Obsession Report: Organic Solutions in Global Food Affairs In search of organic food and agriculture around the world

Today, complex problems like the food crisis are not just an Through journalistic training and content, an international environmental issue, but are entangled with business, economic team of six students from the U.S., U.K., Norway, Germany and and political interests as well. Case in point: the scaling of Sweden reported on the economics and politics of global food organic solutions in global food production and consumption. production and consumption, with a focus on organic solutions In much of the Western world, value chains and regulatory around the world. frameworks around organics are well-established. But with Two editors led the team, Athena Tacet, a data-driven political rising product demand, increased access to new technology journalist based in Canada and Jori Lewis, an award-winning and markets, on top of the accelerating environmental strain of environmental journalist based in Senegal. industrial agricultural practices, the issue of organics is fueling a renewed, multidisciplinary debate in the global economy. Supported by

2014 A Global Business Journalism Incubator 1 Articles: Global Scope

LOCATION TITLE PAGE

Brussels European commission aims to strengthen standards on organic animal feed 14

Brussels European commission promises stricter rules for organic products, but will they be strict enough? 15

China More British organic products soon to be found in China’s supermarkets 11 Denmark, Teaching food in Europe: notes from the field of food studies, part 2 41 Switzerland

Ghana Radio program in Ghana supports farmers on the front lines of climate change 37

India India takes measures to fight hunger 36

Mexico With new regulation, Mexico emerges as a leader in organic agriculture production 10

Norway The whaling ghosts – Whaling in Norway: new questions, old practice 16

Norway "Parsellhager": garden parcels – How to be an urban farmer in Norway 32

South Korea WWOOF Korea: a bridge of the agricultural past and urban modernity 22

Sweden Is urban agriculture the solution to global food insecurity? 30

Sweden Why buying local and organic won’t always affect our environmental footprint [Published on Triple Pundit] 9

Switzerland Power bars, organic yogurt, and African pineapples: a day at Bio Marché, Switzerland’s biggest organic fair 45

Mercator Foundation Switzerland grantee highlight – Q&A: building bridges at the 18th Organic World Turkey 43 Congress

UK Animal slaughter, usually hidden from view, provokes public debate 19

UK Planting for pollinators goes political in the U.K 26

UK Above and beyond: giving green roofs social value 35

US Competing voices among the organic agriculture lobby in the U.S. 12

US In spite of growth, organic farm certification remains a thorny issue for farmers in the U.S. 24

US New technology helps farmers conserve fertilizer and protect their crops [Published on The Guardian] 28

US Teaching food: why students have taken an increased interest in food studies 38

US Teaching food in the U.S.: notes from the field of food studies, part 1 39

2 A Global Business Journalism Incubator TABLE of CONTENTS

Reporter Insights ...... 4-5 Background To Pro Journo’s Obsession Journalism ...... 6. Words From The Funder ...... 6 Imprint And Masthead ...... 6 Setting The Scene ...... 7 A History Lesson – The Long-Forgotten Tradition Of Organic Farming ...... 7 The True Cost Of Organic Food Products ...... 8 Why Buying Local And Organic Won’t Always Affect Our Environmental Footprint – On Triple Pundit ...... 9 World Markets: Competing For Shares ...... 10 With New Regulation, Mexico Emerges As A Leader In Organic Agriculture Production ...... 10 More British Organic Products Soon To Be Found In China’s Supermarkets ...... 11 Forces Of Governance: Regulation, Standards And Lobbying ...... 12. Competing Voices Among The Organic Agriculture Lobby In The U.S...... 12-13 European Commission Aims To Strengthen Standards On Organic Animal Feed ...... 14 European Commission Promises Stricter Rules For Organic Products, But Will They Be Strict Enough? . . . . . 15 Interlude: Reporting Passions ...... 16. The Whaling Ghosts – Whaling In Norway: New Questions, Old Practice ...... 16-18 Animal Slaughter, Usually Hidden From View, Provokes Public Debate ...... 19-21 Woof Korea: A Bridge Of The Agricultural Past And Urban Modernity ...... 22-23 In Spite Of Growth, Organic Farm Certification Remains A Thorny Issue For Farmers In The U.S...... 24-25 Planting For Pollinators Goes Political In The U.K...... 26-27 Miracles: Scale Of Technology ...... 28 New Technology Helps Farmers Conserve Fertilizer And Protect Their Crops – On The Guardian ...... 28-29 Beyond Polarization: Urban Solutions ...... 30 Is Urban Agriculture The Solution To Global Food Insecurity? ...... 30-31 "Parsellhager": Garden Parcels – How To Be An Urban Farmer In Norway ...... 32-34 Above And Beyond: Giving Green Roofs Social Value ...... 35 Food & Development ...... 36 India Takes Measures To Fight Hunger ...... 36 Radio Program In Ghana Supports Farmers On The Front Lines Of Climate Change ...... 37 Special Feature: Studying And Teaching Food ...... 38 Teaching Food: Why Students Have Taken An Increased Interest In Food Studies ...... 38 Teaching Food In The U.S.: Notes From The Field Of Food Studies, Part 1 ...... 39-40 Teaching Food In Europe: Notes From The Field Of Food Studies, Part 2 ...... 41-42 Event Insights ...... 43. Grantee Highlight – Q&A: Building Bridges At The 18th Organic World Congress ...... 43-44 A Day At Bio Marché, Switzerland’s Biggest Organic Fair ...... 45-47 Background: Reporters And Editors ...... 48-49

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 3 We asked our reporters to provide some insights into the reporting of their Reporter Insights favorite stories. Author profiles are found on page 48.

Bridging agricultural past and urban modernity in South Korea Shifting from connecting local and global dots to human interactions By: KAYLEIGH BURGESS For her article about the Worldwide Opportunities in Organic Farming (WWOOF) organization U.S.-based Kayleigh Burgess spent several weeks as a farm volunteer in Gyeryong, South Korea. Her interest was to tie a very specific, local organic farm experience to a broader international food movement. After spending several months working in Korea’s capital Seoul, which dominates the narrative of modern South Korea in many ways, she spent the last few weeks of her stay in Korea in the countryside to write about rural life and food production. Burgess was surprised about the complex lives of the people she lived with. If she went in with any preconceived notions about what life on an organic farm would be like, they were quickly dispelled. Her host for those weeks attracted a broad cast of characters to his home-site Nanumteo,‘the sharing place’ - everyone from retired military personnel to sculptors and activists. Music, Soju and cigarettes were consumed in abundance. The experience defied stereotypes and the author`s expectations. Burgess article changed from its initial concept as a reflection on modern food production in Korea to one much more focused on WWOOF. While the background of Korea’s agricultural transition is fascinating, the human story was really in the interactions between volunteers and hosts. Burgess hopes that the article will kindle a bit of wanderlust in its readers. The world becomes so much more accessible through opportunities like WWOOF, which puts travelers in situations they could never have imagined. Find all articles from the author on pages 10, 22, 28, 37, 39, and 41.

In spite of growth, organic farm certification remains a thorny issue for farmers in the U.S. Exploring economic realities of producers in times of certification and labeling By: BERRY KENNEDY For her article on the pros and cons of the organic certification label from a farmer’s perspective U.S.-based Berry Kennedy touches upon how labels shape discussions about and public understanding of sustainability-related certifications. Based on anecdotal stories about the prohibitive cost of organic certifications, she started to interview farmers in the state of Michigan. Kennedy was surprised to find that the monetary costs ended up being less of an issue for the farmers than either the administrative labor cost or the potential implications of certification on customer relationships. Kennedy was driven by an interest to explore the positive and negative relationships between various types of certifications, for example organic and GMO (in her research, she came across an article that labeled GMO the “frenemy of organic”). This ended up getting edited out but could have been a follow-up article, time permitting. Competing labels expand awareness of sustainably produced crops, but do much to mask the underlying differences in what makes these labels different in significant ways. Find all articles from the author on pages 12, 13, 24 and 38.

Is urban agriculture the solution to global food insecurity? Looking beyond polarized debates to find new ground By: NATALIE HASE While researching for a story on the great challenges to current agricultural systems, Sweden-based Natalie Hase came across the urban farming company Plantagon. The company designs vertical urban farming networks by creating synergies between the various resources that can be offered by urban communities. Plantagon’s solution uses techniques that aren’t like any of today’s conventional methods. However, as the growing medium for organic certification remains soil, it is not compatible with the production techniques applied by Plantagon. That is, growing plants mainly with nutrient and water. Hase realized that we ought to look at solutions beyond organic and conventional, and couldn’t but think of ecologist Jonathan Foley. Foley argued that the debate over how to address the global food challenge became polarized, setting conventional agriculture and global commerce in opposition to local and organic. The author was intrigued to look further for alternative solutions and the article grew into examining ways of optimizing strategies for today’s farming to be long-term sustainable, such as a functioning closed-loop system for the nutrients we feed our crops with. Looking at solutions in the gap between conventional and organic, Hase aims to communicate new perspectives to address the situation of today’s agricultural production systems. Find all articles from the author on pages 9, 30 and 36.

4 A Global Business Journalism Incubator We asked our reporters to provide some insights into the reporting of their favorite stories. Author profiles are found on page 48. Reporter Insights

Power bars, organic yogurt, and African pineapples: a day at Bio Marché, Switzerland’s biggest organic fair A more pluralistic field of businesses than expected By: SARAH KLEWES For her article, Germany-based Sarah Klewes spends a day at Switzerland’s biggest organic fair, Bio Marché. She was amazed at the huge variety of organic products and businesses at the fair. The fair’s international scope was especially surprising, as well as the featuring of not only traditional businesses, but also start-ups as exhibitors. For example, Rhythm 108, one of the start-up exhibitors, brings new ideas to the organic scene and helps dust off the old jute bag image of organic products through innovative marketing. Her motivation of the article was a reminder of Klewes’ previous trips to Switzerland’s countryside, in search of the smell of freshly mown grass – she hops that some of this smell might be read between the lines of the article. Find all articles from the author on pages 8, 11 and 45.

Animal slaughter, usually hidden from view, provokes public debate in the U.K. Bringing controversies into public debate to shape consumers values and choice By: AMY JEFFS For her article about public perceptions of animal slaughter U.K.-based and farm-raised Amy Jeffs took to farms, abattoirs and butchers shops. She even drove across Gloucestershire, a city in England, with an entire ox liver (a gift from a slaughterman) in a bag on her lap. Jeffs grew up in the countryside and raised and killed her own animals, although today, she is predominantly vegetarian, especially because living away from a farm it is impossible to source her meat like she used to, at home. People are often outraged or disgusted at the idea of killing your own animals that have been raised on a small scale or even shot in the wild. Nevertheless, many would be happy to admit they eat cheap meat bought from the supermarket. It was this apparent paradox that made Jeffs want to explore these issues: What problems surround animal slaughter, how informed is the public and why? Her opinions changed enormously during the research, which she felt is one of the best things about journalism. She was particularly surprised by how far animals are often transported before slaughter. Understandably, Jeffs had her own personal views on the matter, she enjoyed the process that her editor helped her to make the article as impartial as possible. Find all articles from the author on pages 14, 19, 26, 35 and 43.

Whaling in Norway: new questions, old practice Connecting government, economics, and culture through sustainable practices By: KRASTINA GEORGIA-ILKOVA Norway has been an industry leader in the techniques of killing whales for centuries. What makes Norway-based Krastina Georgia- Ilkova’s story fascinating and relevant for today is the government’s role of maintaining the interplay of economics and cultural processes of an ancient food practice. The article, timed at the release of a documentary, reveals the huge subsidies to preserve a controversial occupation that seems to be like a ghost – a remnant of the past – in modern Europe. Georgieva-Ilkova always loved whales. When she was studying in the U.S., a country famous for its environmental movements, she took a course in biology that aimed to connect economics and biology through sustainability practices. She had to read a book about the development of whales as “humans of the ocean.” The book also blamed Norwegians for bringing whales close to extinction in just few decades. By engineering some of the best weapons for catching and killing whales, Norway quickly became one of the leading countries in the whaling industry. For Georgieva-Ilkova killing a whale was almost the same as killing a person – not to mention eating it as a steak. However, in Norway she discovered that whale meat was a local tourist attraction. While reporting, Georgieva-Ilkova discovered the secrets behind whaling in Norway. Learning from afar about the practices of killing whales is different than from learning on the spot. Her husband, a chef, provided important network connections so that she could get into the kitchen stories where the whales were cooked. As a surprise, the whale population situation is not so bad anymore. Tough, old whalers talked about their occupation with nostalgia about the old days. Norwegian whaling practices were so famous that even the singer Paul McCartney was once involved in protests against the killings. Georgieva-Ilkova still keeps her passion about mammals, but now she also proudly represents Norway and its devotion to the industry to survive through any means. Not only through subsidies but documentary like the one she tracks for the article. Find all articles from the author on pages 7, 15, 16 and 32.

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 5 Background to Pro Journo’s Obsession Journalism: Bringing the spirit of blogging into the newsroom

The only thing that really matters for journalists in choosing an obsession to report on is this question: What makes you happy? What makes you want to get up in the morning, eager to start working? Obsessions should give you immense pleasure. In a way, obsession journalism is about bringing the “spirit of blogging” to journalism. The subject is narrowly focused and followed continually over time. It is intensely concerned with a single subject matter, yet opens up a whole other set of questions that are somehow connected. This is the original advantage of blogging and reflects on obsessives: “To try and follow the world through news reports is a very choppy experience, but an obsessive carries you right along,” says Jay Rosen, a professor of journalism at New York University at the Pro Journo conference on “Building an Obsessions Newsroom” in New York. Pro Journo is a journalism social enterprise for young people interested in economic and business aspects of today’s toughest societal challenges. We amplify their views and concerns in the global media landscape through high quality and independent journalism. www.projourno.org

Words From The Funder “This obsession coverage was grant-supported by Mercator Foundation Switzerland. Any potential conflicts of interest with the funder and their other grantees is made explicit on each article.” Organic agriculture is a promising way of producing food in an eco-friendly manner. This method can make an important contribution to the environment and the climate. The foundation supports projects that address the question of how organic agriculture can contribute to food security and to combatting climate change. Furthermore, the foundation strengthens the basics of organic agriculture (for example through organic seed breeding). Encouraging young, dedicated people to explore this thematic area by blogging for a wide audience is a convincing approach. Their open, critical and qualified attitude makes it possible to gain new insights, read interesting facts and take part in discussions about challenges as well as solutions. The Mercator Foundation Switzerland initiates and funds projects in the areas of “Science”, “Children and Youth” and “Our Environment”. It supports initiatives that foster the responsible handling of the environment. The foundation aims to increase awareness among children, adolescents and adults and enable them to act eco-friendly in their daily routine. Furthermore, the foundation supports institutions in generating new scientific knowledge in the areas of sufficiency and organic agriculture.

www.stiftung-mercator.ch

Imprint and Masthead Pro Journo is a nonprofit organization in accordance with the Swiss Civil Code and listed in the commercial register (CHE-418.394.491).

