The Sky Is Blue

Cracks in the empire........... small cracks but cracks still.......


Reversing itself, FDA expresses concerns over health risks from BPA

By Lyndsey Layton
Saturday, January 16, 2010; A01

The Food and Drug Administration has reversed its position on the safety of Bisphenol A, a chemical found in plastic bottles, soda cans, food containers and thousands of consumer goods, saying it now has concerns about health risks.

Growing scientific evidence has linked the chemical to a host of problems, including cancer, sexual dysfunction and heart disease. Federal officials said they are particularly concerned about BPA's effect on the development of fetuses, infants and young children.

"We have some concern, which leads us to recommend reasonable steps the public can take to reduce exposure to BPA," said Joshua Sharfstein, FDA's deputy commissioner, in a conference call to reporters Friday.

Regulators stopped short of banning the compound or even requiring manufacturers to label products containing BPA, saying that current data are not clear enough to support a legal crackdown. FDA officials also said they were hamstrung from dealing quickly with BPA by an outdated regulatory framework.

Sharfstein said the agency is conducting "targeted" studies of BPA, part of a two-year, $30 million effort by the administration to answer key questions about the chemical that will help determine what action, if any, is necessary to protect public health. The Obama administration pledged to take a "fresh look" at the chemical.

BPA, used to harden plastics, is so prevalent that more than 90 percent of the U.S. population has traces of it in its urine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers have found that BPA leaches from containers into food and beverages, even at cold temperatures.

The FDA's announcement came after extensive talks between federal agencies and the White House about the best approach to an issue that has become a significant concern for consumers and the chemical industry.

One administration official privy to the talks said the FDA is in a quandary. "They have new evidence that makes them worried, but they don't have enough proof to justify pulling the stuff, so what do you do?" said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "You want to warn people, but you don't want to create panic."

The FDA had long maintained that BPA is safe, relying largely on two studies funded by the chemical industry. The agency was faulted by its own panel of independent science advisers in 2008, which said its position on BPA was scientifically flawed because it ignored more than 100 published studies by government scientists and university laboratories that raised health concerns about BPA. Recent data found health effects even at low doses of BPA -- lower than the levels considered safe by the FDA.

The chemical industry, which produces more than 6 billion tons of BPA annually and has been fighting restrictions on its use, said Friday's announcement was good news because the agency did not tell people to stop using products containing the chemical.

"The science continues to support the safety of BPA," said Steven Hentges of the American Chemistry Council.

In a statement, the industry group said: "Plastics made with BPA contribute safety and convenience to our daily lives because of their durability, clarity and shatter-resistance. Can liners and food-storage containers made with BPA are essential components to helping protect the safety of packaged foods. . . . ACC remains committed to consumer safety, and will continue to review new scientific studies concerning the safety of BPA."

Bisphenol A was discovered to be a synthetic estrogen in the 1930s. By the 1950s, chemists found BPA could be used to make polycarbonate plastics, giving them a "shatterproof" quality, and the uses for the chemical exploded.

But recently, consumers have placed increasing pressure on manufacturers and retailers to migrate away from BPA. In 2008, Babies R Us and other major retailers told suppliers they would no longer stock baby bottles made with BPA. Last year, the six largest manufacturers of baby bottles announced they would voluntarily stop selling bottles made with bisphenol A to consumers in the United States.

But BPA remains in the epoxy linings of most canned goods, including baby formula. Research has shown that it leaches from the linings into liquid formula, but not powered formula.

Environmental groups, public health advocates and consumer organizations applauded the FDA for recognizing concern about BPA, but some said the agency didn't go far enough.

"It's really a shame after all of the studies out there that they didn't do anything to protect the public health," said Urvashi Rangan, director of technical policy at Consumers Union. "How many pieces of evidence do we need before we have enough to act?"

Canada declared BPA a toxin and banned it from baby bottles in 2008. Similar restrictions have taken root in Chicago, Minnesota, Connecticut and Suffolk County in New York. In Congress, Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) have filed a bill that would block BPA from all food and drink packaging.

As it awaits additional research results, the FDA plans to change the way it classifies BPA so that it can exercise tighter controls over the chemical, Sharfstein said. Currently, BPA is approved as a "food additive," which means manufacturers are not required to tell the government which products contain BPA and in what amounts. The agency wants to reclassify it as a "food contact material," which would require greater disclosure from manufacturers and would allow the FDA to take fast action if it determined that the material posed a health risk.

