WTO vs Country of Origin Labeling

From Rebekah Wilce, on PR Watch:

The WTO doesn’t want Americans to know where their food was grown or raised. Photo via PR Watch.

“The World Trade Organization (WTO) issued a final ruling today against the U.S.country-of-origin labeling (COOL) law. This popular pro-consumer policy, which informs shoppers where meat and other foods were raised or grown, enjoys the support of 93% of Americans, according to a 2010 Consumers Union poll. Now Congress must gut or change the law to avoid the application of punitive trade sanctions.

One of Canada’s “big three” dairies, Saputo, recalls milk due to possible contamination with cleaning solution

CFIA image of recalled product via CTV news. Click image to go to the CTV story.

CTV, Global News, Yahoo and Canadian Press are reporting that Saputo dairy has recalled a type of milk product sold in both Ontario and Quebec because it may have been contaminated with a cleaning agent. Apparently you can be too clean.

Yahoo reports that “Milk containing this cleaning solution may not look or smell spoiled, but drinking it may cause symptoms such as nausea, upset stomach or vomiting.”

How will we feed ourselves when the global food system begins to falter?

From Randy Shore, in the Vancouver Sun:

Peter Ladner, in his yard that he converted into a food garden, has written a book that details the changes people and policymakers in Canada are making to regain control of our food. Photograph by: Jenelle Schneider, PNG, Vancouver Sun

“What would a city approaching food self-sufficiency look like?

Peter Ladner’s soon-to-be released book The Urban Food Revolution offers tantalizing glimpses of urban environments that successfully integrate commercial enterprise, low-impact living spaces and agricultural productivity. Balcony gardens, urban market gardens, rooftop beehives, vertical greenhouses and aquaponics, and acres of lawn converted to high-value herb and vegetable production are all being employed with success somewhere. Why not everywhere?

Global food crisis on the horizon

From “The Economic Collapse” blog:

“In case you haven’t noticed, the world is on the verge of a horrific global food crisis.  At some point, this crisis will affect you and your family.  It may not be today, and it may not be tomorrow, but it is going to happen.

Crazy weather and horrifying natural disasters have played havoc with agricultural production in many areas of the globe over the past couple of years.  Meanwhile, the price of oil has begun to skyrocket.

The entire global economy is predicated on the ability to use massive amounts of inexpensive oil to cheaply produce food and other goods and transport them over vast distances.  Without cheap oil the whole game changes. 

Raw milk supporters form action groups

The following news story is from the Canada Free Press:

This picture, in which farmer Michael Schmidt looks like the Che Guevara of raw milk, has been used to promote the CA-ARM raw milk action group.

“TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA –  In response to the increasing government offensive against raw dairy farms, U.S. and Canadian Alliances for Raw Milk (ARMs) were launched this month. These Alliances for Raw Milk (US ARM and Canadian ARM) and Family Farm and Food Freedom plan to promote connections between natural farmers and dairies and families who want fresh, wholesome and healthy natural food choices, based on their nutritional education and food traditions.

The ARMs and their members have declared they have the right and freedom to choose the foods they deem to maintain and restore their health and the right to farm their own land and trade/share the produce with others. The Alliances also come at a time of unwarranted and rapidly increasing legal, regulatory and enforcement actions by state, provincial and federal agencies against small natural, sustainable and organic farms and food operations, especially in the dairy arena.