President: Tim Lehmann, CH Reporters Copyright 2014: Pro Journo Association Executive Director: Sunmin Kim, US Amy Jeffs, UK – University of Cambridge Copyright for articles: Pro Journo and Berry Kennedy, US – University of Michigan reporters Editors Kayleigh Burgess, US – Indiana University Copyright for images: Pro Journo, reporters, and Creative Commons under Athena Tacet, CANADA; Krastina Georgieva-Ilkova, NORWAY – non-commercial use Jori Lewis, SENEGAL Norwegian School of Economics Copy Editor: Bruce Janicke, US Natalie Hase, SWEDEN – Social Media Editor: Sina Blassnig, CH Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm Sarah Klewes, GERMANY – Zeppelin University

6 A Global Business Journalism Incubator Setting The Scene A history lesson – The long-forgotten tradition of organic farming By: KRASTINA GEORGIEVA-ILKOVA | June 10, 2014

Two important chemicals born in times of war, DDT The organic farming movement in the U.S. was and ammonium nitrate, probably saved thousands of also born during the war, and its growth and people from painful death and starvation as the world commercialization have been constant. Organic food was struggling with mass destruction and hunger. But chains such as Trader Joe’s in the 1960s and Whole they harmed generations of people, who would suffer Foods Market in the 1980s showed that this food from diseases that had never been seen before. industry was ready to have its own supermarkets. People have been producing organic food and using organic ways of farming for thousands of years. But the arrival of synthetic fertilizers and agrichemicals during World War II opened a path for heavy mechanization and chemically dependent farming What will we be spraying next? methods so large in scale that they overshadowed centuries of organic-production practices. DDT was born in the 1940s as a modern synthetic insecticide that was used by the military for public health purposes to control malaria, typhus and other insect-borne diseases. It helped decrease the cases of malaria from 400,000 to almost zero. But growers started using it on crops as well—beans, cotton, sweet potatoes and many others. In the 1970s it was banned in the U.S. due to its harmful effects, such as liver cancer and damage to the nervous and reproductive systems. But although it was prohibited in the U.S., it was legally produced and sold outside the country, according to the National Pesticide Information Center. Ammonium nitrate, on the other hand, was used for munitions during wartime. When World War II ended, it became available for commercial use. When its explosive properties are reduced, many growers prefer it as an immediately available nitrate source for plant nutrition, according to the International Plant Nutrition Institute. It is not extremely hazardous when used as a fertilizer, but it raises many concerns because of its use as an illegal explosive. After the ban on DDT, organic farming practices Organic-labeled products, which began at the same started re-emerging. However, the use of fertilizers time as agrichemicals, were intended to improve became so prevalent that people almost forgot the people’s health, but are now so expensive that people centuries-long tradition of organic farming. Today, have to pay much more at the supermarket to afford organic farming is new and trendy. It has grown into a them. billion-dollar industry, with strong consumer demand for organic produce. Not only did the wartime inventions have immediate physical effects on populations, but they also altered mindsets in terms of agricultural practices for generations to come. Source flickr / IRRI Photos under Creative Commons

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 7 The True Cost Of Organic Food Products By: SARAH KLEWES | June 11, 2014

Three US dollars. That’s about how much more you have to pay for a gallon of organic instead of conventional milk in the US. Over the past few years, organic products have increasingly found their way into consumers’ shopping baskets. But what makes them choose organic over highly processed products, and vice versa? There are reasons to be organic and reasons against being organic. It is not necessarily an either- or decision. Rather, the decision to consume or not to consume organic food is dependent on the economic, educational and social circumstances of the consumer. According to many researchers, there is a causal connection between organic food and protection of the environment. Many consumers who know about this connection take it as an incentive to go organic. To reduce their carbon footprint, many even rely only on local organic products. Farmers and other producers grow organic food by following country- specific certification norms. They use fewer nitrates in fertilizers, fewer pesticides and fewer antibiotics, compared with conventional-food producers. In turn, other consumers buy organic products for According to Felix Prinz zu Löwenstein, chief executive comparably perfunctory reasons. Over the years, of the German Union of Ecological Food Businesses, marketing experts have discovered the organic the main advantage of ecological farming is actually culture trend. Ever since, products have been labeled in the protection of the climate and natural resources as “organic,” sometimes even when they don’t meet such as soil and water; biodiversity; and humane all the certification norms. husbandry. Organic products are advertised in conjunction However, depending on educational level and social with a healthier way of life, even though there is no status, not every consumer actually knows and cares scientific proof for this. Moreover, organic food is about the connection between the environment and generally more expensive than conventional food. For organic food. That is, some consumers choose not to these two reasons, organic products have become be organic because they prefer sticking with their old a symbol for a somewhat classy lifestyle. Therefore, habits. some consumers who choose to buy organic products Many consumers in Western societies have not yet don’t necessarily have to know about the differences been forced to reflect on malnutrition because its between organic and processed food. Rather, they impacts are not immediately visible. To them, one need to be able to afford it. At the same time, reason not to go organic is that organic food differs there are consumers who actually care about the from the food they are used to. For some, organic production methods behind their food, but their food tastes different compared with the flavor- economic situation simply does not allow them to go enhanced food they normally consume. organic. And as organic products generally don’t use Overall, consumers who pay the extra three US preservatives, they are more perishable. Consumers dollars for organic milk must first be able to afford it. who choose not to go organic therefore feel organic Then there are the many factors, all known to have an food doesn’t bring them any benefits, no matter what impact on society, that give consumers an incentive the commercials say. to buy organic instead of processed products.

Source flickr /Yummy Porky under Creative Commons

8 A Global Business Journalism Incubator Why buying local and organic won’t always affect our environmental footprint – on Triple Pundit By: NATALIE HASE | August 8, 2014

Whether we like it or not, most of us are strongly than decrease emissions,” says Elin Röös. The main bound to the agricultural sector, and we feel the issue with local products is that there is no actual responsibility to make the right choice from an regulated definition of what is “local.” There are no environmental perspective. Nevertheless, it can be rules of where the product must come from, or how confusing standing in the supermarket in front of a far it must be transported. sea of products, and consumers immediately go for As important as it is to differentiate between organic the “greener choice,” that being local or organic. and local products, the two concepts may often We’ve gotten better at knowing where our food overlap. comes from – but can we claim the same for the Agneta Krogstorp is the owner of the Krogstorp Farm, environmental impact of our food choices? a Swedish local producer of rapeseed oil. Although According to Elin Röös, researcher at the Swedish not a certified organic farmer, Agneta Krogstorp University of Agriculture and co-author of the report believes that there is often a trend among local “Organic production and climate change,” greenhouse producers to care about the surrounding environment gas emissions contributing to climate change mainly and to prefer highly valued and sincere production derive during the agricultural production phase, methods. rather than by transportation of the products. “Every farmer should aim at practicing organic Natural processes are the main drivers to the sources methods in their production, whenever possible,” of these emissions. Therefore, choosing organic and says Krogstorp. local over conventional products will have little effect Choosing organic products is a symbol that national, on decreasing the main greenhouse gas emissions and international, rules and standards were met coming from the food that we eat. during the production phase. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization The FAO defines organic agriculture as a system, (FAO), there are three prime factors contributing to which “considers environmental and social impacts global warming in agricultural production: methane by eliminating the use of synthetic inputs,” and from cattle or more precisely enteric fermentation; addresses issues such as the harmful use of pesticides the aggressive greenhouse gas known as nitrous and over-fertilization. oxide derived from the ground; and carbon dioxide Looking beyond local and organic products, the from the cultivation of organic soils. environmental impact of food includes not only the In Sweden, these emissions account for 75 percent types of products that we consume but also the vast of the total greenhouse gas emissions from the quantities that we ingest. Changing our habits and agricultural sector. The latter is also responsible for the way we eat could therefore be a much more one-third of global human-caused greenhouse gas sustainable solution. emissions, according to the Consultative Group on “The production of meat and dairy products International Agricultural Research. contributes to a lot more greenhouse gas emissions But there are, in fact, other reasons to justify the than crop production does,” says Elin Röös. choice to purchase local or organic products. “The most important decision we can make to “Most often, the choice of buying local products lessen our environmental impact through food, is will at first hand be of economic importance to the to diminish our consumption of dairy products and region, as you will support the local economy, rather meat,” she adds.

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 9 World Markets: Competing For Shares With new regulation, Mexico emerges as a leader in organic agriculture production By: KAYLEIGH BURGESS | June 5, 2014

It’s springtime in Indiana, and the ground is just organic vegetables. There is great potential for beginning to thaw. Birds and buds are emerging after profitability in this growing market for export. the long polar vortex of these past many days. As However, organics should not be viewed merely as new life emerges, the refrigerators and fruit bowls an extractive industry, a one-way street between of many residents of the Hoosier State are already production and consumption. Within Mexico, full of ripe mangoes, oranges, bell peppers, spinach, demand for organics has been growing as well. This tomatoes, and basil. Even for the organic consumer, is a boon for farmers, who have seen their market this abundance is now available year-round. share for traditional crops, like corn, fall since the Meanwhile in Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost state, implementation of the North American Free Trade coffee is grown using traditional methods on over Agreement in 1994. In some places, like Chiapas, this 11,000 hectares certified for organic production. The shift can mean agricultural cooperatives that allow harvest is coming to a close, the beans packed in farmers to capitalize on economies of scale, ensuring containers and ready for shipping to all points north. the most direct profit for their product. And in Baja California, Mexico, organic tomatoes are But, just as in the United States, organic agriculture being coaxed from the desert; they too get shipped can also have a very different meaning. It can mean north to meet the growing demand for organic mono-crops, big business and over-taxed aquifers. produce by American consumers. Such is the case in much of Baja, California. Just last Over the past decade, Mexico has emerged as a year, on Oct. 29, 2013, the government of Mexico significant contributor to global organic agriculture, instituted its own guidelines for organic production, experiencing a tenfold increase in organic production. which are very similar to those implemented in the The country’s rankings capture this significance: It United States. While we continue to debate the is the world’s top producer of organic coffee and merits of big business organics, we can be sure of one tropical fruits and the second largest producer of thing: Production in Mexico will continue to grow.

In Toluca, Mexico, farmers practice tractor use in field session

Source flickr /CIMMYT under Creative Commons 10 A Global Business Journalism Incubator More British organic products soon to be found in China’s supermarkets By: SARAH KLEWES | June 10, 2014

British export of organic produce will increase The spectrum of organic products that the Chinese following a deal between the U.K.’s Soil Association themselves can produce is huge. “China has a and China’s Organic Food Development Center in mid- wide range of agro-climatic conditions that allows April that simplifies the entry of British contractors production of a wide range of crops and animals,” into the Chinese market. the ITC states in a technical paper on organic food Currently, Chinese authorities follow only their own products in China. organic regulatory system for goods imported into The only organic products that cannot be produced China, and organic products have to be inspected and in China are tropical fruits and certain vegetables. certified with respect to Chinese organic standards. But not all goods produced in China meet the quality “This new partnership has been set up to make it demands of Chinese organic consumers. Instead, easier for Soil Association-certified licensees to obtain many of them would rather buy high-quality organic Chinese certification for their products,” says the Soil produce from abroad. Association. Before the agreement, applying for permission to export organic produce to China was a complex procedure. Prospective exporters had to go through and pay for the whole process on their own. Therefore, the range of imported organic products in China has been smaller than it could have been. But the Chinese demand for high-quality organic products from abroad has been growing steadily since the mid-2000s. “Chinese consumers are prepared to pay a premium for products they consider to be healthy, high-quality and safe,” says the China-Britain Business Council. Now the U.K.’s Soil Association, which grants organic licenses to British suppliers, is offering to handle contact with the Chinese authorities on its members’ behalf. “Working with OFDC will make the process of certification for our U.K. licensees wanting to export to China both efficient and cost-effective,” “It is possible to divide organic consumers in China says Emma Yeats, the Soil Association’s senior into eight main groups,” says the ITC. Most are certification manager. “We are delighted with this said to be wealthy and well educated. According to partnership, which helps develop an important export the ITC, white-collar families, overseas returnees, opportunity.” business associates and government officials are typical organic consumers in China. But young people, According to a study commissioned by the families with young children, families with health International Trade Centre in 2011, neither the value problems and foreigners living in China also prefer nor volume of organic imports into China, nor the buying organic goods. exact size of China’s domestic organic market, can be determined precisely. There are only a few estimates Right now, the Soil Association processes many from private consultants, which recognize that both requests from members asking to be allowed to the importing of organic produce and its home export their produce to China. “The partnership production have increased. The Soil Association, has caused lots of interest amongst Soil Association however, agrees with BioFach, the organizer of the licensees, but this is just the start of a process. The leading organic trade fair in China, which estimates long-term goal is free trade of organic produce the Chinese organic market will be worth $7.8 billion between Europe and China,” the charity says. by 2015. Source flickr /Johnjoh under Creative Commons

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 11 Forces Of Governance: Regulation, Standards And Lobbying Competing voices among the organic agriculture lobby in the U.S. By: BERRY KENNEDY | September 8, 2014

CHICAGO, U.S. — A new scorecard put out by The OTA strongly denies the accusation. “Our nonprofit research group the Cornucopia Institute, a membership is incredibly diverse,” says Laura self-proclaimed organic watchdog, calls into question Batcha, CEO and executive director of the OTA. She the role that corporate lobbyists play in shaping cites the organization’s thousand-plus members, organic policy and highlights key differences between who represent both large and small businesses and stakeholders within the organic sector. farmers, and a recent small-farmer initiative that Cornucopia’s National Organic Standards Board reaches out to small farmers through regional farming Voting Scorecard, issued Aug. 19, analyzes votes associations. Small businesses are defined as having of the members of the governing committee, under $1 million in annual sales. It is unclear how the which, among other things, determines which OTA defines small farms. substances are allowed under the U.S. Department Though lobbying by organic agriculture interests of Agriculture’s organic label. It comes two years pales when compared with that of traditional after Cornucopia released a white paper titled agribusiness—total organic lobbying in 2013 was “The Organic Watergate—Connecting the Dots: around 0.3 percent of total agriculture lobbying— Corporate Influence at the USDA’s National Organic it nonetheless plays an important role in shaping Program,”which claimed that certain members of the organic policy. 15-member NOSB were unfairly appointed due to the Based on figures from Opensecrets.org, a website influence of corporate lobbyists. that tracks campaign contributions and lobbying “The 10,000-pound gorilla is the Organic Trade dollars, the OTA is the predominant organic lobbying Association ,” says Mark Kastel, Cornucopia’s co- client, spending over $315,000 on lobbying efforts founder and senior farm policy analyst. OTA in 2013. The other significant organic lobby client membership, he argues, has “virtually no farmers” identified by Opensecrets.com, the National but instead is dominated by industrial players that Organic Coalition, which more often aligns with the are largely subsidiaries of conventional food and Cornucopia Institute’s positions, spent only about a agriculture companies. quarter of that amount. Center for Responsive Politics, opensecrets.org Politics, Responsive for Center

12 A Global Business Journalism Incubator However, it is difficult to get a clear picture of organic scorecard is whether these potential appointments lobbying activities in the U.S. since organic issues are will be fair to the entire organic community. often bundled with more general agriculture or food The OTA’s Batcha does not dispute the corporate lobbying. For example, WhiteWave, which produces backgrounds of some NOSB members. “The whole the Horizon Organic and Earthbound Farm organic idea of the NOSB is that there is a range of interests,” brands, is a subsidiary of Dean Foods, which also has she says. “When 85 percent of organic agriculture conventional brands, ranging from Purity to Land goes to wholesale markets, they are stakeholders as O’Lakes. Dean Foods spent $750,000 on lobbying well.” efforts in 2013, only a portion of which was dedicated She acknowledges, though, that there have been to organic issues. In cases like these, it can be difficult tensions between those stakeholders in the past. to determine the influence that non-organic lobbying “The system has pitted producers vs. processors, spending exerts on non-organic issues. historically to the disadvantage of the farmers,” she The Cornucopia Institute’s scorecard provides says. Batcha maintains that this old way of thinking evidence to support its claims that “a number of no longer holds up. In the same way that the organic [NOSB] appointments have violated the letter and movement has “revamped” farming practices, it spirit” of the law, representing corporate, rather than has also revamped relationships between different farmer, interests. players, she claims. It does this by detailing NOSB member voting The differences in opinion on substances approved records over the past five years and showing that by by the NOSB for use under the USDA organic appointing so many corporate affiliates, the board label—substances like streptomycin—are just that: allowed “risky and/or gimmicky synthetic or non- differences in opinion, according to Batcha. She says organic materials” to be approved for continued use that most stakeholders agree on other issues, from under the USDA label. Corporate affiliates on the increasing funding for organic research to expanding NOSB, including but not limited to Whole Foods, support for organic farmers. Organic Valley, WhiteWave and Driscoll’s, most often Cornucopia’s Kastel, on the other hand, dismisses took positions opposed to those of members who these areas of convergence. “Those are not where represent academia, public interest groups and the rubber meets the road,” he says. “There is no independent farmers. controversy there.” He notes that even if stakeholders Without this strong corporate presence, at least agree on some things, the differences that do exist some of the materials under review would likely have are serious ones. “We are in essence an organic truth been discontinued under the 1990 Organic Foods squad. They [the OTA] really hate us.” Production Act’s “sunset” provision. But Batcha’s attitude doesn’t seem so much hateful For example, at its spring 2014 meeting, the NOSB as annoyed—annoyed with debates that, the OTA recommended, by an 8-7 vote, extending the feels, hamper progress. “It’s funny that it gets as expiration date of streptomycin, an antibiotic that was emotional as it does,” she says. The OTA has been one of four substances up for review as permissible more frustrated with delayed progress on issues that under the USDA organic seal. Proponents of the “are bigger than any tiny little material,” issues like extension said it would allow farmers to have a little the rules on global organic trade standards, she says. more time to develop alternatives to streptomycin In essence, the two groups differ when it comes so there would be no disruptions to existing supply to their priorities. What are, to some, small chains. Among other things, opponents of the compromises or delays in phasing out a “tiny little extension pointed out that streptomycin is already material” go to the core of the USDA organic label’s prohibited for organic production in Europe, Canada, integrity for others. Both sides want growth, but Japan and other countries. They noted that those disagree about what cost is acceptable to achieve countries had already identified possible alternatives. that growth—especially when it comes to actions The NOSB’s role takes on particular significance that may compromise the purity of the organic this fall, as Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack product or minimize the role of small, independent will appoint four new representatives to the board farmers. Given the organic industry’s rapid expansion, for a five-year term beginning in January 2015. By the debate over the role and influence of different analyzing the voting records of members, the key stakeholders in organic policy is not likely to go away question the Cornucopia Institute raises with its any time soon.