The Department of Health and Human Services has released recommended ways for the public to reduce exposure to BPA. It can be found at http://www.hhs.gov/safety/bpa.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/15/AR2010011504070.html

Street Food In Washington, DC

At the corner of hip and red tape
As street food rolls in new ways, jurisdictions are hard-pressed to keep up with trends and demands

By Jane Black
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 2, 2009

The line forms fast wherever Derek Luhowiak pulls up his food truck, Local SixFortySeven. At farmers markets and wineries, customers swoon over the chicken and biscuits, grass-fed beef burgers and apple cardamom pie. There's one constituency, however, that he just can't seem to win over: Virginia regulators.

The former chef and his wife, Amanda, launched Local SixFortySeven -- the name combines a fondness for the unions of Luhowiak's native Pittsburgh and the road the couple lives on -- on April 21, Earth Day. Their plan: to serve reasonably priced plates made with ingredients from their garden and the farmers markets where they set up shop. By operating out of a truck, Luhowiak kept start-up costs low. A restaurant on wheels also let Luhowiak follow the crowds in less densely populated areas, such as Virginia's Rappahannock and Frederick counties.

Luhowiak, 33, submitted his mobile kitchen for a health inspection and bought a business license, which he believed covered him anywhere in Virginia within a day's drive of his home base. But bureaucratic woes have plagued Local SixFortySeven at almost every stop.

At a weekly farmers market at George Mason University, he was kicked out after food service giant Sodexo, which has a catering contract with the school, complained. At Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane, where Local SixFortySeven earns almost 50 percent of its revenue, concern that the truck violated rural agricultural zoning rules threatened to halt its operation there in October. In Winchester, where Luhowiak had successfully set up at the weekly farmers market since June, a local official suddenly informed him on Nov. 17 that he was required to obtain another license from the city and pay tax on his income.

That was Luhowiak's last week at the Winchester market.

Street carts are the year's hottest food trend. Good, cheap food sates appetites in a recession. And low start-up costs are a magnet for entrepreneurs. Hip trucks such as Kogi barbecue in Los Angeles, New York's Big Gay Ice Cream Truck and Washington's Sweetflow Mobile and Fojol Bros. of Merlindia have captured local fans -- and dollars. But the renaissance in American street food is being taxed, and in some cases hindered, by a maze of local regulations that either don't accommodate innovative food businesses or can't keep up with them. "We are constantly battling these people. Everyone talks about how the recovery is going to be based on young entrepreneurs," Luhowiak said. "But if we use all our time to fight everybody, who's going to cook the food?"

Some cities have confronted the situation by issuing strict rules for food carts. Singapore has famously established hawker centers for its thousands of street vendors. Toronto created a three-year pilot project that required aspiring operators to prepare business plans, demonstrate their food's nutritional value and submit to a taste test by a panel of local judges. (Only eight vendors made the cut.) But in many cities, mobile vendors face vague, sometimes contradictory rules; hence many trucks' creative, if convoluted, decision to inform customers of their location via Twitter. The District had an eight-year moratorium on new food vending licenses. Politics surrounding regulations are so fierce that the District's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) has been at work on rules for three years.

The holdup and a temporary patchwork of directives have thwarted Washington vendor Kristin Rider, 28. In July, says Rider, whose father owns the popular Pedro and Vinny's burrito cart at 15th and K streets NW, she bought a vending license and launched her own cart a few blocks away, at 19th and L.

Within weeks, Rider says, an investigator from DCRA told her she was in violation of District rules and needed to obtain a location permit from the District Department of Transportation (DDOT). In the middle of the lunch rush, with customers waiting, she was forced to close. Rider says she called DDOT the next day and was informed that the agency no longer issued location permits and that one was not required.

Rider returned to her cart. But within a week, another agent arrived. First, Rider says, he told her she needed the DDOT permit. She explained that she did not. About a month later, he returned and demanded to see receipts for food purchased. Furious and in tears, "I marched myself up to DCRA and showed them my vending permit. And they said, 'You shouldn't have got that,' " Rider said. "Well, that's not my problem. The fourth floor doesn't know what the fifth floor is doing."

The city has made some concessions to vendors. In 2004, it created a 32-block demonstration zone downtown that suspended some rules to allow competition to flourish. Since 2006, the agency has issued hundreds of licenses to new vendors, such as the eye-catching, bug-shaped On the Fly carts. But DCRA acknowledges that its rules are in desperate need of an update. An agency survey reported in 2006 that 66 percent of consumers rated the variety of Washington street food as poor. Eighty-two percent said they would probably spend more money at food vending stands if they could buy something other than hot dogs, chips and soda.

DCRA declined to comment on Rider's case, but an official said it is working with her to overcome bureaucratic hurdles. Rider said she expects to reopen next week near Metro Center.

In other cities, the web of rules is even more complex, as the owners of Los Angeles cult truck Kogi BBQ quickly discovered. Their first truck -- they now have four -- hit the streets in November 2008 with a license to vend in the city.

Los Angeles, however, is a jumble of independent towns and neighborhoods, each with its own rules. On Kogi's first night out, the truck headed for West Hollywood and was immediately stopped by the police, who said the operation needed additional business and catering licenses from West Hollywood, said Caroline Shin-Manguera, 29, one of Kogi's three founders. Rather than fight, the driver moved on to Hollywood, where no additional paperwork was required.

Kogi fast turned into a phenomenon. After announcing its location on Twitter, the truck would roll up to find mobs of people awaiting its Korean-Mexican fusion food. Fans wrote in, begging the truck to come to their neighborhood.

Expanding proved difficult, said Shin-Manguera. In Pasadena, trucks are not permitted to park for more than 30 minutes, after which time they must move to a spot at least 500 feet away -- a rule not easy to comply with when customers have lined up for an hour for pork tacos with sesame-chili salsa roja. Beverly Hills has the same rule and also requires any vendor to have a Beverly Hills vending license. There is also a law requiring that all employees working on the truck have fingerprints on file. On the Kogi truck's first day in Beverly Hills, it racked up $800 in fines.

In total, Kogi has spent $1,360 for business and vending licenses and paid $3,132 in tickets and fines. "There are a million rules on the books. Some are enforced, and some are enforced sometimes," said Shin-Manguera. "Mobile vending is still cheaper than a restaurant. But the costs are a lot higher than we thought."

The hodgepodge of regulations is a nuisance to city vendors. But it is a real threat to food entrepreneurs such as the Luhowiaks. Unlike Los Angeles, Fauquier County has no tradition of street vendors; if anything, a few funnel cake trucks might show up for the county fair. Local SixFortySeven has to persuade local regulators to create rules to define street food and protect it. "Derek and Amanda are absolutely right that their food cart concept is different than what we're used to seeing from a regulatory perspective," said Peter Schwartz, a member of the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors. "They don't fit into any appropriate box."

Witness the trouble at Barrel Oak Winery. The vineyard is zoned for rural agriculture, a category that prohibits a commercial kitchen on the property. If the truck shows up only twice a month, is it really a restaurant? What kind of license would it need?

Luhowiak was nearly ready to give up his truck. Then last month Local SixFortySeven was named one of four finalists in the "Good Morning America" search for the best American food truck. The Luhowiaks lost to Marination, a Seattle truck that serves Korean-Hawaiian fusion food. But the national recognition changed their minds, at least for now. The couple is working with county regulators to find profitable and legal locations for next season. They also are considering a bricks-and-mortar restaurant in Rappahannock County.

For street carts to be successful, clear rules are needed, said chef Charles Phan. Fourteen years ago, Phan tried, and failed, to navigate the tricky permit system and open a Vietnamese food truck in Oakland, Calif. Instead, he opened the Slanted Door, which today is one of San Francisco's most popular restaurants. "Right now, it's a cat-and-mouse game. I don't think it should be a free-for-all," he said. "Someone might get sick. Someone might create a fire hazard by blocking parts of the street."

Instead, Phan said, food trucks and property owners should work together. A truck might arrange to park in front of an office that would provide electricity and water in exchange for the convenience of a new food outlet for employees. Phan said he is in talks with San Francisco city officials about turning empty lots into street-food hubs similar to the popular Singapore hawker centers.

Others say that mobility is essential and that the rules should accommodate the new fad. Nicolas Jammet, co-founder of Washington's Sweetgreen salad and frozen yogurt chain, says his Sweetflow Mobile, which debuted in June, helps the company develop a following and test new markets. For example, Sweetgreen recently has been sending the truck to Reston Town Center, where it plans to open its next location.

"I'm all for making sure it doesn't get out of hand," he said. "Right now it's mayhem. If this food truck thing blows up even more, it could get really messy."

