The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems.

8/18: San Francisco Chronicle. How Investors Inflate Commodities' Bubble

8/15: Asia Times. Food Aid Left off the Table

8/11: City Pages. Mini Markets

8/08: Business Daily Africa. Why Doha Trade Talks Were Bound to Fail

8/07: Capital Times. Trade Talks' Collapse a Victory for Main Street

8/05: Foreign Policy in Focus. The Food Crisis and Global Institutions

8/01: Inter-Press Service. New World Order in Doha's Wake

7/31: Minnesota Public Radio. Group Questions Pesticide's Health Effects

7/31: Esquerda. OMC: A Ronda de Doha ficou para trás

7/31: Stockholms Fria. Frihandelsavtal bröt samman

7/30: La Jornada. Doha quedó atrás

7/30. Tribune de Geneve. L’OMC peut-elle survivre à l'échec des négociations?

7/30: Star Tribune. Eat Local Longer

7/29: Nachrichten. Industrie enttäuscht, Attac erfreut

7/29: Reuters. WTO Talks Collapse Amid Farm Stand-off

7/28: Inter-Press Service. Subsidies (and Food Prices) Soar at Doha

7/27: Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Power Plant: Camelina Finding New Purpose as Biofuel Source

7/26: International Herald Tribune. Hopes of Reaching World Trade Deal Revive at WTO

7/24: Reuters. WTO Protestors Absent During Geneva Talks

7/23: City Pages. Tim Pawlenty: Governor No

7/23: In These Times. Let Them Eat Free Markets

7/22: Bloomberg. U.S. Deepens Offer to Cap Trade-Distorting Farm Aid

7/22: Agence France Presse. USA zu Kürzung ihrer Agrarsubventionen bereit

7/22: A Tarde. Amorim: Proposta Dos Eua Na OMC É Pouco Ambiciosa

7/21: Inter-Press Service. Realpolitic Takes Over

7/18: Reuters. Will a Global Trade Treaty Hurt More Than it Helps?

7/10: Baltimore Sun. Penicillin in Peril

7/9: Iowa Farmer Today. Time to Remodel Iowa Ag

7/8: Sojourners. A Human Made Disaster

7/2: Bloomberg. Sarkozy's Criticism of Mandelson May Spell Doom for WTO Talks

Trade Talks Collapse, New Direction Needed

In July, trade talks at the World Trade Organization in Geneva broke down. It has now been seven years since the Doha Round of negotiations began at the WTO. IATP’s Geneva Office monitored the mini-ministerial meeting that led to the latest breakup in the WTO talks.

“Pursuing the same WTO model is impossible now: governments are no longer willing to sacrifice other concerns strictly for the sake of trade,” commented IATP’s Carin Smaller, Director of IATP’s Trade Information Project. “People are on the streets rioting over food and energy prices. The business world is in a state of shock over the financial crisis. These are the problems that governments have to focus on. And the Doha Round cannot help them.”

Following the collapse of the WTO talks, IATP published three new papers as part of our “New Global Contract” series. The series highlights how rules set at global institutions like the WTO, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund conflict with other basic human, economic, cultural and environmental rights, and how a new system is needed to tackle today’s key challenges.

“People around the world recognize that the current form of economic globalization is not working,” said Alexandra Spieldoch, Director of IATP’s Trade and Global Governance Program. “The food and climate crises compel us to rebuild a new global system based on the needs of people, communities and the environment.”

You can read more on the WTO talks, blog reports from Geneva, our New Global Contract series and how global institutions can better address the food crisis at tradeobservatory.org.

The Local Foods Season

August and September are traditionally the best months for local food lovers, as both farmers and consumers enjoy this amazing harvest time. IATP’s Local Foods program has been doing its part to strengthen local foods systems by connecting farmers and consumers, working on extending the growing season, pushing for policies that expand access to local foods for all communities and exchanging local food ideas with people around the world.

This summer, IATP helped organize six mini-markets hosted and managed by local community organizations in Minneapolis neighborhoods that have limited offerings of fresh, healthy foods. All of the markets accept Farmers Market Nutrition Program food assistance coupons, and are linked with local food shelves, to which farmers donate leftover produce. IATP, along with the city of Minneapolis, has published a “how-to” guide for community organizations interested starting their own mini-market.

One challenge for local foods systems in the Upper Midwest is the short growing season. This is why IATP’s Sow the Seeds Fund and regional food co-ops, restaurants and farm organizations have launched the “Local Longer” campaign. By enabling farmers to plant earlier in the spring and harvest later in the fall, season extension can help farmers' businesses grow, and the supply of locally grown fruits and vegetables to expand. The Local Longer campaign will support farmer outreach and education, and research into production-related season extension methods suited to the growing conditions in the Upper Midwest. IATP’s award-winning, 100 percent fair trade and organic coffee company, Peace Coffee, has concocted a special Sow the Seeds blend, with ten percent of sales going to support the effort.

Reforms in public policy can play an important role in developing our local food systems. In the U.S. an increasing number of people are participating in government food and nutrition assistance programs. A new IATP report, “Food Stamps, Food Security and Public Health: Lessons from Minnesota” by Carla Kaiser, looks at some of the challenges within the current Food Stamp program and offers recommendations for expanding access to healthier fruits and vegetables. Farm to School programs offer another opportunity to expand access to local foods. More than 30 million U.S. children eat a school lunch. These programs connect schools with local farms to bring healthy meals to school cafeterias, improve student nutrition, provide health and nutrition education opportunities, and support local family farmers. IATP’s JoAnne Berkenkamp is promoting Farm to School programs in Minnesota as part of the Community Food Security Coalition’s National Farm to School Network.

