From aclark@nal.usda.gov Tue Jun 8 22:57:30 1999 Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 10:03:34 -0400 From: Andy Clark To: "'sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu'" Subject: FW: Organic food book [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Apologies if this message has already crossed the airwaves... -----Original Message----- From: Anton Doroszenko (TL, Fld Crp) [mailto:A.DOROSZENKO@cabi.org] Sent: Monday, June 07, 1999 5:00 AM To: 'ecol-agric' Subject: FW: Organic food book FYI > -----Original Message---- [Anton Doroszenko (TL, Fld Crp)] - > > ORGANIC FOOD A GROWING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY > June 4 /99 > Toronto Star > Ellen Roseman > According to Wayne Roberts, author of what this story calls a new book > that makes a powerful case for eating locally grown, wholesome, pure, > unadulterated, uncontaminated food, those looking for a business > opportunity, an undeveloped market just waiting to be tapped, should think > organic. > The story says that organic food accounts for less than 2 per cent of the > market, but it's been doubling every year since 1990. And it will surge, > according to Roberts, once Canadians realize how the government has > allowed mega-food producers to tamper with their fruits, vegetables, meat, > fish and grains. > The book, Real Food For A Change, a $21.95 paperback from Random House of > Canada, is, the story says, packed with fascinating facts and figures on a > subject dear to all our hearts - what we put in our mouths. The story > says that Roberts, who teaches green entrepreneurship at York University, > spent three years writing it with wife Lori Stahlbrand, a former CBC Radio > broadcaster, and Rod MacCrae, who co-ordinates Toronto's food policy > council. > Roseman says that thoufh she is fairly health-conscious and went > vegetarian a few years ago, she was struck by the potential problems the > authors unearthed about the foods we eat every day. Industrial food > production, with its dependence on crowding and chemicals, can be a > breeding ground for disease, they charge. Wheat, for example, when stored > for long periods in grain elevators, can develop fungi and moulds that, in > turn, produce poisons called mycotoxins. They can get into our bodies > when we eat bread and pasta. The story says that cattle are hauled to > giant meatpacking plants, where they stay for two or three months before > slaughter. Lack of activity, crowding and high-protein diets turn these > feedlots into "little more than sick bays." > Crowding is also endemic in poultry barns, where antibiotic feeds are > used to combat disease and promote growth. > One-third of all antibiotics used in Canada are fed to farm animals, the > book says. But overuse can lead to the evolution of "superbugs" that > withstand drugs - in humans as well as chickens. > Fish farms, too, are overcrowded and can induce disease.. So, fish are > routinely fed antibiotics and washed with pesticides. Reading labels is > no help. Labels only tell you about additives, which are put into the food > during processing. They don't tell you what was done to the food before it > gets to the processing plant. > Take genetically engineered products. Some 36 altered foods are already > approved by the Canadian government, including canola, soybeans, corn, > squash and potatoes. > Monsanto's New Leaf Potato, for example, which was approved in 1996, is > spliced with a germ that kills predatory beetles. But the health impact is > a real hot potato, they say. > Buying organic is a way to avoid being subjected to gene-splicing or > irradiation, the authors say. Many products have labels that guarantee > they have been certified by an independent agency, separate from > government. > This is a profoundly optimistic book, despite the damning information on > factory foods. It's full to brimming with stories of entrepreneurial food > producers and retailers making a difference in their communities. Annex > Organics, for example, operates from the roof of a warehouse on Eastern > Ave. and is Toronto's only certified organic food producer. It supports > three people in their 20s, who produce crunchy sprouts for 2,000 > customers, as well as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, herbs and edible > flowers. Annex Organics breaks every rule of conventional farming, the > book says. > To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail