here are their concerns, from the Jan. 31 letter. Here, from the letter published by the Pundit:

We are writing in follow-up to our conversation on January 17th with Anne Caldas of American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to express our concern about the process used to establish the proposed American National Standards Institute Draft Standard for Sustainable Agriculture for Trial Use. We understand the Leonardo Academy’s desire to generate and harmonize sustainability standards. It is unfortunate, however, that this standard with its important implications for American agriculture was processed in this manner. We are concerned that the ANSI process has not been followed and that this may have already led to irremediable defects in terms of ANSI’s ability to receive approval.
Stakeholder concerns and the controversial nature of the standard make procedural issues of utmost importance.
* It equates organic practices with best agricultural practices, a conclusion that would be soundly rejected by many in the scientific community and an issue that will provoke intense debate between the organic and conventional agricultural communities.
* It rejects the use of biotechnology, perpetuating scientifically unsound and overly precautionary approaches that have been rejected by ma y governments, including our own, and which have provoked significant trade concerns.

TK: There are more objections to the process of setting sustainability standards, which is being spearheaded by the Lenoardo Academy with assistance from SCS. The 990 form for the Leonardo Academy show a Madison, Wi.-based (liberal bastion) non profit with a budget of $421,000 and assets of just $119,000 in 2006.

Here is what Leonardo's Web site says about current standard setting work:

Leonardo Academy is a member of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), an organization that coordinates the development and use of voluntary consensus standards in the United States, and is an ANSI Accredited standards developer. Leonardo Academy is currently developing an ANSI standard for emission reductions and offsets and is working with Scientific Certification Systems on a Sustainable Agriculture Practice Standard.

TK: Farm groups are wise to go to the power-wielding ANSI with their concerns, though I question how much traction and buy-in this sustainability standard would have, even with the blessing of ANSI. I don't think the vast majority of consumers are connecting to this issue - not just yet, anyway.

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Chiquita props


One blogger has taken a fancy to Chiquita's "tiny blue ads." Let "The Ladybug Picnic" explain:

Notice anything different about everyone's favorite yellow fruit? You'll have to look closely, for you might not notice that those familiar blue stickers say more than just the brand name nowadays. The Chiquita banana company still says cha-cha-cha, but now it's saying a little more. Stickers now bear sayings promoting the fruit, things such as "Peel Me - I'm Fat-Free!" While these last minute marketing notes may not directly cause consumers to pick Chiquita over Dole or even bananas over berries, the quirky and cute tactic might make people think favorably of Chiquita in the future. Slowly, the company may win themselves loyal fans with phrases such as "Brain Fuel" or "PSSST! I'm Full of Vitamins!" Local grocery stores have noticed people lingering a little longer in the banana section to check out these tiny blue ads, and a Harris Teeter in Raleigh, North Carolina even reported one customer stealthily taking stickers and then nonchalantly purchasing nectarines. Some companies might consider that a marketing failure, but we talked to the Chiquita banana lady herself, who said that the stickers are just a way of attracting attention. She then added, "PSSST! I'm Full of Vitamins!" Another reason to love fresh fruit, another reason to go cha-cha-cha, and for the easily amused, another reason to hang out in the produce section. This is Ad Watch. Goodnight

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