July 31st 2001 

Every day in America, 250,000 people suffer food poisoning, 1,000 are hospitalised, and 25 die.

Just before the Czech Rep. smoking report fiasco, baccy giant, Philip Morris, engaged world-class PR firm, Doner Cardwell Hawkins, to sell the Marlboro brand owner as a "socially responsible firm". Surely, especially now, this must rate as difficult as selling rashers in Israel? By the way, you know the rugged, cowboy-types, featured as "Marlboro Men" in the famous ads -  one of the originals, Wayne McLaren, died in 1992 - of lung cancer. The PR gurus could possibly benefit from studying David Storey's article in the Irish Examiner on organic baccy. Organic tobacco kills more slowly!  http://www.examiner.ie/nuapublish/np/NP/WPBTool/WPBWebPageH/supplements/farming/David_Storey

Bad News.The past week has been a bad one for the organic movement. The propaganda millions of the ABCs (Ag.Biotech.Corps.) are continuing to notch up successes as Europe's food watchdogs bow to the pressures from the US govt. and its corporate sponsors. The enemies of healthy food are also revelling in the recommendations of the UK, Advertising Standards Agency, which is strongly critical of claims made on behalf of organic food. Even the venerable Soil Association is rapped, together with Tesco and Sainsbury.

Good News. The Origins of the Organic Movement, Philip Conford, Floris Books, £14.99. "This is an excellent book. Its title may seem unpromising but the underlying issues are the most crucial of our time, relating to the future of all humanity and of our fellow creatures". See this fine review, by Colin Tudge (author of In Mendel's Footsteps, Cape) on The Independent site; www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=82658 

A £2,000.00 Lamb for the Slaughter. A Welsh farmer last week was offered a foot and mouth diseased animal for £2,000.00. The intention was that generous compensation could be claimed - compensation currently runs far ahead of market prices. Nuala Preston, Trefoil Stud, famous for her horses, but who also has cattle and sheep, turned down the telephone deal and contacted police and MAFF. She was "not impressed with MAFF's reaction" she said. It was not the first she'd heard of this practice and she felt sure that many desperate, practically bankrupt, farmers have given in to the temptation. The no. of FMD outbreaks in UK now approaches 2,000 . An even cursory glance at www.maff.gov.uk (afterwards type in, www.maff.co.uk for a fascinating surprise) shows that the number of daily outbreaks has not reduced since early May! 

Pesticide Poisoning of Euro Fruit and Veg. More than four percent of the fruit, vegetables and cereals tested by European Union member countries in1999 had pesticide residues higher than legal maximum residue levels, says  Davy Byrne's, Health and Consumer Protection Directorate, on Friday last. This  means that on average one in every 25 meals involving veg, fruit or cereals is very, very bad for you.  http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-30-01.html . See the following for the latest expert stuff on pesticides. www.pan-international.org and www.pan-uk.org, email; admin@pan-uk.org .

"...... in Genoa many fools have received their due."  Andrew Apel, editor of the biotech industry's Agbionews, referring to the death and injury meted out by the brutal Italian police last week during the anti-globalisation demonstrations.

Precautionary Principle to GM abandoned by Food Safety(!) watchdog.  Davy Byrne,  EU Commiss. for Food Safety is attracting crossfire from many quarters for what's seen as his abandonment of the Precautionary Principle and "sellout"  to the GM giants last week. The Commission has just adopted proposals to allow food in Europe to be contaminated with unapproved GMOs up to a threshold of 1%, as long as their presence is regarded as 'adventitious' or 'technically unavoidable'. They will not have to be labelled. Rather than pass legislation to prevent GM contamination in the first place, the Commission is accommodating it, putting the interests of industry before the safety of consumers and the protection of the environment. "Allowing unauthorised GMOs in through the back door like this makes a mockery of the recently strengthened EU approval process, which will have to be amended to allow for it. It means that the Starlink case in the US, where food products were 'accidentally' contaminated with a GMO only approved for animal feed, would be permissible. This is unacceptable to European consumers. The choice to eat produce free of GMOs will be seriously compromised by these proposals.'", said Clare Devereux, co-ordinator of the Five Year Freeze campaign. FYF is an alliance of 120 organisations calling for a minimum five year moratorium on the commercial production of GM crops and animals for food use, the importing of GM crops and the patenting of genetic resources for food use.  www.fiveyearfreeze.org. I emailed Commissioner Byrne's office - sanco-helpline@cec.eu.int - for their comments on the above.There has been no reply.