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 13 European commission aims to strengthen standards on organic animal feed By: AMY JEFFS | June 17, 2014 CAMBRIDGE, England — In March, the European nonorganic. This is because monogastric animals Commission announced plans to reform its such as pigs and poultry require a specific balance of regulations on organic production and certification. proteins and amino acids for optimum growth. The For organic livestock farmers, this will include a specific balance is easier to achieve through chemical provision to make animal feed 100 percent organic. supplements, which constitute the 5 percent nonorganic portion in question. Organic proteins would come from crops like soy and peas. But critics wonder if such sources are cost- effective and if they meet the animals’ nutritional needs. The website of the agricultural research project Improved Contribution of Local Feed to Support 100% Organic Feed Supply to Pigs and Poultry explains that farmers and researchers have “very little experience and limited information on the implications of a shift in feeding strategy to 100% organic for monogastric production, animal health and welfare and sustainability.” The commission’s reform proposal states that research into protein crops has traditionally been insufficient, which has kept the sector from growing. The commission plans to fund extensive research The commission’s change will give farmers better into organic proteins to learn more about what a access to organic certification and build consumer fully organic product would look like. “Renewed confidence, which has been shaken by loose investment in research into protein crop production regulations. For instance, in some cases it has could help narrow the gap again, leading to greater been legal for farmers to farm both organic and yield stability and product quality (protein content, conventional products on the same site, which means digestibility, etc.), so as to make protein crops more that organic consumers may be indirectly funding profitable for farmers and the entire supply chain,” nonorganic products. This creates confusion in the the proposal’s authors said. organic marketplace, which can lead to mistrust and So far, the commission has drafted an action plan damage the integrity of the organic brand. for possible reforms and will work with certifying The commission says the reforms will take consumer organizations such as the Soil Association in the concerns into account, standardize production U.K., the European Organic Certifiers Council and rules throughout the European Union and remove the International Federation of Organic Agriculture administrative and legislative obstacles that prevent Movements’ EU Group. Once established, the farmers from certifying their farms as organic. legislation will be enforced in 2017, giving farmers The organic animal feed provision is one of the most time to adjust. controversial rules. Under the current regulations, organic animal feed can be up to 5 percent

A farrowing sow with her litter at a British farm. Her movement is inhibited so that piglets can avoid the common fate of being crushed.

Pro Journo / Amy Jeffs

14 A Global Business Journalism Incubator European commission promises stricter rules for organic products, but will they be strict enough? By: KRASTINA GEORGIEVA-ILKOVA | June 12, 2014 BERGEN, Norway — The European Commission traces of the antibiotics that salmon farmers use for announced in March that it will revise and strengthen their captive-bred fish. the rules on organic farming practices. Its objective Companies that produce organic-farm-raised salmon is to maintain consumer confidence by reinforcing still use similar practices. Although the maximum and improving the system of control over organic stocking density in the net pen has been reduced to farming, according to the press release announcing comply with the EU regulation of 10 kilograms per the reforms. The commission will also guarantee cubic meter, the companies have the option to treat fair competition and high standards for all organic the fish with medication when necessary. But there producers. are limits. If organic salmon is treated with more than This is part of the commission’s attempt to remove three courses of medical products or antibiotics in obstacles to the development of organic farming in one year, it cannot be sold as organic. These limits, the European Union, EU. But it is not clear whether however, assume that efficient monitoring protocols the new rules will be able to protect both the are in place to prevent companies from bending environment and consumers . the rules. In the past, such monitoring has been Over the past decade, the European Union market minimal . for organic products has grown four times in In fact, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority size and product variety. This includes increasing expressed concern in a May 2014 report that fish imports from non-EU countries. But the growth breeders have been unable to keep lice levels within of the market introduces a potential risk for fraud the allowed limits. It noted that such infections that could have devastating effects on consumer affect all types of aquaculture, from wild to organic- confidence. Last year, the European Commission farm-raised salmon. Given the authority’s fear that conducted a public survey with an online many breeders cannot cope with the problem, questionnaire on the future of organic farming consumers can only hope that the new, stricter rules in Europe . The results showed that more than 50 imposed by the European Commission will help. percent of the interviewees wanted more regulation Debio, the body that regulates and certifies organic in order to protect consumers from fraud . aquaculture produce in Norway, guarantees One sector where advocates are increasingly compliance with the EU regulations. Regarding the worried about fraud and loose standards is Norway’s European Commission’s proposal, Debio outlines the organic aquaculture industry. The Green Warriors effects the rules on stricter monitoring and control of Norway, an environmental organization that will have on Norwegian organic salmon production. opposes issuing organic certification to aquaculture The regulations will introduce a requirement that producers, calls production of organic-farm-raised at least 5 percent of the products must be sampled salmon “environment-damaging organic salmon and tested. In addition, the rules will impose more fraud ”. The Warriors believe that the salmon receive unannounced inspections and will increase the the same antibiotics as conventional salmon and minimum amount of organic fish feed that producers

A salmon farm in Norway endanger wild fish stocks. are required to use, from 20 to 50 percent. Norway produces 64 percent of the farm-raised With its new regulations, the European Commission salmon, including some that the EU imports. considers organic aquaculture a new field of organic Conventional salmon producers raise the fish in production, apart from organic agriculture. The floating cages, first placing them in freshwater and commission recognizes that regulatory bodies don’t later keeping them in the open ocean. The problem is have as much experience with aquaculture as they that in order for this practice to be efficient, salmon do with farming. The commission expects that the farmers pack the cages with the salmon, leaving organic aquaculture sector will continue to grow. the fish vulnerable to communicable diseases. The This will eventually result in more experience and salmon breeders treat the fish with pesticides for technical knowledge, but in the meantime, the sea lice and antibiotics for infections. Those diseases organic aquaculture label may be full of loopholes. and their treatments also pose a risk to wild salmon, And although most farmers are required to develop which live and travel in the same waters. a system for improving their environmental A study by Norway’s Institute of Marine Research performance over time, organic aquaculture and its National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood producers will continue to be exempt. Research showed that wild salmon also showed flickr / Franck Zecchin under Creative Commons

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 15 Interlude: Reporting Passions The whaling ghosts – Whaling in Norway: new questions, old practice By: KRASTINA GEORGIEVA-ILKOVA | September 4, 2014

BERGEN, Norway — In the new documentary film has had no specific vision or direction, roaming like “The Daughter of the Whaler,” filmmaker and a ghost in the darkness. The government might see journalist Barbro Andersen explores the past and its support of a wild food industry that is closer to future of Norwegian commercial whaling. The movie organic than the factory farms of much of Europe and revives a broader debate in Norway about the ethics the United States as a positive thing, but it is not clear of whaling, even though the arguments for and if that involvement is sustainable in the long run. against the practice have remained the same over the Norwegians have hunted whales since medieval years. times, using the whale’s fat as oil for cooking and The documentary focuses on Dina Nybø Olavsen, lighting and its flesh for food. Svend Foyn (1809- an ordinary 14-year-old girl who lives in the Lofoten 94) brought Norwegian whaling into the modern Islands, a rural area in the far north of Norway. When age by pioneering the use of a steam catcher and viewers first meet her, she is going on a three-day the development of the harpoon gun and a grenade trip with her family to hunt whales. Dina has much to harpoon. His travels in the Norwegian Sea, where learn about the art of whaling: how to chase, catch whales were abundant, gave him the idea to create and kill a whale; strip the bones; and preserve the tools to hunt them more efficiently. The grenade dark-cherry-colored meat. During her time on the head harpoon was a device that exploded inside boat, she also must make an important decision: Is the whale’s head once it was a foot inside the flesh. she going to become the next whaler in the family? The explosion was supposed to cause enough brain Her grandfather Olav Olavsen, who has caught 2,000 damage to kill the whale in a few seconds. The whales, had a son to carry on the family’s whaling harpoon also prevented the whale from sinking. legacy. But Dina’s father had only daughters, and Foyn’s invention and its improvements meant an women are rarely seen as whalers. Plus, Dina has her increase in the number of whales being caught in a own dreams: She wants to be an actress. season, from four to 30. Beyond the gender issues, the documentary raises In the film, the family whaling boat, the questions about the traditions of a community that Brandholmbøen, is also equipped with cannons. has survived centuries by fishing and hunting along “If you manage to hit the whale in the right place, the Norwegian coast, and how it is going to resist it will die momentarily!” explains Dina’s father, Leif the threats to a livelihood. The film also investigates Ole Olavsen, after a discussion about how much the questions about family heritage, knowledge and weapons have improved over the years to prevent understanding of nature, as passed down through excessive animal cruelty. “Do you wish to shoot? the generations. And, finally, the film raises questions Do you dare to?” asks the father, trying to better about the Norwegian government’s involvement in understand if Dina has what it takes to take over the propping up an industry that for the past few decades family tradition of hunting whales.

16 A Global Business Journalism Incubator Many Norwegians continue to support whaling. “I oil and the international moratorium on whaling, the am for the use of our natural resources as long as, Norwegian government was forced to subsidize local in the case of whales, the entire animal is used. If it whalers to prevent the industry from dying. According is a sustainable hunting, and, most importantly, if it to the Norwegian government’s statistics, in 1963 is killed by methods that do not allow the animal to the subsidy was approximately 17 million Norwegian suffer, it is fine to exploit the resource,” says Synnøve krones. By 1980 the subsidy had jumped considerably, Spangelo who is Norwegian and proud of her heritage to about 419 million Norwegian krones. The subsidy and local traditions. She believes Norway’s long covers fuel, transport and storage costs, all to keep history of whaling should be continued. Over the past the whaling industry afloat. century, though, the practice has come under attack. Whaling in the waters off most of northern Norway was prohibited around 1904. The stocks of whales in the Norwegian Sea had declined precipitously, and Norwegian whalers had to find new places to hunt. That led them to discover whale-hunting grounds near Antarctica, and from there they expanded throughout the oceans, improving their ships to operate in any kind of environment, including ice— long the bane of seagoing captains everywhere. During the 1930-31 season, Norwegians killed more than 40,000 whales and produced 3.6 million barrels of oil. Unfortunately, this great catch coincided with the collapse of the market during the Great Depression, which stifled demand. The government’s motivation is political, according The International Whaling Commission was created to Truls Gulowsen, the leader of Greenpeace in 1946 to provide proper conservation and Norway. “Whaling has been strongly symbolic for management of whale stocks. It began imposing the Norwegian politicians who would like to show quotas in 1949. The great whaling countries, including themselves as friends of the coast,” he said in an Japan, the Soviet Union, the Netherlands and Norway, interview with Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. had to compete for larger shares of the industry. In One of the oldest and most prevailing arguments 1986 an international moratorium on commercial about why Norwegians should continue to whale is whaling went into effect. that Norwegian fishermen see whales as their fishing Despite the international rules, two countries competitors. In “The Daughter of the Whaler,” Dina continue commercial hunting, Iceland and Norway, tries to explain to her 9-year-old sister, Katrine, the where whalers mainly hunt minke whales, a small reasons why hunting the minke whales is justified for whale that is largely believed to be abundant in the their family. “We must shoot the whales in order to North Atlantic. For many years, Japan has conducted have something to live on. If we don’t shoot them, whaling operations that the government says are they will eat all the fish. We have to kill them in order scientific research expeditions, not commercial ones, to keep the balance in nature,” says Dina, repeating although most of what gets caught ends up for sale to what her father, uncle and grandfather have told her. the Japanese public. In March, the International Court Whales do eat a lot of fish, as Dina notes; an adult of Justice ordered Japan to stop its whaling activities, orca whale can eat up to 300 herring fish a day. but the Japanese government has not yet agreed to Of course, Norwegians eat whale, too, as a high- abide by the ruling. priced delicacy. But the demand for such meat exists Norway gets around the IWC’s moratorium by in a niche market, and not one that is growing, whaling only within the country’s Exclusive Economic according to chef Magne Aas. “Whale meat for Zone, which reaches about 200 miles from its consumption regularly is only used in the north, shores. The government is responsible for proper where people are not able to raise other types of management of the area. animals and their food consumption and occupation are dependent on the ocean and its riches. In the Although Norway has reserved the right to disregard southern parts of Norway, whale meat is consumed, the IWC ban on commercial whaling, the industry is primarily, in fine-dining restaurants,” says Aas, struggling. With the diminishing demand for whale executive chef at Scandic Neptun in Bergen.

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 17 Most restaurants, though, are extremely selective about their whale steaks, Aas notes. “Unfortunately, high-end restaurants can only use prime cuts. The meat is surrounded by large amounts of fat. That requires the prime cuts to be treated with special care, because if the meat touches the fat or vice versa, it becomes rancid and unusable, which on the other hand drives the prices really high. “I know about only two processing plants that exist today. We used to have more, but because of the highly skilled personnel that they require and the large amounts of wasted meat, they closed down,” Aas continues. All this means that not many restaurants can offer whale as a main course. Whale And whales have non-food and non-oil uses. Because meat also tends to be high in toxic heavy metals and whales migrate together at certain times of the cancer-causing organochlorines because of ocean year, they are an attraction in Norway. Companies pollution. This also affects consumer demand for the along the coast offer orca whale watching tours and meat. excursions, where the very brave can dive with the The Norwegian authorities do allow whalers to export killer whales. Some enthusiasts are even traveling to whale products. But even the export market has not Norway during the migration season just to dive with yet proved to be the boon that the industry needs. the whales. Over the years, the industry has suffered from low Despite the questionable future of whaling in Norway, whale-catch rates. During the past few years, the in the film Dina and her family remain positive. Every government has set quotas hitting almost 1,300, but whaling season is a new adventure, one that keeps whalers have not been able to reach anywhere near family traditions alive. Dina’s grandfather knows that that number. This year, whalers caught about 600 the industry is slowly dying but is happy to see whales whales, way below the limit. in the Norwegian waters. “It is really good to see such fine whale in the sea under our boat!” he says. The 800 kilograms of meat that they harvest makes Dina happy as well, since she knows that the whale meat is helping her family survive. By the end of the film, she has not decided whether to continue to whale like all her ancestors, but her story illustrates the positives and negatives of an ancient practice that still continues today.

Wikimedia Commons

18 A Global Business Journalism Incubator Animal slaughter, usually hidden from view, provokes public debate By: AMY JEFFS | September 2, 2014

CAMBRIDGE, England — An e-petition is calling for Only 1 percent of the British public works in Parliament to impose a U.K.-wide ban on kosher and agriculture, but 98 percent of the population halal slaughter techniques, which petition promoters eats meat (around 24 kilograms a year). Very few deem cruel and unnecessary. It is gathering signatures consumers know anything about a meat industry via the HM Government website until April 2015. that they nevertheless support with their purchases. According to the e-petition, “Scientific evidence Distance and processing have rendered animal shows that non-stun slaughter allows animals to slaughter almost invisible. Many say that institutions perceive pain and compromises welfare.” On behalf like schools and the media need to educate and of the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals inform so that consumers can buy responsibly. and numerous other animal rights groups, it asks Alison Hopton is a primary school teacher and animal the British public to judge the quality of slaughter rights activist. Based on her experience working with methods on the grounds of animal welfare. school-age children, she says, getting them interested Religious slaughter methods, like halal and kosher in meat is not easy. “Many children are not interested slaughter, allow an animal to be killed without pre- in where their meat comes from because their stunning. Without stunning, animals die from loss of parents aren’t,” says Hopton. “As a society, I believe blood, which may take several minutes, during which we will become even more sanitized and detached the animal is conscious and in pain. from the meat food chain. We have to change the way we teach children about food and meat The ethics of these religious no-stun methods of production.” slaughter are being hotly debated in the U.K., but in an environment where the public is ill-informed about the alternatives. Several factors, including detachment from the meat production process, have left U.K. citizens either squeamish or indifferent to the subject of animals being killed for meat. Often, the public wants to eat meat but doesn’t want to know where it has come from. There are plenty of environmental, economic and animal welfare reasons why a better-informed public is a good thing. The no-stun controversy notwithstanding, many of the issues in the slaughter industry arise from unprecedented consumer demand and competition with cheap imported meat. Initiatives do exist that aim to address this issue. This has led to a drop in the number of red-meat The School Farms Network has set up small-scale abattoirs in England, from 250 in 2001 to 193 in 2013. farms across the U.K. so that schoolchildren have The family-run abattoir is a dying business, as larger the opportunity to learn where their meat comes abattoirs soak up the slaughter market. They are from. Brian Jordan, head teacher at one such school, able to deal with the stock as quickly as possible and Bebington High Sports College, said in a 2013 press maximize efficiency. release, “Our vision is to help young people today to In Scotland, closures of small-scale abattoirs have know where food is sourced, how it is grown and the caused farmers to send their stock to England for care needed to ensure the animals have a good life slaughter, sometimes several hundreds of miles away before they end up on our table.” to Essex in the southern part of the country. This is However, teaching about slaughter can become a real very taxing for the animals, and it is not uncommon problem, too. In 2010, the head teacher of a school in for stock to die en route. It also increases the risk of Kent resigned after receiving personal threats related disease outbreaks, as with foot-and-mouth disease.

