Health

Farm And Lawn Fertilizers From Minnesota Are Killing Marine Life Downstream In The Gulf Of Mexico

What's good for Minnesota's corn and soybeans can be deadly to crabs and shrimp in Louisiana. A national task force meeting in St. Paul last week heard that fertilizer from farm fields washing down the Mississippi River continues to help create a seasonal "dead zone" that this year extends across 5,800 square miles of the Gulf Coast.

Mad Cow 'Firewalls' Just a Smokescreen

It's been seven months since the discovery of a mad cow-infected Holstein in Washington state, time enough for the administration to have developed a comprehensive regulatory response to protect the U.S. beef supply. Indeed, to listen to the rhetoric of Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, you'd think the administration had done just that. In

Human Error Likely Caused Mad Cow Scare

WASHINGTON - The first inconclusive test for mad cow disease was most likely caused by human error and not by the test used in the government's newly deployed rapid screening test, said a senior executive with the test's manufacturer.

Of Mad Prices, Mad Cows and Mad Farmers

In the week before our nation celebrates its Birthday No. 228, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture proved once again that open access to public information is an unalienable right. The world's foremost farm and food agency proved it by violating it.

Secretive Meat Recalls Harm

Federal secrecy rules still limit the ability of Northwest states to help with meat recalls, as happened following the discovery of a Washington case of mad cow disease.

Supachai Backs Indian Farmer

World Trade Organisation director general Supachai Panitchpakdi has said that developed country members have to recognise the sensitivities of developing countries such as India in agriculture if the on-going WTO negotiations are to move forward.

Groups Chide U.S. Response to Mad Cow

WASHINGTON - Food and consumer groups handed mediocre grades to the Agriculture Department in a "report card" Tuesday on its handling of mad cow disease.

FTAA Nudged From Spotlight By Other Free-Trade Deals

With talks for an Americas-wide free trade pact deadlocked over farm subsidies, executives of companies active in Latin America are increasingly turning attention to opportunities from other smaller, pending free-trade deals. A study released Wednesday found the strongest interest in free-trade talks between Europe and South America's Brazil-led Mercosur group.

U.S. Accused of Weakening U.N. Document

Humanitarian and environmental groups accused the United States of pressuring other countries at a United Nations forum to dilute language in a draft document on corporate responsibility in the Third World.

FAO Declares War On Farmers, Not On Hunger

The FAO report ("Agricultural biotechnology: meeting the needs of the poor?") was publicly presented on the 17th of May, and in the space of a few weeks more than 650 civil society organisations and 800 individuals from more than 80 countries have drafted and signed this open letter which strongly condemns its bias against the poor, against the environment and