Nature Fights Back. And in any case there'e a looming fly in the ointment. It looks as if Biotech can have the same kind of problems that conventional agriculture has - The Agricultural Research Service of US Dept. Agric. has reported biotech resistance developing in several pests, including Indian meal moths, diamond back moths and at least nine other insects. http://www.checkbiotech.org/blocks/dsp_newsdetail.cfm?doc_id=comtex_2001_07_25_up_0000-2005-bc-us-biotechcorn

GM crops do not necessarily reduce pesticide use. There is no evidence that even with the huge acreage of GM crops in the US pesticide and other farm chemical inputs have reduced. Another advantage claimed for GM crops bites the dust. Search www.ngin.org.uk and in the process register for their daily mails. 

Question and Answers on the new regulation of GMOs in the EU, 24 July 2001. Past, present and future regulations on GM food within Europe.  http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/health_consumer/library/press/press171_en.pdf 

ABCs gloat over Food Safety Authority report. The UK, Advertising Standards Authority published a report last week aimed at preventing, what they see as, misleading information about organic food. Advertisers from now will be unable to state that organic food is safer or healthier than conventional food without substantial evidence. They must also refrain from claiming that organic food tastes better than conventional food unless they have convincing taste-test evidence from consumers. Advertisers can claim their products are organic only if they come from farmers, processors or importers who follow the minimum standards in EU regulations, are registered with an approved certification body and are subject to inspections. They should not claim that organic food production uses no chemicals, fertilisers, herbicides or pesticides if any of those are approved for use by the UK Register of Organic Food Standards. Full report on http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/press_releases/uk_press/2001/pr010725.htm .The puerile gloating takes place on Prof. Stott's, pro-biotech, The Real Green Science Website, www.probiotech.fsnet.co.uk/ - "Many, many congratulations to the ASA - I cannot commend enough its outstanding new Report on all that, horny-handed-sons-of-toil, back-to-nature, organic, and farmhouse, eco-hype. Good - that's an end to 'Traditional Farmhouse Natural Country-Fresh Organic Crapola." These guys get their rocks off on this kind of stuff - and are over-paid into the bargain.

One of the incomprehensible utterances of the ASA is that, "All food production systems cause at least some damage to the environment". I thought that all life on earth was a food production system. When a deep-sea fish craps in the ocean is that damage to the environment?

July 24th 2001

Shame! Shame! Shame! Ireland has the second smallest percentage of organic farmland in Europe. As our competitors, e.g. Denmark - their organic pork sales and prices are going through the roof - gear up to harvest the great potential of organic food, we, who are such tigers in other areas of economic activity, wallow near the bottom of the league. Are we or are we not a food exporting country? Only 0.79% of total acreage in Ireland is organic. Greece at 0.75%, is only slighter lower. Germany has 22 times more organic land certified than Ireland whilst Great Britain has 13 times more. Italy has the largest organic acreage at just over a million hectares. Within the soon-to-be-enlarged EU, we are right down there with Latvia, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia. Austria, the most organic country in Europe, has almost ten times the proportion of land devoted to organic farming as Ireland has. We are in the pits. Barring some kind of miracle conversion of the IFA and DAFRD we have little hope of being any kind of a player in the fastest developing food market the world has ever seen. If REPS organic acreage and its mostly extensive livestock farming was subtracted from the figure we would be far and away at the bottom of the class! These are the latest statistics based on surveys carried out, 31st Dec., 2000. www.organic.aber.ac.uk/stats.shtml

Organic - more than just food.  Ms Sleep, Man. Ed. of just-food.com, has taken me to task again, I'm afraid. I really must be more moderate in my language and opinions when expressing myself on the subject of the poisoning of our food and drink and the maiming and slaughter of our people. She reminds me that just-food.com, unlike your humble correspondent's own site, is not a lobbying site and is neither for or against organic food. She is completely neutral and has no opinion on the subject. When I grow up I want to be like her! Not too unexpectedly perhaps, in the wake of our edgy e-missives, a request for a free subscription was turned down - but on the grounds that I was not a "regular correspondent", is a tad curmudgeonly I would vouch. 

Foot and mouth disease, though ignored, has not gone away. The current situation and especially the individual farmer's stories related in this Guardian article last week make grim reading. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4222873,00.html. Yet new minister of DEFRA, Margaret Beckett, says there will be no witch-hunt in the corridors of MAFF-power over the miserable slaughter and burn policy. Civil servants are after all sacred cows. (We put one in jail here in Ireland recently - a fairly unique story at the time - for attempting to embezzle millions - but on full salary!)