Finally, many countries around the world hear only about the U.S. industrial agriculture model, and know little about the rapidly growing local foods movement in the U.S. To share Minnesota’s experience, IATP invited a student from Remnin University in China to spend a season on an American Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm. The university is pioneering CSA and consumer food cooperative projects in China. Incoming doctoral candidate Shi Yan arrived in Minnesota in the second week of April 2008 to start her internship at the Earthrise Farm—a small CSA farm run by two Catholic nuns near the Minnesota-South Dakota border. Shi Yan has been blogging about her experiences at Earthrise Farm. You can find a translated version of the blog entries, and more background on how this exchange came about, from IATP President Jim Harkness’ blog:

Victory for Consumers! Phthalates and Lead Banned in Children’s Toys

In a major victory for parents and children’s health advocates, the U.S. Congress passed legislation establishing the first-ever national standards for the toxic chemicals lead and phthalates in toys and child care products. Phthalates are ever-present, found in toys, soft plastics, cosmetics, lotions and many other products. They have been linked to low sperm count and other reproductive effects, as well as liver and kidney damage.

“This marks an important shift to a precautionary approach to protecting children’s health,” said IATP’s Lindsay Dahl, coordinator of the Minnesota-based Healthy Legacy coalition. “This is the right way to move ahead to achieve comprehensive reform of our nation’s out of date system for regulating chemicals in consumer products.” A dozen states introduced toxic toys bills over the past year. Minnesota passed a phase-out of phthalates with a two-thirds majority in both Houses, but the bill was vetoed by Governor Tim Pawlenty. California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Vermont and Washington all have laws in place to regulate chemicals in children's products. These state actions, along with outraged parents and concerned medical professionals, helped spark Congressional action.

For more details go to Healthy Legacy.

Test Biomass Harvests in Northern Minnesota Yield Important Lessons

A series of test forest biomass harvests from the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota indicate that such harvests could reduce the cost of fire prevention management while providing work for loggers and fuel for renewable energy facilities. The findings were released in the study, “Harvesting Fuel: Cutting Costs and Reducing Forest Fire Hazards Through Biomass Harvest,” coauthored by Don Arnosti (Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy), Dr. Dalia Abbas (University of Minnesota) and Dr. Michael Demchik (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point). Biomass is material in the forest not traditionally utilized in pulpwood or sawtimber markets, such as shrubs, small-diameter trees, tree branches and coarse woody debris.

“While the test harvests took place in Minnesota, we believe many of the lessons from this research will be applicable around the country,” said Arnosti. “If we are smart about how we harvest biomass, we can reduce fire risks, cut forest management costs and provide a source of renewable fuel.”

The full study, along with an Executive Summary, can be viewed at IATP's Community Forestry Resource Center.

Global Food Safety Monitor

When it comes to food, we live in a global system. Food contamination in one country can affect consumers in multiple countries. Can we improve the safety of food transported around the world?

In a new e-newsletter, Global Food Safety Monitor, IATP's Steve Suppan will cover the challenges of setting strong international food safety regulations that protect public health. In the first issue, Steve writes about the U.S.-Korea Beef dispute, attempts to reach a food safety agreement between the U.S. and China, and a U.S. dispute with the European Union over chicken exports. You can go here if you are interested in subscribing to this free quarterly newsletter.

Think Forward Blog

IATP’s Think Forward blog has been busy this summer, with IATP staff reporting from farms in China, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization summit in Rome, the WTO talks in Geneva, a seminar on plant genetics in Mexico City and Minneapolis farmers markets. Read Think Forward.

Radio Sustain

Check out IATP’s Radio Sustain podcast, where in a special “Food Crisis” edition we talk with IATP’s Sophia Murphy on the causes of the food crisis, Carin Smaller on what is being done and Anne Laure Constantin on how higher food prices could affect farmers.

Upcoming Events

Peace Island: Hope in a Time of Crisis – September 2-3 – St. Paul, Minn.
IATP President Jim Harkness will speak on the food crisis at this conference emphasizing positive solutions to the major challenges of our time. The conference will be held at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minn. More on Peace Island: Hope in a Time of Crisis - A Solutions Driven Conference.

The Food Price Explosion: What Can the WTO Do? – September 25 – Geneva, Switzerland
IATP has organized a panel discussion on the food crisis at the World Trade Organization’s Public Forum, with experts from the NGO community as well as representatives from the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund.

First Rural African Summit – October 26 and 27 – St. Cloud, Minn.
Africans living and working throughout the Midwestern U.S. will come together in St. Cloud to discuss their experiences living in rural America, with a focus on successes and opportunities. With over 20,000 Africans already living in rural areas of Minnesota, this first annual summit will provide a forum for African community leaders, officials, providers, religious leaders, educators and business people to learn from each other about the economic and social benefits, and challenges of rural life for African immigrants. Contact IATP's Garat Ibrahim for more details.

Donate to IATP! You can help. IATP does very important work to keep family farmers on the land, to ensure the safety of our food supply and to preserve biodiversity and the environment for future generations. We cannot do this work without you. Your tax-deductible contribution will help us secure a sustainable world. For more information about our programs, or if you would like to discuss different contribution options, please contact Kate Hoff, Development Director, at khoff@iatp.org or (612) 870-3404. We appreciate your interest in our work. Thank you for your support.

IATP News is an occasional publication reporting on recent events and activities at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP). It is sent to board members, supporters, partners and friends. Your comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)
Jim Harkness, President
2105 First Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404 USA
Tel. 1 (612) 870-0453 Fax. 1 (612) 870-4846
Email: iatp@iatp.org Web: iatp.org