Wikimedia Commons

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 19 to the Marcus the Lamb incident. The area is famous campaigner for Animal Aid, the largest animal rights for sheep farming, and Marcus was hand-reared by group in the U.K. While she ultimately endorses students as a project to teach them about the food veganism, her priority is for slaughter techniques cycle. That meant that, eventually, Marcus the Lamb to be improved, as much in abattoirs that use stun would have to die and be sold for his meat. The methods as in those that do not. She is currently majority of parents, students and governing members behind a campaign to install closed-circuit TV in all of the school supported the head teacher’s decision British abattoirs. to send Marcus to the slaughterhouse to raise money She told me that conscientious consumers will often for the acquisition of more animals, which is what pay more for meat to ensure it has experienced a happened. higher welfare standard, but what is actually needed A small number of parents led by local mother Jo is greater transparency. “Meat consumption would Davis objected vociferously to the plan. According decrease if people saw what was going on,” she said. to a BBC article about the incident, she said, “My In 2009, Animal Aid filmed in nine, randomly selected daughter was told it was no different to buying lamb abattoirs in the U.K. Eight out of nine of them from the supermarket,” adding, “I really don’t think were breaking animal welfare laws. Even in a Soil this is the same thing.” In her view, the issue was her Association-approved abattoir, the footage I watched child’s emotional connection to Marcus rather than showed kicking, undue force and sudden failures in moral objections to his death. She also said some the hoist (presumably due to poor maintenance), so pupils were left “traumatized” after Marcus was that one sheep fell headfirst from ceiling level onto finally killed. the concrete floor. “Paying extra for meat doesn’t A similar story hit the headlines in February of this necessarily mean you are not funding cruelty,” Fowler year. A butcher’s shop in Sudbury, Suffolk, was forced explained. to remove its window displays, which often consisted On the other hand, she also believes that most of of the carcasses of feathered poultry and game, the population is happy that “somebody else does unskinned rabbits and disembodied pigs’ heads. the dirty work.” She believes that increased visibility Parents in the town complained that such displays would mean a better-informed public and a greater were upsetting children. A father was quoted in The likelihood of improvement in this massive industry. Guardian saying, “I, too, have been disgusted at the Detractors say that given the extent of the demand needless display of multiple mutilated carcasses for meat in the U.K, centralized slaughterhouses on display.” He added that he’d “rather not look at are the best way to meet it. Gloucestershire-based bloody severed pigs’ heads when buying sweets.” livestock farmer Roger Meadows said that the Despite the considerable publicity this scandal larger abattoirs are often better than their smaller generated, the butcher’s shop was permitted to counterparts. “Good management, good systems, reinstate its displays. they can be fantastic. You’ve got to understand the When people make the facts of slaughter publicly system they are part of, with constant auditing. They visible, it seems to be the visibility that is criticized can’t afford to be doing it wrong, they really can’t,” rather than the moral issue of killing animals for he said. meat. Most recently, novelist Jeanette Winterson But in another corner of Gloucestershire, I visited posted a photograph of a rabbit carcass and its Broomhalls Ltd., a small, family-run abattoir that skin on her Twitter page with the caption, “Rabbit places an emphasis on doing it right. At Broomhalls, ate my parsley. I am eating the rabbit.” She then they slaughter animals from large and small farms supplemented the image with a photograph of her alike and sometimes sell the meat in their own cat eating the rabbit’s liver. butcher’s shop. A barrage of complaints post followed the Twitter There are relatively few slaughterhouses this small post. “A good tip for you, Winterson … grow your in the U.K. It is run by lifelong slaughtermen and herbs inside if you don’t want rabbits to eat it. Vile butchers Steve Broomhall and his brother Robert, woman,” said one. The media, with a taste for the who took over the business from their father. grotesque, highlighted lurid descriptions of the cat At Broomhalls, they slaughter on Mondays and eating the rabbit’s liver. Winterson did receive some Wednesdays, starting work at 7 a.m. The livestock, support, including an encouraging tweet from a in this case pigs, are kept in a lairage (holding pen) vegetarian, who claimed this was better than the fate behind the main slaughtering room, after being of industrially farmed animals. checked over by a vet. The pigs can hear and smell Kate Fowler is an animal rights activist and head everything that goes on, but when I visited they

20 A Global Business Journalism Incubator seemed mostly interested in sleeping, except for public] really don’t want to know. It’s just something when I walked over to them and they stood up in they accept.” obvious agitation. Broomhall asked me not to take pictures or film the I asked Steve if he thinks the pigs know what’s bleeding process. “People don’t understand,” he coming. In response, he shouted over the noise of the said. “They see twitching, and they think it’s alive. boiler, “Well, they aren’t climbing up the walls, are It’s a messy old job. You try to keep it all clean. An they?” operating theater would be exactly the same.” As I watched the slaughter process, each pig was His greatest concern was that people would led through a hatch to where Steve waited with the misinterpret those images, reacting squeamishly and electrical stunning rods. The pig was stunned and without the knowledge needed to enable them to raised unconscious off the ground by its back leg. It differentiate the nature of slaughter from real cruelty. should not regain consciousness, at least not if the I asked him if greater transparency on the part of stunning has been performed correctly. The pig was abattoirs could be part of the solution. For instance, then stuck with a single wound to the jugular with a Danish food processing company Danish Crown offer knife. “The sharper it is, the faster and cleaner the tours for up to 55 people at its slaughterhouses. cut,” Steve said. The knife’s target is the width of a However, Steve is not open to such tours, convinced pencil and concealed beneath several layers of skin that the public would not understand the process and and fat, and the cut is about the size and shape of an that his business could suffer if it was misrepresented almond. in the media. With the potential for viral publicity on Steve said it takes a lot of practice to get it right. “I the Internet, it is not surprising he is unwilling to put don’t let just anyone stick a pig, mind. Some of the his livelihood on the line. The story of Marcus the lads, they come in here and I let them gut and clean Lamb and the resignation of the head teacher, while them, but I don’t let them slaughter,” he said. “They an anomaly, is a cautionary tale. But the situation don’t have ‘it.’” will improve only if consumers engage more with “It,” he explained, is the ability to work competently, the process of slaughter. Whether it’s Marcus the cleanly and confidently. Lamb or the no-stun slaughter methods in kosher and halal abattoirs, it is clear that we have a lot to learn The pig was then bled over a large concrete drain, about the sensitive nexus between live animals as we referred to as the blood bath. The carcass still perceive them and the meat we eat. thrashed at this point, due to residual nerve impulses. It was then transferred to a boiler, filled with water at 62 degrees C, and turned for two and a half minutes, until the first layers of skin and bristles were removed. Afterward, it was scraped, the hard, fingernail-like shell of the trotters pulled from the feet, the last bristles burned off with a blowtorch, and the skin washed with a hose. At Broomhalls, this whole process was conducted by a team of three or four men. Once the pig was gutted, washed through and sawed in half, it was conveyed to the meat vet, who conducted routine checks to ensure the meat was fit for human consumption. At Broomhalls, the process was quick and efficient, and I saw no unnecessary suffering. But every stage of the job seemed physically hard; removing the guts means having your forearms almost constantly covered in blood. The air was muggy, filled with pungent steam from the boiler, heat from the blowtorch and the smell of burned bristles and warm meat. Steve said he had one visitor, a veterinary student, who just couldn’t take it. “She left in tears. Just went. Did ring up to say thank you, though.” Final steps of the slaughter process at When I asked him more generally about public Broomhalls Ltd. perceptions of slaughter, he replied, “They [the

Pro Journo / Amy Jeffs

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 21 WOOF Korea: a bridge of the agricultural past and urban modernity By: KAYLEIGH BURGESS | September 23, 2014

Today, I ate all my snails at breakfast. became the sprawling grassroots organization Normally, I might have balked at the idea, since there called Worldwide Opportunities in Organic Farming, were a few dozen tiny, round, green-gray bodies or WWOOF. And because a WWOOF branch was floating in a bowl of murky broth, partly hidden by founded in South Korea in 1997. a thick layer of cooked greens. But today, at this A world of WWOOF table, with this Korean drumming troupe, I ate every With members and hosts in almost 100 countries, single one. I finished the last of the broth with an WWOOF has very little international oversight. exaggerated slurp to show I’d enjoyed it, which is Instead, it is truly grassroots, with national WWOOF what you do when you don’t know how to say you organizations in over 50 countries, and 45 more did. countries with independent hosts who are willing to I’ve eaten everything offered to me since I arrived take on volunteers. For a national membership fee, three days ago at the Nanumteo farm in South Korea: volunteers get access to anywhere from a few dozens countless bowls of chicken, stuffed with dates and to over 2,000 in-country hosts. After that, no money, rice and garlic, and boiled in a ginseng broth; pork not a single dollar, changes hands. hooves; and dried squid in sweet sauce. I’ve eaten, Volunteers trade four to six hours of labor per day for of course, because I’m hungry, and when you’re in a free room and board. They can practice permaculture place where you can’t communicate, you eat when in Peru or assist with reforestation in Kazakhstan. and what you’re given. But I’ve also eaten because They can visit far-flung locales, accessible by only the I’m deeply, profoundly grateful to have a place at the most ardent explorers, and find a sense of instant table. community. Or they can sign up for a quick day trip I’m here because in 1971 a British secretary named out of the city. Sue Coppard thought it would be nice to get a Anna Liu, a WWOOFer from Hong Kong, was inspired group of people together to visit organic farms on by her time volunteering on farms in Japan, so she the weekends. Because the group she founded started a Meetup group in her home city. She now organizes day trips for urbanites who want to get their hands dirty: “Usually for WWOOF they only accommodate two or three WWOOFers overnight, but if it’s just a day trip they can do 10 people together and work on some huge projects,” she says. Liu remembers her first trip to a Hong Kong farm, when she and other volunteers helped move fish from one pond to another. “It was really fun, and after that, all of us smelt fishy and we all had to take the subway,” she says. “It’s an hour back to downtown, and everyone smelt like fish.” Nanumteo, the sharing place Liu has just arrived at Nanumteo, a name that translates to “the sharing place” and a place that lives up to its name. Nanumteo began as the vision of retired high school physics teacher, Gab-soo Kim. He created the building where groups of visiting musicians now sleep, and also an enclosed square building, which houses instruments and hosts twice-weekly samulnori drumming classes for community elders. He built the swales and the stone walls, and, with his wife, planted every one of the gardenias that line the property’s many pathways.

22 A Global Business Journalism Incubator Now they host WWOOFers, maybe a dozen a year, number that has shrunk to around 6 percent today. folding them into the swirl of life that starts at 5 As Korea’s economy developed, young people left in the morning and never slows down, never gets the countryside in droves for Seoul and other urban boring. areas. It’s a familiar tale in a globalizing world. As WWOOFers at Nanumteo, we hike, make music, Living standards have risen, and the profitability of drink too much soju and struggle through a small farming has become almost impossible as Korea has shared vocabulary of English and Korean. We explore signed free trade agreements with the West. Still, and rest, and sometimes we work. We mop floors by some farmers work to maintain a rural livelihood, and hand with wet rags; we weed, and weed, and weed, some urban dwellers seek to connect to the sources leaving liberated plants in our wake. It is work that of their food, and their past. leaves the body sore and the mind rested. But for Fukuyama, most young Koreans see no Nanumteo is one of 62 farms in Korea registered interest in agriculture itself. “Many people don’t have to host volunteers. In a country connected almost hope in agriculture here in Korea,” he says. “And for entirely by high-speed rail, people in Seoul are just those interested, they desperately say it’s just too a few hours from wine-making, harvesting green tea difficult to live in the countryside because there are and parasailing, an additional activity offered by one few jobs with which they can achieve a reasonable intrepid host. standard level of living.” Volunteers come to WWOOF in Korea from all over Nonetheless, as farm size continues to grow and the the globe: the U.S., Hong Kong, Singapore and number of farmers continues to decline, another Europe. But “the number of Korean WWOOFers undeniable trend is occurring. Of the 55 national is bigger than any other countries, and the rate of WWOOF organizations, nearly 80 percent are Koreans is about 30 percent,” says Kota Fukuyama, 21stcentury creations. manager of WWOOF Korea. “The increase of Korean “WWOOF hosts prove [the] success of living in the WWOOFers is also remarkable this year.” countryside—living on the ground with nature and Globalized agriculture more down-to-earth culture,” says Fukuyama. “The WWOOF Korea serves as a connection between existence of WWOOF is very important to connect the overwhelmingly urban Korea of today and its those who live in the city and those who practice agriculture-dominated past. Fifty years ago, over country life.” half of Korea’s population was made up of farmers, a

Korean countryside.

Kayleigh Burgess / Pro Journo

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 23 In spite of growth, organic farm certification remains a thorny issue for farmers in the U.S. By: BERRY KENNEDY | June 18, 2014

ANN ARBOR-Mich., U.S. — In February, President explains that the original intent of the farmers who Barack Obama signed into law a new Farm Bill, a worked for a federal organic label was to establish piece of legislation passed every five years that was organic as a recognized form of agriculture. The likened by the president to a “Swiss Army knife” and ensuing regulation frustrated many farmers, who covers a range of issues that go beyond agriculture to either found the complex requirements burdensome health and nutrition, conservation, food stamps and or feared that the weaker than desired standards more. According to a March 20 press release from the would damage the integrity of organic agriculture. U.S. Department of Agriculture, the 2014 bill allocates Andres can see both upsides and downsides to $11.5 million from the federal budget to help share the federal organic label’s development. USDA the costs of organic certification with the states. This certification allows farmers to sell through a wide allocation is a large increase, up from $1.425 million variety of vendors while still assuring the end- in 2013. consumer about some positive growing practices. The organic industry is booming in the United States. For crops, this means that the plants have not been Figures from the USDA’s National Organic Program treated with sewage, synthetic fertilizers, prohibited show that the number of certified organic farms in pesticides or genetically modified organisms, known the nation topped 18,513 in 2013, up more than 200 as GMOs. Some organic farmers go beyond the bare percent since 2002. This impressive increase gives minimum by also composting, controlling soil erosion only a partial picture of the growth of sustainable and managing the water cycle of their farms. agriculture in the U.S. An uncounted number of But there are also many negatives with the USDA farms follow alternative sustainable practices or organic standards, Andres says. “At this point, it is even organic ones, but choose not to go through the expensive and it is time-consuming.” Besides, he official USDA organic certification process. notes, just because a type of agriculture is called Some of these farmers adhere to alternative labels organic does not necessarily make it less extractive or like Certified Naturally Grown, which bills itself as industrial than conventional agriculture. For example, “the grassroots alternative to certified organic.” organic farmers can use manure from concentrated However, these alternatives are small in number. animal feeding operations or will use large amounts CNG has just 700 members—less than 4 percent of petroleum or water in production. of the number of USDA-certified organic farms. Tomm Becker of Sunseed Farm in Ann Arbor Many farmers follow organic practices but don’t says that although Sunseed follows all the USDA receive official certification. Still others go through organic practices with its greens and vegetables, with certification but remain ambivalent about the he has chosen not to go through the USDA organic certification system. certification process. For Becker, the label is not The choices of these self-proclaimed sustainable necessary when he is able to explain his farming farmers about what practices to follow and which methods to his customers in more detail. Without certifications to receive offer a unique perspective on the label, customers ask more questions about the future of organic and sustainable agriculture in the growing practices, which opens up more the U.S. More than just stories of individual choices opportunities for personal connections with them. about shouldering the time and monetary costs of “Organic can mean a lot of different things to a lot of the certification process, these decisions give insight different people,” he says. “When we don’t fall back into what might be gained, or lost, with the booming on that term … then we actually have to educate.” growth of certified organic agriculture in the U.S. This allows Becker to go beyond the basics. “We find Richard Andres of Tantré Farm has grown organic it really rewarding for people, for them to understand greens and vegetables in Chelsea, Mich., for 21 years. that it’s managing a whole ecological system out He was first certified with a Michigan organic label there.” until the USDA label came into force in 2000. Andres

24 A Global Business Journalism Incubator At the same time, Becker acknowledges that this the non-GMO label. In spite of the fact that doing more comprehensive communication is limited when so might improve sales, Cacciari refused. Certified the farmer does not sell directly to the consumer. organic farmers cannot use GMOs, which means Right now, Sunseed is small enough so that Becker that everything that is organic is already non- can talk to a large number of his customers, but as GMO. Cacciari’s worry is that labeling a product Sunseed grows, USDA certification may be the best both organic and non-GMO would lead to more way to send a message to customers shopping in misunderstandings about organic standards. more conventional retail outlets, he acknowledges. It’s not certain if the growth in the organic sector will It’s a challenge, though. “There is not enough room undermine farmers’ attempts to educate consumers on the shelf for everyone to be telling their story,” he about the complexity of sustainable and ecological says. growing practices. Many of the farmers interviewed It was for similar reasons that, after four years in see the mandated organic standards as a good business at farmers markets and through community- first step, but only a small part of the sustainable supported agriculture, Alex Cacciari, co-owner of management of a farm. Ann Arbor’s Seeley Farm, chose to get certified. She Andres, the organic pioneer, is a pragmatist and wanted to be able to reach a bigger audience through admits that it is hard to follow ideal organic retail and grocery stores. “The USDA symbol is a really practices when the larger system may incentivize a readable symbol for customers,” she says. “There are lower standard. He noted that one element of true still customers out there who grant a lot of value and sustainability is economic. “Ultimately, I had to pay who have a lot of allegiance to that organic label.” the mortgage on this place,” he says. “So I guess I do Still, Cacciari is concerned about customers’ the best I can to strike a balance.” understanding of what the USDA organic label means. Farmers like Andres, Becker and Cacciari, and the One grocery buyer, whom Cacciari had assumed individual stories they tell about going beyond the would better understand the organic label, recently USDA organic guidelines, may help guide consumers inquired if Seeley Farm had considered applying for and shape the market for organic food in the future.

Co-owners of Seeley Farm Alex Cacciari and Mark Nowak, on the farm near Ann Arbor, Mich., with their son.