Correction to This Article
The article incorrectly said that the mobile restaurant Local SixFortySeven opened on April 21, Earth Day. Earth Day was April 22, and Local SixFortySeven opened that day.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/01/AR2009120100847.html

GLUT in Mt. Ranier, Maryland

Forty friendly years of cheap and funky
Mount Rainier neighbors love their Glut collective

By Amanda Abrams
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, November 4, 2009

There's something about Glut, Mount Rainier's long-standing natural foods grocery, that leaves first-time visitors astonished. It's a cluttered shop, the kind of old-school health food store that has largely been replaced by bigger and shinier varieties. But that's not the surprising part.

What newcomers inevitably marvel over is the diversity of Glut's customers. On a given afternoon, the line waiting to check out is a genuine reflection of the racially mixed, middle-class community surrounding the store. The clientele includes blacks, whites and Latinos of all ages who are as likely to be wearing a uniform with their name on the breast as high heels or dreadlocks, and who make it difficult to maintain offhand stereotypes about who's in the market for items such as organic greens and soy milk.

Glut Food Co-op has always been countercultural. Established in 1969 by a couple of conscientious objectors to the Vietnam War, it started out as a buying collective with the aim of providing unprocessed food at low prices. In the early 1970s, Glut moved into a former grocery in Mount Rainier -- still its home -- and gradually morphed into a retail operation.

Since then, little has changed. It's still a worker-run collective, the oldest in the area, according to employees. That means it is managed jointly by its employees and lacks the typical boss-worker hierarchy. Glut is open to anyone, no membership required, and volunteers can work for store credit.

Glut's mission is still to provide "food for people, not for profit," making it an anachronism that's unlikely to be confused with Whole Foods. A sign in the window proclaims that "war is not the answer"; inside, unpacked boxes of overstock share space with for-sale products, and customers are expected to bag their own groceries.

The beets and green beans don't gleam with bright perfection, as in bigger stores. But on closer inspection, it's obvious that everything is fresh: Much, though not all, of the produce and prepared food comes from within a few hours' drive of Washington. All of the staples are there, plus some unusual items requested by shoppers: incense, an expansive selection of medicinal herbs and an assortment of the ginger drinks beloved by Caribbean immigrants.

Customers say they like Glut's personal, idiosyncratic style. Without a boss looking over their shoulders, employees can linger in conversation with shoppers and are forced to directly answer requests or complaints that arise. They're free to get involved in the community, too: When neighborhood kids perform at the dance studio across the street, for example, workers might amble over to take in the show.

It isn't exactly a family relationship, but it's not just business, either. In a town whose residents have a particularly strong sense of social and neighborhood consciousness, Glut is a key community gathering place. This weekend, that gathering will be larger than usual, at a big neighborhood party to celebrate the collective's 40th anniversary.

The climate of familiarity is one of the things Theodore Boyd, an Amtrak conductor who was recently waiting in line to buy a bean pie, likes about the store. Gesturing at the bulletin board by the door and the scuffed wood floors, he said: "I like the 'nothing fancy' atmosphere here. It's like a store in the Midwest." Plus, he added, "I'm a tea guy, and this is one of the only places where I can get my teas."

Eileen Simmons, a frequent customer who lives in nearby Cheverly, said Glut reminds her of country stores in North Carolina, where her mother is from. "And I appreciate that they give the customer the discount."

Indeed, Glut is a not-for-profit business. That means its markup on bulk tamari, roasted almonds, organic apples and everything else is as low as it can be while still covering salaries and operating costs. But though some items, such as cheese and dried herbs, are particularly cheap, most of Glut's prices are on par with those at larger stores.

"We try and be competitive, but it's an economy of scale with natural foods," said Chris Doyle, at 62 the store's longest-serving employee. "You have to be a big store to make money."

A couple of years ago, Glut began to feel the impact of declining sales and increasing expenses. Rather than sharply raise prices and alienate customers, employees cut their own salaries and benefits. In April, finances stabilized and salaries went back up ("to the same level as they were in 1996," Doyle ruefully quipped). But the store isn't totally in the clear. "Oh, folks are absolutely spending less," Doyle said. "They're more careful about everything now."

Glut's commitment to the community isn't lost on shoppers. On her way out the door with a box of produce and grains to last the week, Ayo Ngozi mused about why she shops there. "I love the staff: that they listen when we ask for something, that they're part of the fabric of the neighborhood," she said. "When I was out of work, I volunteered here every week and fed myself and my family that way."

