Dr McLean spoke primarily about genetically modified food (GMF)
but also provided some background about biotechnology and some historical
perspectives for approaching the issues.
The field of biotechnology generally has the following implications: Provides
human benefit Includes the genomic and other emerging technologies Involves
the study of genes and genetics Includes selective breeding Despite a
long history of nonmolecular precedents, molecular applications of GMF
are in their infancy.
Pesticide use is an extremely controversial topic as the use of pesticides
is always laden with risks: the active risk of detroying a crop or innocent
species and the latent (or reactive) risk of having the pesticide work
its way up the food chain and have long-lasting effects.
Document MF3-02 USA E
http://www.ifap.org/Cairo
Conference/MEATS/Document MF3-02 USA E.pdf On behalf of its 300,000 family farm and ranch members of the
National Farmers Union (NFU), it is my honor to address the Meats and
Feedgrains Commodity Group of the International Federation of Agricultural
Producers (IFAP).
Congress has just passed a six-year farm law that affects manifold issues
including federal farm support, food assistance, agricultural trade, rural
development, conservation and other related policies.
It provides a modest improvement in the level of equity between program
crops reducing the production and market distortions of the 1996 farm
law.
We will continue to advocate for payment limitations targeted towards
family farmers and ranchers and policies addressing concentration, such
as a ban on packer ownership of livestock.
page4
"The University of Nebraska's nitrogen fertilizer application
rate recommendations can help farmers control costs in the face of high
prices and looming shortages of anhydrous ammonia," according to
Charles Shapiro, a soils specialist at NU's Haskell Agricultural Lab near
Concord, Nebraska.
CBS news just finished a threepart series on Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE) and Purina purchased 1,200 head of cattle in Texas because of the
feed they were given.
Lots of heat and little water last summer means this year's soybean seeds
are small in size, lower in quality, and short in supply.
That has some farmers looking to switch some of their acres from nitrogen-needy
corn to soybeans, which demand less fertilizer.
SD_FMD
To address these concerns, Governor Bill Janklow will host
a multistate conference on foot-and-mouth, BSE and other animal diseases.
"We have lined up some of the world's most prominent authorities
on animal diseases to speak at the conference," said Governor Bill
Janklow.
Alfonso Torres and Linda Detweiler of USDA Veterinary Services will discuss
foot-and-mouth disease and BSE and Elizabeth Williams from the University
of Wyoming will speak about chronic wasting disease.
Registrations will begin at 7:30 a.m. Tickets to the conference are available
for $20 each and will include conference admission, videotape of the conference,
lunch and refreshments.
"While the livestock industry would obviously be impacted from the
occurrence of these diseases, we need to realize that the livestock industry
will not be alone.
combating disease
http://www.ohsu.edu/ohsufoundation/Campaign
Materials in PDF/OGI/combating disease.pdf It's the holy grail of medical science: therapies that fix
only what's wrong in the ailing body, targeting diseased cells while leaving
normal cells unharmed.
Today, for the first time, we know that such a model works because OHSU
scientists were the world's first to make it work.
In collaboration with Novartis Pharmaceuticals, they developed a non-toxic
therapy that treats a form of leukemia by targeting only the cells that
cause the disease.
Without enough of these metals, cells can break down and cause disease.
When a patient's heart is stopped during open heart surgery, a heart/lung
machine pumps oxygenated blood throughout the body.
ANAnewsletterJan2001
Drs. Kandel and Greengard are recognized as Nobel Prize winners
along with fellow ANA member, Stanley B. Prusiner of the University of
California School of Medicine.
Advisory Committee organized an outstanding program for our 125th Annual
Meeting.
The Education Committee, together with the AUPN organized a program on
The Effective Neurology Residency Program.
I had just assumed the role of clerkship coordinator for the third year
psychiatry and neurology rotations at West Virginia University School
of Medicine a few months earlier.
I knew that changes were always occurring in the philosophies and techniques
of teaching students but I had been "out of the loop" for quite
some time.
MSE_0102
http://www.kc.frb.org/RuralCenter/mainstreet/MSE_0102.pdf Since 1995, job growth in rural areas has trailed growth in
metro areas.
But in the wake of last year's terrorist attacks, national recession,
and falling food demand, job rolls in many parts of rural America have
not only slowed but contracted.
Are both the Main Street and farm segments of the rural economy positioned
to recover?
With many analysts expecting a recovery in the U.S. economy in 2002, Main
Street should also recover in 2002, if history is a reliable guide.
