The biggest producer of Camembert, The Lactalis group, is forced by the French consumers, to return to the original quality definition of the Normandian Camembert, the last camembert that just until March this year, was supposed to be made of raw milk. Lactalis is the number two milk processing company in the world, with over 30.000 employees (1).

Earlier this year they successfully lobbied within the Normandian AOC quality committee to accept their new technology consisting of moderate heating and "laboratory made” types of bacteria. Lactalis came up with this high tech solution because they found it too risky to sell raw milk cheese in supermarkets because of possible Listeria poisoning. Now the brand new factory has to close its doors because French consumers are not eating it (2).

Reducing substantially the varieties of bacteria and fungi’s in our food will ruin our immune system, especially the ones of our children. (for example one GMO type instead of 100's of local types in one cheese). This is the view of the famous Pasteur Institute (3) expressed in a movie made especially about raw cheeses in France “Ces fromages qu'on assassine! ” (These are the cheeses we kill!) and a radio programme on a conference about the beneficial effects of bacteria in food on the immune system.  How many people died of Listeria in raw milk cheese? I have heard about one case that triggered the whole anti-raw milk movement in France. Probably there are a few more, but how many people in the future will have allergies (or die) because of a not properly functioning immune system? ? At the moment 25% of the French population suffer from some kind of allergy. Recent studies show, like was found in the Pasteur Institute, that raw milk (products) for children in cities are the one of the most efficient and practical means to build a good immune system! (4)

Luckily the French consumers got back their senses, and decided en masse not to buy the new product. Probably more because a typical  produit regional was in danger than because of health reasons, but àla! The workers of the closed factory are said to be able to continue working in one of the other many factories of Lactalis. This news will certainly reinforce the Slow Food network in France who has been fighting hard for Lait Cru, and managed to gather 20.000 signatures for the European Union in order to raise awareness on this issue (5).

1) http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camembert_de_Normandie
2) www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/2008/09/27/lactalis
3) Documentary of Joël Santoni and Jean Charles Deniau with Périco Légasse and Erik Svensson. See:  http://programmes.france3.fr/documentaires
4) Doctor Dominique Angèle Vuitton, Emeritus Professor in Immunology of the Université de Franche-Comté and Xavier Bertrand, Microbiologist in the “Service d’hygiène hospitalière et d’épidémiologie moléculaire" of the CHU in Besançon cited on the French radio: www.canalacademie.com/Fromages-au-lait-cru-amis-ou.html
5) www.slowfood.fr

What is so serious is not only that the bees themselves are dying off without a smoking gun present, but that most people have no idea of the role they play in the food supply at large."If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man." - Albert Einstein.
Various explanations for the bee die off include pesticides, GM Crops, shift of the earth magnetic field or bee diseases but the bottom line is no one knows. Those with influence, step up and vigorously demand a prominent forum, and with loud voice, get people to put energy and resources into this issue!!
Short video: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/silence-of-the-bees/full-episode/251/

Multinational agricultural “engineering” companies, like Monsanto, want to safeguard their investment in the development of new varieties of animals and crops, by patenting their “invention”.
This economic reality has been backed up by governments around the world in accepting patents on life forms. But now these companies are asking patents on crops that you might grow in your own back garden! The European Patent Office has recently granted a patent to a brocoli and tomato variety obtained by conventional crossing techniques.
A global action platform has been formed:
www.no-patents-on-seeds.org
Network in France: www.semencespaysannes.org

Millions of farmers around the world practice what is often called organic agriculture and over a billion people get most of their food from these farms. Although only a small portion of these farms are certified as "organic" by outside agents and little of the food they produce is labeled organic, the global market for organic foods is growing -- as are the pressures for certification. Some argue that this organic market boom presents a big opportunity for small farmers, but there are clearly many challenges, and some fear that the existing organic certification systems are in fact doing the reverse -- setting the stage for big agribusiness to take over. Now these tensions are coming to a head with seeds.

Most of the world's organic farming is based on the wealth of seed diversity that farmers have created and sustained through generations of local seed exchange and improvement systems and traditional knowledge. But, today, new regulations governing seeds in organic farming, more attuned to the needs of seed corporations than seed savers, are popping up everywhere, with potentially devastating consequences for farmer seed systems.

Click here to read the briefing: www.grain.org
Network in France: www.semencespaysannes.org

A French producer of organic seed of old races cannot longer sell them legally because of the impossibility to register them all according to the new EU legislation. It is very expensive and the seed are not “stable” enough.

Strange: the fact that they are not stable genetically is the main reason why we have agro-biodiversity…..
But this year they lost a trial against the French state. This means in fact that all producers of local races and varieties are in trouble and hence the agro-biodiversity!

See more info on the website of this producer:
www.kokopelli.asso.fr
EU regulation: www.organic-europe.net