International Trade Framework Hurts Farmers
A World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement reached on July 31 will continue a system of low commodity prices, and will push more farmers off the land around the world. While the WTO framework agreement has been called "historic" by the WTO's Director General, it does nothing to address the primary driver of the global farm crisis: the dumping of agricultural commodities at below cost of production prices.

"This agreement fails to make any progress towards a fair and market-oriented agricultural trading system because it doesn't tackle the structural causes of market distortions by agricultural dumping," said Alexandra Strickner of IATP's Trade Information Project in Geneva. "While developing countries have been thrown a few carrots, the framework sets up wrong parameters for negotiations to lead towards a fair trade system."

Many developing countries and non-governmental organizations were highly critical of the negotiating process, which gave WTO members only 24 hours to evaluate complicated trade text before the previously agreed upon July 31 deadline. This short turn around was particularly difficult for developing countries that are under-staffed in comparison to larger developed WTO members like the U.S. and European Union.

"The complete chaos of the negotiating process at the WTO continues to hinder the ability to develop consensus and move talks forward," said Strickner. "When will the WTO Secretariat organize negotiations so as to ensure transparency, inclusiveness and effective participation?"

Read additional background on the framework, including IATP's commentary on the final outcome at tradeobservatory.org.

USDA Not Doing Enough on Mad Cow
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been under fire for its handling of the discovery of mad cow disease on a Washington farm last year, and the agency's ensuing efforts to improve regulations to prevent the disease. On July 13, the USDA's Inspector General released a draft report criticizing the Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) for its measures to reduce mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE) in the United States.

The report outlined six significant complaints: the APHIS testing plan is not random, its statistical projections are unreliable, its surveillance plan is geographically unrepresentative, its assumptions about what constitutes high-risk cattle are incorrect, its results will not project assurance about BSE incidence, and most crucially, APHIS cannot easily identify the so-called high-risk cattle, reducing the chances of diagnosing BSE.

The problems do not end there. In February, Creekstone Farms, a beef processor in Kansas with a significant market in Japan, asked APHIS for permission to test its own cattle for BSE in order to meet Japan's demand for 100 percent cattle testing for BSE (Japan banned U.S. beef after BSE was discovered in Washington). The USDA refused to allow them to test their own cattle, claiming it was unnecessary and "scientifically unjustified" to test cattle under 30 months of age and because the USDA solely controlled the license for the test.

Read more about USDA's response to the mad cow crisis in a new article by IATP extern Greg Berlowitz at agobservatory.org.

Another Choice for the Mississippi River
"It's an election year, so many of our senators and representatives are trying to deliver more pork to their constituents," writes IATP President Mark Ritchie in a new commentary. "A bipartisan group of Midwest senators, including Minnesota's Norm Coleman, seem determined to spend $2.3 billion in taxpayer funds—building several new locks and lengthening old ones on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. It appears not to matter that substantial evidence indicates that the project isn't needed and that public investments in rural development could be much better spent. . .

"There's no question that spending billions of taxpayer dollars can benefit a region. But the question for taxpayers is if this is a wise investment, and the answer is unequivocally no. From agriculture's perspective, public investment in the domestic market can do much more for farm income than longer locks. Several years ago, Midwest policymakers made a commitment to ethanol production. Despite the initial concerns over the economics of the industry, that investment has seeded an important source of renewable fuels that increases the price of corn from five to eight cents per bushel near ethanol plants. This pales in comparison to the benefits that a national commitment to renewable energies could provide."

Read more of Mark Ritchie's commentary on Mississippi River Navigation and rural economic development.

USDA Hijacked by Agribusiness: New Report
A new report concludes that regulatory policy at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been "hijacked" by the agribusiness industry, which has seen to it that many key policymaking positions at the agency are now held by individuals who previously worked for the industry.

The report, titled USDA INC., was commissioned by the Agribusiness Accountability Initiative (AAI), a network of family-farm and public-interest groups, including IATP, concerned about the growing power of the big agri-food corporations.

The report illustrates the hijacking of USDA policymaking through five case studies:

• USDA's refusal to adopt strict safety and testing measures for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
• USDA's refusal to enforce rules vigorously against anti-competitive practices in the cattle industry.
• USDA's promotion of weakened slaughterhouse inspection practices in the face of a resurgence of health hazards such as E.coli bacteria and listeria.
• USDA's continuing boosterism for agricultural biotechnology.
• USDA's support for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), despite the growing evidence of serious public health effects of these factory farms.

Read the press release and full report at IATP's Agribusiness Center.

Program Co-Director Steps Down Due to Health Reasons
Jackie Hunt Christensen, who has directed IATP's Food and Health Program with Dr. David Wallinga for the past four years, is stepping down from the position due to the effects of Parkinson's disease.

Jackie joined IATP in July 1994 after working for Greenpeace for more than seven years. IATP president Mark Ritchie sought to utilize her knowledge of issues related to the industrial uses and effects of chlorine (pulp and paper, pesticides, polyvinyl chloride plastic, incineration) by having Jackie write a monthly news bulletin, Chlorine Monitor, and organize the 1995 "Science and Strategy" conference attended by Barry Commoner, Paul Connett and other environmental leaders.

