Posted on

TabakNee

This is a new website in the Netherlands (Dutch language) that’s getting a lot of attention locally.

The website was set up by two lung specialists.  Their goal is to prevent tobacco use, in particular among young people, and to that end they want to openly discuss the tactics used by the tobacco lobby to achieve their goals.

An important part of the website, and what’s gaining the most attention, is their revealing all the known links between the Dutch government and tobacco industry.  It’s a very aggressive naming and shaming of the big players, and involves some very well known people in the country, like the Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health.

There’s been a remarkable change in this country in the last few years.  We’ve gone from almost no smoking controls, even to the extent that some school teachers smoked in front of the children during class, to a partial public smoking ban and active discussion of youth smoking. There’s even some discussion about going to plain cigarette packaging, like has just happened in Australia.

Even though an international treaty that Holland is a signatory of requires it, and some 80% of the country is in favor, we still don’t have a comprehensive public smoking ban!

There’s really increasing impatience with the smoking lobby here, and as the lung doctors who started the website point out, dealing with the tactics of the smoking lobby is really the first important step in dealing with the overall problem in the country.

This website is likely to be very effective here.  Already nearly all the important political parties and politicians have had some reaction to it, if only to say they don’t find it meaningful.  If a politician here says something like this website isn’t meaningful, that means they’re scared!  A couple of important political parties have come forward to say they agree with the goals of the website.

Holland is a small country, making something like this more effective than in a place like the US, where there are so many jurisdictions and politicians.  I still think something like this could help a lot in the battle against the food industry, almost anywhere in the world.

Anyone out there looking for a good project to get started on?

Posted on

Industry Misinformation and Embedded Advertising

A link to this New York Times article showed up in one of my RSS feeds the other day.  I don’t read the New York Times very much, and if this article is an indication of their current level of journalism, this must be the reason.

A few years ago in Europe they changed the rules in most countries concerning advertising in government funded media.  It used to be banner advertising was allowed, but embedded advertising was generally not allowed.  Embedded advertising is when a media company accepts payment for publishing an article.  At first the amount of garbage that was showing up in the media here was so overwhelming and so offensive, people complained loudly.  Now it’s a little less offensive, but still there.  In America it’s been the norm for decades.  I think for many of us here in Europe, the before and after picture of this rule change has been a real eye-opener.

The article above immediately set off my bullshit detector, and it stands out as a perfect example of the misinformation published these days by the food industry as embedded advertising.  It’s almost written in Michael Pollan style.

In Europe the food industry recently spent a record setting €1 billion requiring new labelling on foods, listing ‘nutritional analysis’ such as fats, sugars, carbohydrates and so on.  This article shows perfectly how the food industry manipulates our perception of food, into thinking they are the good guys and how they are trying to make healthy food for us.  This article is a perfect example of how we’re supposed to learn to eat more processed foods.

The one thing I do agree with this article on is their comparison of themselves with the tobacco lobby of a decade or two ago.  In many ways the food industry is much more powerful than the tobacco lobby ever was, and food is after all something we all need to eat.  It’s nice to see them giving us proof, in their own words, of how we need to take them more seriously than we have ever taken the tobacco industry.

Posted on

Seed Freedom, Gardens of Hope

Today in Japan, Shumei International and Navdanya (Dr. Vandana Shiva’s organization), launch Seed Freedom, Gardens of Hope.

The press release is below.

Shumei International and Navdanya host events with Fukushima Farmers and Civil Society to Support SEED FREEDOM, GARDENS OF HOPE Campaign

TOKYO, February 20, 2013  – Today, Dr. Vandana Shiva and Shumei International announced the launch of SEED FREEDOM, GARDENS OF HOPE in Japan during a special symposium held at the United Nations University in Tokyo. SEED FREEDOM is a global campaign and movement started by environmental activist Dr. Vandana Shiva to spread awareness about the current precarious state of the global seed supply and its consequent threat to food security. Shumei International, a Japanese nonprofit organization that promotes Natural Agriculture, has partnered with Dr. Shiva’s organization Navdanya to promote the importance of saving seeds, protecting biodiversity, and supporting agricultural systems that work in harmony with nature.

As the 2nd anniversary of the Fukushima disaster approaches, the SEED FREEDOM campaign puts a spotlight on the growing need to build community resiliency and adopt more sustainable lifestyles. Japanese farmers and communities are facing serious concerns about nuclear radiation, climate change, environmental degradation and natural disasters. The “Seed, Soil and Food for the Future” symposium emphasized the critical relationship between the environment, agriculture, food and human life to build support for SEED FREEDOM. Starting a community seed bank is one of the ways SEED FREEDOM encourages people to protect the integrity, purity and diversity of natural seeds for the future.

“The disappearance of our biodiversity and of our seed sovereignty is creating a major crisis for agriculture and food security around the world. We must act before it is too late,” urged Dr. Vandana Shiva, founder of Navdanya and the SEED FREEDOM movement. “Seeds are the first link in the food chain and the repository of life’s future evolution. As such, it is our inherent duty and responsibility to protect them and to pass them on to future generations. The growing of seed and the free exchange of seed among farmers has been the basis to maintaining biodiversity and our food security.”

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), seventy-five percent of the world’s food is currently generated from only 12 plants and five animal species. Crop diversity is being lost at an alarming rate as farmers leave local varieties for genetically uniform, high-yielding varieties, which require certain amounts of pesticides and fertilizers to produce. However, numerous studies have revealed that genetically engineered foods can pose serious risks to humans, domesticated animals, wildlife and the environment. Although there is no commercial cultivation of genetically modified crops in Japan, this is still an issue as approximately sixty percent of its food is imported and the labeling requirements of GMO ingredients in foods are not comprehensive.

The “Seed, Soil and Food for the Future” symposium explored new solutions to regain food and seed sovereignty based on respect for nature that recognizes the inherent power of natural seeds and soil to produce healthy food locally. Dr. Elaine Ingham, a soil microbiologist and chief scientist of Rodale Institute, addressed ways to grow more resilient crops through sustainable soil management. Mr. Seiji Sugeno, a farmer and the president of the Fukushima Organic Agriculture Network explained the role of sustainable farming in community rebuilding and land rejuvenation following the March 2011 nuclear disaster. He was joined by a Natural Agriculture farmer Mr. Mamoru Azuhata, who shared his experience in Fukushima and seeing the positive impact of working in harmony with the land.

“Once soil life and its proper balances are understood, the need for all the toxic chemicals in industrial agriculture disappears,” said Dr. Ingham of Rodale Institute, a nonprofit in the U.S. pioneering organic farming through research and outreach.

The symposium drew more than 300 attendees from civil society and was supported by Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, the Fukushima Organic Agriculture Network, Slow Food Fukushima and Shumei Natural Agriculture Network.

“Food safety and agriculture are key issues for Japan right now. As farmers and consumers, we are at an important point in deciding our future and learning from our past,” said Alice Cunningham, director of International Affairs for Shumei International, which has Natural Agriculture farms around the world. “Shumei International is a part of SEED FREEDOM because we see the urgent need to shift our thinking towards the environment, and the seed is a crucial starting point.”