Document Library
April 2012
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...
Letter to the High-level Panel of Experts (HLPE) on Food Security and Nutrition regarding the HLPE draft report on climate change
Posted April 19, 2012
Dear Members of the HLPE,
We are prompted to write by the zero draft of the HLPE report on food security and climate change. We are pleased the HLPE took up this vital issue, and appreciate the work that has gone into the draft. A number of our organizations have submitted more detailed comments separately. This...
2012 Working Landscapes Certificate Information
Posted April 13, 2012
Agriculture, Environment, Rural Development, Working Landscapes
Introduction
The Working Landscapes Certificate (WLC) program was created by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) to promote more sustainable agricultural production for emerging biomaterials sectors, including the bioplastics industry. With the current infrastructure challenges associated with...
Global Agricultural Policy in an Age of Land Grabs
Posted April 12, 2012
Agriculture, Globalization, Land Grab
LONDON, MAR. 5, 2012 – Last year, I was invited to speak on a panel at the European Parliament with Professor Lang to provide some international perspective for a discussion they were having about the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform. I was specifically asked to comment on how the issues and proposals...
Critical homegrown energy programs at risk in 2012 Farm Bill
Posted April 11, 2012
Agriculture, Bioeconomy, Energy, Farm Bill, Rural Development
MINNEAPOLIS – A diverse coalition of 123 national and Minnesota organizations sent letters to U.S. House of Representatives and Senate leadership urging them to preserve and fund Farm Bill energy programs that are critical for national security, the environment, and rural economies. These programs help advance...
Study links autism with industrial food, environment
Posted April 11, 2012
Minneapolis — The epidemic of autism in children in the United States may be linked to the typical American diet according to a new study published online in Clinical Epigenetics by Renee Dufault, et. al. The study explores how mineral deficiencies—affected by dietary factors like high fructose corn syrup...
Farm Bill Energy Title Support Letter
Posted April 10, 2012
A letter sent by a national coalition of organizations to the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate leadership urging them to preserve and fund Farm Bill energy programs that are critical for national security, the environment, and rural economies. These programs help advance renewable biomass crops, increase...
Minnesota Organizational Sign-on Letter for Support of Core Energy Title Programs
Posted April 10, 2012
A letter sent by a coalition of Minnesota organizations sent to U.S. House of Representatives and Senate leadership urging them to preserve and fund Farm Bill energy programs that are critical for national security, the environment, and rural economies. These programs help advance renewable biomass...
Exporting Obesity
Posted April 5, 2012
Food and Health, Agriculture, Globalization, Health
Obesity trends
Public health experts no longer accept that the obesity epidemic can be explained solely as the outcome of poor individual choices. They understand, rather, that the food environments or food “defaults” surrounding people constrain the actual choices people are likely to make, i.e., the...
U.S. exports obesity epidemic to Mexico, says new study
Posted April 5, 2012
Food and Health, Agriculture, Food, Globalization, NAFTA: North American Free Trade Agreement
MINNEAPOLIS – Trade liberalization policies that loosened rules to the benefit of agribusiness and food companies may be partly responsible for epidemic obesity and declining public health throughout Mexico as more low-quality, calorie-dense foods are imported from the United States, according to a new study...
FDA misses the mark on BPA
Posted April 4, 2012
Food and Health, Healthy Legacy, Health, Toxics
MINNEAPOLIS – Minneapolis—Dr. David Wallinga, MD, senior advisor for science, food and health at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), issued this statement following the release of today’s decision by the FDA not to ban the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging.
“The...
March 2012
Sign on letter legislators urging support for energy programs in the 2012 Farm Bill
Posted March 30, 2012
Bioeconomy, Energy, Farm Bill, Rural Development
We urge you to champion the energy programs in the 2012 Farm Bill. At this time of increasing energy costs, we need more, not less investment in our farms, forests and rural communities to help them reduce energy waste and produce more renewable energy here in Minnesota. As the 2012 Farm Bill negotiations get underway...
Coalition Letter to Legislators on Competition Issues in 2012 Farm Bill
Posted March 30, 2012
The undersigned 164 organizations strongly urge you to make the issues of increased market transparency, fairness, and access for farmers and ranchers a top priority as Congress crafts agricultural competition legislation and the next Farm Bill. We believe that agricultural market competition issues are a...
Organizational Sign-On Letter in Support of the Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act
Posted March 30, 2012
Local Food, Food Justice, Agriculture, Farm Bill
Over forty Minnesota organizations signed on to this letter to Senators Amy Kobuchar and Al Franken in support of The Local Farms, Food and Jobs Act. The Act offers opportunities to expand local food access to school children, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients, and seniors; helps...
Disadvantaged Farmers: Addressing Inequalities in Federal Programs for Farmers of Color
Posted March 28, 2012
Farming is a business fraught with financial risks, including severe weather, pest and disease outbreaks, and dramatic fluctuations in both costs and prices paid to farmers and ranchers. It’s reasonable that federal policy would reduce some of the risk of agriculture and support a safe and abundant food system....
Everyone at the Table: Local Foods and the Farm Bill
Posted March 28, 2012
The local foods movement in the United States has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade, but still represents a small portion of the overall food system. How can local food systems continue to grow and remain sustainable?
Every five years, Congress revisits farm and food policy in the U.S. through debate and...
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Coming up from IATP
Percolate: The Global Water Grab
May 28
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Join IATP's international water expert Shiney Varghese for a look at how the current water governance regime privileges profit over people, communities and ecosystems.
