WATCH OUT FOR GOATS AND CHICKEN NEXT DOOR!-NEW URBAN POLICY

Fast urbanization is a problem faced by practically every country and its snow balling effect on food security is well known. Imagine what will happen if all the rural folks migrate to cities looking for better earning opportunities as agriculture, especially in a country like India with very small individual holdings, is never a route for achieving a decent quality of life. In spite of massive subsidization of agriculture, farmer suicides continue unabated and there does not appear to be any consensus as to the right approach to tackle this grave human problem. While land consolidation is often talked about as the major pre-requisite for making cultivation remunerative, political philosophy often prevents such land reforms as vote bank pursuit seems to be more important than national development. Against this background the recent development in the West to make urban areas some what rural through encouragement of animal breeding is interesting.

"Two efforts are underway to more easily allow residents to keep chickens and goats in Denver, though the two movements could intersect with one another. The Mayor's Sustainable Food Policy Committee is reviewing one legislative effort that would allow residents to keep food-producing animals without a permit. The second effort is being led by a citizen who has proposed taking the issue to voters in November. It is possible that the legislative effort could be overshadowed by the ballot initiative proposed by James Bertini, a longtime advocate for food-producing animals and director of Denver Urban Homesteaders. If the initiative makes the November ballot and voters approve it, the legislative effort could be complicated. If the initiative makes the ballot and is rejected by voters, City Council members may be less likely to approve the legislative proposal.Bertini says if the city acts quickly and approves a streamlined, less onerous process for allowing food-producing animals in Denver, then he would abandon his effort".

It was Prof Abdul Kalam who first propounded the philosophy that rural areas must be "urbanized", providing some of the comforts of city living though how far such a concept can be translated into reality is some thing to be seen. The move to allow urban households to have their own meat animals is fraught with lot of implications. How can the neighborhood tolerate a few house having their chicken, goats etc disturbing their peace and damaging their properties? What about the stench emanating from such households having some animals? How are these animals going to be slaughtered? Probably in course of time some clarity may emerge on these issues. Phenomena like urban farming, sky gardens, roof top gardens etc are invariably based on passion and commitment by a few and how far the interest can be sustained remains to be seen.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

A NEW APPROACH TO TRAINING-THE "FOOD TRUCK" WAY

The Food Truck phenomenon is growing much beyond the expectation of the pioneers who started this new system of food preparation and vending in the United States more than a decade ago. It is not that similar food catering practices were not existing before any where else in the world but the Food Truck vending is a modernized version with large flexibility to move around in urban areas, deploying even the latest tweeter technology to inform their customers abut their where abouts. Even to day in many developing countries road side food vending is very common but generally it is frowned upon because of lack of hygiene and sanitation. The modern Food Truck with its ultra modern kitchen facilities ensures safety of food preparations offered by them, even better than many of the regular established restaurants. The recent launching of a unique Food Revolution Truck in the US by a public minded person has brought out the possibility of mobile training facilities on wheels which can be used to make the families and interested consumers aware of the nuances of preparation of healthy foods. Here is a take on this development

"Jamie Oliver, who we last saw calling Sarah Palin a 'Froot Loop', is back with the mobilization of his Food Revolution -- literally. This week Oliver unveiled his Food Revolution food truck, a mobile kitchen designed to educate young people and their families about the preparation and perpetuation of affordable, healthy food. The truck can fit a class of 40 students and features a bevy of kitchen equipment, complete with eight kitchen stations, plasma screens for demonstrations, and an inflatable stage. The Food Revolution Truck was brought to life by contributions and partnerships enabled by Oliver's TED prize, awarded in 2010. Along with $100,000, Oliver was given the chance to realize his wish to change the world. His mission? In a tour of the truck with the BBC, Oliver explains his desire to 'create a sustainable movement to feed children better in schools and to educate them about food.' The truck, designed pro bono by architect David Rockwell, is intended to "create an immediate, unexpected spectacle' at schools, fairs, and farmer's markets."