Glut Food Co-op

4005 34th St., Mount Rainier
301-779-1978
http://www.glutfood.org

Glut will celebrate its 40th anniversary Saturday, rain or shine, with a block party from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in front of the store, at Bunker Hill Road and 34th Street. The event will include a potluck picnic at noon; attendees are encouraged to bring a vegetarian or vegan dish to share.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/03/AR2009110300570.html

Antibiotics In Fish

Ala.: Unapproved substance found in fish imports

The Associated Press
Thursday, November 5, 2009 8:14 AM

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama Agriculture and Industries Commissioner Ron Sparks on Wednesday extended a two-year-old order banning the sale of untested fish from Vietnam and China in Alabama.

Sparks said Wednesday the new order comes after catfish from China and basa from Vietnam tested positive for fluoroquinolones, an antibiotic used in humans, but not approved for fish. Basa is a fish that tastes similar to catfish and is found in southeast Asia.

Sparks said his department's labs found the substance after testing fish from China and Vietnam that were marked as having already been tested. He said fish from the two countries can still be sold in Alabama, but only if they have been tested. Even then, Sparks said Alabama officials are allowed to order their own tests.

"We're going to stop it and it will never make it to dinner plates in Alabama," Sparks said of fish that tests positive for the antibiotics. "Personally I would not eat it. I would not recommend it."

Department of Agriculture chemist Joe Basile said the danger to humans eating fish containing the substance is that people might build up an amount of fluoroquinolones in their systems and allow bacteria to build up a tolerance to the antibiotic.

The antibiotic was also found in a small amount of fish imported from Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand. The order banning sales was not immediately extended to those countries.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/05/AR2009110501460.html

Mmmmm Good - Roti on Georgia Ave

Some of my favorite roti........ channa and potato at Rita's on Georgia Ave, NW, Washington, DC. Trinidadian roti is different from Indian roti - one Indian friend of mine can't relate at all to a roti as a sandwich, as in the first photo. She says she never saw anything like it. Clearly something was adapted in Trinidad which has a large Indian population - brought to the Caribbean as indentured servants. Another example of glocal or lobal - thinking globally and eating locally. Don't forget the hot sauce!

Bengies Drive-In Theatre In Baltimore County

Not organic, not completely cheap but a very good deal........ and my friend Rich's favorite theater!

Bengies Drive-In Theatre has been owned by the same family since it opened in 1956.

Drive-in theater a throwback to the '50s

• Story Highlights
• Bengies Drive-In Theatre hasn't changed much in its 53-year history
• Owner says he's often surprised by children's fascination with drive-in
• Each night features a double feature; admission is $8 a person
• Onslaught of light pollution has been challenge to theater owner, moviegoers

By Bethany Swain
CNN

BALTIMORE, Maryland (CNN) -- You know you've arrived at Bengies Drive-In Theatre when you first see the giant movie marquee, announcing the features showing that weekend. Each letter has to be placed and adjusted by hand, as it did when the theater first opened.

"As far as the operation of the drive-in goes, I'm kind of a die-hard. I try to make it run the way it did, to bring a little bit back of the '50s. ... the integrity and the innocence of that age," says Bengies owner D. Edward Vogel, who claims to have the largest outdoor movie screen in the country at 52 feet by 120 feet.

Vogel has spent most of his life trying to maintain the feel and charm of the Baltimore, Maryland, drive-in movie theater that his family opened in 1956. Vogel wants moviegoers to have the same experience as he did when he went to his family's outdoor theater as a child, although he knows that people today have many more entertainment options.

"Sometimes I'm actually taken aback with the amount of children that are fascinated with this," says Vogel. "Thinking of what their options are, with modern devices and videos and all that, that they are so taken aback . with what happens here."

Vogel started learning, at age 9, the secrets of running a movie theater from his father, Jack Vogel. He has worked tirelessly since to maintain the theater as it was in its glory days. Vogel even operates the same machines that he did as a child; the projection room is filled with the original projectors, which Vogel cleans and cares for each night.

And for each movie, threading the film is a complex process far removed from the simplicity of inserting a DVD into the player that we know today. Once threaded, the film spins around as each frame follows an intricate path from the tray, to the projector, until it is shown on the gigantic screen. Watch the drive-in come to life »

The scene immediately invokes a feeling of nostalgia, reminding us why they were called "motion pictures" way back when. Yet, Vogel is quick to tell you that keeping the 53-year-old business alive hasn't always been easy.

At Bengies, each night is a double feature, so guests can see at least two movies for $8 a person. Vogel estimates that Bengies makes 40 percent of its revenue from ticket sales, and the rest comes from concession purchases. There's a strict "no outside food" policy, and he's open about the fact that the food sales help keep the business open.

