Catchafire

Heard a discussion on the radio regarding this bill, which has been enacted in the US and the WTO is pressuring governments globally to join the band wagon.

Taken from the website, http://nzfoodsecurity.org/ ,setup to oppose this bill, so take some of these points with a pinch of salt! But I believe it is serious enough to warrant opposition.

- It turns a human right (to grow food and share it) into a government-authorised privilege that can be summarily revoked.

- It makes it illegal to distribute “food” without authorisation, and it defines “food” in such a way that it includes nutrients, seeds, natural medicines, essential minerals and drinks (including water).

- By controlling seeds, the bill takes the power to grow food away from the public and puts it in the hands of seed companies. That power may be abused.

- The bill will push up mainstream food prices by subjecting producers to red tape and registration costs. Food prices are already rising due to increased energy costs and commodity speculation, while effective disposable incomes are falling.

- Growing food for distribution must be authorised, even for “cottage industries”, and such authorisation can be denied.

- Under the Food Bill, Police acting as Food Safety Officers can raid premises without a warrant, using all equipment they deem necessary – including guns (Clause 265 – 1).

- Members of the private sector can also be Food Safety Officers, as at Clause 243. So Monsanto employees can raid premises – including marae – backed up by armed police.

- The Bill gives Food Safety Officers immunity from criminal and civil prosection.

- The Government has created this bill to keep in line with its World Trade Organisation obligations under an international scheme called Codex Alimentarius (“Food Book”). So it has to pass this bill in one form or another.

- There are problems with Codex also. Codex will place severe restrictions on the content of vitamins, minerals and therapeutic compounds in food, drinks and supplements etc.

Catchafire

Link to petition

http://www.petitiononline.co.nz/peti...ill-160-2/1301

jmh

I belong to several health forums which have American members and this is a serious problem. Their right to choose what they eat is being eroded on a daily basis. In some schools parents are told what to put in their children's lunch boxes. In many states raw milk and unpasteurised cheeses are illegal. In a recent court case a judge decreed:

Here's report about an armed raid by the FDA on a place selling raw milk:

http://youtu.be/ioN0ehlyyXI

What's behind this movement to control our food? Big business. There is a lot of money to be made getting us to eat processed food over real food.

Expat Kiwi

The Codex Alimentarius has been around for decades, in Britain this is nothing new and my understanding is that it's intended to be applied to international trade in food materials as well as local production.

Each country will interpret it in its own way and there should be a high degree of consultation with all interested parties, however New Zealand has a reputation for its nanny knows best approach and will introduce legislation as it sees fit, probably over egging the pudding if you'll forgive the pun.

You can read about how Britain deals with it if you're interested

http://www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry/...n/Codexbranch/

Catchafire

Holy crap! Unbelievable. Watch the video everyone.

We have dreams of a lifestyle block, so will pay particular attention to how this bill progresses.

Bo-Jangles

You have to laugh, the NZ food police only just fairly recently bowed to pressure to get the ban on unpasteurised cheeses lifted. What with all the bio-security issues, there'll be lot more things that are essentially banned in NZ, besides a few rotten smelly old cheeses.

_0v0_

Some of the replies are overstating the case a bit.

The Food Bill (which incidentially can be read at www.legislation.govt.nz) appears only to people in the business of selling foodstuffs. I'd have thought regulation of sellers of foodstuffs was quite a good thing in itself.

There certainly appears to be no prohibition on growing one's own veggies or providing them to friends or putting them in your child's lunch box, or selling them at a one-off event such as a church bazaar.

What's the problem?

PS: catchafire: where did you hear the programme? I'd like to look it up.

jmh

Maybe the powers that be do know better than us. After all, we all know that a low fat diet is good for us don't we? Well, what if it's all been a big fat lie?

Despite a paucity of evidence that fat generally and saturated fat specifically cause any health problems, there are calls for both the British and NZ governments to follow the example of Denmark and consider a 'fat tax' to encourage us to consume less fat. It will be interesting to compare how the Swedes do in years to come.

Don't get me wrong, I want the kid assembling my Big Mac to wash his hands first. But I don't want my food choices restricted on the basis of flawed science and lobbying by food processing companies.

jmh

Not sure what the law is here. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.

Children's families fined $500 for operating illegal lemonade stand

In the UK, even though it is still legal to sell a home made cake, your council may still ban it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3874425.stm

_0v0_

jmh,

Councils do have the power to make bylaws for the purpose of "protecting, promoting, and maintaining public health and safety", and I expect that would extend to regulating cake stalls. I don't know if any councils have actually done this. Mine hasn't.

Banning cake sales: a sure way to ensure Winston Peters got elected PM.

BTW, it took me somewhat under a minute to find a British Medical Journal abstract linking trans fats to heart disease.

Catchafire

It was Radio NZ, Jim Moora(?) last week Wednesday.

I understand some of the points are a very extreme interpretations, but just look at some examples in the US of what is happening and you get the feeling that peoples right to eat or produce what they want is being eroded by big business.

Charismatic

Jesus! What sort of a country is this where a man can't give the people next door a pumpkin?

"In the middle of the night...I will come in disguise with a basket and tap three times followed by a louder bang. I will then hand you the basket and disspear into the night". Will my house be audited to make sure all my fruit and veg has receipts? Silly.

And all because the U.S. is worried about it's food supply collapsing if the price of oil goes up.

jmh

Trans fats are not the same as saturated fats. There is indeed good research demonstrating health problems with trans fats which is why they should not be included in margarine. In fact, some 'experts' play on the fact that people confuse the two. You will often hear the phrase 'saturated fat and trans fat' when in fact the two are very different. There is no evidence that saturated fat causes heart disease, diabetes or obesity, although if you trawl the internet you will find several million references stating otherwise. You will also find a lot references claiming that people with RH- blood types are descended from aliens. When reading these references, follow the links to the studies and read them, as I have. The results are very surprising.

jmh

A primary school I know in Surrey banned the sale of home made cakes at their fair. I don't know if this was a council directive or just over cautiousness on behalf of the principal. I know Surrey CC quite well so they probably did leave it to the discretion of the principal. Point being, it may not be illegal but your choices are still being eroded by the belief that home made food is inferior to shop bought food-like products. The mums were only allowed to sell food still in its wrapper. Real food doesn't come in a wrapper.

_0v0_

"Behold, I come like a thief in the night".

Well, it's perfectly legal for the time being. Which is just as well, because it's hard enough getting rid of my pumpkins as it is. My children won't eat them.