New federal rules that define what makes milk and meat organic have natural food advocates optimistic that the government is committed to ensuring the label means something.
U.S. consumers bought $24 billion worth of organic products in 2008. But for many, the purchases came with uncertainty about what they were getting for their money.
Nearly 10 percent of all agricultural land in the Czech Republic is now given over to organic farming, according to new data from the Ministry of Agriculture. The number of organic farms in the country at the end of 2009 was just under 2,700, an increase of 50 percent on the previous year that is due at least in part to government subsidies. I discussed the growth in the sector with Vojtěch Kotecký of the Czech branch of Friends of the Earth.
At least five times during the last decade, the National Organic Standards Board – a key USDA advisory panel made-up of industry stakeholders – passed guidance or recommended regulatory changes clarifying the requirement that dairy cows and other ruminants must be allowed to exhibit their native behavior and consume a meaningful amount of their feed from grazing on pastures.
Ready-to-eat, organic processed pork products look similar to conventionally cured meats. The organic versions have become popular among consumers as processors work to meet the demand. Although the natural and organic processed meat products are manufactured to simulate traditionally cured meat products as closely as possible, they\'re not exactly alike.
There were a total number of 129 493 votes given for the new logo design to be applied to all organic products across the European Union from July 2010.
Since 1 January 2009, revised organic legislation has to be applied by farmers, processors, distributers, control bodies and control authorities as well as by competent authorities in each EU Member State. More information are available in the new organic legislation section (http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/organic/news/press-releases_en#organic)
The new rules on organic aquaculture and seaweeds received a qualified majority in the relevant regulatory committee – the SCOF (Standing Committee of Organic Farming). The final text will be formally adopted by the Commission later in July 2009. With an application date of 1st July 2010, aquaculture and seaweed products can be certified in good time to appear on the market bearing the new EU logo for organic products.
The European Union guarantees the traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms and products produced from GMOs throughout the food chain. Traceability of GMOs allows the monitoring and checking of information given on labels, the monitoring of effects on the environment and the withdrawal of GMOs which are potentially dangerous for human or animal health.
The placing on the market of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and foodstuffs containing these, whether they are intended for consumption by humans or animals, is regulated by a specific authorisation procedure. This of food and feed must be labelled as GMO to enable consumers to make an informed choice of such products. It must also follow the traceability standards laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1830/2003 for improved protection of human and animal health.
The European Union (EU) defines the priorities and objectives of European environment policy up to 2010 and beyond and describes the measures to be taken to help implement its sustainable development strategy.
The Regulation establishes a harmonised framework for the production, labelling and inspection of agricultural products and foodstuffs in order to increase consumer confidence in such products and ensure fair competition between producers.
A documentary about rural Cyprus, for people who visit Cyprus and are not aware about its rural domains!
See: http://www.cyprus-tube.com/en/cyprus-tube.html?task=videodirectlink&id=582
Contact: Orestis TRINGIDES E-mail: orestis(a)amalgamacy.info
respectful and humane way, the European Commission launched on 10 November \"Farmland,\" the European children\'s website on animal welfare. \"Farmland\" is an interactive and informative online computer game targeting children aged between 9 and 12, which also aims to help tomorrow\'s consumers be in a position to make informed choices about the food they will be buying.
See: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/dyna/consumervoice/create_cv.cfm?cv_id=476
A Flash Eurobarometer study, presented by the European Commission on 9 October, reveals that European citizens have a generally negative perception of animal cloning for food production.
See: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/dyna/consumervoice/create_cv.cfm?cv_id=480
The non-governmental organization «Theofilos» was established in October 2004. This organization developed a promotional network for Organic Products, in five Greek districts (Arta, Ioannina, Florina, Drama and Evros).
The 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress will be based on the IFOAM Principles of Organic Agriculture: Health, Fairness, Ecology and Care. The conference also includes workshops, seminars, round
tables, forums, active and living poster sessions.
Organic.Edunet: A Multilingual Federation of Learning Repositories with Quality Content for the Awareness and Education of European Youth about Organic Agriculture and Agroecology
Organic.Edunet aims to facilitate access, usage and exploitation of digital educational content related to Organic Agriculture (OA) and Agroecology. It will deploy a multilingual online federation of learning repositories, populated with quality content from various content producers. In addition, it will deploy a multilingual online environment (the Organic.Edunet Web portal) that will facilitate end-users’ search, retrieval, access and use of the content in the learning repositories.
The project will study educational scenarios that introduce the use of the Organic.Edunet portal and content to support teaching of topics related to OA and Agroecology in two cases of formal educational systems, i.e., high-schools and agricultural universities. Furthermore, it will evaluate project results in the context of pilot demonstrators in pilot educational institutions, as well as through open validation events where external interested stakeholders will be invited.
Organic.Edunet focuses on achieving interoperability between the digital collections of OA and Agroecology content that producers in various EU countries have developed, as well as facilitating publication, access, and use of this content in multilingual learning contexts through a single European reference point. In this way, digital content that can be used to educate European Youth about the benefits of OA and Agroecology, will become easily accessible, usable and exploitable.
A recent study published in "Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems" by Cambridge University Press, is focused on the matter of whether a switch to organic farming could provide the necessary supplies for sustainable feed worldwide.
Organised by IFOAM EU Group, the European Organic Congress will be held in Brussels on 4-5 December 2007, focusing on the future EU policy on organic food and farming within the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) and the evaluation of the implementation of the European Action Plan on Organic Food and Farming three and half years after it was launched.
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 807/2007 of 10 July 2007
amending Annex II to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs
There were a total number of 129 493 votes given for the new logo design to be applied to all organic products across the European Union from July 2010.
