Laurel Zuckerman's Paris Weblog

Disinformation on organic food : deliberate or accidental?

   "Organic no healthier says Food Standards Agency!"

By yesterday these headlines had spread like wildfire through the media.

But are they true?

 

The study in question compared the nutritional value of organic and non-organic foods. It's scope excluded contamination by pesticides and their impact on human health. (see previous post, here)

And yet, news outlets fail to mention the very limited nature of the study, giving the public a false impression that organic food offers no benefits.

  Is this misinformation deliberate?

BBC, Reuters, Yahoo, The Independent--the list of media spreading this misinformation is large and growing.

A quick google search gives these results :

 

1.               Organic food is no healthier, study finds - Yahoo! News

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study published Wednesday.
news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090729/hl_nm/us_food_organic - Pages similaires -

2.               Organic food 'no healthier than conventional' - News, Food & Drink ...

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

29 Jul 2009

... Organic food is no healthier than conventional food, according to the world's biggest research project into the issue.
www.independent.co.uk/.../organic-food-no-healthier-than-conventional-1764448.html - En cache - Pages similaires -

3.               BBC NEWS | Health | Organic 'has no health benefits'

 -

00:45

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

29 Jul 2009

... Organic food is no healthier than conventionally produced food, a large independent review has concluded.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8174482.stm - En cache - Pages similaires -

4.               Organic food no healthier - study | Stuff.co.nz

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

30 Jul 2009

... Get the latest health news on Stuff.co.nz/health. Stuff brings together the vast news resources of Fairfax New

Zealand

's nine daily ...
www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/.../Organic-food-no-healthier-study - Pages similaires -

5.               Organic food no healthier: study

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

30 Jul 2009

... Organic food no healthier: study. Organic asparagus. Perception v reality ... organic food found to be no healthier than conventional ...
www.theage.com.au/.../organic-food-no-healthier-study-20090730-e27z.html - En cache - Pages similaires -

6.               Organic food is no healthier: News24: SciTech: News

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

29 Jul 2009

... Organic food is no healthier: News24: SciTech: News. Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a ...
www.news24.com/.../Organic_food_is_no_healthier - En cache - Pages similaires -

7.               WUSA9.com | Washington, DC | Organic No Healthier Than Ordinary Food?

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

Organic No Healthier Than Ordinary Food? Posted By: Samara Martin Ewing 11 mins ago. Read Comments; Print Article · Email Article; Larger; Smaller ...
www.wusa9.com/news/.../story.aspx?...28 - Il y a 17 heures - Pages similaires -

8.               Organic food is no healthier, study finds (Reuters) - Yahoo ...

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

Organic food is no healthier, study finds (Reuters) · Yahoo! Health - Made Popular: 4 hours ago. Reuters - Organic food has no nutritional or health ...
buzz.yahoo.com/.../1:y_health:3103ed8f19bc073ec98acc1c06813b26 - En cache - Pages similaires -

9.               ORGANIC FOOD IS NO HEALTHIER

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

30 Jul 2009

... There is no evidence to support the selection of organic over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority, ...
www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18266 - Pages similaires -

10.          Organic food is no healthier than other produce, scientists say ...

 - [ Traduire cette page ]

30 Jul 2009

... Organic food is no healthier than conventional produce, shows a comprehensive review of 50 years of evidence. Scientists at the

London

...
www.nzherald.co.nz/.../article.cfm

None of these headlines mention that the study focused exclusively on nutrition, deliberately excluding the impact on health of contamination by pesticides.

Why?

 

Astonishingly suspicious report on organic foods by the British Foods Standards Agency

What kind of scientific panel compares organic to regular food WITHOUT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT PESTICIDES?

 

The British Foods Standards Agency (FSA), that's who!

In the Times article "'Organic food not better for health than factory-farmed food' says report" we learn that the lead researcher, Dr Dangour, is a nutritionist. And as such "he was not qualified to look at pesticides."

 

“There is a possibility that organic food has less pesticide residues, but this was not part of the review,” he said.

The FSA report, by deliberately excluding from the study the main benefit of organic foods, concluded  that organic food is "no healthier than other produce", thus landing a blow against the 2 billion pound organic food industry.

"Consumer groups said that shoppers may now think twice before buying organic."

 The motivations behind this report, issued ahead of an EU study, deserve some clarification.  See the Soil Association's response here.

Contamination of fresh produce by pesticides continues throughout the EU, most alarmingly in France, where regulatory agencies tend to be controlled by the pesticide industry (called "phytosanitaire").

For a close analysis of the situation here, read (in French), Pesticides : Révélations sur un scandale français.