While creation of such facilities can be achieved easily through grants from government and non-government organizations, most difficult logistical problem is how to ensure their regular functioning with adequate working capital funds. Years ago GOI had mobile canning demonstration vans in some states in India for training house wives in preserving seasonal perishables like fruits and vegetables by canning but the project was abandoned later because of lack of adequate response from the targeted groups. Probably in India there may be a need for such mobile training facilities in each state that can go to areas where street vendors are concentrated and cajole the vendors to undergo a minimum training to sensitize them on safety of foods cooked by them. It is for the MFPI to take the necessary initiative to create such facilities which may have much greater impact than the sporadic attempts to help these hapless road side entrepreneurs through impractical and useless programs.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

"LOCAL FOODS"-A "FREE FOR ALL" SITUATION!

Like organic foods, local food movements in some of the western countries have gained acceptance by a significant segment of the consumer because of the perceived feeling that they are safer, more nutritious and environment friendly. While organic foods got really established across the world with their own standards, quality vigilance and international protocols, local foods can be confirmed only by tracing the sources from where they have come. Most of the big retail food chains are the losers because local foods made available in the farmers' markets are much more in demand than the products offered by the former which are sourced from hundreds of kilometers away with practically nothing known about their credentials. Of course with traceability law in place consumer has a much better chance of knowing the history of the produce bought from a retail chain. If a recent report from the UK is to be believed one in three dealers offering local foods are of suspect credentials and here is a take on that situation.

"Council food enforcement officers visited over 300 premises across England and Wales because of the increasing consumer interest in buying `local'. They visited both point of sale and manufacturing facilities. In total, 558 products (65 per cent from restaurants, 23 per cent from retail shops and 12 per cent from manufacturers and other) labelled as `local' were investigated. Full inspections revealed that at least 18 per cent of the claims were undoubtedly false with a further 14 per cent unable to be confirmed and therefore assumed false. These false claims were found at similar levels across all food sectors with almost one in five restaurant descriptions misleading customers. Meat and dairy products were frequently misleading with 50 per cent of poultry, 29 per cent of sausages, 27 per cent of both beef and lamb and 24 per cent of dairy products all completely false. Chairman of Local Government Regulation councillor Paul Bettison said: "To have around a third of all items investigated turn out to be false or potentially false is extremely worrying. "At present there is no widely agreed definition of the term `local' and it isn't acceptable. Everyone should be operating in a fair environment and following the same rules. Defra and the food industry must agree the definition of `local'."

According to one report even some of the retail chains in the US are resorting to malpractices, setting up local food section in their premises but stocked with materials sourced through their regular supply chain which amounts to cheating the consumer. As there are no established methodology to distinguish between local and those sourced from distant places, sufficient scope exists for fraudulent operators to make a fast buck through this easy route. Until clear cut guidelines are established for defining any food as local, consumer is left at the mercy of the dealers in providing local foods, many of them unable to resist the opportunity to cheat the unsuspecting consumer. A rigorous vigilance system must be in place for bringing to books such fraudsters which may provide the necessary deterrent.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

COCONUT OIL-A "VILLAIN" TURNED "HERO"!

While talking about food inflation, no one expects the poor coconut oil to fetch prizes once considered the privilege of its more illustrious cousins like Olive oil. People are known to spend fortunes to lay their hands on virgin olive oil which has a reputation, rightly or wrongly, as a wonder fat with umpteen number of health benefits. Recent sudden interest in coconut oil, once condemned and vilified, especially by the Soy oil and Canola lobbyists for its high saturated fatty acid content, defies logic and if this interest continues, the people in Kerala and South Karnataka for whom coconut oil is the staple fat, may be starved of this commodity due uncontrolled price escalation in the global market. Here is a take on that funny situation.

"So given all this greasy baggage, what was coconut oil doing in a health food store? In fact, it has recently become the darling of the natural-foods world. Annual sales growth at Whole Foods "has been in the high double digits for the last five years," said Errol Schweizer, the chain's global senior grocery coordinator. Two groups have helped give coconut oil its sparkly new makeover. One is made up of scientists, many of whom are backtracking on the worst accusations against coconut oil. And the other is the growing number of vegans, who rely on it as a sweet vegetable fat that is solid at room temperature and can create flaky pie crusts, crumbly scones and fluffy cupcake icings, all without butter. My curiosity stirred, I brought some home and experimented. I quickly learned that virgin coconut oil has a haunting, nutty, vanilla flavor. It's even milder and richer tasting than butter, sweeter and lighter textured than lard, and without any of the bitterness you sometimes get in olive oil. Its natural sweetness shines in baked goods and sautés, and is particularly wonderful paired with bitter greens, which soften and mellow under the oil's gentle touch. And the saturated fat in coconut oil makes it a good choice in pastries, whether you avoid animal fats or simply want to pack a little more coconut flavor into that coconut cream pie".