Jackie's skills in bringing together diverse groups of people and organizing conference calls and meetings earned her a place on the planning committee for the Third Citizens' Conference on Dioxin and Other Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals, which was held in Baton Rouge, La., in March 1996.

Later that year, she helped to organize what became the inaugural meeting of Health Care Without Harm: The Campaign for Environmentally Responsible Health Care (HCWH). Jackie served with Charlotte Brody, RN, and Gary Cohen as a co-coordinator of the campaign until October 2001. She continued to serve as a work group leader and member of the steering committee until April 2004. During her involvement as a leader within HCWH, she served as media coordinator for 18 months; oversaw the writing and production of the first report to analyze the environmental impacts of medical waste treatment technologies; managed a survey of 100 of the nation's top hospitals for pesticide use and oversaw the development and production of a landmark report on pesticides; and opportunities for integrated pest management in health care. In February 2001, she spoke to Swedish and Norwegian health care administrators about the health risks of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic at a seminar in Oslo, Norway.

Jackie was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in July 1998, after experiencing symptoms for nearly 18 months. She has no family history of the disease and believes that occupational exposure to pesticides is the most likely cause. Since her diagnosis, she has become active in local and national efforts to find the cause and cure for Parkinson's disease and to provide support services for people with Parkinson's and their families. She is currently the vice-president of the Parkinson Association of Minnesota and state coordinator for the Parkinson Action Network.

In March 2002, Jackie spoke about environmental links to Parkinson's disease at the first meeting of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment. Since that time, she has worked to engage other people with Parkinson's disease and national organizations in addressing the potential role of exposure to contaminants such as pesticides or heavy metals in causation of Parkinson's. These efforts include helping to organize the 1-1/2 day conference, "Exploring Environmental Links to Disease: A Look at Parkinson's Disease and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma" in Sioux Falls, S.D., in December 2003.

Among Jackie's contributions to IATP's work on contaminants in food and the environment include: writing a chapter on food safety and health in the first environmental health curriculum for nurses; hosting Pulitzer Prize-nominated reporter Duff Wilson to discuss the use of hazardous industrial waste in fertilizer and animal feed; making presentations at the international DIOXIN 2003 and "Many Voices, One Vision" conference hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; representing IATP and HCWH at a Salzburg Seminar on effective community partnerships; getting legislation passed in Minnesota that effectively halted the sale of Ironite fertilizer, a product made from mining waste high in lead and cadmium, in Minnesota; raising awareness of the health hazards of dioxin, mercury, phthalates, sewage sludge and other contaminants in food; and involving representatives of diverse organizations in the environmental health movement.

Jackie can be reached at jchristensen@iatp.org and messages can be left at 612-870-3424.

New Book For Consumers on Genetically Engineered Foods
The second edition of Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers has hit the bookstores. This easy-to-understand book helps consumers learn about the risks of genetically engineered (GE) foods and strategies to reduce their exposure.

The 237-page book is authored by Ronnie Cummins and Ben Lilliston. Cummins is the national director of the Organic Consumers Association (OrganicConsumers.org) and the editor of BioDemocracy News, a monthly online newsletter devoted to genetic engineering, factory farming and organics. Ben Lilliston is the communications coordinator for IATP.

The new edition is completely revised and updated, with listings of companies, stores and brands that produce GE-free food. The authors outline for consumers what GE foods are on the market now and what GE foods might be on the market in the near future. Frances Moore Lappe, renowned author of numerous books including Diet for a Small Planet and co-author of Hope's Edge, wrote the forward.

Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers is published by Marlowe and Company. It is available in bookstores and at Internet bookstores. More information can be found at iatp.org.

Food and Society Fellows Names New Class
The Food and Society Policy Fellows is national program that supports efforts to enhance communications about food and agriculture issues in the U.S.. IATP administers with program in partnership with the Jefferson Institute (Columbia, Mo.).

The program has just announced its 2004-05 class of fellows. These fellows will focus on issues such as youth obesity and diet, school nutrition and the overall connection between the way food is produced and the health and diet of America's youth.

Look for this new class of Fellows in the media soon:

• Wilbur Bullock, Jr., food enterprise and outreach associate for The Food Project based in Massachusetts;
• T. Susan Chang, free-lance writer and culinary professional in Leverett, Mass.;
• Daniel Desmond, 4-H youth development advisor with University of California Cooperative Extension;
• Johanna Divine, writer, editor and manager of Flagstaff Community Farmers Market, of Flagstaff, Ariz.;
• Melinda Hemmelgarn, registered dietitian and columnist, based in Columbia, Mo.;
• Anna Lappe, author/activist and a principal of the Small Planet Institute in Brooklyn;
• Joshua Miner, food systems analyst with University of California Cooperative Extension of Alameda County, Calif.;
• Dr. Jennifer Wilkins, a senior extension associate in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

To learn more about the Food and Society Fellows program visit foodandsocietyfellows.org.

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IATP News is an occasional publication reporting on recent events and activities at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP). It is sent to board members, supporters, partners and friends. If you want to learn more about any particular item or if you do not want to receive this newsletter, send email to Communications Coordinator Ben Lilliston at blilliston@iatp.org or call: 612-870-3416. Your comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)
Mark Ritchie, President
2105 First Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404 USA
Tel. 1 (612) 870-0453 Fax. 1 (612) 870-4846
Email: iatp@iatp.org Web: iatp.org