Document Library
April 2012
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...
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...
