Document Library
May 2012
Planting for the Future: Health and the Farm Bill
Posted May 15, 2012
Food and Health, Farm Bill, Food
In the U.S., and increasingly around the world, it’s very easy for consumers to find high-calorie, high-sugar, nutrient-poor foods, including sugar sweetened drinks, fast foods and highly processed snack foods. This food environment is one where such foods are aggressively marketed, easily accessible and often...
IATP featured in HBO series on obesity epidemic
Posted May 14, 2012
Food and Health, Health, Obesity
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s (IATP) Dr. David Wallinga is featured in a new HBO multi-movie series on the nation’s obesity epidemic and the systemic drivers of it. Dr. Wallinga joins other experts in public health, health policy and obesity prevention research to discuss an issue that...
IATP applauds lawmakers’ call to FDA for action on antibiotics in ethanol production
Posted May 11, 2012
Food and Health, Antibiotics, Health
Just 10 days after the release of IATP’s latest report, Bugs in the System: How the FDA Fails to Regulate Antibiotics in Ethanol Production, Representatives Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) have written to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ask hard questions about whether the...
Letter from Reps. Markey, Slaughter to FDA supporting action on antibiotics in ethanol production
Posted May 11, 2012
Food and Health, Antibiotics, Health
May 11, 2012
Dear Commissioner Hamburg:
We write out of concern that the use of antibiotics in com-based livestock feed may be contributing to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and subverting the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) efforts to ensure the judicious use of antibiotics in food-animal...
International Standards for Trade in Nano-coated Produce?
Posted May 8, 2012
Food, Globalization, Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology-based food and health products and food packaging materials are available to consumers in some countries already, and additional products and applications are currently in the research and development stage, and some may reach the market soon. In view of such progress, it is expected that nanotechnology...
Sustained pressure by nonprofits forces change in FDA nanotech policy
Posted May 4, 2012
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today several leading non-profits working on nanotechnology oversight—Center for Food Safety (CFS), Friends of the Earth (FoE), Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)and the International Center for Technology Assessment—issued a statement responding to recent steps...
Senate Agriculture Committee falls short on the Farm Bill
Posted May 3, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS – The Farm Bill approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee last week makes $23 billion in cuts to critical programs including those for Americans struggling to put food on the table, farmers employing conservation practices and rural communities, said the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy...
FDA, ethanol industry ignore regulations and allow unnecessary antibiotics in ethanol production
Posted May 1, 2012
Antibiotics, Energy, Health, Rural Development
MINNEAPOLIS – Despite federal regulations to the contrary, unapproved antibiotics used in ethanol production are ending up in animal feed. As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fails to enforce its own ruling on the matter, drug companies and ethanol producers are knowingly taking advantage, skirting the...
Bugs in the System
Posted May 1, 2012
Food and Health, Antibiotics, Energy, Health, Rural Development
Executive summary
Basic microbiology and the principle of natural selection dictate that antibiotic use will tend to spur bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics. This fact underlays growing concern about the public health effects of the 29 million pounds of antibiotics sold annually for animal agriculture,...
April 2012
Letter to USDA Opposing 2,4-D GMO corn
Posted April 27, 2012
SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY
Docket No. APHIS-2010-0103
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD APHIS, Station 3A-03.8
4700 River Road
Unit 118
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238
Re: Docket No. APHIS-2010-0103 (Petitions, Plant Pest Risk Assessments, and Environmental Assessments; Availability: Dow AgroSciences, LLC...
This Land, Our Land: Rural Development, Energy and Conservation in the Farm Bill
Posted April 26, 2012
Energy, Farm Bill, Rural Development
Rural America makes up only 16 percent of the U.S. population, but 90 percent of the land.1 Most of the resources we depend upon—food, water, energy, fiber and minerals—are either derived from or heavily impacted by rural land use, and stewarded by rural community members. These resources are imperative to...
Working Landscapes Certificate
Posted April 25, 2012
Agriculture, Rural Development, Working Landscapes
Embracing the latest technologies, diversifying their operation and pioneering new markets are just part of life today for Angela and Kerry Knuth, who farm more than 3,000 acres of corn and soybeans near Mead, Nebraska.
Over the past decade, Kerry and Angela have used software and computers to track the true costs of...
April 24, 2012 Letter to Senator Amy Klobuchar regarding Farm Bill mark up
Posted April 25, 2012
Local Food, Food and Health, Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Farm Bill
The Honorable Amy Klobuchar
302 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
April 24, 2012
Dear Senator Klobuchar,
In the lead-up to this year’s Farm Bill, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) has been repeatedly grateful for the strong support you’ve given...
Farm Bill: Issues to Consider for Reauthorization
Posted April 25, 2012
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) seek to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of the federal government. As Congress debates ways to address the federal government’s long-term fiscal imbalance, it...
Food Security: A G20 Priority
Posted April 25, 2012
INTRODUCTION
Ever since the so-called 2008 “food crisis” occurred, the agricultural and fisheries sectors became relevant to the G20 discussions1 due to several countries' increased interest in adopting measures to address agricultural product price volatility and increase food security,...
IATP Comments on HLPE v0 Food Security and Climate Change
Posted April 24, 2012
Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change, Food security
We welcome the draft report and thank the HLPE for this opportunity to comment on the first draft. It is important that the HLPE has been asked by the CFS to support work on climate change. The CFS has an important role to play in development of policy options and actions to be taken with regard to climate change...
Enough to Eat: Food Assistance and the Farm Bill
Posted April 23, 2012
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp program) is the nation’s largest and most important food assistance program. The original Food Stamp program was created to provide both a new market for farmers’ surplus crops and relief for Americans living in poverty....
Sign-on letter from civil society to UNCTAD XIII: Strengthen, don’t weaken, UNCTAD’s role in global governance
Posted April 23, 2012
Food security, Global Governance, United Nations
Since the onset of the global financial and economic crises, UNCTAD has played an important role in identifying the key causes of the crises, assisting developing countries in seeking solutions to the impacts of the crises, and advocating for the reform of global economic and finance policies and governance in order...
Letter to Senate Agriculture Committee urging support for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers in the 2012 Farm Bill
Posted April 20, 2012
Dear Chairwoman Stabenow and Ranking Member Roberts:
We are writing to urge you to include two key programs that are part of a comprehensive package directed at supporting the next generation of family farmers and ranchers, including socially disadvantaged, beginning and limited resource producers in the mark...
