60 Minutes

Europe's dilemma with biotech

Europe's policy on biotechnology is fast putting their livestock producers at a serious competitive disadvantage. This link from the USDA FAS reveals that the EU policy on biotech crop varieties will soon preclude the ability of livestock producers to import soybeans. From the report:


A group of German food and feed industry associations released a discussion paperex pressing the industries' concerns about the negative implications of the EU biotech policy. The industry is highly concerned that the EU policy on biotechnology will cause significant supply problems for Germany. The concern is heightened by the prospect of new biotech events, such as the second generation RR soybeans, being introduced in the U.S. and other major soybean producing countries. The EU biotech policy prohibits the importation of food/feed products containing traces of not yet EU-approved biotech events.

Looking for answers

David Mitchell of The Packer passes on this news release from Rep. Dingell of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce:

Reps. John D. Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and Bart Stupak, Chairman of its Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, sent a letter of inquiry today to 49 large food processing firms regarding their history of recalls, food safety alerts and all instances of known chemical or microbiological contamination of their products since January 1, 2000. These requests are part of an effort by the Committee to determine the source of safety threats to the American food supply.

“We are asking the largest food providers how often they have identified contamination by chemicals such as mercury and microorganisms such as E. coli and salmonella during their quality control testing procedures,” said Dingell. “We know from the Peter Pan peanut butter case and others that internal testing by food processors often fails to detect contaminants. Now we want to know what exactly is reported to the FDA or state public health authorities when companies actually find dangerous chemicals and bacteria in our food.”

Last week the Committee sent letters to private testing labs to determine the extent of adulterated imported food. This food may have found its way to American grocery stores as a result of food import firms hiding from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lab results that show food to be unsafe. The Committee has been conducting an intensive investigation of the safety of the food supply that has resulted in six congressional hearings and has involved the gathering of information from both the FDA and private firms.

TK: Additionally, here is a link to a list of recalls in the past 16 months, also passed along by David.

Crossing the t and dotting the i

That is what is going on with the farm bill, one Senate Agriculture staffer told me today. While more details on the farm bill conference were expected to be available by this morning, nothing is posted to either the House or Senate Ag Committee sites by early afternoon. Look for the documentation later today "maybe" .......

Organic at risk?

Given the same price point, 50% of consumers say they would choose locally grown produce over the options of organic and store-packaged produce. That nugget and others are in this news release describing details of the FMI's 16th annual Shopping for Health 2008 survey, released May 5 at the Las Vegas Show. Some highlights:

Nearly everyone (80%) tries “a lot” or “some” to eat healthfully. Among those who try a lot, 10 percent say they are “always successful.” This survey profiles the one in 10 who succeeds.

TK: One out of eight "always succeed" in eat healthfully. Sounds like an honest group of respondents.

• Successful eaters say their grocery decisions are driven strongly by goals to manage weight (52%). They are also more likely than average to shop in order to avoid future medical conditions or manage a current condition.

• They develop a plan and stick to it, starting with using a list when they shop — done by 65% of healthy eaters, compared with 42% of all consumers.

• Their plans include eating more fruits and vegetables (87% vs. 63% of all shoppers), limiting foods with trans fats (79% vs. 63%) and reducing portion sizes (79% vs. 47%).

TK: One thing people know is this: if you want to eat better, eat more fruits and vegetables. That's not a bad place to be in the food market place.

This year, shoppers are opting to choose locally grown produce over organic alternatives.

• When cost is the same, 50% of consumers say they would choose locally grown produce vs. organic (28%). Only 9% would choose a store-packaged alternative.

• When store-packaged strawberries are less expensive than the organic or locally grown varieties, 45% say they would choose store-packaged; 34% would still choose locally grown; and 22%, organic.

“Shoppers’ new interest in locally grown food reflects their strong desire to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Cary Silvers, director of consumer insights for Rodale, the publisher of Prevention, who presented the findings today at the FMI Show plus MARKETECHNICS®. “The battle between organic and locally grown represents who shoppers believe can deliver the freshest produce.”

Reasons Consumers Who Once Purchased Organic No Longer Do

• 70% say it is too expensive.

• 39% cite the lack of perceivable difference between organic and non-organic foods.

• 33% are concerned about the safety of organic produce.

Conference one-page summary

We should see more detail on the House-Senate conference agreement today. Here is a one page summary from the House Agriculture Committee.


The conference report on the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 makes historic investments in our food and farm economy. The bill will expand food security programs, protect our vital natural resources, promote healthier foods and local food networks, and reform commodity and biofuel programs to reflect the priorities of the nation.
Ensuring Food Security
• Nutrition programs increased by $10.361 billion with appropriate benefit increases that are indexed to the cost of living
• Vital assistance to food banks increased by $1.25 billion
• New funding boosts organic agriculture, fruit and vegetable programs, and local food networks
• Country-of-origin labeling for meat and produce made mandatory
Promoting Homegrown Renewable Energy
• Provides $1.1 billion to fund programs that will help the renewable energy industry invest in new technologies that use a variety of sources beyond feed grains.
• Corn ethanol tax credit reduced and redirected to incentives for cellulosic ethanol
• Creates a loan guarantee program and a program to encourage and develop production of dedicated energy crops
• Bioenergy research increased and renewable energy programs expanded
Reforming Farm Programs
• Farm program safety net extended and modernized, with an updated adjusted gross income means test for commodity programs
• Farm and conservation program transparency increased, with direct attribution of payments and the ending of practices that result in multiple payment eligibility
• Crop insurance reformed to prevent windfall reimbursements to crop insurance companies
• Budgeted standing disaster assistance program for crops stricken by catastrophic natural disasters such as drought and flood
Protecting the Environment
• Conservation program spending increased by $6.6 billion
• Doubles funding for Farm and Ranchland Protection Program to protect agricultural lands from urban and suburban development pressure
• Increases funding for Environmental Quality Incentives Program and Conservation Stewardship Program to enhance and protect our natural resources
• Continues funding for Grassland Reserve and Wetlands Reserve programs
• Creates an Open Fields Program to encourage public access to private land for hunting and fishing as well as a Chesapeake Bay program to help restore and protect the Bay watershed
Strengthening International Food Aid
• Provides $60 million to purchase food overseas to feed people in need on top of the existing Food for Peace international aid program, along with an evaluation of this change and its effect on U.S. response times
• Reauthorizes the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program for infant, child, and school nutrition programs in underdeveloped countries and provides an infusion of $84 million in additional funding