Photo courtesy of Peter Cacciari.

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 25 Planting for pollinators goes political in the U.K. By: AMY JEFFS | September 5, 2014

LONDON, England — Graham Saunders is 68 now, Increasingly, the British government is taking but he has been keeping bees in the Cotswold notice, too, and has a formulated a plan of action countryside since he was young boy. His father was that aims to save the country’s bees and other the local beekeeper and would collect swarms that insect pollinators. In March 2014, the Department emerged in the local villages and transfer the bees to for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs held a hives near his wheelwright workshop. consultation to propose a national bee strategy At that time, summer brought bee swarms on an concerning the future of Britain’s bees and other almost daily basis. Swarms happen when a new insect pollinators, which have been threatened queen bee leaves the hive with a large group of since pesticide use in farming became routine and worker bees in search of a new place to call home. “In wildflower banks have been lost to more intensive the ’60s and ’70s, I was going to three or four swarms land use. a week in the summer,” said Saunders. “This whole The value of insect pollinators to the economy is year I have collected two.” significant; DEFRA estimates that the work they do It is the same story across the world; the bees are is worth hundreds of billions of dollars. While most dying. And it’s not just the bees but other insects, like calorie crops are wind-pollinated, a number of the beetles, moths, hover flies and wasps, that pollinate most popular fruits and vegetables, like strawberries, the crops that are vital for human nourishment. cucumbers and tomatoes, depend heavily on insect pollinators. In short, their free labor helps provide the In the old days, such insects would find forage in nourishing foods that are crucial to our diet. the traditional hay meadows, which were full of wild flowers, and from the clover blossoms that The proposed strategy is the result of a consultation grew beneath the wheat. These insect pollinators that included contributions from supermarkets, favor nectar-rich blooms, with petals that splayed government bodies, farming groups, the fertiliser and outwards, allowing them to land with ease inside the pesticide industries and beekeepers’ associations. The flower. The insects collect pollen on their bodies and strategy identifies three main outcomes that stand as transfer that pollen from the anther to the stigma of desirable goals for all government policies. According the flower. In that way, they pollinate the plants. to the plan, Britain needs “diverse and flower-rich habitats to support our pollinators on farmland Saunders said that he has seen the bees and other and public land, in towns, cities and gardens, insects start to disappear from his little corner of along transport networks and on land surrounding the Cotswold countryside over the past century. other infrastructure such as water treatment According to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, works and flood defences; healthy bees and other when Saunders’ father was a young man, in the 1930s pollinators to support pollination services; enhanced and ’40s, the U.K. had 98 percent more flower-rich awareness across a wide range of businesses, other grassland than it does today. The advent of more organisations and the public of the essential needs intensive methods of farming and land-use changes of pollinators and actions they can take to support have led to the dramatic loss of sources of forage for them.” bees and other insect pollinators. DEFRA has suggested five steps that everyone One change Saunders remembers occurred in the can take to create and improve pollinator-friendly ’50s and ’60s, when farmers started dusting their habitats. These include growing more nectar-rich rapeseed crops with pesticides from the backs of and pollen-rich plants and trees; leaving patches of their tractors. “I saw the bees come home to my land to grow wild; mowing the grass less frequently; village, Sherborne, and just drop dead in front of the avoiding disruption of nesting or hibernating hive. The next day the whole colony was dead. At the insects; and using pesticides with consideration and time, it made national news,” Saunders said. moderation. Authorities created rules to prevent farmers from General awareness of the value of pollinators will spraying their crops between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., be enhanced by the creation of a “Call to Action” when most pollinators would be out foraging among package between 2014 and 2015. It will concentrate the wild flowers for food. However, the bees and on simple measures that can be taken to provide other insects have continued to decline. In 2013, the the basic needs of insect pollinators, like planting European Union instituted a three-year ban on some more flowering plants that can serve as good forage neonicotinoid pesticides that have been linked to for them. The London Beekeepers’ Association, increased bee mortality. for instance, warns against large, colorful hybrid

26 A Global Business Journalism Incubator flowers that are bred for appearance and contain appalling history of these companies with respect to limited nectar. It finds that a mix of native and non- publishing their study data in publicly available, peer- native species prolongs the flowering season, giving reviewed journals, this decision by DEFRA smacks of pollinating insects plenty of forage to see them corporate appeasement and scientific naiveté.” through the year. He remains skeptical that DEFRA’s plan will have the The DEFRA strategy also includes doing more research teeth needed to be effective. “The draft strategy into how pesticides are affecting the bees and other report lacks detail and direction. Most of the goals insects—research that will be funded in part by the are very broad and ill-defined in relation to integrated pesticide manufacturers themselves. pest management, which DEFRA outlines with as little Critics in the government, especially Parliament’s specificity as possible and omits the crucial emphasis Environmental Audit Committee, fear that by allowing on pesticides as a last resort,” Bartlett said. the pesticide industry to fund the research, at least in According to recent research, organic farming may be part, the government is opening the door for those the best path for food producers with an interest in companies to unduly influence the outcome of the boosting pollinator populations. Researchers from the research. University of Oxford have found that organic farms Experience has shown that pesticide and agro- have around a third more species of wildlife than chemical companies often lobby the government to their non-organic counterparts. For insect pollinators, weaken rules that regulate their products. In June, the difference between the farming methods is even the Swiss agribusiness Syngenta, which produces more marked, with 50 percent more pollinating some of the neonicotinoid pesticides banned by the species on organic land. The Oxford researchers EU, applied for an exemption in the U.K. It argued asserted in a report that “organic methods could that the ban did not acknowledge the complexity undoubtedly play a major role in halting the of the health issues facing bee populations and that continued loss of diversity from industrialized neonicotinoids do not pose as much of a threat nations.” as is typically assigned to them. Syngenta used its Emma Hockridge, head of policy at the Soil own researchers to back its claims. According to Association, the U.K.’s organic certification body, is its website, “Syngenta research has found no risk unequivocal on the subject. “Our food systems are to bee colonies exposed to neonicotinoid-treated being threatened by the declines of bees and other crops, particularly oilseed rape and maize, even when pollinators necessary for a third of the food that we exposed for several years.” eat. This research shows there is a clear solution for Nonetheless, a growing body of evidence from pollinators with a known outcome: support organic researchers around the world has shown that farming and we can have 50 percent more species of neonicotinoids do indeed have a negative effect on pollinators in our countryside,” she said. bee populations. A few weeks after requesting the The clearest message from DEFRA’s report is that exemption, Syngenta withdrew its application. immediate action is necessary. The solution, it says, The Environmental Audit Committee is demanding is not just minimizing the use of pesticides and that all research be independent. “When it comes to herbicides but also supporting diverse food sources research on pesticides, DEFRA is content to let the for our insect pollinator helpers by bringing back manufacturers fund the work,” said committee Chair wildflower meadows and filling the roundabouts with Joan Walley. “This testifies to a loss of environmental nectar-rich forage. protection capacity in the department responsible for According to Saunders, the next in line to the British it. If the research is to command public confidence, throne is setting a good example: “Prince Charles has independent controls need to be maintained at got the right idea on this one—planting vast acreages every step. Unlike other research funded by pesticide of traditional hay meadows.” companies, these studies also need to be peer- Saunders urges everyone to follow in Charles’ reviewed and published in full.” footsteps and get planting. “It is vital to reduce our Lewis Bartlett, an ecologist studying honeybees dependence on pesticides, but we must not forget at the University of Exeter’s Centre for Ecology that bees need more flowers, nectar-producing and Conservation, said he was concerned by the flowers. Just small areas would help,” he said, adding involvement of the chemical industry. that every little strip of wildflowers can help. And “Their [DEFRA] current proposal to have pesticide more than that, he sees a duty that we owe to our research led by the industry, particularly for insect friends who do so much for us—to provide new neonicotinoids, is ludicrous,” he said. “Given the refuges for them to adapt to this changing world. Amy Jeffs / Pro Journo

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 27 Miracles: Scale Of Technology New technology helps farmers conserve fertilizer and protect their crops – on the Guardian By: KAYLEIGH BURGESS | August 20, 2014

A software program from Cornell researchers aims to “There’s a phenomenal team of soil scientists, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save farmers’ crops. climatologists, and crop modelers that work on it but Now the big seed companies are taking notice they’re not software platform management people We have a nitrogen problem. Nitrogen is essential to and they’re not customer service people and it really our existence, a required nutrient for the plants we just taxed them significantly,” says Greg Levow, co- eat. It is the broad swath at the bottom of our own founder of the tech startup Agronomic Technology human food pyramid and it is applied by farmers to Corporation (ATC). agriculture fields all over the world. When Cornell began its search for a private company From there, much of it is lost to the atmosphere, to manage the software, Levow and his co-founders as a greenhouse gas 300 times as potent as carbon at ATC were looking for something like Adapt-N – a dioxide. Still more of it leaches into waterways, startup and a cloud technology project that a group creating dead zones, like the ones that inevitably of young entrepreneurs could sink their teeth into. creep up in the Gulf of Mexico, decimating fish ATC took over management of Adapt-N at the end populations. of 2013 through a unique public-private partnership Researchers at Cornell University are hoping they’ve with the university. This year, the company launched created the beginnings of a solution. Adapt-N, a the first commercial rendition of Adapt-N, with software program developed after years of research, farmers and agronomists in 25 states using the tool to aims to help farmers simultaneously save money and manage tens of thousands of acres of corn. mitigate these environmental impacts by giving them Studies show that the nitrous oxide emitted from the information they need to determine how and cornfields has a greenhouse gas impact of similar when to apply nitrogen fertilizer to their fields. magnitude to the entire aviation industry of the The online tool monitors nitrogen applied and lost United States. on cornfields across the country. Farmers input field- “With greenhouse gases, most people think about specific information including soil composition and carbon dioxide and maybe methane, but people don’t field history, as well as the amount of fertilizer they think about nitrous oxide and it’s a very big concern,” apply to their fields and when. The program combines says Dr van Es. “If you were to say within the aviation this information with real-time weather monitoring industry we can reduce our carbon footprint by 25%, to track the nitrogen’s likely fate. It sends farmers and people would be saying well that’s fantastic, that agronomists daily email updates and allows them to is big news. We think we can do that with nitrous retroactively explore field histories. oxide.” According to Dr Harold van Es, professor and Aiming to combat crop loss as well as pollution chair of Cornell University’s Department of Crop Shannon Gomes is an agronomist in Decora, Iowa and Soil Sciences, the tool combines three major - corn country. He helps farmers manage 25,000 innovations: research that shows nitrogen variability acres of the commodity crop and has 27 years of can be managed, cloud computing technology, and experience under his belt. Gomes uses Adapt-N with high-resolution weather information. The latter is the farmers he advises, showing them how long-held especially important. practices, like applying nitrogen in the fall, can lead to “Any time you put nitrogen in a reactive form in the lost nitrogen and lost profits. soil, you can lose a lot of it within a matter of a couple “One of the biggest benefits of Adapt-N is as a days,” explains van Es. “That’s primarily driven by teaching tool,” says Gomes. “We can input or change rainfall, by precipitation.” a variable to show less loss.” The first version of Adapt-N was created in 2005 and Since 2011, Gomes has been a participant in field the first web edition launched in 2008. From there trials of Adapt-N, conducted by the team at Cornell demand grew rapidly. The Cornell team realized they University. Field trials conducted in a dozen states, needed a company to manage the software, so they including Iowa and New York, show results you’d could focus on their primary work: research. expect, but also ones you might not - like the ones from the summer of 2013.

28 A Global Business Journalism Incubator “In 2011 and 2012 we saw average and fairly dry help its suppliers, and the farms that supply those years in much of our region and that resulted typically suppliers, mitigate environmental impacts. in a reduction in fertilizer rates”, says ATC’s Greg The market value of this technology has also attracted Levow. “However, 2013 was a very different year from the attention of some of agri-businesses major a weather perspective. It was a very wet spring in players: multi-national corporations Monsanto and much of the Corn Belt and the Northeast, so we did Dupont Pioneer. Monsanto’s Climate Pro program, in fact recommend significantly more nitrogen, not which includes Nitrogen Advisor in its arsenal, claims in every case, but on the average certainly. That was that it can save farmers up to $100 an acre. Pioneer needed to avoid yield losses that would have resulted is also poised to launch its own cloud-based nitrogen from those crops becoming deficient in N later on in management tool. the season.” For the makers of Adapt-N, this comes as both a boon As a result, around three quarters of New York and a challenge. farmers who field-tested Adapt-N in 2013 actually “[Monsanto and Pioneer] are two very large seed increased the amount of nitrogen they used companies, of course with very deep pockets and so it compared to farmers who did not use the tool. They has changed the competitive environment a little bit. also increased their profits. I mean for us, as scientists, it’s a feather in our cap, According to the software’s developers, this is an because imitation is the highest form of flattery. But essential part of adaptive management. for Agronomic Technology Corporation, it means that Attracting the attention of deep-pocketed competitors there’s a lot more competition,” says Dr van Es. Even with years when nitrogen applications increase, While increasing adoption rates is key for reaching the overall environmental benefits are clear. So environmental goals, the challenge to ATC and much so that the tool has attracted the attention Adapt-N is hard to ignore. In this newly competitive of an unlikely collection of players, including the landscape, for Levow, it comes down to independent, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Walmart. unbiased recommendations. As part of its sustainability plan, the corporate “We really suggest that people who are looking at retailer committed to reducing the greenhouse gas these systems forget about the privacy policy of emissions associated with its global supply chain by the website and just figure out what the intent of 20m metric tons of carbon equivalent, by the end of the provider is,” says van Es. “We would strongly 2015. Of this amount, 40% is to come from fertilizer question a system that’s trying to make nitrogen use optimization. EDF, which facilitated some of the recommendations, that’s also trying to sell seed and nitrogen rate trials for Adapt-N in the past, has been insurance, or crop protection.” helping Walmart work with tools like Adapt-N to

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 29 Beyond Polarization: Urban Solutions Is urban agriculture the solution to global food insecurity? By: NATALIE HASE | September 24, 2014

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — The world’s growing minerals from urban waste by incinerating or gassing population and increasingly limited resources have it. The minerals in the ash would then be the primary created a great challenge to our current agricultural materials for the recirculation and the base in the systems, whether they are conventional or organic. production of fertilizers. Yet new research and innovative projects show that Previous attempts to recirculate waste have mainly cities around the world can certainly be part of the focused on returning organic waste to the cultivation solution. areas, which has proved to be very difficult, mostly It is no longer news that we will have to double our due to toxic substances in the waste. food production by 2050, as the United Nations “Organic farming fully excludes the use of mineral reported earlier this year. By midcentury, the urban fertilizer, which makes the concept of extracting this population is predicted to increase by 80 percent. green fertilizer undoable in the organic production Creating Synergies system,” Kirchmann points out. He also says it will not Plantagon is a forward-thinking Swedish company be possible in the future to bring sufficient amounts that sees a solution to sustainably feeding the global of food to major cities in the way we are doing it population through urban agriculture. It is focusing today. on developing a vertical greenhouse to minimize “The most important step for the future is to transportation, land, energy and water use in food recirculate our resources and have a functioning production. closed-loop solution for the nutrients we feed our The idea behind urban agriculture, as well as crops with,” he says. Plantagon’s concept, is that it should provide Soil vs. Pumice the market with products that don’t need to be Organic labeling is not an option for Plantagon. transported while creating synergies with all the Sepehr Mousavizadeh, the company’s project resources offered in a metropolis or a community, manager, says organic farming is a good method of including energy, carbon, water and sunlight. The production for now but is not efficient enough in the goal is to make food production more efficient, with long term. And while the growing medium for organic innovative approaches toward minimizing input certification remains soil, it is not compatible with the into the process. Because urban agriculture is close production techniques applied by Plantagon. to those urban resources, food production can be “We believe that if we could imbibe the Plantagon integrated into these resources and make use of concept of sustainable production within the them. ecological norms in urban environments, the Feeding a growing population rationale for market shares is evident,” the company’s Holger Kirchmann, a researcher at the Swedish website says. Institute of Agriculture, is writing a book titled “The Plantagon’s vertical greenhouse is based on the Organic Dream — Myths and Truths About Organic principles of hydroponic systems. In other words, Farming.” The book examines ways of producing plants are grown with nutrients and water, not soil. food to feed the expanding world population while This method, used in greenhouses, conserves water staying environmentally sustainable by using fewer and land. In addition, it most often does not require pesticides, maintaining satisfactory biodiversity and more than basic agricultural skills. using resources efficiently. The plants are grown in large trays where the water Recirculation of nutrients is an interesting dimension is provided from below, directly to the plant’s root of this, and something that Kirchmann thinks is one system. This irrigation method is very efficient, as of the most important aspects of future resource surplus water is drained and, after disinfestation, the efficiency. His book examines the possibility of excess nutrient solution is collected and reused, thus creating a new “green” fertilizer from nutrients in our creating the method’s closed-loop system. urban waste. The method would involve extracting

