Press Releases
May 2012
FDA, ethanol industry ignore regulations and allow unnecessary antibiotics in ethanol production
Posted May 1, 2012
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...
April 2012
Critical homegrown energy programs at risk in 2012 Farm Bill
Posted April 11, 2012
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...
U.S. exports obesity epidemic to Mexico, says new study
Posted April 5, 2012
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
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
Over a half million students statewide offered farm-fresh, local food last year
Posted March 16, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS – Schools serving over 558,000 students—or more than 68 percent of the state’s K-12 student population—are now engaged in Farm to School according to a pair of surveys released today by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and the Minnesota School Nutrition...
February 2012
New study highlights need to regulate arsenic in food
Posted February 16, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS – Dr. David Wallinga, senior advisor for science, food and health at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), issued this statement following the release of a new study published online from Environmental Health Perspectives which found arsenic in infant formula and cereal...
January 2012
Minnesota businesses plan for future in green chemistry
Posted January 25, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS – Over 200 business owners, entrepreneurs and green chemistry advocates will come together for the second annual Minnesota Green Chemistry Conference tomorrow, co-hosted by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and the University of Minnesota’s Center for Science, Technology and...
FDA finally acts to ban unapproved use in food animals of critical human antibiotics
Posted January 5, 2012
Keep Antibiotics Working (KAW) today applauded the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for prohibiting some off-label or “extralabel” use of cephalosporin antibiotics in food-producing animals, more than three years after that order was first issued but withdrawn. At the same time, KAW renewed its calls...
November 2011
Civil society calls on African negotiators to reject carbon markets for agriculture
Posted November 29, 2011
Durban, South Africa (November 28, 2011) – Over 100 civil society organizations from Africa and around the world sent a letter earlier this week to African negotiators attending the UN global climate talks in Durban, calling for them to reject efforts to place agricultural soils within a carbon market....
