Food

No More Excuses: Back The Kyoto Treaty

The Day After Tomorrow is a movie, not reality, but Australia can't ignore the winds of change.

An Apple mMan To His Core e

IT'S been a wild ride for apple industry chief Phil Alison. He has been at the helm of grower organisation Pipfruit New Zealand for five of the stormiest years of the industry's 100-year life. The most bitterly-disputed of New Zealand's producer board deregulation wrangles is now behind him, with growers enjoying a 25 per cent leap in income. But new battles remain to be fought.

Argentina Seeks More EU Concessions On South America-Europe Free Trade

Argentina wants the European Union to make more concessions to the four-nation Mercosur trading bloc in order to create a free-trade area spanning South America and Europe, Argentina's Agriculture Minister Miguel Campos said Wednesday. An offer put on the table by Brussels last Friday was "a starting point, a minimum, which must be improved," the minister told AFP.

Farmers Contest Report Linking Obesity To Subsidies

Farmers are fighting back against national media reports that blame federal farm subsidies for America's obesity epidemic.

Losing Touch With the World

Along with the rising human, financial and political costs of occupying Iraq, the United States will soon be paying the price of neglecting other parts of the world. The most important case is Asia, where America is on the verge of going AWOL--absent without leave. This is particularly true when it comes to the economic issues that are of such great concern to the region.

UN Food Agency Comes Out In Favor Of Biotech Crops, Despite Continued Public Skepticism In Some Countries

A United Nations food agency is coming out in favor of biotech crops, saying genetically modified organisms have already helped small farmers financially, have had some environmental benefits and no ill effects on health.

Wheat Board Won't Be Scrapped

International Trade Minister Jim Peterson said Thursday he won't agree to scrap the Canadian Wheat Board as part of trade liberalization negotiations. "We are prepared to subject our Canadian Wheat Board to all sorts of disciplines to ensure that it isn't trade distorting, but the institution itself is not on the table," Peterson told The Associated Press in an interview.

US Says Trade Talks Need Support Of Developping Countries To Succeed

US trade representive Robert Zoellick called Wednesday on big developing countries to play their part in getting stalled global trade liberalisation talks off the ground. "To take on the challenges of global trade, especially in the Doha negociations, we will need the support of the developing economies", Zoellick said at a press conference at the French senate.