30 A Global Business Journalism Incubator Pumice, a natural substrate, is increasingly used in the as reducing our food waste. production process. The nutrients from the pumice The future of urban agriculture are dissolved in the irrigation water and fed to the plants. Pumice has proved to be very durable, up to Urban agriculture does not exclusively open up several years, and because it is a natural substrate environmentally friendly solutions. It has also a social at the end of its life cycle, it doesn’t affect the aspect. The cost of middlemen is avoided, making environment. it easier and cheaper for farmers to sell their food directly to customers. Five steps to solve the food dilemma “Think about the amount of people who would be “Unfortunately, the debate over how to address the able to provide food directly to the urban population, global food challenge has become polarized, pitting and the contribution to new jobs that comes with it,” conventional agriculture and global commerce says Mousavizadeh. “Also, the definition of what is against local food systems and organic farms,” says local is vague today—there is no actual definition at Jonathan Foley, a global ecologist at the University of all. But buying food from the same city will definitely Minnesota. He has been recognized for his work on be local.” understanding global ecosystems land use and the He adds that the biggest challenge to urban environmental implications of modern agriculture. agriculture, apart from the dependence on imported Focusing on reducing environmental effects while food, which he refers to as “food globalization,” meeting the global population’s food needs, Foley is consumer awareness. As the organic sector has has come up with five steps on how to solve the increasingly developed in the European Union in food dilemma by reducing environmental harm and recent years, most people tend to turn to organic as a doubling the availability of food. solution to the problems of food production. The first step is to freeze agriculture’s carbon Because both organic and conventional approaches footprint by not expanding the agricultural area. have their flaws as solutions, “it need not be an The second is to grow more on the farms that we either-or proposition,” says Foley. “Rather, it would be have, while the third step is using resources more wise to explore all of the good ideas, whether from efficiently. The two last steps concern the routines organic and local farms or high-tech and conventional of our daily life: changing diets and decreasing meat farms, and blend the best of both.” consumption in the richest parts of the world as well

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 31 “Parsellhager”: garden parcels – How to be an urban farmer in Norway By: KRASTINA GEORGIEVA-ILKOVA | July 24, 2014

BERGEN, Norway — It was an unusually hot day in in the early 20th century. Over time, people have May on the west coast of Norway, about 25 degrees built little cabins on their kolonihager parcels, and Celsius. The weather caught us all unprepared — they defend their rights to their parcels as property. me, my husband and the public transportation Parsellhager gardens, as the garden parcels are called, authorities. The latter, worried about the cost of are slightly different in that the parcel users are not air conditioning, told the bus drivers to limit its use allowed to construct any buildings, and the land use as much as possible. Being on such a bus during terms are not as fixed, since the municipality can take rush hour on such a hot day was not a pleasant back the parsellhager land at any time. experience, and the heat made my bottom lip slowly The official website of the urban gardens in Oslo protrude. On top of that, a huge car accident clogged reports that in 2013 the capital had about 20 major all the city’s major arteries, doubling the traveling urban garden areas with more than 1,000 parcels. time necessary to get to the suburbs. But it was all The gardens are so popular that a waiting list has worth it. about 800 people. With Bergen second in size after The end point for my husband and me was the Oslo, you would expect that urban farmers would place where we had to meet with 25 other couples. abound there as well. The purpose of our meeting was to divide a piece But on the contrary: Bergen has never had a history of land behind a local farm in the open area called of kolonihager, and until the recent opening of Bergendal Gård, only the second community garden the farm in Bergendal Gård, the city had only one in the Bergen metropolitan area. Stuck in traffic, we largeparsellhager, the one in Fløen, with about 90 constantly complained, but in our minds we knew small parcels. In addition to fewer garden areas, the that if we managed to get this 24-square-meter demand for the gardens in Bergen can’t compare with parcel of land, it would be the ideal place to escape Oslo’s. In 2012, the waiting list in Bergen had only to on weekends. We also thought of our expected about 85 people. child, who would be able to spend time in nature In fact, the perception of the parsellhager gardens and probably meet some other baby friends. We as not permanent has been a challenge to their were excited to finally have a chance to have our development. Discussions about the establishment own garden—something we could never previously of more gardens in Bergen date back to 2012, when imagine in our apartment in the city center, which is city officials made them a part of the city’s Green only 40 square meters. Environment and Land Use Plan. Back then, former Bergen is the second largest city in Norway after Oslo, City Commissioner Lisbeth Iversen expressed her the capital, where people often grow their own food concerns about the challenges of finding places to on rooftops and in community gardens. The Oslo area establish gardens where their long-term use could be is famous for its kolonihager, literally “colony farms,” guaranteed. In 1997, the Nordjordet gardens in Oslo, which are community farms that were established behind the famous Vigeland Park, had to be closed down after 14 years of operation because the city decided to build a school building on the land. Garden organizers in Bergen have proposed a solution to this problem of the gardens being perceived as short term in nature. They decided to ask local farmers to voluntarily rent out their available land that was not being used. However, in 2012 Bergen’s Farmers’ Union had mixed feelings about the idea. The union said it would charge commercial rents for the land. In addition, representatives said the municipality had to look first at its own gardens rather than asking the farmers to give away their land. This is what Bergen did. In one of its open areas, Bergendal Gård, enough space was available for aparsellhager. flickr / knittingiris under Creative Commons

32 A Global Business Journalism Incubator At Bergendal Gård

When we finally got off the hot bus, equipped Røynesdal, the leader of the meeting, was with only our cellphones, we passed through the accompanied by a few women who would help him neighborhood. The end of the asphalt road was the divide the land, talk about the rules and share their sign that we had been looking for: It marked the gardening know-how with us. The first meeting end of the city. The transition to a perfectly shaped to partition the gardens for this specific area had road covered only with gravel slowly began to reveal occurred two weeks earlier. However, with the low a picturesque view of the landscape. Somewhere turnout, the event had to be repeated in order for the within this beauty was hidden the place where we land to get enough tenants. A second, stronger media could create our own little garden. campaign interested more urbanites. The first thing we saw was a small running brook In fact, there were so many people that we weren’t with a bridge made of flat stones. Hearing its song, sure everyone would be able to get a parcel. Kristin I exclaimed, “It will be ideal for the baby!” Next to Finne, who works with Røynesdal, did a quick count the river was a red wooden farmhouse, typical in in her head, dividing the number of families by the Scandinavia, with a small flower garden in front. number of available parcels. “I think that all the When we looked at the side of the farmhouse, we people here today will get their small parsellhage,” discovered that the red farm’s owner had arranged to she said. “Yes, yes!” I exclaimed. I really wanted to get have two tractors for plowing the land that is going to the land, especially after seeing how many babies and be divided between the city dwellers, who were yet children were going to be our neighbors by garden. to arrive. “The establishment of the gardens is a way to In our excitement, we were almost an hour early. So influence others to think more about what they eat, we enjoyed the wait in silence and in the heat from and to help people grow food even partially,” said the early summer sun until we saw a tall, skinny man Finne, describing the philosophy behind the gardens. with an electric bicycle, who was the first to arrive. She also organizes a course for vegetarians at another I immediately recognized him, because to get your organization, the Sustainable Life Nattland and own little parsellhage we had to register online and Sædalen. then become part of a closed Facebook group for the “I wanted a parsellhage since I was a student 10 gardens. “The name of the man is Pål Røynesdal!” years ago, but the area in Fløen was all too far away I said. Later on, we discovered that Røynesdal is a from us. It was not convenient to go there several representative from the network of groups around nights a week with my children, now 14 and 11, and a Bergen called Sustainable Life (BL). Together with husband studying for his Ph.D.,” said Finne, who also the municipality, they have launched the project to helped with the development of the new gardens. help people from urban areas get their own garden “Bergendal is just an evening stroll away.” parcels. With this initiative, the local government and Finne said the parcel helps her family grow a lot of its other sustainable-agriculture organizations expect food. “We have our own garden at home, but here we that the gardens will become a forum where the have access to prime topsoil. Good topsoil takes years community’s members can share their interest in to build. It is nice to grow your own food organically. growing organic foods in Bergendal Gård. The kids learn how much work and dedication is We were so early and waited so long that we hidden behind the food we eat. As a bonus, here in wondered if the people who had preregistered would Bergendal Gård we have access to swimming, hiking really come. But just 10 minutes after the meeting trails and lots of friendly neighbors by garden.” was supposed to start, people started arriving in The gardens are ruled democratically, with a steering waves. There were couples with babies, families with committee and the garden members. Gardeners young children, young men and women. Although the have to pay rent of about $30 (U.S.) a year and must average age of the participants in the meeting was follow a long list of rules, including participating about 30, a few older people came as well.

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 33 in volunteer shifts and, most important, following suddenly popular in Bergen. “Garden plots establish organic agricultural practices. “But what is organic? community. They are a meeting place for like-minded And are you the people that say what organic is?” where you can exchange experiences, sit in nature was a question from an elderly, white-haired man and enjoy a cup of coffee on Saturdays. It is a place who was accompanying his wife. On the opposite with unlimited possibilities.” side where most of the young couples and families The Fløen parsellhager, closer to the city center, is were standing, quiet laughs showed a generational more popular, but due to the limited space there, we divide. “How it is possible not to know what organic would have to wait for someone to give up a parcel is?” whispered one person. This discussion led to to get one ourselves. We were told that we might some prolonged talks about agricultural techniques, have to wait for five years. The burst of interest in including how to grow potatoes and the varieties Bergendal Gård means that this parsellhager now has allowed. a waiting list too, according to the garden organizers. Besides these obligations, gardening in your very We were one of the first couples to get our own own parsellhage is deeper than just growing your garden. As we headed back to the bus stop, the early own food. “Owning such a parcel of land is all about summer sun created shadows behind our backs. going back to basics, knowing what you eat and They were the happy shadows of a couple that had experiencing the happiness from something that received an opportunity to be connected again with you have grown yourself,” said Linda Kausland, a nature, and an opportunity to exchange our window garden designer who has had a parsellhage for garden for a real one. many years. She was explaining why the gardens are

At Bergendal Gård

34 A Global Business Journalism Incubator Above and beyond: giving green roofs social value By: AMY JEFFS | November 6, 2014

Paul Pulford and his dog Scruffy hard at work in the roof garden of the Southbank Centre.

Since I had been helping out in the garden, Pulford funds needed to secure the roof, the Reading garden offered to let me pot up and take home some of the is home to over 180 species of plants from all over marigold seedlings that pepper the beds. “Yeah, take the world, including some substantial trees. The them,” he said. “That’s what I call plants for free.” He RISC garden employs permaculture design principles inspires many of the other workers on the Grounded and perennial plants to create a low-maintenance Ecotherapy team as he puts into action the lessons forest garden, which mainly requires pruning and that he learned as a young man. I listened to him harvesting. The garden’s designers ensured that the chatting to members of the public about everything plants would be suitable for the British climate, even from the five types of bees he has seen come to the if they are not all native to Britain. garden to what can be done with different herbs. On my visit to the garden, I sampled a relation of These gardens help create centers of biodiversity that Szechuan peppercorn, the spiny pepper plant, and foster healthy populations of bees and other insects. ate the pungent seeds of the Babington’s leek and The gardens also foster sustainable food production cracked open cobnuts. They also cultivate kiwis, and holistic medicinal production. Pulford pointed out ginger, turmeric and lemon grass, and this year have a frilly-leafed seedling to me. “That, right there, that’s given pride of place to the Native American “three feverfew, and it’ll help migraines. And borage, you sisters”: maize, beans and squash, which complement can’t have proper Pimms without one of its flowers each other in terms of light, nutrients and root floating at the top,” he said. depth when planted together. The roof garden is a A green roof that is open to the public and available classroom for teachers, members of the public and as an educational space can have a far-reaching children and has become a springboard for other social impact as well. I found this out on my visit to environmentally focused community initiatives. the only public roof garden in Reading. The Reading One of its gardeners and my guide at the garden, International Solidarity Centre had just moved into Dave Richards, told me, “You should always have a new building when it was discovered that the roof, a roof garden, but a bio diverse roof garden would which was leaking, needed to be renovated. They had be the default value. Then, if you want community a better chance of securing funding for the job if they benefit, you plant as we do. There is nothing like food applied for it in the form of a project. To address this, for bringing people together.” He noted that on top they decided a roof garden would benefit the center. of that, he noted, the roof garden allowed them to With a 50,000-pound grant from the Lottery fund, secure even more funding for a new project, working which included funding for teaching about gardening, in schools and community gardens around Reading. permaculture and global food affairs for three years, Organizers are only just starting to see the they built a sustainable forest roof garden as an environmental and now social potential of green outdoor classroom and set up an educational facility roofs. Private owners, charities, corporations and to show people how to set up their own community councils have an opportunity to make use of the gardens. space above our heads to grow food and strengthen As well as insulating the building and providing the communities. Pro Journo / Amy Jeffs

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 35 Food & Development India takes measures to fight hunger By: NATALIE HASE | June 6, 2014

Last September, India’s president signed into law one of the most vulnerable and exposed countries to the National Food Security Act, which requires climate change. selling heavily subsidized grains to 70 percent of its “All aspects of food security are potentially affected population. by climate change, including access to food, As about 17 percent of the Indian population is utilization of land and price stability,” Aromar Revi, undernourished, the government is now legally an expert on India and lead author of the latest IPCC bound to provide 800 million people with food grains report, told Reuters. every month. India is the second-largest rice and wheat producer “The question is not whether we can do it or not,” in the world, according to the United Nations Food said Sonia Gandhi, president of the Congress Party, in and Agriculture Organization. Wheat, a stable crop a speech given last August, when the bill was passed around the world, is especially sensitive to rises in the lower house of Parliament. “We have to do it.” in temperature. Warming trends in surface air At the same time, according to Reuters,“it [India] is temperatures due to climate change have affected already one of the most disaster-prone nations in the these crop yields, the National Institute of Advanced world, and many of its 1.2 billion people live in areas Studies in India reports. vulnerable to hazards such as floods, cyclones and The problem has also become political, as The Times droughts.” of India reports. As climate change takes its toll on There is an ongoing debate in the country about the region, India finds itself increasingly in harm’s way whether this is the right path toward food security along with its neighboring countries, and the risk of in India. It is partly a question about flaws in the further escalation is present. system, where further spending on welfare programs Another crucial aspect of India’s agricultural output is “is reckless in an economy burdened by a weakened access to water supplies from the Himalayan glaciers. currency and a large fiscal deficit,” said Ashok Gulati, This water flows in rivers traversing many Indian chairman of India’s Commission for Agricultural Costs regions. India Today has reported that many cities are and Prices, in Time magazine. being flooded by melting Himalayan glaciers, as vast There is also a global concern regarding the act. amounts of water flow downstream. Many members of the World Trade Organization see In some parts of the region, water melting from the the Indian project as “a behemoth with the power glaciers can act as “insurance” during drought and dry to distort global commodity markets” and fear that seasons but could be problematic over the long term, protectionism and ill-conceived agricultural and trade said Henry Vaux, professor of resource economics at policies will aggravate rising food prices, the Financial the University of California, Riverside. Times reported. “Social changes will have as much impact on water The latest U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate use as environmental factors do on water supply,” he Change report recently revealed that India is also said.

36 A Global Business Journalism Incubator Radio program in Ghana supports farmers on the front lines of climate change By: KAYLEIGH BURGESS | June 9, 2014

A new eight-month radio program focused on helping threat of climate change to global food security. farmers adapt to climate change began in this According to the report, shifting weather patterns agricultural community last month. that result from a warming climate are already having The program was created through an international an adverse effect on yields. partnership between the Ghanaian Ministry of Food The IPCC report highlights the vulnerability of farmers and Agriculture, the German Technical Cooperation in transitional zones, noting the “risk of loss of and Farm Radio International (FRI). It will broadcast rural livelihoods and income of rural residents due throughout the district of Kintampo, in Brong Ahafo, to … reduced agricultural productivity, as well as a region of Ghana that accounts for 75 percent of risk of food insecurity, particularly for farmers and the country’s agricultural production. The program pastoralists with minimal capital in semi-arid regions.” focuses on providing climate-smart agriculture tips, Countries in sub-Saharan Africa are particularly market information and weather forecasts. susceptible to climate change effects because of their FRI will draw on its experience with a similar program, reliance on rain-fed agriculture and the relatively CHANGE (Climate Change Adaptation in Northern large percentage of the population engaged in Ghana Enhanced), to support farmers cultivating subsistence farming. While increasing the risk of fields along the savannah’s edge. drought and crop failure, rising heat and rainfall “Farmers need to be supported in terms of how they variability can also heighten pest problems and lead will adapt to climate change in this particular zone,” to land degradation. Half of Ghana’s population said Benjamin Fiafor, FRI’s regional field manager practices farming and, as such, is vulnerable to these in Ghana, referring to the semi-arid land on the pressures. savannah’s edge that Primukyeae occupies. To ensure maximum reach, FRI is encouraging women Each week, the FRI program will address topics farmers to organize listener groups. Each group will of immediate importance, providing continual receive a radio set capable of recording and playing instruction to farmers throughout an entire growing back the program. Based on research into listening season. In the last weeks of April, farmers in the habits, FRI discovered that women face some Brong Ahafo region were preparing their land and challenges in getting access to radio. selecting seeds. FRI will meet with the groups to get feedback and “If you have climate change, how do you select the improve coverage throughout the eight-month land you want to cultivate, the seeds you want to program. Program producers will work to continually grow?” Fiafor asked. “How do you prepare your land improve their programming and to incorporate voices to conserve water?” from the field. The radio show’s launch comes on the heels of the “Farm Radio International is different from most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel conventional radio because it is very interactive,” on Climate Change, which recently highlighted the Fiafor said.