What is amazing is the total turn around by the same nutritionists who swore to the dangers of consuming coconut oil because of its rich saturated fat content. To day the very same scientists are singing a different tune extolling the virtues of this oil as a wonder food adjunct. In spite of three decades of incessant campaign by those dealing with western origin oils like soy, canola etc, coconut oil oil has stood the test of time and to day it has emerged as a truly healthy oil for both edible as well as external use. The presence of the medium chain fatty acid Lauric acid confers on it many special health benefits which are recognized to day. It is known that it is easily digestible as it is incorporated in many infant food formulas and its typical melting characteristics make it a darling of the food industry, once its anti-healthy tag is removed. While this is a good news for coconut farmers in India, Sri Lanka and Philippines, one has to sympathize with the fate of the poor consumers who may have to shell out more for their precious staple oil.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

GLOBAL CULTIVATION OF GM CROPS-FACTS OR FICTION?

That the GM food lobby will go to any extent to expand its influence is well known but its latest claim that GM technology can only increase the crop yield is a little far fetched. So far no scientific evidence had surfaced to prove that a GM variant of a particular agricultural crop can increase the yield though reducing damage to the crop from pests and insects may effectively give more yield in some crops. In other words the loss of food through GM crops can be reduced just like the use of chemical protectants which are considered environmentally toxic and hazardous. But there are other options like use of environment friendly natural crop protectants which have established their credentials through the explosive growth of organic crop industry all over the world. The following report is an interesting expose about GM crop technology and if this is to be believed all countries must follow the US which allows more than 30 GM food varieties and make their future secure from food scarcity!

"GM crops are being grown on over 1 billion hectares worldwide thanks in part to their higher yields. This news arrives immediately after the G20 meeting, where food security was high on the agenda. Moreover, high-level reports such as the recentForesight report on The Future of Food and Farming, have shown that agriculture will need to produce far more food in the coming years. European farmers could contribute even more to the fight against food insecurity if they had access to all the options that exist for farmers elsewhere. The latest figures on GM crop cultivation underline the commitment of farmers worldwide to employ technological breakthroughs to meet the world's need for food, while also decreasing carbon emissions, saving water, and gaining economic benefits. According to the latest report by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) in 2010, 15.4 million farmers planted over 148 million hectares of biotech crops in 29 countries, up by 10 % from 2009, when there were 14 million farmers and 134 million hectares. In Europe, the number of countries cultivating GM crops increased from 6 in 2009 to 8 in 2010, thanks to the authorization of a GM potato that is cultivated for industrial use by farmers in Sweden, Germany and Czech Republic. The number of hectares of the only other authorized GM crop in Europe, an insect-resistant GM maize, decreased slightly in Europe from 94,750 hectares in 2009 to 91,643 hectares, because of lower overall maize plantings. Carel du Marchie Sarvaas, EuropaBio's Director for Agricultural Biotechnology asserted, "The figures released today are excellent news for farmers and consumers worldwide. And yet, European farmers are only allowed to grow two GM crops, while farmers in the Americas are allowed to grow 30+ GM crops. This is a sad and unfair situation for European farmers."

It is a sad reflection that a supposedly democratic country like the US does not give its citizens the right to decide what food they eat by making no distinction between natural and GM crops in the food labels, though in majority of the cases environmental impact and safety to humans have never been established. The US consumer is some what lucky that they have an active judiciary which is responsive to consumer concerns by intervening by preventing unlimited cultivation of GM sugar beets and Alfa Alfa! The recent efforts by the GM technology giant Monsanto to make a back door entry to India through its GM Brinjal is too fresh in the memory of many concerned people and thanks to the eternal vigilance amongst a few consumer activist organizations, it is unlikely that GM crop cultivation will ever be on a viable scale in this country.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

