Reports

The bacteria Salmonella is the leading cause of food-borne illness in the United States with nearly a million cases of salmonellosis attributed annually to meat and poultry consumption. Of these, more than 14,000 of the victims are hospitalized and more than 400 die.

Since the 1980s, industrial horticulture and floriculture farms in Kenya, centered for the most part in the Lake Naivasha region, have grown into the largest supplier of flowers to the European market. The more than 30 flower farms in the Lake Naivasha region pose a number of serious ecological problems for Kenya’s rivers and for the lake, including loss of water, an unsustainable increase in the population because of the laborers they have attracted, and the overuse of pesticides and fertilizers.

Four corporations control 66 percent of the U.S. hog market, as of 2007. At the top of this list is Smithfield Foods, which slaughters 27 million hogs every year, making it the biggest hog producer and processor in the United States and world–wide. For Smithfield, this means sales of $11 billion a year, but for farmers, consumers, workers, and the environment, this concentration in agriculture has been anything but a success story.

A prima vista, la carne bovina proveniente dal Brasile potrebbe sembrare appetibile nel sapore e conveniente nel prezzo. Stanno tuttavia emergendo una serie di validi motivi che rendono consigliabile l’imposizione di un divieto d’importazione nell’Unione Europea. Nonostante un’imposta doganale del 176%, il prezzo al mercato della carne bovina brasiliana rimane talmente basso che gli allevatori di bovini in Irlanda, Scozia, Galles, Italia e in altri paesi vedono minacciata la propria esistenza.

Aus Brasilien importiertes Rindfleisch mag vielleicht gut schmecken und preislich günstig sein. In letzter Zeit häufen sich jedoch triftige Argumente, die das Verhängen eines Importverbots für brasilanisches Rindfleisch in die EU als angebracht erscheinen lassen. Trotz eines heute bestehenden Einfuhrzolles von 176%, droht aus Brasilien importiertes Rindfleisch die Lebensgrundlage europäischer Rindzüchter, namentlich in Irland, Schottland, Wales und Italien, zu untergraben.

Le boeuf provenant du Brésil peut avoir bon goût et un prix attractif, mais les raisons d’en interdire l’importation dans l’Union européenne s’accroissent. Malgré un tarif douanier de 176% sur le boeuf brésilien, les producteurs d’Irlande, d’Ecosse, des Pays de Galles, d’Italie et d’ailleurs disent que la viande importée reste toujours meilleur marché que celle produite localement et qu’ils sont menacés de mettre la clé sous la porte.

Beef from Brazil may taste fine and have an attractive price, but the reasons to ban it from being imported into the European Union are beginning to mount. Despite the EU’s 176 percent tariff on Brazilian beef, cattle farmers in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and elsewhere say the imported meat is still so cheap that it threatens to put them out of business.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is promoting open ocean aquaculture as a way to reduce the country’s $9.2 billion seafood trade deficit and ease pressures on decimated wild marine fish populations. Despite this substantial financial and political support, open ocean aquaculture has not been shown to be environmentally sustainable, financially viable, or technically possible on a commercial scale. The report, "Fishy Farms: The Problems with Open Ocean Aquaculture", discusses these problematic findings in depth.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been promoting offshore aquaculture –– growing fish in nets or cages between three and 200 miles from shore –– as the best way to increase U.S. seafood output. Now, NOAA wants to establish this large-scale fish farming off the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast.

When a resource is as basic as clean water, it can be easy to take for granted. But while steady access to clean water is a cornerstone of modern society, its future is far from secure. "Clear Waters: Why America Needs a Clean Water Trust Fund" will examine trends in clean water spending on a state-by-state level, pointing out the need for urgent action while explaining the benefits that could be achieved through the establishment of a clean water trust fund.