IFOAM: 1st International Conference of Wheat Landraces for Healthy Food Systems’

IFOAM – Organics International invites interested parties to their 1^st International Conference of Wheat Landraces for Healthy Food Systems taking place on 13-15 June 2018 in Bologna, Italy.

Insect mortality: EU Commission to take action

According to the EU Press Office, the following new measures are proposed: a new indicator to improve monitoring and data and better coordination of EU action in different sectors and policy areas to counter the social and economic impact of the decline in pollinating insects.

Navdanya International: Experts met to draft a manifesto on Food For Health

Last month, experts from around the world met at a conference in Florence in order to work on drafting a manifesto on “Food for Health”. The meeting was introduced by Caroline Lockhart, vice president of Navdanya International, who also reviewed the steps that led to the establishment of the International Commission for the Future of Food and Agriculture.

OTA: US organic market worth $49.4 bn

Recently, the Organic Trade Association (OTA) released its annual Organic Industry Survey 2017. As the study shows, the number of organic products purchased in the USA increased again – up to 6.4% within last year. Further, the OTA revealed that the American organic market is growing six times as fast as the market as a whole.

EU plastic regulation puts manufacturers under obligation

According to a proposal by the EU Commission, ten disposable plastic products are to be withdrawn from the European market.

Germany: Glyphosate study "tree bark"

An alliance of organic producers and traders wants to promote "agriculture suitable for the grandchildren". Experts assume that pesticides spread via the air and are quasi ubiquitous. A tree bark study on the initiative "Aktion Ackergifte? No, thank you" will prove that.

India: Uttarakhand with a law for organic

The government of  the North Indian state Uttarakhand will soon bring in  a law to  give organic farming a legal backing, writes the Hindustan Times. The reason is a big demand for organic products in the domestic and foreign markets.

Ukraine: organic porridge record

At the largest agricultural exhibition of Eastern Europe, Agroport West Lviv 2018, held in the Ukraine, a new record was set.The biggest amount of cereal porridge was cooked from the certified organic products only.

Spain: Nestlé launches organic products for the first time

For the first time, food group Nestlé has introduced several organic products on the Spanish market. The launched products include the full range of NaturNes Bio baby food and a few organic coffee products.

Sustainable Food Award finalists announced

The finalists for the premier Sustainable Food Awards have been announced by Ecovia Intelligence. After much deliberation, the jury has selected the following finalists per award category.

New GMO documentary: “The Peril On Your Plate”

The Russian media company RT produced “The Peril on Your Plate”, an English language documentary for its RTDoc channel. Reporter Ekaterina Yakovleva meets people who lift the lid on the perils of GMOs and the chemicals used in the industry.

Cocoa conference: Hunger prices for cheap chocolate

"The cocoa sector will only be sustainable when farmers earn a living." This was stated in the Berlin Declaration adopted at the end of the 4th International Cocoa Conference that took place recently in the German capital. The three-day meeting of around 1,500 cocoa industry players focused on the continuing catastrophic living conditions of cocoa producers, particularly in West Africa. We took a closer look on the cocoa industry and on the organic sector.

UK: Defra released organic farming statistics for 2017

Data compiled by approved organic certification bodies are the basis for the organic farming statistics 2017. It presents estimates of the land area farmed organically, crop areas, livestock numbers and numbers of organic producers and processors in the United Kingdom.

Nature Bio Foods setting up subsidaries in USA and the Netherlands

Haryana-headquartered organic and fairtrade company, Nature Bio-Foods (NBFL) Limited, which contributes 10% to India’s per year, has announced the launch of two international wholly owned subsidiaries.

India-produced organic shrimp will cater for EU market

During the India International Seafood Show held in Goa in January 2018, the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with M/s Coop Cooperative, Switzerland, for the development of organic aquaculture in India with an objective to tap the growing EU market for organic marine products.

Fairtrade: German GEPA looks back to a positive year 2017

The German fair trade pioneer GEPA continued its stable development in 2017 with wholesale sales of 72.4 million euros (minus 1.9 %). Consumers bought the company's products for around 114 million euros (sales at retail prices).

Monsanto met with contempt by media

First results of Ramazzini Institute´s Global Glyphosate Study were presented officially in a press conference at the European Parliament. Sustainable Pulse commented Monsanto has committed an epic fail.

EU: new organic farming rules adopted

In a press release the Council of the European Union informed that on 22 May the Council adopted new EU rules on organic production and the labelling of organic products.

Green Brexit: the future for food, farming and environment

The British association Organic Farmers and Growers (OF&G) together with other leading organic organisations is urging government to recognise the opportunities organic offers to deliver a green Brexit.

Germany: more and more organic eggs from factory farming

The size of poultry houses for organic laying hens has once again become an issue in the German media: there is an increasing trend to big poultry houses. It's not possible to see where this will lead because the new EU Organic Regulation approves the current practice in Germany and a number of other EU countries of keeping 30,000 and more organic hens in one poultry house. When consumers buy their eggs they have no information regarding the size of a particular poultry house.