13. New Report Documents Organic
Agriculture in Michigan State University
A new report developed collaboratively by Michigan State University and
the Michigan Organic Food and Farm Alliance provides information about
Michigan’s certified organic farms and processing businesses. Data from
a 2005 statewide survey as well as national surveys conducted by USDA’s
Economic Research Service and the Organic Farming Research Foundation provide
an important perspective about Michigan’s current organic agriculture
status and how Michigan contributes to the region and beyond.
Among the report’s findings:
The report provides a
profile of Michigan organic farms and farmers. It addresses their farming
practices, marketing practices, processors, participation in government
programs and views on policy issues. You may view and download a copy of the
report at www.moffa.org. Click on Michigan
Organic Survey.
6th May 2007, 4:54 WST
Associated Press
http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=379474
Organic food has long been considered a niche market and a luxury for
wealthy consumers. But researchers have told a UN conference a large-scale
shift to organic agriculture could actually help fight world hunger while improving
the environment.
Crop
yields initially can drop as much as 50 per cent when industrialized,
conventional agriculture using chemical fertilizers and pesticides is converted
to organic. While such decreases often even out over time and promote other benefits,
the figures have kept the organic movement largely on the sidelines of
discussions about feeding the hungry.
Researchers
in Denmark found, however, that there would not be any serious negative effect
on food security for sub-Saharan Africa if 50 per cent of agricultural land in
the food exporting regions of Europe and North America were converted to
organic by 2020.
While
total food production would drop, the amount per crop would be much less than
previously assumed, and the rise in world food prices that resulted could be
mitigated by improvements in the land and other benefits, the study found.
A similar
conversion to organic farming in sub-Saharan Africa could help the region's
hungry because it could reduce their need to import food, Niels Halberg, a
senior scientist at the Danish Research Centre for Organic Food and Farming,
told the UN conference on Organic Agriculture and Food Security.
Farmers
who go back to using traditional agricultural methods would not have to spend
money on expensive chemicals and would grow more diverse crops that are more
sustainable, the report said. In addition, if their food is certified organic,
farmers could export any surpluses, bringing in cash, since organic food has
such premium prices.
Alexander
Mueller, assistant director-general of the UN Food and Agriculture
Organisation, or FAO, praised the report and noted that projections indicated
the number of hungry people in sub-Saharan Africa was only expected to grow.
Considering
that the impact of climate change will target the world's poor and most
vulnerable, "a shift to organic agriculture could be beneficial", he
said.
The
Rome-based FAO's Nadia El-Hage Scialabba, who organised the conference, pointed
to other studies of a hypothetical food supply that she said indicated organic
agriculture could produce enough food per capita to feed the current world's
population.
One such
study, by the University of Michigan, found a global shift to organic
agriculture would yield at least 2,641 kilocalories per person per day, just
under the world's current production of 2,786, and as many as 4,381
kilocalories per person per day, researchers reported.
"These
models suggest that organic agriculture has the potential to secure a global
food supply, just as conventional agriculture today, but with reduced
environmental impacts," Scialabba said in a paper presented to the
conference.
However,
she stressed that the studies were only that - economic models.
The UN defines organic agriculture as a
"holistic" food system that avoids the use of synthetic fertilisers
and pesticides, minimises pollution and optimises the health of plants, animals
and people. It is commercially practiced in 120 countries and represented a
$US40 billion ($A48.6 billion) market last year, Scialabba said.
15. Getting Started in
Exporting Workshop
Learn Step-by-Step the
Process of
How to Expand Your Business by Entering
the Export Market
Discover
the opportunities in international food markets and how federal assistance
programs can help increase your export sales.
June
14, East Lansing, MI
Join the
Food Export - Midwest and the Michigan Department of Agriculture on June 14th
at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center at Michigan State University in East
Lansing, Michigan to discuss exciting opportunities in the export market as
well as the federal assistance programs available to help U.S. food exporters
break into new markets.
You'll
learn the keys to exporting success:
This
workshop is sure to educate and energize your company for the export process.
For additional information, please review the attached
flyer or contact Jamie Zmitko-Somers at (517) 241-3628 or [log in to unmask].
THAT’S ALL FOR THIS TIME,
Happy Farming ! :)