Tobacco stuff - I was first in print in Ireland (this is print, is it not?) 17th July, with the lunatic, Marlboro Man report to the Czech govt. which would seem to encourage citizens to smoke themselves to death in the interests of their country. "Smoke for Ireland so the State doesn't have to cough up", was one of many playful headlines that followed. The prestigious, Irish Examiner Award for Outstanding Cynicism was presented to the huge but intelligence-challenged, Philip Morris Inc. Seems as if the company has shot itself mightily in the foot - left holding two smoking barrels?  Coincidentally David Storey had an interesting other tobacco story - on organic and natural tobacco -  in the Irish Examiner,19th July. www.examiner.ie 

On water fluoridation. Whilst we rant on about the quality of our food we sometimes forget the importance of the state of the water we drink. Fluoride is an element more poisonous than lead. It has been banned in water supplies for years in progressive countries. Sweden, e.g. abolished it in the early 1970's.  This letter in the Irish Times, from the Consumers Association of Ireland, sums up the case nicely.  www.ireland.com/newspaper/letters/2001/0719/index.htm#8 Email your support. See also, www.fluoridefree.com, an Irish site, for more details. See Products page for solutions, although I'm not sure whether any domestic water filtering system can get rid of fluoride.

A BSE brain-teaser.  Mark Purdey, the campaigning organic farmer with the now well-developed theory of organo-phosphate drugs being the cause of BSE, poses this question; "If BSE is passed to humans via infected beef and most beef is sold in towns, especially in burgher bars etc, why then are 60% of all BSE cases in rural areas. www.safe2use.com/ca-ipm/01-02-03.htm 

Agriculture - is the Primary Health Service, headlines Patrick Holden of the Soil Association in the July/Sept issue of living Earth. He quotes the eminent Sir Albert Howard's observation that, "Health is the birthright of every living organism". Similar has been said many times recently but although self-evident it does not seem to have any impact on the powers-that-be. Need another propaganda line.

Is organic food better? This is the big question. If it could be answered satisfactorily it would put the recent pay-by-quote, organic nay-sayers in their place and reassure those that spend, or are contemplating spending, extra on organic food that they are getting what they expected. And it looks as if that kind of an answer could be forthcoming soon if the hopes of the SA are realised. The SA raised over £50,000 for a report, Organic Farming, Food Quality and Human Health which is due to be published in August. As much as anyone, I want to see this report come up with conclusive evidence. The language of the report is however a little equivocal; "..more research needed...results ..indicate...that...there is ..evidence to suggest..  a trend towards the nutritional superiority of organically grown food...". This is not the kind of certainty that would silence the critics. On the contrary if the report is as wishy-washy as it sounds from this fore-taste then it will, unfortunately, set the anti-organic hounds baying again. www.soilassociation.org . The following is recent, positive, if rather grudging, grist to the organic mill. Reviews by both the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation and a House of Lords Select Committee recently found that organic foods have lower levels of pesticide and drug residues and tend to contain more vitamins and fewer nitrates. The House of Lords found that while up to 60 per cent of conventional fruit and vegetables contain pesticide residues, these are very rare in organic produce. A recent study published in the journal Nature, and covered by us below,  found more emphatically, that organic apples were firmer and sweeter than conventional ones; they were also more frugal in energy terms, produced better soil and made more money for the growers.

Subscribe to Organic Trade Services weekly Newsletter. It leaves no organic stone unturned, world-wide. Only £30.00 for a year's sub. An absolute steal - and no! - I'm not on commission.  www.organicts.com

13th July 2001                                                        

Danish Organic Chicken Foul-Up; Danish organic chicken farms have serious animal welfare problems with death-rates 3 to 4 times more than conventional farms. This is the gist of a story first reported,15th June, by the "editorial team" of  www.just-food.com, no friend of the organic industry. It is now, unfortunately, in their subscription-only archive pages. The Irish Examiner carried an article, 21st June, based on just-food's report.The Danish Agricultural  Ministry here replies, 12th July, to the issues raised in that article.

"The Ministry and the organic chicken and egg sector both find it unacceptable that mortality in organic egg production is high compared to battery hens. However, compared to battery hens, organic poultry are living in conditions much closer to their natural environment. This is a major welfare gain. The challenge is to maintain this welfare gain while adressing the issue of mortality. Part of the problem is that breeds used in the organic poultry sector have not been suitable. Furthermore, due to the complexity of organic chicken and egg production, new, inexperienced producers might have lacked the proper know-how for large-scale, organic production. The Ministry is addressing these and other issues in cooperation with the organic poultry sector, scientists and other stakeholders. Just recently a group of scientists has been established to deal with issues of animal welfare in organic poultry. In the meantime, The Danish Plant Directorate, which is in charge of this field, is working on a daily basis to improve the situation."  www.fvm.dk          Editor; I think the Danish Min's alert, problem-solving approach is to be lauded and what you'd expect from a country so far advanced in organic awareness and development. 

