statism watch

It’s worth keeping an eye on the various UN organizations (FAO, WTO) with an interest in global food supplies.

Flashback: Food prices set to rise? | Will recession spark global food crisis? | American thinktanks sowed seeds of food crisis | Agribusiness positions GM crops as panacea to predicted global food shortage | Billions needed annually to raise food production: UN chief | Monsanto Plans to Save World with its Biotech Crops | High-level UN task force to tackle global food crisis | Head of IMF says if food prices remain high, consequences are dire

CBC News
November 16, 2009

Help promised, without specifics

World leaders and government officials at a United Nations food summit have pledged to increase agricultural aid to help poor countries feed themselves, but did not set a target amount or timeframe for action.

The declaration agreed to Monday, on the first day of the annual three-day World Summit on Food Security in Rome, was made with the aim to “halt immediately the increase in — and to significantly reduce — the number of people suffering from hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity.”

“We are alarmed that the number of people suffering from hunger and poverty now exceeds one billion,” the declaration states. “This is an unacceptable blight on the lives, livelihoods and dignity of one-sixth of the world’s population.”

The lack of specifics in the declaration falls short of the goals of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, which had hoped world leaders would agree to a specific figure of $44 billion a year for agricultural aid.

The FAO also hoped countries would adopt 2025 as a deadline to eradicate hunger.

Instead, the declaration stated a commitment to “take action towards sustainably eradicating hunger at the earliest possible date.”

The declaration committed governments to:

• work to get developed countries to commit to aid targets of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for development assistance to developing countries by 2015.
• provide short-term aid to the most vulnerable people and longer-term agricultural and nutrition programs;
• invest in country-owned food plans;
• work better to co-ordinate between global and regional projects;
• strengthen multilateral institutions like the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Pope says food a ‘fundamental right’

Pope Benedict XVI addressed the leaders and officials of the nearly 200 countries represented at the meeting, saying countries must respect the “fundamental rights of the individual” when shaping policy, and that people are entitled to “sufficient, healthy and nutritious food” as well as water.

Further talks at the conference were expected to focus on food security and on how climate change impacts worldwide agricultural efforts.

The United Nations World Food Program said in September that food aid has suffered as governments spent more domestically after the global economic downturn.

The number of hungry people passed one billion this year at the same time that food aid hit a 20-year low, the UN agency said.

Source | See Also under Food: Court upholds aboriginal fishing rights on Vancouver Island | Canada’s flax crop mysteriously contaminated by GM seeds | Britain will starve without GM crops, says major report | It is too late to shut the door on GM foods | Passage of Bill C-6 Imminent, Gives Health Canada Warrantless Search and Seizure Powers | BPA in womb linked to aggression in girls | Williams says international fish deal erodes Canadian sovereignty | Food prices set to rise? | US House approves sweeping new food powers for FDA | Organic food no more nutritious, study finds | Listeriosis report urges cleanliness and – increased federalization of food safety | Ottawa considers culling 20% of pork industry | New Ontario regulations forcing local butchers out of market | Bisphenol A traces found in baby food: Health Canada | Bee population feels sting of cold, parasites as N.B. population drops | Elevated BPA levels in people drinking out of plastic bottles, study finds | Meet – and eat – the modified Atlantic salmon | Bee expert takes issue with dated UN data minimizing honeybee deaths | Researchers working on swine flu ‘vaccine corn’ | Will recession spark global food crisis? | High-fructose sweeteners linked to obesity, diabetes | Most Canadian producers excluded as new ‘Product of Canada’ label rules set | Tests find Bisphenol A in majority of soft drinks | Details being withheld of listeria discussion held prior to outbreak | Harper government withholds listeriosis notes | Doomsday seed vault’s stores are growing | Genetically Modified Seeds: Monsanto is Putting Normal Seeds Out of Reach | Milk trial defence: Raw milk is safe and food choice a right | Milk trial prosecution: Cow share contracts ‘a preferred customer list’ | Study Finds High-Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury | Farmer turns to Constitution as defence at raw-milk trial | UK Hospitals will take meat off menus in bid to cut carbon | Raw milk crusader returns to court to fight charges | Listeria files withheld due to ’systemic’ problems with access to information | UK Environment minister calls for international food treaty, GM foods at Fabian Society address | SWAT Teams raiding Amish, Food Co-ops in Rural US | GM Crops Climb to Nearly One-Tenth of Global Crop Production | Raw milk producer fined $55,000 | “Trace amounts” of Melamine found in Canadian infant formula | FDA finds traces of melamine in U.S. infant formula | Rich countries, corporations launch great land grab | Genetically engineered meal close to your table | The GM genocide: Thousands of Indian farmers are committing suicide after using genetically modified crops | Ottawa to revive bill restricting natural health products | Europe’s secret plan to boost GM crop production | Ontario farmer found guilty of contempt in raw-milk trial | Health Canada adds bisphenol A to list of toxic substances | Listeria reporting rule dropped before crisis | Tests find melamine in candies, milk, infant formula from China | New study raises concerns Bisphenol-A could be related to heart disease | Govt. Report: Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Raw milk fans rally at court for dairy farmer | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | Shun meat, says UN climate chief | Are we already dining on clones? | Bisphenol tied to lower brain function | Radiation touted to protect meat | GM crops could lead to ‘disaster’: Prince Charles | Chemical Industry Source of Hyped FDA Study ‘Exonerating’ Plastic Bottles | You can’t stop the raw milk, activist says | Small Farmers Pushed to Plant GM Seed | American thinktanks sowed seeds of food crisis | Sludge biosolids decried as ‘toxic stew’, used as fertilizer | Home-grown veg ruined by toxic fertiliser | Agribusiness positions GM crops as panacea to predicted global food shortage | Billions needed annually to raise food production: UN chief | Monsanto Plans to Save World with its Biotech Crops | Naturopaths Fear Proposed Bill C-51 | Farmer Surveilled, Raided for Natural Milk Operation has Trial Delayed | High-level UN task force to tackle global food crisis | Farmers to kill off 150,000 pigs | Head of IMF says if food prices remain high, consequences are dire | Canada’s C-51 Law May Outlaw 60% Of Natural Health Products | Codex Alimentarius — An Emerging Threat | Codex Alimentarius Commission adopts more than 50 new food standards

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