Photo courtesy of Sylvie Harrison / Farm Radio International Women farmers in Ghana.

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 37 Special Feature: Studying And Teaching Food Teaching food: why students have taken an increased interest in food studies By: BERRY KENNEDY | June 13, 2014 ANN ARBOR - Mich., U.S.— This fall, the University she said, “studying food is not new.” of Michigan will start offering an undergraduate The study of food and culture is relatively well minor in sustainable food systems. It is not alone. established, and land grant universities like Michigan Courses about food and food systems are showing State University, a leader in agriculture science, do up in course catalogs in grade schools, graduate cutting-edge work in the field. What is new, Shapiro schools and Internet mega-classes. This trend — and claimed, is the college’s approach. “UM is proposing this series itself, a six-month exploration of organic to study food from an interdisciplinary perspective, agriculture — reflects the rising importance of food integrating public health and social, political and issues in culture, business, politics and academia. environmental aspects of the food system,” she said. The question is, Why has food garnered this much This interdisciplinary approach itself may be a partial attention? And why now? answer to the original question: Why food? Well, “There is a huge surge in interest in food,” said because food systems serve as a framework for associate professor William Currie at the University integrating so many different disciplines and areas of of Michigan School of Natural Resources and interest to researchers and governing bodies, from Environment. The new minor, as well as the new class the environment to public health. he created this spring on food security in the future, But why now? Shapiro recalled a girl she used to is part of what he calls a “customer service” approach baby-sit for who did not believe that her dinosaur- to addressing student interests. At the same time, the shaped chicken nugget actually came from a chicken. university happened to be starting an initiative to hire She couldn’t believe how little the girl knew about the more faculty for interdisciplinary work across schools, origins of her food. “We’ve gotten to a point where and the food systems minor was a great fit. people are fed up,” Shapiro said. Lilly Shapiro, a master’s student at the University of They are fed up with food recalls, food crises and Michigan School of Public Health, takes a broader obesity. And they are fed up with the distance perspective. “What’s happening at Michigan is a between themselves and their food. The rise in microcosm of what’s happening around the country the number of people choosing food as part of and the world,” she said. Like so many others, both their professional lives may be a response to this students and faculty members, she points to Michael frustration. Currie and Shapiro reflect this integration Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of of personal and professional interests. Four Meals as one of the principal cultural catalysts for the food movement, along with other works such Currie’s research interest, including the ways people as the documentaries Food Inc. and Supersize Me. influence land use and agriculture, is one factor in his teaching a food scenarios class, but his “illuminating” Currie cites the prestigious scientific journal experiment — being vegetarian for six months — was Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ another. Shapiro, an undergraduate anthropology recognition in 2007 of sustainability science as a major, found herself scribbling ethnographic notes branch of science, on a par with physics and other after long meals with her study-abroad family major branches, as a turning point for academia. during a semester in France. “They approach a “Food production has come to the fore as part of this meal so differently than we do!” she said. These science,” he explained. transformative dinner-table experiences started her Still, even with new faculty and student programs, on a path that eventually led her to a more science- an official minor and greater recognition from the oriented focus on food and public health. scientific community, neither Currie nor Shapiro is In this way, the new academic study of food isn’t just certain of the future of sustainable food systems as a interdisciplinary; in fact, it has no boundaries. And field of study or a trend in broader society. “To some everyone can have a place at the table. extent it is a fad,” said Currie, adding that “20 years ago there was a huge interest in acid rain.” Shapiro wonders if sustainable food systems will get its own department, much like gender studies or civil rights, but she’s ambivalent about whether she wants to see this happen. A false sense of “having made it” could stop people from pushing for change. After all, fotopedia / villars1682 38 A Global Business Journalism Incubator Teaching food in the U.S.: notes from the field of food studies, part 1 By: KAYLEIGH BURGESS | November 7, 2014

Tufts University’s Agriculture, Food and the environmental degradation. A recently published Environment program started 20 years ago as a small book, “The Evolving Sphere of Food Security,” program, an experiment at a school focused largely which features 19 Stanford scholars writing about on nutrition. Today, it is the largest graduate program global food security from the perspective of fields at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and including earth science, economics, law, and medicine Policy, which offers many graduate degrees. and political science, showcases the center’s The rise of the food movement in the past few years interdisciplinary approach to the issue. is undeniable. There has been increased attention In Wisconsin, where big agri-businesses dominate, on food issues in the media and among the public. the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems was The number of farmers markets and the demand born a quarter-century ago on the floor of the state’s for organic production indicate a growing sense that Legislature, a mandate in response to industry needs. where food comes from is an important factor in Dr. Michael Bell, the center’s director, is a faculty what and how we choose to eat. As a result, Tufts member in the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s University is not the only program developing the agroecology master’s program, which focuses on field of food studies. A rising number of related training students in building ecological diversity into research centers, new degree programs and agricultural systems. curriculums have been developed to match students’ And these fast-growing programs devoted to food, interest in food studies. food security and agriculture are just a handful As part of our series on global food affairs, Pro among the dozens at universities around the U.S. Journo gathered a webinar panel of four scholars Abundant Opportunities from innovative university programs in the United States. The objective was to explore the evolution of The demand for graduates well versed in food issues food studies at universities around the world and to is also growing. According to the Bureau of Labor highlight the truly interdisciplinary nature of this field. Statistics, employment opportunities for food and agriculture scientists are expected to grow by almost We asked the panelists what they’re seeing, what 10 percent over the next 10 years. And with an they’re teaching and what they’re finding in their aging farmer population in the U.S., many schools research. They told us about a rapidly changing field, are training the next generation of farmers, both infused with the creativity of its students — one that commercial and small-scale. State and university is both globally focused and regionally informed. based programs (such as Cornell University’s A Growing Field Northeast Beginning Farmers Project), teach young The field of food studies has boomed in recent people as they bring fresh ideas to farming. This decades. A 2012 article in The New York Times has been accompanied by the emergence of food describes this phenomenon, noting the first food entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits that studies programs that emerged in the U.S. in the are hiring young food graduates, as evidenced by the 1990s and the field’s growth since. newly created Good Food Jobs, an online search tool for jobs specifically related to food systems. Accordingly, the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future is one program that was created in this We asked the panelists where their students are boom; established in 1996, it has grown to 25 going after they graduate. They replied that as the full-time faculty and 15 funded doctoral fellows food movement grows, students are now finding studying food and its connection to public health employment opportunities across all sectors and in issues. For Dr. Roni Neff, director of the center’s new and creative enterprises. Food System Sustainability Program, it is a vibrant According to Dr. Timothy Griffin, director of the community where the connections between diet, Agriculture, Food and Environment program at Tufts, food production, environment and public health are students are now finding work not just in nonprofits studied together. but also in all levels of government and in the private Across the country, Stanford University’s Center sector, where solutions to food challenges are also on Food Security and the Environment has created being forged. an intellectual home for researchers and faculty “We’ve had some entrepreneurs, students who have addressing issues of global hunger, poverty and graduated and started businesses, all the way up to

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 39 students who work for big companies in the food “Food insecurity knows no geographic boundaries,” system,” he said. Griffin himself works not only within she said. academia but also with growers and farm advisers on “What we really focus on is training students to work the development and implementation of sustainable in these inter-disciplinary environments, training production systems. them in the specific set of skills that allows them The other panelists echoed this, saying that their to do that,” Seaman continued. “Recognizing that graduates find work in policymaking, at foundations, there’s still a need for specialists, but being able to with companies and sometimes even as farmers. have people who are literate in all facets of the food “There is no lack of employment opportunities, and system — that’s really been the target of the program it’s also a very creative area too — a lot of students since the beginning.” are making their own [opportunities] as well,” noted Cross-Pollination Bell. This is what we also heard from Tufts’ Griffin, and in Local Considerations some form from every one of our panelists. It is the With its proximity to Silicon Valley, Stanford’s Center cross-pollination from across disciplines that really on Food Security and the Environment has drawn informs food studies and drives it forward. on local resources to explore technological solutions A new textbook edited by Neff, “Introduction to the to food insecurity. According to Laura Seaman, the U.S. Food System: Public Health, Environment, and center’s communications and external relations Equity,” offers a public health perspective on food manager, students are applying technology to food systems while drawing in differing views, like the security and development challenges. new book from Stanford University’s Center on Food Asked where students go after they graduate, she Security and the Environment. said, “We are also seeing more interest from some For Bell, this diversity of thought and perspective of our students in the private sector. Specifically drives the field in new and unexpected directions because of our location, looking at some of the tech such as micro-livestock, or raising insects for human companies in Silicon Valley for ways technology consumption. can be leveraged for what we do, which is in the Spreading the Word international development field.” Being a journalism incubator, we thought it only Johns Hopkins’ Neff offered a similar view, saying the appropriate to close the webinar by asking our university’s researchers are focused on transforming panelists where they get their food news. They left us their findings into action, including policy work. “I with some great sources, and an imperative. would say our location plays into that a lot as well, in Baltimore, so we get a lot of people going into policy The panelists mentioned mainstream publications in D.C.,” she said. like National Geographic’s special project called The Future of Food, the Food and Environment Reporting We also asked the panelists about the difference Network (FERN) and FarmPolicy.com. They also between studying domestic food systems and mentioned the academic journals they read. international ones. While each program has been inclined toward one or the other, they said there are “Still being science geek, I follow some of the high- no distinct lines between the two. quality academic science journals, which do a remarkable job of covering food security,” said Griffin. The programs at Tufts and the University of Wisconsin–Madison have been traditionally more But there is often a disconnect between the work that domestically focused but are starting to look appears in academic journals and that which makes it abroad. For instance, in Wisconsin Bell is working into the mainstream media. with a cooperative of farmers in South Africa on an According to Bell, “There’s a lot of smaller journals agroecological approach to health and development. that get lost out there — there’s great opportunity for Stanford’s Center on Food Security and the people in journalism to help us translate some of the Environment has done much of its work work that they’re doing.” internationally, but for Seaman there is no either/or.

40 A Global Business Journalism Incubator Teaching food in Europe: notes from the field of food studies, part 2 By: KAYLEIGH BURGESS | November 7, 2014

The history of food in Europe is long and storied. Even with their different areas of expertise, both Deeply rooted agricultural and place-based food professors recognize the importance of expanding traditions are now experiencing renewed attention, their focus to the broader food system, for as global interest in food origins grows. In 1986, themselves and for their students. the Slow Food movement was founded in Italy Asked about the potential for future development as a protest against fast-food chain McDonald’s of the EUR-Organic program, Sehested said, “We are encroachment on historic sites in Rome. Slow Food is attracting very good students who are going for this now a vast, grass-roots international organization. program, with very different backgrounds. We are still As the food movement has grown in Europe, striving to develop the potential from having those opportunities to study food have also expanded. very different backgrounds together.” An example can be seen in the unique partnership Organic Production Driving Global Food Production between four universities—in Denmark, Germany, In the future, it is unlikely that food production will be Austria and Poland—that several years ago came completely organic or completely industrial. It must together to create the EUR-Organic program. EUR- be a compromise, right? Flueckiger asked Sehested Organic offers a cross-university master’s degree in how future global food production will incorporate Organic Food Chains, with students studying at two of organics. the partner universities. “I see organic production as having some very high In 2004, Slow Food International founded the ideals about the concept of food production as University of Gastronomic Sciences, in northern being sustainable,” he replied. “So I very much see Italy. London’s School of Oriental and African organic production as a driver for the development of Studies created its Food Studies Centre in 2013. The conventional production.” Geography of Food program at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences was established in 2011. Sehested noted that organic production is a set of ideals we are working toward, with food production Pro Journo’s second food studies webinar (video also becoming more sustainable and resource-use at end of post) brought together Dr. Jakob Sehested efficient. This is evident as the global food system from EUR-Organic member Aarhus University and becomes ever more connected. Dr. Stefan Flueckiger from the Zurich University of Food for the Future Applied Sciences to discuss their disciplines and a common yet changing thread—food. Over and over again, we find ourselves confronted with the consequences of industrial food A Diverse Field production—things like the recent attention to pink Although the professors on our panel work in very slime and the destruction of the Malaysian rain different departments, and in different countries, forest for palm oil production. At times, it can feel they are linked by their interest in a more sustainable as if industrial food production is moving quickly food system. and continually away from organic and sustainable Sehested has a background focused on the nutritional production. A recent dystopian commercial physiology of cattle. His research looks at the byChipotle captured a sense of what industrial food importance of minerals in cattle health, and he is production looks and feels like today. currently working on a different concept for milk Talking to these scholars, however, offered a slightly production. He describes it as “very much about more optimistic view. resource-use efficiency and environmental impact of “I think some of the very large issues in modern food dairy cows.” production [are] about sustainability, resource use, In contrast, Flueckiger’s work focuses on business and animal welfare, product quality and safety, and those agricultural sustainability. He works with his students are really co-aspects of organic food production,” said to develop metrics and tools that measure the social Sehested, who added that he believes the entire food and economic impacts of sustainability. system is moving toward increased sustainability.

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 41 This is true not only for production. From Flückiger’s Disclaimer: The Geography of Food program at The Zurich perspective, opportunities for sustainability in food University of Applied Sciences is a grantee of Mercator supply chains are also increasing. “Environmental Foundation Switzerland, which also funded our coverage of markets are rapidly evolving and highly dynamic “Organic Solutions in Global Food Affairs.” in Switzerland, I think in [America] as well, as the economy becomes more sustainability oriented,” he said. As agriculture becomes more sustainability-oriented, it will no doubt become more globally focused as well. Currently, Denmark, though a small country, is a major food exporter. Among other things, it is one of the world’s largest exporters of pork, to countries all over the world. Switzerland, on the other hand, imports two-thirds of its food. These two countries show the increasing inter-relationship between countries and their food supplies, a trend not lost on our panel’s professors. “I think this global focus will take a very important role in the future,” Flueckiger said.

42 A Global Business Journalism Incubator Event Insights Mercator Foundation Switzerland grantee highlight – Q&A: building bridges at the 18th Organic World Congress By: AMY JEFFS | September 25, 2014

