Agriculture

The Food Crisis and Global Institutions

The food crisis should move us toward a new era of global cooperation, one that is democratic and accountable to people and the planet.

A bad deal all round

Last minute talks on global trade policy at the World Trade Organization in Geneva this week came close to agreement - but no cigars were lit. For talks that started in 2001, rich country negotiators lost sight of the fact that the round was supposed to be a "development" round to help lift standards of living among the world's poor.

Trade Talks Collapse, New Direction Needed

Today, trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization in Geneva broke down. It has now been seven years since the Doha Round of negotiations began at the WTO.

WTO Doha Negotiations Threaten to Encourage Inefficient Food Aid Delivery

Revised rules on food aid in the latest negotiating text at the World Trade Organization fail to reduce adequately the scope for the sale of food aid and encourage a highly wasteful, trade distorting system, according to a letter sent to trade ministers today from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Canadian Foodgrains Bank and Oxfam International.

Report from Mexico on Plant Patent Debate

A Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) group within the Mexican Chamber of Deputies invited me and other analysts to a July 10 seminar to comment on the draft bill for a “Law on the Conservation and Sustainable Exploitation of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.” The bill’s proponents in

MRSA and Government Resistance

Last month, more research surfaced that heavy antibiotic use at industrial animal operations is contributing to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria causing illness and death in humans.

Penicillin in Peril

The reckless use in animals of tried-and-true human antibiotics has contributed to the development of serious antibiotic-resistant human disease. The most straightforward way to address resistant diseases such as CA-MRSA is to curb unnecessary use of all antibiotics important to human medicine in U.S. livestock operations, including penicillin and tetracycline.

Food Assistance and Food Security

Over 27 million Americans received food stamps in March, an increase of over 1.5 million from the previous year. In Minnesota, food shelves are seeing a 20 percent increase in demand.

WTO and Farm Bill Stick to Status Quo

Now seven years after the Doha Round of negotiations were launched, the WTO continues its sisyphean effort to sell further trade deregulation to the world. During the week of July 21, trade ministers will gather in Geneva and take yet another last shot at moving the Doha talks toward conclusion. 

The 2008 Farm Bill and the Doha Agenda

The U.S. Congress voted a new Farm Bill into law on May 22, 2008. The legislation was greeted with a resounding thumbs down in Geneva, where the WTO has its headquarters. The negotiators reaction echoed that of President Bush, who promptly vetoed the legislation, saying the Farm Bill would impede a conclusion to negotiations on the Doha Agenda at the WTO.