The waterfront property would be more profitable as condos, he says, and his father planned to build them before Vogel took over the theater in the 1980s. He was only able to avoid closing by cutting costs and staff.

"My parents had a union operator in the booth, they had a manager, they had a concessionaire. I am all of those things, so that has changed," Vogel says.

Vogel even acts as the host. Known only as "the voice" to his audiences, he starts each night by using the theater's speaker system to welcome everyone to his venue.

"When you see the sun setting, and the shadow being cast on that screen, no matter what has happened during that day, good, bad or indifferent, I become a different person when I turn the microphone on."

Besides the challenges of being a small business owner, Vogel's efforts to maintain the integrity of the movie-going experience is challenged by another intrusion of this modern world -- light pollution.

Between car headlights and brightly lit businesses nearby, a once-dark sky is now polluted with obtrusive light. Bengies asks that drivers turn their headlights off when entering the grounds of the theater. But over the years, it has been the outside light from other businesses that bleeds into the surrounding sky, making the giant screen hard to see.

For solutions to such predicaments, Vogel turns to the owners of other drive-in theaters that have managed to survive since the 1930s. He is an active member of a drive-in theater owners association and is working with other owners across the country to support each other.

"They would all have easier lives if they opened Laundromats in the right location, but they don't. They endeavor; there is a passion about it," Vogel says.

It is a passion that his audience seems to appreciate.

As the sun lowers in the sky and eventually sets behind the screen, the ticket booth is opened on a Sunday night in autumn. People make the trip to the last drive-in theater in the Baltimore area. They set up their chairs, and some sit in their classic cars to enjoy the show.

It's an experience Vogel hopes to keep around for generations to come.

Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/05/aif.bengies.drive.in/index.html Bengies' web site - http://www.bengies.com/

Know Your Farmer In The Global Organic Food Market

From IndianExpress.com -

Coming soon, system to trace all Indian organic food to source farms

Surbhi Khyati Posted online: Monday , Oct 05, 2009 at 0437 hrs

Lucknow : In a few months, a consumer in the European Union should be able to trace an item of organic food on his table to the specific bit of farmland in India that produced it.

The Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), which works under the central Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is set to launch, in January 2010, a nationwide system of traceability for organic food items.

“It is next to impossible to physically monitor all farmers in the country. Hence, the need for a system-based approach was felt. With the traceability system, which will actually be a massive online database containing real time information on production and export, we expect to make our system a lot more credible,” S Dave, Director, APEDA, told The Indian Express.

“We received some complaints about the certifying bodies of organic products who were accredited by us. On investigation, we found some of the land certified as organic farms were never visited before certifying. With this system in place, farmers will not only put their farming details and practices online, the certifying body too will need to put in the latitude and longitude of the farmland, which will be verifiable on Google Earth.”

The system was tested successfully in grapes in 2005-06, Dave said. “After this, the price of grapes shot up in the international market from 8.5 euros per case to 11 euros, and exports grew five times. We were also able to trace one out of 35,000 farmers who was dubious.”

“Now we will be introducing this system for around 4 lakh organic farmers, and will closely monitor not only the farmers and exporters, but also the certifying bodies.”

India, Dave said, will be the first country in the world to implement the traceability system at a national level. “We are planning to showcase the system at Biofach 2010 in Germany. Biofach, the world’s largest organic trade fair, is the gateway to the global market for organic products,” he added.

To prepare the stakeholders for the launch of the traceability system, APEDA is conducting capacity-building training programmes at 30 centres across the country. “We will also establish a call centre once the system is launched to assist the farmers,” said Sudhanshu, Assistant General Manager and in charge of IT and the traceability system.

Explaining the mechanism of the traceability system, Sudhanshu said: “Small farmers will come together to form an Internal Control System (ICS) which will get a unique identity and password in our system. The ICS and the certifying body will be responsible for putting all information about the product online, including the farmer’s name, farm size, production mechanism and practices followed, along with the longitude and latitude of the farm. This will enable importers worldwide to verify on Google Earth the location from where the product has originated, and get all details of the product.”

The same will be applicable to exporters and traders, so that any faulty product can be immediately traced to its origin, he added.

“Globally, the market for organic food is $40 billion, of which India’s share is a mere $123 million. The traceability mechanism will get farmers a better deal and build trust in European markets, where 70 per cent of our products are exported,” Dave said.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/coming-soon-system-to-trace-all-indian-organic-food-to-source-farms/525106/