IFOAM is a grantee of Mercator Foundation Switzerland, farming. We are looking forward to hearing him step which is also the funder of our coverage on “Organic out of the American urban environment into the Solutions in Global Food Affairs.” organic movement and bring his message here. So The 18th Organic World Congress, organized by the that is one highlight. International Federation of Organic Agricultural Another one, with a totally different message, is Movements, will take place Oct. 13-15 in Istanbul. Lyonpo Yeshey Dorji, who is minister of agriculture It is held every three years, each time in a different and forests in Bhutan, the first country to declare country, and is the largest event of its kind. During a 100 percent organic agricultural policy. It was the three-day conference, over 2,500 stakeholders declared by the previous government of Bhutan, from all over the world will come together to discuss then he came into office about one year ago and was global issues related to organic farming. convinced by the previous opposition government to The program is divided into three tracks: for continue this policy. He will report how they did that practitioners, for scientists and a general one, in in Bhutan and in the Malayan countries. which pressing issues, such as organic certification, We have also, for example, Christian Felber, a writer food security and the future of family farming, will and a lecturer at the University of Economics Vienna. be discussed. This year, the conference boasts a He’s a very successful speaker with a busy schedule, diverse array of keynote speakers, from athletes to and he brings new economic approaches. Kathleen politicians, all chosen for their unique backgrounds Merrigan, formerly the U.S. deputy secretary and and approaches and their engaging messages. The chief operating officer of the U.S. Department of OWC is an opportunity for the movement to tighten Agriculture, is one of the most influential people its coherence by bringing together different kinds of on the board. She is now executive director of people who are all interested in organic farming. sustainability at George Washington University. Markus Arbenz, the executive director of IFOAM, is There are more speakers, and together they bring a looking forward to a conference that will inform and wealth of inspiration. inspire. Our reporter Amy Jeffs spoke with Arbenz It takes some financial backing to attend the OWC. Has about this year’s theme, “Building Organic Bridges.” any provision been made to enable practitioners at the How were the topics and framework for the conference grassroots level to come, especially given this year’s decided and by whom? emphasis on “building organic bridges”? Arbenz: We try to identify the most burning issues in Arbenz: Well, this is an issue, of course, and we have the sector by looking at what is most heavily debated to consider all opportunities, given what is available. and developing the topics from there. There are In this respect, it was better three years ago when several levels of topics. On the one hand, we have the we had a very generous Korean government. This theme of the conference, which is “Building Bridges,” year it is a bit more difficult; you may be aware of the which is rather general and intended as a platform for difficult situation Turkey is in right now, in terms of everybody. It is also meant to signal that we are not its economic situation but also its political situation, only looking inside, from stakeholder to stakeholder, so we are having to rely on our sponsors, firstly to but also outside—building bridges into the wider make the event happen and secondly to provide agricultural community. It also acknowledges opportunities to make sponsored participation the location of the conference in Istanbul, on the possible. Bosporus, bridging the divide between Europe and Asia. We have funds from the INOFO [Intercontinental Network of Organic Farmers Organizations], which In your opinion, what are the highlights of this year’s is mostly for small farmers. Then we have several Organic World Congress? smaller sponsored participations through institutions, Arbenz: For this conference, the highlight is the individuals or various other projects. Many people keynote speakers, I would say. I am quite happy to make quite an effort to create opportunities for present this time people that are quite interesting. subsidies in their own institutional environments, so For example, Will Allen, who was a famous basketball there are a lot of grants given that we are not even player in the United States and became, after his aware of. We try to motivate groups to send their sports career, quite famous for urban gardening. He stakeholders, as we want a high representation of has a great ability to motivate people to do urban A Global Business Journalism Incubator 43 countries and to enable as many people to come as the market. There are actually a number of models, possible. such as certain cooperatives, that we totally support, What role do you think organics can play in bridging the which are not actually certified. This does not mean gap between rich and poor? they are against certification. You need certification when there is a large quantity of products presented Arbenz: It [organic agriculture] plays a role in the in shops—something to guarantee what is claimed. empowerment of the poor by building on what has been developed over centuries and ensuring What does organics owe to traditional farming methods? sustainability, rather than going for quick fixes Arbenz: Old is not always good. It can also be called or quick solutions. What we can also do is foster “agriculture by default.” However, new approaches methods that are adapted to local conditions, also need to be questioned and adapted locally. There and I do not mean just ecological conditions but is the Organic Farming Innovation Award, which also education or social systems and economic rewards new ideas in this area. However, sometimes possibilities. All these kinds of things should be inspiration for the new idea comes from the past. included. The system of rice intensification is an innovation Could you tell me about the different “tracks” around which that originated in Madagascar in the ’60s but was the conference is organized? disseminated widely in the ’90s. It enables farmers to get much higher yields with fewer inputs. Arbenz: Each track addresses a different purpose. The scientific track is very much needed for inspiration, What effect does the OWC have on mainstream suspicion of organics, especially among conventional farmers? Does its but also to provide evidence, derived from good exclusivity (i.e., stakeholders only) inhibit wider discussion? science, that is taken seriously. The scientific track is reviewed by scientific institutions. Arbenz: It’s always difficult to assess the impact of a conference. We think it galvanizes the global organic The practitioners track is where practitioners movement. It is necessary that once in a while— exchange, and I think that is probably more in this case, every three years—people meet in an interesting for practitioners who want to get environment where there is a certain energy to keep experience from peers and listen there. the movement together. What is new this time is the main track. This is not As for the effect outside, personally I think organic so much to do with exchange but with developing has a more sustainable and environmental impact together. So we launch debates for exploring things beyond its movement than within its movement. that need to be developed, such as certification. Methods that were quite normal 20 years ago are What role will certification play in the future? How not possible anymore, because there is a movement can we reform certification so that it becomes more that challenges things. DDT, for example, was widely accessible? Or how can we make local adaptation accepted, and they even received Nobel Prizes. while retaining global coordination? How can we There needed to be a critical mass of people who emphasize it more without actually losing coherence, were critically observing it and wanting things better without losing trust between countries? tested. It’s very important that there is a certain For example, the EU often says that produce coming pressure on conventional farming culture. This from Africa or other countries is not trustworthy. questioning has a big impact on actual improvement. How can we develop so that farmers can adapt locally There is a thing these days in some countries called and that certain nations will trust other nations? Or, “integrated agriculture.” It is taking big steps forward, in other words, that richer nations trust the export it is even becoming mainstream. These guys draw nations and have confidence [that] their systems are a lot of their inspiration from organics, although, as also credible? ever, inspiration is derived from many sources. We What issues do you expect to hear raised when it comes to are part of a movement that is bringing about more organic certification? sustainable agriculture. Arbenz: There is a lot of debate going on about How will conclusions from the Organic World Congress feed whether we are on the right track with [certification] back into mainstream agriculture? Has it affected policy in or not. And as is shown by organizations like the past? theRainforest Alliance, organic is not just about Arbenz: When thousands meet, go back home and certification. [See Berry Kennedy’s recent piece on the bring something home with them to their work by organic certification debate.] I know, for example, you changing something in their policies, then the impact have to be certified if you want to go on the market, is very real. I think it is better, however, to look at the but we are not just representing the market—rather, impact of the chain of conferences [related to organic the whole movement. We welcome initiatives that agriculture]; there isn’t just the OWC. Together, they are taking sustainable agriculture further and take greatly motivate people to engage. African and Latin their organic principles very seriously, as well as those American farmers learn from each other, for example. who seek organic certification and want to go on

44 A Global Business Journalism Incubator Power bars, organic yogurt, and African pineapples: a day at Bio Marché, Switzerland’s biggest organic fair By: SARAH KLEWES | September 22, 2014

On a late, sunny afternoon in Zofingen, Switzerland, organic and sustainable products comes here,” she the atmosphere at the country’s biggest organic says. “Most stalls offer rather traditional products. fair, Bio Marché, is buzzing with excitement. The But I don’t see them as competition.” cooling units operate at full speed, as organic milk in Before starting her business, Rhythm 108, Mehta particular needs cooling. Snippets of conversations in worked as a consultant, which allowed her to travel German, English, Italian and French merge together extensively but left her with no time to eat healthy while visitors and exhibitors have sales talks. In the food, so she resorted mainly to processed products. shade of centuries-old trees, you can listen to gentle “Because of the healthy marketing, I thought I was guitar sounds, savor fresh organic produce and enjoy eating healthy. But in fact I was eating a lot of sugar the splashing fountains. that actually made me sick.” She then quit her job Zofingen, about one hour drive west from Zurich, and decided to create healthy products for people is a small town surrounded by Switzerland’s green, who travel and work a lot. hilly countryside. The city’s historic center charms Rhythm 108’s mascot is the Yogi, which originates with tiny, old houses, cobblestone pavement and old from a pose in yoga that focuses on balance. “Just like monuments with detailed golden ornaments. my products, which aim for a natural balance as well,” Organic bars and healthy nutrition she adds. “If you are skiing in the Swiss Alps, look out for our She proudly points to one of her colorful fliers. “My little mascot, the Yogi,” says Siddhi Mehta, smiling products balance nutrition. For example, we use and waving goodbye to a customer. It’s Saturday, June whole apples instead of apple juice. We also use 21, and the young, Indian-born woman goes back amaranth, which is high in calcium, protein and behind her stall at Bio Marché. iron, which means that there is a better quality of

Just like almost every other exhibitor, she proceeds to protein in the bars as opposed to other bars that use offer little bites of her organic power bars to passing soy protein isolate.” The latter is gained through an visitors, who slowly stroll through the historic center aggressive process, but she says she doesn’t need to of Zofingen, where the three-day fair is taking place extract protein because it’s already in the ingredients for the 15th time. The pieces of Mehta’s organic that she uses. power bars look delightful and ready to be eaten. After launching her power bars in November 2013, Mehta regards Switzerland’s biggest organic fair as Mehta is now working on new flavors, including a great opportunity for her to promote her power ginger bread and cookie dough, as well as a vegan bars to an interested public. “Bio Marché is the best biscuit version. All of her products are certified by organic fair in Switzerland. Anybody who cares about Intertech, a German laboratory, and by Bio Marché inspectors.

www.biomarche.ch

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 45 produce.” Biomilk produces organic yogurt for Coop Naturaplan and Manor, two Swiss supermarket chains, and for various certified organic shops. Its organic yogurt won the Bio Gourmet prize in 2013, which recognizes organic products from both a qualitative and a visually appealing standard. “You’ll find only milk, sugar and fruit in our products,” Saurer says. Biomilk has been exhibiting at Bio Marché for several years, and customers are now familiar with the company’s stall, located in the Demeter lane of the fair, every year. Saurer would like Biomilk products to become more popular. “Due to the private labeling from the supermarket chains, only few people actually recognize the Biomilk brand behind the products sold at Coop or Manor,” he says. “And those who recognize Biomilk as a brand might be confused by the English term ‘milk’ in our name, because it can lead to the assumption that the product wasn’t produced locally.” He adds that when Biomilk was founded 25 years ago, Anglicisms were trendy. “Today, everybody cries for regional references.” As for the attendees at Bio Marché, Saurer sees them as a mixed group of people. “I’d say that half of Although her startup company is quite new to the the visitors are actually here because of the organic market, her organic power bars are already available products, but the other half comes because of the online, at Müller Reformhaus in Switzerland and Egli, atmosphere,” he says. “The latter group of people another Swiss organic supermarket. doesn’t normally enter an organic shop.” “The organic community is longing for new products, An increasingly diverse Bio Marché and the best thing is, the people here are already One might expect that an organic fair such as Bio so well informed!” she says. “In other countries, I’d Marché prefers to stick with a rather traditional have to explain what kind of sugar substitutes I use presentation of organic food. However, a huge social and where the differences are. Here, most customers program exists around the exhibitors offering organic already know.” products of all kinds. There are street musicians and Building an organic brand jugglers. And in the middle of the city center, the Trained chef Thomas Saurer is another one of the organizers have built a petting zoo for the younger 190 exhibitors at Bio Marché, where he presents visitors. his organic produce. His business, Biomilk, is a small In addition, almost 200 Swiss and foreign exhibitors company that employs 10 workers. It was founded offer not only organic food but also organic cosmetics, in 1989 by Demeter farms in and around Bern, organic textiles, organic furniture and such services as Switzerland, after the Demeter farmers decided organic hotel stays. Organic cashew nuts from India, they wanted to produce yogurt that met Demeter fresh organic fruits from Ghana and organic coffee standards, which involve a holistic understanding of beans from Indonesia are tendered, just like the Swiss agricultural and biodynamic processes. organic milk products or Italian organic olive oil. Saurer shares Mehta’s impression. “The organic scene According to Urs Hofmann, a senior civil servant at has skipped one generation,” he says. “First, there the canton of Aargau, Bio Marché has managed to were the hippies. Then there were their children, who dust off the image of an organic produce fair to make wanted to distance themselves from their parents itself more attractive to a broader public. Since 2000, and from organic culture. And now their children about 40,000 visitors pay a visit to the fair every year. discover once again the advantages of organic

46 A Global Business Journalism Incubator According to Daniel Bärtschi, CEO of Bio Suisse, one of the firms supporting the fair, “Bio Marché is a unique platform which turns sustainable agriculture and future authentic food production into a whole new experience.” The exhibitors differ not only in the products they offer but also in their size. Both small and big companies are present. Thanks to the many orientation signs, the fair is very well organized. No matter which lane one goes to, the range of extraordinary organic products is huge. Italian exhibitors even have their own lane for presenting their goods. Besides Italian organic oil, they offer Italian organic pepperoni, parmigiano reggiano, wine and syrup from roses. “I know they are double the price, but the taste of the African organic pineapples is simply better,” says a representative from one small company, Ghana’s WAD, Produits du Terroir Africain. “I myself relapsed a few times and bought conventionally processed pineapples at Migros supermarket, but I had to throw them away because I didn’t like their taste any longer.” Supermarket chain Migros is the main sponsor of Bio Marché. It is strategically located in the city center, right on the church square. Migros has the biggest pavilions, scores of staff and display areas. One might therefore ask if the whole fair is not a huge marketing event for Migros, which recognized organic products’ potential and decided to follow the trend. “As the increasing growth figures show, organic agriculture has gained a lot of trust within the past years,” says Manfred Bötsch, head of sustainability management at Migros. Migros offers more than a thousand organic products. “Nature knows what’s best,” says Renato Isella, project manager at Migros. “At Bio Marché, we demonstrate the variety of our organic products.” As the sun sets on this warm Saturday evening, the atmosphere at the fair grows increasingly cheerful, and visitors continue to enjoy their free samples and the degustation. “Planning for the exhibition at Bio Marché since January has been worth it,” Mehta says. “My customers are satisfied, and even the weather is great.”

© www.biomarche.ch

A Global Business Journalism Incubator 47 Background: Reporters And Editors

Reporters

Amy Jeffs Berry Kennedy Kayleigh Burgess Amy Jeffs is an Art History postgraduate at the After graduating from Yale University in 2008, Kayleigh Burgess is a Masters student at Courtauld Institute of Art in London. Berry moved to Mexico to work with the Indiana University, pursuing a dual degree in She graduated from the University of Cambridge Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature, Journalism and Public Affairs. Her particular in 2013. Before starting her MA, she worked Latin America’s largest national environmental interests are in food, sustainability, and as editorial assistant for the woodland fund. globalization. This Pro Journo fellowship on management magazine, Living Woods. In She returned to graduate school to get a dual Global Food Issues is a great fit! Prior to joining 2013, she received grant funding from social degree MBA-MS in business and environmental her graduate program, Kayleigh worked as enterprise funding body Unltd to run a festival science from the Erb Institute for Global an environmental educator and community of heritage crafts, which featured a butchery Sustainable Enterprise at the University of organizer, focused on issues of food security demonstration, various woodcrafts and other Michigan. During this time, she did summer and sustainable agriculture. She currently activities. internships with the Sustainability Department writes at ageofplenty.wordpress.com. When not writing, she can often be found with a yoga mat, While her main area of expertise lies in at Walmart and with the consulting firm The a great book, or basking in a sunny spot. Medieval Art and History, she has an active Cambridge Group. For the past three years, interest in EU meat production, particularly Berry has served as an associate and director the complex and emotive issues surrounding of Social Venture Fund, the US’s only student- growing and slaughter and also the British run impact investing venture capital fund. timber industry, especially timber architecture Berry’s interests include impact investing, for urban settings. Alongside her studies, market-based mechanisms that promote Amy lectures on Medieval Art and enjoys conservation and sustainable agricultural making short video interviews of professional systems. craftspeople at work.

Natalie Hase Krastina Georgieva-Ilkova Sarah Klewes Natalie Hase is an undergraduate student Krastina is a Masters student in the Norwegian Sarah is about to finish her Bachelor’s degree of the Industrial Management Program, at School of Economics in Bergen, Norway. She in Communication and Cultural management at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in is a part of the Economics program in Energy, Zeppelin University, Lake Constance, Germany. Stockholm. During her second year of studies, Natural Resources and the Environment. She has looked at journalism from both a Natalie will focus on the specialization of Her research and interests are related to scientific and practical angle already. With energy systems. Previously she studied sustainable business modeling, sustainability her research, she contributed to studies at Energy and the Environment, as well as and finance, environmental reporting, urbanism the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation, the Environmental Economics, at the Harvard and recycling. She holds a double degree in Institute of Mass Communication and Media Extension School. As an intern at the United International Economics and Mathematics from Research at the University of Zurich, the Nations Environment Programme, within the Saint Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, NY. German Federal Environmental Agency, and the division of Technology, Industry and Economics, Her background includes international work in Center for Political Education in North Rhine- Natalie was encouraged to find promising the financial and accounting sectors. Krastina Westphalia. development opportunities and creating loves traveling, museums and arts, Modernism Journalism-wise, Sarah has gained some long lasting solutions, viewed both from an and modern architecture. Favorite places in the experience in television journalism (at the economic perspective, as well as a technical world are Berlin, New York City and Bergen. Italian office of the German consortium of public perspective. She wishes to be recognized for Currently, Krastina works as business analyst broadcasters in Rome), radio journalism (at the bringing forward a multidisciplinary approach, at Bergen Teknologioverføring, a transfer online radio welle20.de), and print journalism (at enabling us to capture both broad and deep technology office in Bergen, Norway. the German Regional Newspaper Südkurier). environmental aspects into sustainable and prosperous business development. Natalie She spends her free time cultivating loves to be caught in conversations, being able penpalships all around the world. to use one of the languages she commands; apart from Swedish she speaks English, Italian, French and Serbo-Croatian. Most often you will find her looking for new challenges and adventures. After living in the French Alps, there are only a few things she enjoys more than exploring the mountains.

48 A Global Business Journalism Incubator Editors

Jory Lewis Athena Tacet Jori Lewis is an independent journalist based Athena Tacet is a French-born journalist, data- (mostly) in Dakar, Senegal, where she writes journalist, editor and videographer specializing about the environment and keeps a (small) in foreign affairs, socio-political and economic organic garden on her rooftop. She likes to issues. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in talk, write and read about the ways that people political science, and a Graduate diploma interact with their environments. How does it in journalism from Concordia University, in shape them? How do they shape it? Montreal, Canada. Her writings have appeared She is especially interested in the impact of in both English and French in The Huffington agriculture on the ecosystem -- whether it Post, Slate Magazine and Embassy Magazine, a damages or helps to heal this old planet. The weekly Canadian foreign policy newspaper. methods used by organic farmers, ideally, Both as a journalist and instructor for should help to build up the land, which is Pro Journo she became interested in the especially important in places ravaged by relationship between agriculture and politics, droughts and land degradation--from her GMOs and food security. She learned in current home in Dakar to her old home in particular from Jori Lewis` views on agriculture California. She thinks that these issues deserve and from the first impressions the students more attention and more scrutiny. had on what journalism actually is. Through teaching the students the basics of journalism writing, ethics and the art of pitching, as well as assign and edit their articles, Athena realized their profound knowledge on organic agriculture and global food affairs.

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