BILL WOULD BEEF UP USDA'S ORGANIC AUTHORITY From an article in The Packer - The Organic Insider editor@thepacker-mail.com ; Jun. 29, 20129; Publ.date: 06/19/2012 Coral Beach)   VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL, MÁS ABAJO A bipartisan bill — the Organic Standards Protection Act — introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would give the U.S. Department of Agriculture more power to crack down on organic fraud. As consumer demand for organic food increases, the need to protect the integrity of the USDA’s National Organic Program increases, Rep. Hanna said. “USDA has some tools, but they need more, such as subpoena power,” Rep. Capps said. Three key provisions of the bill would: ·          Give the USDA authority to stop the sale of products fraudulently labeled as organic; ·          Require organic producers and certifiers to maintain records for the USDA to improve  investigations and enforcement; and ·          Establish a

USA: ORGANIC APPLES SCARCE, EXPENSIVE (from an article by Andy Nelson, The Packer - The Organic Insider editor@thepacker-mail.com , Jun.29, 2012; Publ. date: 06/21/2012)   VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL, MÁS ABAJO Image: recipes.howstuffworks.com; Wikipedia.org Supplies of domestic and imported organic apples are running out sooner than usual this season. Retailers have done a better job of showcasing and promoting organic apples in recent years, which has helped stimulate demand, said Roger Pepperl, Wash.-based Stemilt Growers marketing director. But the short supplies this year also can be traced to a slowdown in new acreage, he said. The industry went through a period, Pepperl said, where acreage grew faster than demand. Now, the pendulum seems to have swung in the other direction. Full article: http://www.thepacker.com/fruit-vegetable-enewsletter/organics-insider/Organic-apples-scarce-expensive-159922185.html -------

GM CORN SALES SKYROCKET ( Ámbito Financiero – Campo ; El Cronista - Negocios del Campo ; Jun. 28, 2012)   VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL, MÁS ABAJO The giant of agriculturl products, Monsanto, reported yesterday higher profits that expected in their thrid fiscal period, while the net income grew 17% supported by the sale of seeds, biotechnology and the chemical business. Stocks grew almost 3% after the company said that sales of corn seed and biotechnlogy climbed 35% in the third quarter ended May 31st. Soybean seeds sales grew 15% to US$ 698 miions. The company got net income of U$S 4.2 billion. Monsanto reported earnings of US$ 1.63 per stock of their continuous operations in the third quarter, above the estimates by the analysts of U$S 1.60 per stock and over the US$ 1.28 that was the price in the same period last year.   Source: agriclipping [info@agriclipping.com.ar]; Jun.28, 2012) ---------------------------------------------

Comentario: CUANDO SE ACERCA EL 50º ANIVERSARIO DE LA PRIMAVERA SILENCIOSA,QUÉ DIRÍA RACHEL CARSON HOY? Por Paul R. Ehrlich, Stanford University, para Environmental Health News; Junio 25, 2012, (citado en Organic Consumers Association [ronniecummins@organicconsumers.org]; Jun.28, 2012) (ENGLISH VERSION BELOW) Mucha gente tiene la impresión de que el cambio climático es el peor problema ambiental que hoy enfrenta la humanidad. Y, ciertamente, sus consecuencias pueden ser catastróficas. Pero la distribución de productos químicos tóxicos del un polo al otro es el caballo “tapado” en la carrera. Podríamos seguir con nuestra actitud de ‘business as usual’ (no pasa nada) y contar con que la buena suerte salve a la civilización. Quizás no aparezcan sinergias verdaderamente letales, o ningún producto químico tenga distribución global antes de que se descubra que es la causa de un cáncer. Quizás los envenenamientos no hagan colapsar l

CORNUCOPIA CHALLENGES USDA’S LACK OF TRANSPARENCY (The Cornucopia Institute [cultivate@cornucopia.org]; Jun.28, 2012) (*)   (VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL, MÁS ABAJO)   Image: Organic Bytes. com, wikipedia.org Flawed Appointments Have Led to Corrupt Oversight System The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking nominations for an opening on the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) and Cornucopia has once again requested that USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack make the names of all nominees public so that the organic community can assure that the “best and brightest” are chosen. Past appointments of agribusiness executives to seats reserved for farmers and other independent industry participants have been widely criticized. For more on the controversy of the current board, click here . Additionally, read up on the history of this corruption and Cornucopia’s efforts to end it in our white paper The Organic Watergate . (*) The

CHINA AND THE EU ON THE ROAD TO THE MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF ORGANIC FOODS. (from an article in Portalfruticola.com [contacto@portalfruticola.com]; Jun. 29, 2012)   VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL, MÁS ABAJO Spain’s Economical and Trade office in Shanghai reported that the Agriculture and Rural Development UE Commissar, Dacian Ciolos , and the Chinese representative of the Quality, Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Administration (AQSIQ), Zhi Shuping, started talks towards the recognition of the organic products in both markets.  It is worth mentioning that the European Union already have an agreement with the US unifying the organic certification between the two markets, simplifying and facilitating trade of organic products. They already have similar agreements with Canada, Switzerland and Japan. Both administrations committed themselves to review their organic regulations, looking for common standards and controls that will allow

TRANSGÉNICOS, CONCEPTOS Y CONTROVERSIAS Los transgénicos están ya en los supermercados y almacenes de barrio, sin ningún etiquetado diferencial obligatorio. En Argentina hay 31 millones de hectáreas cultivadas con transgénicos, más de la mitad con soja. Estados Unidos, India y Rusia lideran el ranking, seguidos por China y Brasil. Prácticamente no hay producto en los mercados locales que no tengan por lo menos un insumo transgénico en su composición. En el siguiente artículo se encuentra una lista de muchas docenas de esos productos elaborados consumidos en Argentina en la que, al igual que en la mayoría de los países del mundo, no solo no está restringida la producción y consumo de transgénicos, sino que el progreso de esa tecnología es considerado un hito de avance científico-tecnológico nacional . ( http://www.taringa.net/posts/info/1058311/Alimentos-transgenicos-en-Argentina.html . ) En el BOLETIN COMPARTIENDO # 28 – 2012, ( Boletin_Compartiendo@ideas.org.pe ) se prese