WEEKLY WATCH number 223
from WEEKLY WATCH editor, Claire Robinson
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Dear all:

Yet another study has been released in the US which shows that organic farming can feed the world without any expansion of land used for growing food (ORGANICS RESEARCH). Contrary to agrochemical and GM industry propaganda, organic yields have been found to range from almost equal to, to above those achieved with conventional farming. And in the developing world the production gains from organic agriculture can be spectacular.

On the other side of the battle, in Victoria, Australia, the push is on by industry and its friends in government and the media to warm up the public to accept the scrapping of the GM moratorium. The scheme includes attempts to smear organic food as dangerous to health, a claim which has repeatedly been exposed as bogus. Playing a prominent part in the anti-organic food scaremongering is a British Lord who is supremely unqualified to give any view on the subject, having no expertise in science, farming, food safety, or consumer affairs. In fact, his only claim to fame is as a pusher of GMOs (AUSTRALASIA).

Claire [email protected]
www.gmwatch.org / www.lobbywatch.org

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CONTENTS
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ORGANICS RESEARCH
EUROPE
AFRICA
ASIA
THE AMERICAS
GM ANIMALS
LOBBYWATCH
AUSTRALASIA

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ORGANICS RESEARCH
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+ ORGANIC FARMING CAN FEED THE WORLD - STUDY
Organic farming can yield up to three times as much food on individual farms in developing countries, as low-intensive methods on the same land - according to new findings which refute the long-standing claim that organic farming methods cannot produce enough food to feed the global population.

Researchers from the University of Michigan found that in developed countries, yields were almost equal on organic and conventional farms. In developing countries, food production could double or triple using organic methods, said Ivette Perfecto, professor at U-M's School of Natural Resources and Environment, and one of the study's principal investigators.

"My hope is that we can finally put a nail in the coffin of the idea that you can't produce enough food through organic agriculture," Perfecto said.

In addition to equal or greater yields, the authors found that those yields could be accomplished using existing quantities of organic fertilizers, without putting more farmland into production.

Perfecto said the idea that people would go hungry if farming went organic is "ridiculous." "Corporate interest in agriculture and the way agriculture research has been conducted in land grant institutions, with a lot of influence by the chemical companies and pesticide companies as well as fertilizer companies - all have been playing an important role in convincing the public that you need to have these inputs to produce food," she said.

Read the Abstract at:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8107

More research showing how sustainable farming methods can help the poorest farmers in developing nations out of poverty http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7370

+ KILLER QUOTE
"Low-tech 'sustainable agriculture,' shunning chemicals in favour of natural pest control and fertiliser, is pushing up crop yields on poor farms across the world, often by 70 per cent or more... A new science-based revolution is gaining strength built on real research into what works best on the small farms where a billion or more of the world's hungry live and work... It is time for the major agricultural research centres and their funding agencies to join the revolution." - New Scientist http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7370

*MORE RESEARCH ON ORGANIC BENEFITS*

+ ORGANIC FARMING COMBATS GLOBAL WARMING… Big time, according to data from The Rodale Institute's long-running comparison of organic and conventional cropping systems. Converting the U.S.'s corn and soybean acres to organic production would sequester enough carbon to satisfy 73 percent of the Kyoto targets for CO2 reduction in the U.S.
http://www.newfarm.org/depts/NFfield_trials/1003/carbonsequest.shtml

+ IT'S OFFICIAL: ORGANIC REALLY IS BETTER FOR YOU
A 10-year study comparing organic and non-organic tomatoes has found that the organic ones have almost twice the quantity of antioxidants (called flavonoids) that help to prevent high blood pressure, thus reducing the likelihood of heart disease and strokes.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml?xml=/wine/2007/07/14/edorganic114.xml

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EUROPE
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+ EUROPE NOT HUNGRY FOR GM POTATOES
EU member states have rejected the latest application to grow GMOs in Europe, as the EU Agriculture Council failed to approve the commercial growing of a GM potato. There have now been no new GMOs grown in the EU for ten years.

Helen Holder of Friends of the Earth Europe said: "Too few EU member states support growing genetically modified crops, and now yet another has been refused authorisation. Now the decision is in the hands of the European Commission and we urge it to reject it too."

The Commission is, howe