What’s New in Michigan Organic Ag?
Jan 29 – Feb 5

1.       Harmful pesticides found in everyday food products

2.       ALMar Orchards gains national attention for use of pigs, not pesticide

3.       World Bank offering US $4 million in grants for innovations in agriculture

4.         Take Action on the Farm Bill

Notice of Position Openings

5.       Full Time Summer Intern Position in Leelanau County, MI.

6.       Join the Summer Crew at The Student Organic Farm! 

7.       Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings Program Organizer Job Opening in MN.

8.       Production Agriculture Summer Intern in Suttons Bay,

9.       Vista Volunteer-Full Circle Farm in Silicon Valley, CA

Events

10.     Winter Wheat Management. Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Sanilac Career Center, Peck, MI.

11.     Michigan Organic Conference: The Next Steps for Consumers and Producers. Feb. 29 – March 1.

12.     Michigan Organic Food & Farming Reporting Session. March 5.

13.                  The Alternative and Renewable Energy Summit at Grand Valley State University. March 11.

14.                  Choices: The conference that celebrates food and health!  AND 2008 USDA FNS  Midwest Region Cross Program Collaboration Conference

15.                  Marketing Opportunity for Michigan Farmers! February 15.

16.                  What production grower meeting Feb 27

1.       Harmful pesticides found in everyday food products

Mercer Island children tested in yearlong study

By ANDREW SCHNEIDER
P-I SENIOR CORRESPONDENT

Government promises to rid the nation's food supply of brain-damaging pesticides aren't doing the job, according to the results of a yearlong study that carefully monitored the diets of a group of local children.

The peer-reviewed study found that the urine and saliva of children eating a variety of conventional foods from area groceries contained biological markers of organophosphates, the family of pesticides spawned by the creation of nerve gas agents in World War II.

When the same children ate organic fruits, vegetables and juices, signs of pesticides were not found.

"The transformation is extremely rapid," said Chensheng Lu, the principal author of the study published online in the current issue of Environmental Health Perspectives.

"Once you switch from conventional food to organic, the pesticides (malathion and chlorpyrifos) that we can measure in the urine disappears. The level returns immediately when you go back to the conventional diets," said Lu, a professor at Emory University's School of Public Health and a leading authority on pesticides and children.

Within eight to 36 hours of the children switching to organic food, the pesticides were no longer detected in the testing.

2.       ALMar Orchards gains national attention for use of pigs, not pesticide

January 28, 2008

BY L.L. BRASIER

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Pass by Jim Koan's 120-acre apple orchard this spring and you could well spy dozens of baby Berkshire hogs marauding under the trees -- miniature porkers scarfing up fruit and grubbing in the soil.

A case of hogs gone wild?

No. It's an experiment in organic farming gaining national attention, and the pork-and-apple program at Koan's ALMar Orchards in Flushing is getting accolades from Michigan State University researchers who say it may someday help fruit growers reduce pesticide use.

Koan, like many orchard keepers, has long been plagued by the Plum Curculio Beetle, a quarter-inch pest that burrows into the young fruit to lay its eggs. The infestation makes the apples drop prematurely.

The larvae migrate from rotting fruit into the soil. The adult beetle then emerges to attack the remaining fruit, and the cycle continues.

To continue reading this article visit http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080128/NEWS03/801280335/

3.       World Bank offering US $4 million in grants for innovations in agriculture

Washington, DC January 22, 2008 - The 2008 Global Development Marketplace

(DM2008) competition was launched today, offering $4 million in grants to

social entrepreneurs with innovative ideas that have potential for high impact

in promoting sustainable agriculture.

The competition this year is focused on the theme of "Sustainable Agriculture

for Development." It is asking participants to focus on solutions to

agricultural challenges in developing countries such as linking small-scale

farmers to markets; improving land access for poor farmers; and promoting the

environmental services of agriculture in addressing climate change and

biodiversity conservation.

DM2008 awards will support 25-30 of the most innovative ideas that advance

sustainable agriculture in developing countries. Typically, DM competitions

attract close to 3,000 applicants, which are then narrowed down to about 100

finalists. Finalists of DM2008 will be invited to the competition's Marketplace

event in Washington, September 24-25, to compete for grants and participate in

knowledge exchange activities.

"The Development Marketplace has proven to be an effective mechanism for

identifying innovative projects with great development potential," said

Katherine Sierra, Vice President of the Sustainable Development Network, who

oversees the World Bank's agriculture portfolio. "Tapping into that resource is

a valuable opportunity to identify and support emerging ideas within

sustainable agriculture."

Global DM competitions are held every 12 to 18 months. Since 1998, they have awarded more than $30 million to nearly 300 projects worldwide. Past competitions have identified and funded innovative ideas including: a new water pump in Zimbabwe made from common waste materials; promoting literacy in India by placing same language subtitles on popular Hindi music videos; and creating an agriculture e-marketplace that provides price updates via cell phone text messaging to small farmers in the Philippines.

As a seed-funder, The Development Marketplace serves as a launching pad for

projects to prove their concept, scale-up, or replicate. In the words of Trevor

Field, a winner from the 2003 competition: "Without [Development Marketplace]

funding, we'd still be in our infancy. Now we can fly."

The themes of DM2008 stem from the recently published World Development Report (WDR) 2008. Sierra said the WDR renews the consensus on the positive role that agriculture can provide as an engine of growth, an instrument of poverty

alleviation, and as a provider of environmental services.

Eligibility criteria, competition guidelines and step-by-step instructions are

available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish

at the DM website: www.developmentmarketplace.org

<http://www.developmentmarketplace.org/> . Proposals will be accepted in

English only through March 21, 2008 (23:00 GMT).

###

For more information about the World Bank visit www.worldbank.org

<http://www.worldbank.org/>

For more information about the Development Marketplace in Africa visit

www.developmentmarketplace.org <http://www.developmentmarketplace.org/>

For more information about the World Bank's role in Agriculture and Rural

Development visit

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTARD/0,,menuPK:336688~pagePK:149018~piPK:149093~theSitePK:336682,00.html

Vicki Morrone

Organic Vegetable and Crop Outreach Specialist

Michigan State University

C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems

303 Natural Resources Bldg.

East Lansing, MI 48824

517-353-3542

517-282-3557 (cell)

517-353-3834 (fax)

For information on organic agriculture production please visit: http://www.MichiganOrganic.msu.edu/

P Please consider the environment before printing this email

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