Solar energy in France : EDF joins forces with First Solar while French regulator CRE fines Voltalis for helping consumers to reduce electrical consumption--from EDF !

What does EDF want?

To punish consumers for reducing power consumption ? (See Le Figaro article from July 20, 2009 entitled "Taxes on energy conservation disputed.")

To usher in a new industry producing solar panels?  (See today's Le Monde article entitled "Energy: France starts to believe in solar power.")

To team up with slick operators that will promise homeowners anything to get them to spend 25,000 euros ? (See my conversation with a telemarketing firm.)

Or, perhaps, all of the above?

Does EDF seriously want solar energy to succeed?

Or is it still betting the house on nuclear? (See The Times article on how British regulators are frustrating EDF's bid to build four EPRs ("the worlds most powerful nuclear reactor") in the UK

Jean-Louis Borloo's job is not done yet!

Ecology: how NOT to introduce solar energy (telemarketing conversations)

I just received a phone call from a "partner of EDF", who offers to install solar panels on my house for only 25,000 euros, 70% subsidized, guaranteed 25 years, with payments FROM EDF of 150-250 euros per month for 20 years!!

"Who are you?" I ask.

"A partner of EDF. We work with the government."

"That's wonderful. What's your company called?"

"Our company?"

"Yes."

There's a pause.

"JESSAM," the man says.

"Can you spell that? I'm going to check you on the internet."

"J-E-S-S-A-M"

I find their site. It has a revolving world.

"Are you sure solar energy makes sense in the Paris region? There's not a lot of sun here."

I'm going for understatement. I don't want him to think I'm a crank. Besides, he called me.

"No, it's fine. It's light that matters, not sun."

"Who guarantees the panels?"

"EDF."

"Are you absolutely sure about that?"

I hear the man call to a colleague. "Hey, who guarantees the panels?" He returns to the phone. "Um, we do."

"How long has JESSAM been in business?"He repeats the question to a colleague.

"Almost four years," he says.

"And your guarantee is for 25 years?"

"Well, we've been doing 'développement durable' for almost four years. Of course we've been in business longer than that!"

Someone takes the phone from him.

"I'm the director," the new person says. "Can I help you?"

"I'd like to know how long you've been in business."

"Since 2000," he says. "Are you interested in solar panels?"

"Maybe. But I just saw a show on La Cinqabout it. You have to be careful. Could you send me some documentation?"

"What? No! This a a special campaign for the Paris Region. We were on Channel Six! We can't send you documentation!"

"But the installation costs 25,000 euros..."

He said something. I said something. After that, somehow, we both ended up talking at the same time, and it was time to bid each other farewell...

Time to end looting by Goldman Sachs ? Comments from the NYT, Rolling Stone and The Economist

Goldman Sachs announced record-breaking profits of 3 billion dollars in a three month period;

Three very different articles shed light on this development.

First, "Is Wall Street Back to Normal" by the venerable Economist.  "To the survivors, the spoils"  the article begins, and yet :

"For the year to date Goldman has set aside $11.4 billion for compensation and benefits, more even than in the halcyon first half of 2007. Its ratio of pay to revenues continues to hover near the dizzying 50% level that was the norm on Wall Street before the meltdown (see article).

For a firm that probably would have collapsed without government capital, debt guarantees and fast-track approval to turn itself into a commercial bank (not to mention a multi-billion-dollar payout as a counterparty of American International Group), such largesse looks cheeky at best. "

click here for the full Economist article

 

For a stunning analysis of Goldman Sachs, see the article in Rolling Stone Magazine entitled, "The Great American Bubble Machine".

Matt Taibbi accuses Goldman Sachs of repeatedly causing bubbles through market manipulations, then looting the public with the help of its strong government ties. The article is detailed  and clear and deserves in depth analysis (ideally by a publication like The Economist). Click here for more.

 

Third, "The Joy of Sachs" by Nobel prize winning columnist Paul Krugman.

"

The American economy remains in dire straits, with one worker in six unemployed or underemployed. Yet Goldman Sachs just reported record quarterly profits — and it’s preparing to hand out huge

bonuses, comparable to what it was paying before the crisis. What does this contrast tell us?

First, it tells us that Goldman is very good at what it does. Unfortunately, what it does is bad for America.

Second, it shows that Wall Street’s bad habits — above all, the system of compensation that helped cause the financial crisis — have not gone away.

Third, it shows that by rescuing the financial system without reforming it, [the government] has done nothing to protect us from a new crisis, and, in fact, has made another crisis more likely." Even more interesting than Krugman's article are the 376 comments by readers.

