Food & agriculture

How do agribusiness corporations impact decisions on our food system?

GM food tasting: Farmers or EuropaBio?

13.07.2010

The Farmers Biotech Network GM Food tasting event,reported on by Corporate Europe Observatory recently, was not paid for by the farmers network, CEO has learned, but by EuropaBio.

Letter on Industry Food Round Table

13.07.2010

After Commissioner Janez Potocnik's very weak reply to the letter sent by Food and Water Europe, CEO and other organisations, the organisations replied back again, stressing the demand for the EC to withdraw from the "European Food Sustainable Consumption and Production Roundtable (SCP Roundtable).

Read the letter here.

A 'tasty' GM food event in Brussels?

30.06.2010

A peculiar pro-biotech event took place in Brussels. A 'farmers network' gave Brussels the chance to sample some genetically modified (GM) cuisine at an event in the upmarket Renaissance Hotel on 28 June, just across the road from the European Parliament. Lucky Brussels?

High time for CIAA to come clean on its lobbying

23.06.2010

CIAA's €1-billion campaign to promote the GDA labelling system was clearly a key element in its political strategy to combat other, stricter labelling options which it feared would damage sales of unhealthy food, such as the 'traffic light' system.

‘Hard-core’ lobbying: “voting recommendations” sent to MEPs on food labelling regulation

14.06.2010

Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) has collected more than twenty e-mails from industry lobbyists with “voting recommendations” for MEPs ahead of the ENVI committee vote, in March 2010, on the ‘Sommer report’ about the new EU regulation on food labelling.

MEP Carl Schlyter: “Industry lobbying has buried ‘traffic-light’ labelling”

11.06.2010

In this interview with Corporate Europe Observatory, MEP Carl Schlyter, member of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), reflects on one of the biggest lobbying battles in Brussels in recent years on food labelling regulation.

A red light for consumer information

10.06.2010

In June, MEPs voted on new legislation on food labelling – determining what nutritional information should be displayed on the packaging of items such as snacks, soft drinks and ready-meals. The vote has been the subject of a major lobby campaign by the food industry, opposed to mandatory information on food packaging.

Setbacks for Round Table Responsible Soy

08.04.2010

The Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS), a much criticised initiative for the certification of soy as ‘responsible’, has stepped up its lobbying to be included under the EU's Renewable Energy Directive to certify ‘sustainable agrofuels’. This would give RTRS-approved soy, much of which would be produced in unsustainable and damaging monoculture farming, the EU's seal of approval in the context of the EU 10% agrofuels target.

Angry Mermaid in Washington DC

05.01.2010

Climate activists from the DC Action Factory in Washington were so inspired by the Angry Mermaid Award, they wanted to get involved. So following the announcement of the results at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen, they made their own Angry Mermaid Award and paid a visit to Monsanto's offices in Washington DC. Watch the action - and Monsanto's friendly reception.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vBiRp81pgo

Sugar cane ethanol to save the climate!

09.12.2009

Brazil launched its PR offensive for sugarcane ethanol at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen on day two (Tuesday 8 December) with a “dialogue” session on the “contribution of biofuels to climate change mitigation”.

corporate-sponsored vision for agrofuels

14.10.2009

What is the future vision for agrofuels? This was the topic under debate at an event organised on October 6 by the European Voice in the European Parliament with sponsorship from Shell. Panellists from Shell, UNICA (the association of Brazilian sugar cane growers), WWF, the European Commission, EU presidency Sweden and the Parliament debated the outstanding issues of the EU agrofuel policy. Key was the significance of indirect land use change (ILUC) - when the expansion of agrofuel production in one place pushes the production of other crops (for example food) elsewhere.

Grupo DAP y la soja "responsable"

26.08.2009

El mes de maio 2009, la Mesa Redonda de Soja Responsable (RTRS) se reunio para acordar nuevos standards para la "soja responsable". El nuevo esquema de certificacion podria ser aceptado por la UE para garantizar que soja certificada pueda ser usada para agrocombustibles en Europa.