Talking of Denmark, it might be instructive to other Ag Mins and 'crats to look at the ten points on this site, www.organic-export.dk , that make Danish organic agriculture so successful.   

Meat ancestors. Irish-based organic meat company introduces unique, Webtrace, that will enable consumers to check on a website the life history of the meat they have purchased. www.greenstuff.org.uk . They are based at Ennis and London, email; info@greenstuff.org.uk 

Texel (full name?) potatoes; heard amazing anecdotes about the total blight resistance of this variety of potatoe. They could be the answer to the problem that will be posed next year when copper sulphate will finally be banned.They were supplied by Paul Shultz, the organic horticulturalist from Bantry, Co. Cork. 027 52758. Woud be grateful for any further information on these potatoes which sound like the organic grower's dream.

Functional Food - this is a huge industry, apparently, which, I'm afraid I knew nothing about until last night. FF is food, " with scientifically proved and documented benefts to health and well-being." www.functionalfoods.nu 

Is this the ultimate eco-car? Back to the Future is here today. Find out all about the recently-tested, hydrogen-powered car and plasma convertor at,  http://www.startech.net/    http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/July01/10July0102.html                   

Irish meats plant are accused of sub-level standards in processing meat products for the home market. www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2001/0709/hom4.htm

Academic Symposium for the Development of Environmentally Progressive Products for Sustainable Agriculture. What a mouthfull! See International Bio-Recovery Corp., Vancouver, for details of their "fertility products". http://www.ibrcorp.com

Stinking Green Tide swamps Breton coast. Fed by fertiliser run-off and effluent from pig factory farms, the normally attractive and edible, Ulva Armoricana, "sea lettuce", has engulfed beaches on the north Brittany coastline. Tourism has been devastated and property prices are plummeting. We experience this green tide in Ireland too - last year, amongst others, the small resort of Kilbrittan, near Bandon in West Cork was swamped with the weed and its associated vile smell.

Organics are 5% of overall UK food sales - but contribute disproportionately to profits. Need more information. Tesco sell almost £200 million in organic food and drink in the UK.

See current issue, July/August,  of Organic Matters, the magazine of the Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association for an excellent range of articles.

Plan Colombia, the joint US/Colombia plan, part of which is to defoliate the coca crop using aerial-sprayed Round Up, is an ecological and human disaster - another Vietnam! Jim Trautman in the New Internationalist, May, 2001. Email; trautman@sentex.net . See Pesticide Action Networks site, www.pan-international.org It has been whispered in my ear, from a  well-informed source, that the notorious, US Navy Seals, are being smuggled  out of the US into Colombia and neighbouring countries and are carrying out covert, ruthless operations. 

3rd July 2001                                                                       Next update 10th July

The  Organic Food and Wine Festival is is on at London's Alexandra Palace, 6th - 8th July. www.organicfoodwinefestival.co.uk.  Email ofw@globalnet.co.uk

Tribal Frog Gathering, A Creative Camp, An Sanctoir, Ballydehob, West Cork, July, 6-8.  Crafts, Drama, Dance and Song, Massage, Music and Spontaneous Fun. This is the big alternative happening this summer in South West Ireland. Tel. 028 37155. "No Drugs - No Thugs".

Two mini-Red Barons, IP1.29, in Cork last week. Get rich - grow organic onions!

Organic Matters, the bi-monthly magazine of the Irish Organic Farmers' and Growers' Association, has a new website, www.organicmattersmag.com. The site, professionally designed and snappy, hasn't got a lot on it yet but it will surely grow. The e-newsletter sign-on is great; they just ask for your name and email address. Others could well copy - there is nothing more off-putting to a surfer than form-filling. The OM magazine itself goes from strength-to-strength however and it should be unthinkable for anyone remotely interested in organics not to have a subscription to it (availability in shops is erratic). IP 15.00 for 6 issues. Organic Matters, compares very favourably to the quarterlies of the Soil Association, which must have resources 30-40 times that of IOFGA. July/August issue now available. About 60% of OM's contents would have appeal to readers outside Ireland.

Exclusive! Organic pioneer's views of grain-trade finagling. Huge fraud in France, up to 120,000 tons involved. www.agrionline.com (French) Problems in Denmark and Germany too; www.ecoweb.dk.The whole mess is a gift to anti-organic elements.

Richard Auler of Ballybrado (the best-known organic brand in Ireland), has this to say about the recent scandals in the organic grain trade.