 

In conclusion, Goldman Sachs pays out 50% of its revenues to its employees as bonuses. It survived the crisis thanks to billions of dollars in direct and indirect government aid, including 100% of what bankrupt AIG owed it. "The huge bonuses Goldman will soon hand out show that financial-industry highfliers are still operating under a system of heads they win, tails other people lose".

 

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/29127316/the_great_american_bubble_machine/1

http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14034883

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/opinion/17krugman.html?_r=1

Paris Writers News : July update on English language writers in France

This month: news from Charles Glass, Brentanos, Traveling Parisian Poets, Frances Gendlin, Karen Fawcett, Julie Mautner, Janet Skeslien Charles, Nicola Keegan, Susan Israelson, Lucy Michot, Rouja Lazarova, Paul Schmidtberger and more !!!

 

 

 

  In sad news, the famous English language bookstore BRENTANOS has closed after more than a century. Read Charles Bremner's article about it here. Fortunately some English langage bookstores still survive. Support them!!

 

 

 

 

Publications!

Americans in Paris: Life and Death Under Nazi Occupation, 1940 - 1944

by Charles Glass (Order signed copies at www.charlesglass.net. ) shipped worldwide

 

 

 

Canadian author

Eugene Kachmarsky'sdebut fiction work, Let Slip the Dogs of Love, has just been released! An anthology of short stories, the book looks at personal and social issues using a unique fusion of genres and voices to produce a tapestry of vivid and memorable fables.

 

 

 

 

 

Frances Gendlinis currently preparing the third edition of her Culture Shock! San Francisco to be published by Marshall Cavendish in January 2010.  Her fictional memoir “Paris, Moi, and the Gang” will be published by Summertime Publications in September of this year

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lucy Michot's first book Chinongwa, a "riveting and emotional portrait of abusive conditions in rural Zimbabwe during the 1920s" was published in January last year.

 

 

 

The major industry publication Publisher's Weekly has profiled Janet Skeslien Charles whose first novel Moonlight in Odessa will appear in English in September. More about this book as it approaches publication...

 

  Nicola Keegan's debut novel Swimming will also appear on audio CD simultaneously with the Knopf publication on the 14th of July. Swimming is being translated into Spanish, Dutch, German, Hebrew, Italian, Polish and French and has been featured in literary magazines as well as Elle, Good Housekeeping and People!

 

 

Mausolée, Rouja Lazarova's unflinching portrayal of daily life in communist

Bulgaria, was published in French by Flammarion in January 2009. Tracing the experiences of three generations of women, this novel was praised by Figaro Magazine as "the literary equivalent of 'La Vie des Autres'". It will appear in Bulgaria in October. The author is currently looking for an American publisher for the English version.

 

 

Paul Schmidtberger has published Design Flaws in the Human Condition, a comic novel which "opens a window onto our flawed capacity as humans to love and be loved".

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to recent transplant from NY, Susan Israelson, author of "Lovesick, the Marilyn Syndrome", one of the first self-help books. Check our her Over It blog!

 

 

 

In more blog news, Julie Mautner would like to invite you to visit her new blog about the Provence : ProvencePost.com

 

Special event!! OXFAM POETRY SERIES in tandem with the 14-day UK festival BOOKFEST invites you to a poetry reading in London with Paris-based poets: Barbara Beck, David Caddy, Jennifer K Dick, Brentley Frazer, Rufo Quintavalle, George VanceJonathan Wonha. m They will be introduced by UK poet Todd Swift, Oxfam’s poet in residence. For more information, see Oxfam or the Event list for July 14th.

Writers submit !!

Karen Fawcett at Bonjour Paris is looking for writers and would be delighted to highlight fine articles about this country...

Paris Writers News will soon offer a special advice column for writers. Think of it as Dear Abby for the literary set!!!  submit your questions to [email protected]

To share your news, send an email to the above address. To make our work easier, please see our submissions guidelines.

To see all Paris Writers News, click here!!!

EU does good: ends roaming charges rip-off by cell phone companies !!

When it wants to the EU can!

Turns out that a seemingly silly campaign slogan expresses a profound truth.

Sick of seeing consummers charged exhorbitant rates for calling from one EU country to another, the single market people got busy.

New prices rules go into effect today in the 27 member states.

This from CNN: "

"The measures are designed to protect customers such as a German man who downloaded a television program while visiting France was billed €46,000 by his cellphone operator."

"EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said the European Commission had put a stop to the "roaming rip off."

 

Way to go, European Union !!!!

 

Next up, pesticides....?