ANOTHER "RUSE" FOR PROMOTING INFANT FORMULA-NEW STRATEGY BY THE INDUSTRY

The frontiers of knowledge are pushed farther and farther by scientists in various fields and food is no exception. Billions of dollars are invested on research in food, health and nutrition by both private and public developmental outfits for both commercial advantages as well as enriching knowledge base of the humanity. While private funded initiatives mostly end up in patents, public efforts get disseminated through publications and other information carriers. What baffles the consumers is about the veracity of claims made by private industry as a result of their supposed R & D endeavor. Here is a classical example of an industry, long on its back foot for promoting designer infant foods and discouraging the healthier option of breast feeding, befuddling the consumers by surreptitiously claiming that its new formulation is best for the baby, thus encouraging unsuspecting mothers to switch over to formula feeding. Obviously the claim is based on some research "findings" that the new formula containing the Omega-3 acid, DHA is capable of improved eye health and vision development to the children, up to the age of 12months.

"Most vocal of those against the claim is pro-breast feeding group Baby Milk Action (BMA) which questions EFSA's opinion that safety and efficacy has been demonstrated for the nutrient, and highlights ongoing US Food and Drug Administration investigations around it. It therefore opposes adding claims to breast milk substitutes (in this case follow-on formulas and baby foods aimed at babies between the ages of 6-12 months) that may make them more attractive to mothers and care givers. Their call has been backed by groups such as UNICEF, the International Association for the Study of Obesity, and the International Obesity TaskForce. UNICEF said allowing claims on follow-on formula would "undermine" European Union efforts to promote breast feeding. "On the basis, therefore, of these observations, UNICEF would be supportive of the proposed resolution opposing health claims," it stated. BMA's Patti Rundall told NutraIngredients:"This approval is based on industry-funded science and is damaging to people's understanding of breast milk substitutes."

That agencies like UNICEF were able to see through the game plan may probably may help beat back the aggressive plan of the industry to revive the fortunes of the sagging infant food manufacturing sector. The very fact that Europeans were able to be convinced by the latest claim exposes the dangerous nexus between the baby food industry and some bureaucratic section of the food safety agency, calling for eternal vigilance amongst the consumer activist organizations for nipping in the bud such undesirable activities by the profit-hungry industry.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

MAKING THE FOOD MORE "TRANSPARENT"-THE NEW APPROACH

"Consumer is the king", an oft repeated slogan of the industry, seems to be at work again when the US FDA bowed to the pressure from the consumer protection organizations in making it mandatory for restaurant chains to display calorie count of foods served by them. So far compulsory label declaration for nutrients was restricted only to packaged foods and beverages which obviously does provide a conscious consumer with discretionary power to select most nutritious food and avoid so called "bad" foods. Here is a take on the latest move in that country and its repercussions.

"Americans now consume about one-third of their total calories on foods prepared outside the home," said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. "While consumers can find calorie and other nutrition information on most packaged foods, it's not generally available in restaurants or similar retail establishments. This proposal is aimed at giving consumers consistent and easy-to-understand nutrition information." Owners who operate 20 or more vending machines are also required to provide nutritional information for foods in the machine that do not carry it on their packaging. Proponents of these requirements are hopeful that posted nutrition information will make consumers more aware of what's in the food they're ordering. "Trying to find the healthy options when dining out can be more difficult than you think - even a salad can be loaded with hidden fat and sodium. In the same way that nutrition labels on packaged foods allow consumers to see exactly what they're eating and drinking, these calorie counts will empower Americans to make informed decisions when they eat away from home," said Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa in a statement. The new set of regulations will not apply to businesses such as bowling alleys and movie theaters, which serve food as a secondary service. Alcohol is also exempt from the requirements. Many commentators are disappointed by these exceptions.

It is interesting to note that the new law will apply only to chains owning more than 20 restaurants, obviously to avoid logistical hardship to small players with limited resources. The move is some what controversial since there are many exceptions to the rule, probably to accommodate pressures from lobbyists trying to protect their constituencies. Other wise does it make any sense to exempt movie theaters and similar entertainment centers where maximum "gorging" of food takes place? Also not understandable is the logic of declaring calories only while leaving out the most "dangerous" ingredient, the fat. Well one has to take this as a beginning and hopefully these anomalies will be sorted out as some experience is gained in the coming years after operationalizing the new rule.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com