October 16 is World Food Day as coordinated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. This year’s theme is “The Right to Food.” I’m all for bringing attention to the fact that there are people starving and we should do all we can to feed them with our excess.
However, if you listen to the following statement by FAO’s DG Jacques Diouf, you’ll hear him say that countries are making the right to food a constitutional right. He says we should move away from charity to making food a “right.” I wonder what all the charitable organizations that are working so hard to help feed the hungry would think of that. This concept is just not practical in my opinion. I really think there a lot of other ways to accomplish feeding the hungry and there are a lot of people and organizations already doing it.
Here’s what it says on their website:
The right to food is the inherent human right of every woman, man, girl and boy, wherever they live on this planet.
The choice of The Right to Food as the theme for 2007 World Food Day and TeleFood demonstrates increasing recognition by the international community of the important role of human rights in eradicating hunger and poverty, and hastening and deepening the sustainable development process.
Listen to Jacques Diouf here: fao-wfd.mp3
You might recall that I recently conducted a new media class for a day at the University of Guelph. The grad students in that class all had their own blog started by the end of the day.
Hey all you farm podcasters out there. Here’s a new digital recorder to drool over and plan to put in your tool kit. Marantz is finally coming out with a small form recorder. Finally! I got to demo this one at the Podcast & New Media Expo. It’s supposed to be coming out some time in November and I will be placing an order.
The US Federal Appeals Court today ruled unanimously in favor of Syngenta Seeds, Inc., with respect to the patents asserted by Monsanto against Syngenta’s use and sale of Agrisure(R) GT (GA21 corn). The Court reaffirmed the summary judgment decision of May 10, 2006 by the Federal District Court that the asserted claims of the Shah patent were invalid and that the asserted claims of the Lundquist patents were not infringed.
The production of biofuels plays a key role in both rural development and national security for one Pennsylvania agriculture official. Executive Deputy Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture says investing in homegrown biofuels, such as biodiesel and ethanol, translates into the investment in domestic, local economies. Redding was referencing the benefits of biofuel production in the wake of PA Governor Edward G. Rendell’s 
We may have just concluded one IFAJ Congress but it’s time to look forward to next year. The man in charge is former EU Commissioner of Agriculture Dr. Franz Fischler. He’s chairing IFAJ 2008 and I met him in Japan.
convince you too. He says that we’ll get to see how a former communist country has changed and is working to keep the peace and their independence. It sounds like we’ll get some very contrasting looks at agriculture too since we’ll start out in one country and wind up in another.
Wow. It’s nice to be home. You can call this a catch up day and a much needed one. I’m going through cheese withdrawal right now.