Richard. I'm not surprised about the discovery of fraud within the organic movement. I saw it coming for a long time, precisely since the big guys got interested in organics and the control of inspection and certification has been taken over by governments and the EU. In the early days of the movement the control was developed and exercised by the pioneers themselves - inspection was done by like-minded people. These people looked not only at the farm - the farmer's conviction and commitment was crucial too. The holistic approach was at least as important as the compliance with the then, admittedly, fairly basic standards. We have come a long way now from the beginning of the "Beard and Sandal Brigade". Organic is in, it promises turnover, profit, market shares, all concepts which were not part of the vocabulary during  the early years. We wanted to make a living, produce healthy food within a sustainable system and supply local customers. Now, organic produce is available all year, transported  around the globe. We have fallen into the trap and follow blindly the ways of conventional  distribution. It doesn't matter at what cost, directly or indirectly, as long as the till is ringing.  For a lot of people, and some of them started with a different motivation, money is now the only factor which counts. And this brings me back to the Grain Fraud. As long as people can make money by cheating they will do. The volume of their actions will mirror exactly the demand for the product in question. And it will not get better in the future, I'm  expecting such cases to increase, unfortunately. It certainly doesn't help boost consumer confidence in  organics. The only real way  forward is to de-centralize the system. Growing  locally and selling  locally, is good for the producer, their customers and the environment.

Richard, who came to Ireland from Germany almost 20 years ago, set up with his partners what was to become one of the largest and best-known, organic enterprises in Ireland. Richard, now runs his own 100 acre farm at Ballybrado, and markets livestock feed as well as giving a lot of energy to organic politics. In furtherance of this side of his activities he also runs a discussion group; www.groups.yahoo.com/group/organicforum.See also, interview by Cait Curran in Organic Matters, March/April, 2001.

Celebrity food and wine critic lambasts Irish food boards for jumping on the organic band-wagon. Tom Doorley warns against the dilution of standards from the powerful, newly-interested-in-organics, gov. agencies. Organic Matters, March/April, 2001. Bord Glas - the Green Board - replies to the "totally unfair and unsubstantiated views expressed in Mr Doorley's article". OM, May/June, 2001.The three Irish certification bodies, with fairly common high standards, stand their ground against pressures from Dep Ag.(UK and EU cert. bodies could well take note!) OM July/August, 2001. So, not only subscribe to Organic Matters but order the back issues too!  www.organicmattersmag.com  

Soil Quality is the subject of a good Briefing Paper from the SA. Farmers whose holdings are only partially organic will lose out on setaside premiums. www.soilassociation.org 

Major organic farmer/marketeer destroys thousands of yards of hedgerows illegally. Details developing.

Anti-organic, US, TV show exposed brilliantly. There were many good counter-arguments put forward to answer the now historic, outrageously biased, John Stossel, ABC, 20/20 programme - this is one of the best. Also 16 good reasons to eat organic. http://www.vegsource.com/articles/organics.2020.htm 

Mastitis control in organic herds. Australian conventional dairy farmer, considering conversion, would like to have information on organic mastitis control. Email: rbbriggs@dcsi.net.au 

Sheep wool insulation is 6 times more energy efficient than mineral wool. But expensive! Why, when wool off the sheep's back is so cheap? Any ideas on home-curing? www.sustainableenterprises.com  

Low sperm counts and testicular cancer could be caused by pesticides say Danish biologists.  http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11408

Bumbling along. A woman wanting a healthy snack bar for her 8 year old created the organic Bumble Bar which is now a substantial business in the US. www.bumblebar.com 

Jose Bove, nick-named, Asterix, sworn enemy of mal-bouffe (bad food), McDonalds and globalisation was "roughed up" and arrested in West Bank after bravely challenging Israeli soldiers.  http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=79292

UK, Co-Op supermarkets, says organic action plan needed as they introduce ban on 20 pesticides in response to consumer demand http://itn.co.uk/news/20010702/business/03food.shtml 

Danish Organic Chicken foul-up. Battery is better says animal welfare group! An article by Martin Ryan, Irish Examiner, June 21st, describing high mortality rates in organic chicken units in Denmark cannot be verified by us. He quotes the Danish Animal Welfare Council (DAWC) as the source. We can't find any trace of this org. and the Danish Ministry is not replying. Can anyone elucidate? info1@planorganic.com 

Huge scale Californian organics - the future? http://www.purefood.org/Organic/boomingfarms.cfm 

Ballinree=Ballybrado. Finally, 3rd July, we've discovered that Ballinree is the "second label" of Ballybrado-based, Good Herdsman. Ballinree, is the organic farm address of John Purcell (of the Purcell, live animal export dynasty), who became a director of Good Herdsman this year to beef up that side of things.