Document Library
May 2013
New report raises concerns about expansion of frac sand mines in Minnesota and Wisconsin
Posted May 15, 2013
Environment, Health, Rural Development
St. Paul – The true economic impact of frac sand mining may fall short of industry claims promising sustained prosperity and economic opportunity, says a first-of-its-kind expert report to be released Wednesday, May 15. By using currently available economic data, The Economic Benefits and Costs of Frac-Sand...
The Economic Benefits and Costs of Frac-Sand Mining in West Central Wisconsin
Posted May 15, 2013
Energy, Environment, Rural Development
Executive Summary
A new technology to extract oil and natural gas from geological formations that lack the porosity to allow the oil and natural gas to flow into drilled wells has dramatically increased oil and natural gas production in the United States. Horizontal drilling combined with hydraulic fracturing (“...
FDA ignores toxic arsenic in animal feed
Posted May 1, 2013
Food and Health, Food, Food safety, Health, Toxics
Washington, D.C., May 1, 2013 – Today attorneys at Center for Food Safety (CFS) filed a lawsuit on behalf of CFS, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and seven other U.S. food safety, agriculture, public health, and environmental groups to compel FDA to respond to the groups’ three year-old...
April 2013
Arsenic complaint with exhibits filed
Posted April 30, 2013
Food and Health, Health, Toxics
2013 lawsuit against the FDA filed by IATP, et al., concerning arsenic in animal feed.
Nanomaterials in fertilizer products could threaten soil health, agriculture
Posted April 24, 2013
Agriculture, Environment, Nanotechnology
Minneapolis – Nanomaterials added to soil via fertilizers and treated sewage waste used to fertilize fields could threaten soil health necessary to keep land productive, says a new report released today by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP). Peer-reviewed scientific research also indicates...
Back to the future: taxing finance
Posted April 23, 2013
In this era of budgetary obsession, we need to make sure everyone pays their fair share, even the well-protected financial services industry. Reinstating a small tax on financial trades would not only generate significant revenue, it would help stabilize markets that have caused so much turmoil in recent years. Such a...
Free trade versus food democracy
Posted April 17, 2013
April 17, 2013 – There has been a quiet revolution going around the world, as communities and nations retake control of their food systems. In the U.S., more people are taking a look at processed foods at the supermarket and opting instead for healthier choices, grown locally with fewer pesticides. People in...
Overdue reforms to food aid a welcome change in new Presidential budget
Posted April 10, 2013
Agriculture, Food, Globalization
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Obama administration’s fiscal year 2014 budget, released today, includes long-overdue changes to the way the U.S. distributes its food aid around the world. These changes will make aid more efficient—up to doubling the bang for each dollar spent—and they will help build...
March 2013
Nanomaterials In Soil: Our Future Food Chain?
Posted March 28, 2013
Overview
To feed a growing population under increasing natural resource constraints, the World Bank, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other international organizations are promoting “sustainable intensification” as the future of agricultural production.1 The application of...
Water Governance in the 21st Century
Posted March 28, 2013
Human Rights, Global Governance, Water
As water insecurities increase globally, there is an increasing emphasis on demand management approaches, which for the most part emphasize market mechanisms as a means to ensure water security for all. Water trading is one of the market-based mechanisms that helps transfer water from one user to another. This...
New petition asks FDA to prohibit yet another unnecessary antibiotic use
Posted March 15, 2013
Agriculture, Antibiotics, Health
WASHINGTON, D.C. – According to a petition submitted today to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), antibiotic use in ethanol production is illegal, unnecessary and adds to the catastrophic public health threat from antibiotic-resistant infections in humans. The petition, submitted by the Center for Food...
Citizen petition to prohibit or enjoin the use of antibiotics in the production of distillers grains sold as animal feed for food-producing animals
Posted March 15, 2013
Food and Health, Antibiotics, Livestock
In a boiled-down description, ethanol production is relatively simple. An ethanol producer grinds up a starch-like feedstock such as corn, adds warm water to make a mash, adds yeast, and then waits as the yeast ferments the starch into ethanol and carbon dioxide. The liquid ethanol and carbon dioxide are...
Who’s at the Table? Demanding Answers on Agriculture in the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Posted March 4, 2013
Agriculture, Trade, Free trade agreements, Globalization
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has the potential to become the biggest regional free-trade agreement (FTA) in history, both because of the size of the economies participating in the negotiations and because it holds open the possibility for other countries to quietly “dock in” to the existing...
Ambition in the agriculture sector
Posted March 1, 2013
Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change, United Nations
Overview: Agriculture and the climate change challenge
Agriculture plays a central role in providing global food security and ensuring rural livelihoods for two-thirds of the developing world and 40 percent of the world’s population; it is undoubtedly a unique sector. Linkages between agriculture and climate...
February 2013
Joint Group ADUFA Letter to HELP
Posted February 26, 2013
Food and Health, Health, Livestock
Joint letter to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions regarding ADUFA.
Groups welcome the release of administration proposal for international food aid reform
Posted February 26, 2013
Food Assistance, Commodities, Food security, Global Governance
Washington, D.C., February 26, 2013 – The below groups welcome reports that the Administration may propose helpful reforms to the U.S. food assistance program in its FY2014 budget submission to Congress. We urge the Obama Administration to include a bold reform proposal that builds upon the United States’...
Land Grabs and Fragile Food Systems
Posted February 20, 2013
Food, Globalization, Land Grab
Executive Summary
IATP has worked on trade and agriculture for more than 25 years. In all that time, we have consistently argued that trade agreements need to respect and promote human rights, not drive a process of globalization that privileges commercial interests and pushes public interests aside. This paper...
Comments by IATP, Grassroots International and IDEX for the HLPE consultation on the V0 draft of the report: Investing in smallholder agriculture for food and nutrition security
Posted February 5, 2013
The end of the Farm Bill?
Posted February 4, 2013
February 4, 2013 – “There is absolutely no way to explain this other than agriculture is just not a priority,” said Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow on the Senate Floor on New Year’s Day.
She was describing the bare-bones Farm Bill extension agreed to as part of the stop-...
Managing Small Urban Farmers Markets:
Posted February 4, 2013
Local Food, Mini Markets, Food
Overview
While some Minneapolis neighborhoods enjoy a bountiful supply of healthy foods, others do not. Mini farmers markets help address this challenge by bringing fresh, locally grown foods into Minneapolis neighborhoods.
In 2006, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) began working with neighborhood-...
