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Commodities
Government accused of being a ‘bad egg’
The government was criticised today for condemning millions of chickens to miserable lives by failing to require high standards of animal welfare for food served in schools, hospitals and care homes.
Government research shows that almost all eggs purchased by public sector institutions are from caged hens. The research concludes that ‘at best’ less than 10% of eggs bought by government were from non-caged sources, such as barn, free range and organic eggs [1]. In comparison, almost half of the eggs sold in supermarkets are free range [2], showing that Government purchasing is out of touch with public opinion.
Read more here
First Fairtrade olive oil goes on sale
The first Fairtrade certified olive oil in the world has gone on sale in British supermarkets. Its launch marks the start of Fairtrade fortnight (23 February- 8 March). The oil is produced organically using traditional farming methods, which encourages biodiversity. According to Nasser Abufarha, the chairman of the Palestinian Fairtrade Association, this initiative is of cultural importance as it will encourage a bond between producers and ethical consumers.
UK government to invest heavily to combat problem of declining bees
The environment secretary Hilary Benn has announced that the UK government will invest an extra £4.3m in helping to protect the UK bee population. The National Bee Unit (NBU) will receive an extra £2.3m over the next two years, while over the next five year investment into bee health research will triple. Bees are crucial in agriculture as they pollinate crops, but Defra has reported a significant decline in the number of bees in the UK.
The Co-op has launched Plan Bee which aims to combat the recent decline in the UK bee population. The ten-point plan includes strategies such as banning of certain pesticides linked to bee death, an information and education campaign and an investment of £150, 000 into research into the problem. The Co-operative is the UK’s largest farmer and a leader on environmental issues, and as such is deeply concerned by the plight of bees in the UK and worldwide. In the UK alone bees contribute £165m a year to the economy through pollination, but in the winter and spring of 2008 one in three UK honeybee hives were lost.
Bangladeshi microfinance bank Grameen and French food giant Danone have teamed up to create micro-nutrient ‘power yoghurt’ Shokti Doi. The Grameen Danone Foods social enterprise pairs up Danone’s expertise in making the yoghurt with Grameen’s marketing knowledge of and reputation in Bangladesh to create a product aiming to fight child malnutrition and provide local jobs. Grameen has been active for over three decades, making small loans to poor Bangladeshis with no collateral who large western banks will not touch. These customers are people such as the thousands of ‘Grameen Ladies’ who are now selling Shokti Doi in villages across Bangladesh for a small profit on each pot they sell. Unusually for today’s global banking system, the loans are based on trust- but as Muhammad Yunus, the founder, points out “such loans have a 100% repayment record”. After initial problems Shokti Doi is now doing well and there is hope that it will achieve its social objectives, and maybe even become a national product in Bangladesh. Read more...
ProTerra certification programme
New third-party verification that food has been produced sustainably could help food makers tap the growing trend towards ethical consumerism.
The ProTerra Certification Programme from Cert ID provides socially and environmentally responsible companies with the opportnity to obtain recognition of their practices, and be confident that the materials they purchase have not been produced in a manner that contributes to social and environmental degradation.
The soy sector will be the first where ProTerra will be implemented, but it will also be extended to other crops and applied to every phase of the food chain.
New crop varieties could help cool the Earth
Food crops could help to keep the Earth's temperatures down and slow global warming, say scientists. By growing plants that can reflect more of the sun's radiation back into space, parts of Europe and North America could be cooled by 1°C in the summer, the equivalent of stopping billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere over the next century, reports Alok Jha. However the WWF warns that ideas like this should be approached with caution, and not replace other methods such as clean energy and stopping deforestation.
Fish, the small-scale and sustainability
“Providing development support to fishing communities … can help achieve poverty reduction and facilitate the adoption of responsible fishery practices” says Eddie Allinson. He argues that programmes such as the Sustainable Fisheries Livelihood Programme (SFLP) which address social issues such as poverty, even factors unrelated to fishing activities, are vital in creating sustainability and effective resource management. Increasing resource-user involvement also plays a vital role in empowering marginalized communities and ensuring the future status of fish stocks is considered.