Smaller livestock supplies at the beginning of 2001 boosted prices and
led to a 9% jump in livestock cash receipts.
cs424
http://www.swedeninfo.com/pdfs/cs424.pdf Sweden is making a name for itself in Europe as a producer
of clean, risk-free food -- safe meat and poultry, untainted dairy products
and ecologically grown* vegetables, potatoes and grain.
He has specialized in environmental issues and is the author of Ecology
for Beginners, which has been translated into 14 languages.
The National Food Administration is the central regulatory authority for
food matters, and one of its tasks is to protect consumer interests by
working for safe food.
Swedish opposition to drugs like antibiotics in animal food production
has also helped keep resistant bacteria at bay in this country, while
in many other countries these bacteria are becoming increasingly evident,
resulting in the spread of severe pneumonia, salmonella and tuberculosis.
ARGlossary
Meat & Livestock Australia Ltd (MLA) supports the meat
and livestock sector within the framework of strategic goals set by the
industry and its representative bodies.
The role of Meat and Livestock Australia is to facilitate and foster an
environment in which Australia's meat and livestock industry can thrive.
Instead, it acts as influencer, or 'change agent', by recognising and
responding to consumer and market signals with innovation and new initiatives,
and by delivering technology and initiatives that can improve its clients'
business performance.
· promoted Australia's 'clean green' product in BSE affected markets
of Europe and more recently our most valuable export customer, Japan,
to regenerate consumer demand for Australian beef.
kfbse0913
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as "mad
cow disease," is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder of
cattle.
TSEs share some common characteristics including a prolonged incubation
period ranging from a few months to years and progressively debilitatingneurological
illnesses, which are always fatal.
The agent responsible for BSE is smaller than the smallest known virus
and has not been completely characterized.
There are three main theories on the nature of the agent: (1) the agent
is a virus with unusual characteristics; (2) the agent is a prion -- an
exclusively hostcoded protein that is modified to a partially protease-resistant
form after infection; and (3) the agent is a virino -- a small, noncoding
regulatory nucleic acid coated with a host-derived protective protein.
Research shows a partially protease-resistant form of the prion protein
is found in the brain of TSE-infected animals.
june2001
general trade principles and market access in previous issues,
we continue the explanation of CFC's trade position by presenting the
section on domestic support.
Although Canadian chicken farmers do not receive domestic support from
the government, we believe this important issue of the world trading system
had to be addressed in our trade position to ensure a level playing field
for all farmers.
Part of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture that was implemented
in 1995, domestic support programs are now categorized as green, blue
and amber box support programs.
More 'well-educated' respondents (university grads) were more likely to
be "unconcerned" about meat safety than less educated.
BSEresource
Developed by the Meat Science Section in the Department of
Animal Science at Texas A&M University What is BSE?
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is a chronic degenerative disease
that is classified in the family of diseases called Transmissible Spongiform
Encephalopathies (TSE).
BSE does not appear to be a typical viral or bacterial infection.
These prions have only been found in the brain, spinal cord, and retina
of infected cattle.
Can animals get BSE from physical contact with BSE affected animals?
German scientists Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt and Alphons Maria Jakob first
identified Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in the 1920s.
The FDA Feed ban also requires persons feeding ruminant animals to maintain
copies of purchase invoices and labeling for all feeds and feed ingredients
containing animal protein products to show proof that no mammalian protein
has been fed.
Mad-Cow-Disease
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or more commonly known as
"Mad Cow Disease" is a chronic degenerative disease affecting
the central nervous system of cattle" (Pratt, 1996).
BSE was diagnosed in 1986 after being initially observed in April of 1985
in Great Britain.
The disease takes from 2 to 8 years after infection to show disease signs
and death results 2 weeks to 6 months after the appearance of signs.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or "Mad Cow Disease"
is caused by an infectious protein bPrP.
The coding sequence for Prnp is 858 nucleotides long as shown in Figure
2.
Prions are a class of infectious agents causing incurable neurodegenerative
diseases in both humans and animals.
5-9-01
U.S. Agriculture: Alternative Markets in a Dynamic World Economy
Jose G. Peña, Extension Economist-Management U.S. agriculture has
been undergoing major transition since the industrialization phase at
the turn of the century.
Today, less than 1.8 percent of the U.S. population produces the least
expensive, highest quality food in the world and also provide about 20%
of the world's farm exports.
While there is no blueprint for the optimal design of the successful farm,
the only alternatives producers have been offered during the recent restructuring
are to get big enough to be competitive, farm on contract to reduce risks,
or get out of agricultural production.
