Fwd: [Biodemocracy]Organic & Food News Tidbits with an Edge- ORGANIC BYTES #21

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[biodemocracy]Organic & Food News Tidbits with an Edge- ORGANIC BYTES

#21

 

ORGANIC BYTES #21

Organic & Food News Tidbits with an Edge

Issue #21 10/8/2003

By Organic Consumers Association

 

IN THIS ISSUE:

CALIFORNIA COUNTY SEEKS TO BAN FRANKENCROPS

WHEN THEY SAY IT'S LOCALLY GROWN, THEY MEAN IT

TAKING OVER THE WORLD (KRAFT)

IF THEY DON'T WANT IT, WHY ARE WE GROWING IT?

PESTICIDE POISONERS ABOVE THE LAW

TAKING OVER THE WORLD (STARBUCKS)

ANOTHER GOOD REASON TO GO TO COLLEGE

IS YOUR NEIGHBOR GROWING SCARY DRUGS?

TAKING OVER THE WORLD (MONSANTO)

 

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CALIFORNIA COUNTY SEEKS TO BAN FRANKENCROPS

In Mendocino County, California, organic consumers, companies, and

farmers have taken it upon themselves to gather enough signatures to

place an initiative on the coming March 2004 ballot to make GE crops

illegal within the county. Last Wednesday, the group turned in over

3,000 signatures, which should enable them to qualify for the ballot.

Although biotech companies are preparing to blitz the county with pro-GE

PR, Mendocino residents are vowing to keep GE contamination out of the

county's strong organic produce and beverage industry.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/CAballot100303.cfm

 

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WHEN THEY SAY IT'S LOCALLY GROWN, THEY MEAN IT

Somerton Tanks Farm in Philadelphia is proving that organic farming can

be profitable in just about any setting --- even in an urban area.

Located on a small half acre, the inner city farm is selling its organic

produce and salad mixes to local restaurants. It looks like Sommerton

Tanks will be grossing around $25,000 in its first year, and doubling

that in its second year. " We wanted to prove that a city person who

didn't have a lot of resources could, in fact, practice urban

agriculture and be successful at it, " said Roxanne Christensen, a

volunteer accountant for the operation.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/philly100303.cfm

 

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TAKING OVER THE WORLD (KRAFT/PHILIP MORRIS)

The OCA, along with the GE Food Alert (GEFA) network is coordinating a

nationwide Week of Action to pressure Kraft foods, the world's largest

food distributor (and offshoot of the tobacco giant Phillip Morris),

into going GE-free. We've been watching Kraft closely for more than two

years, since we found illegal traces of Starlink corn in their Taco Bell

products (a genetically modified corn that the USDA has deemed unsafe

for human consumption), forcing them into a multimillion dollar recall

of their tainted products. Rallies and leafleting events will be held at

Kraft production facilities and grocery stores across the U.S. during

the week of October 25 through November 1. We've made it incredibly easy

for you to get involved locally. Take 30 seconds and sign up here:

http://www.OrganicConsumers.org/Kraft/ ,

Or contact the OCA office directly at 218-226-4164,

or email OCA's Kraft Campaign Coordinator Craig Minowa at

Craig

 

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IF THEY DON'T WANT IT, WHY ARE WE GROWING IT?

In the UK, the most expansive public opinion survey on GE foods has

finally been completed. The survey conclusions result from more than 650

public meetings and 37,000 questionnaires. The survey summary is

rocking the UK government, which has recently begun discussing opening

the UK's borders to GE foods. Only 8% of the public said they felt

comfortable eating GE foods and a landslide 54% said the UK should never

permit the planting of GE crops.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/brits100303.cfm

 

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PESTICIDE POISONERS ABOVE THE LAW

The Bush Administration has initiated a new federal policy that

eliminates a farmer's right to sue a pesticide company if the chemical

doesn't do what it claims to do or destroys the farmer's crops. This is

a major setback for U.S. farmers and a massive victory for pesticide

companies who sell two billion gallons of chemicals to U.S. farmers

every year (a $33 billion global industry).

http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/bushpesticides100703.cfm

 

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TAKING OVER THE WORLD (STARBUCKS)

Paris, France --- Starbucks is boldly preparing to open its first outlet

in the coffee connoisseur and café capital of the world. French

Starbucks subsidiary president Franck Esquerre says, " We are not trying

to compete with the traditional Parisian cafe. We bring a different

concept. " His words have not soothed the nerves of coffee café owners in

Paris, given the fact that the gargantuan coffee-shop chain has

swallowed up " mom and pop " coffee shops all around the world, now

boasting more than 7,000 stores in 30 countries.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/starbucks/paris100103.cfm

 

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ANOTHER GOOD REASON TO GO TO COLLEGE

Organic hamburgers have now replaced conventional burgers in all

University of Wisconsin student cafeterias. Produced by local farmers

and distributed to the schools by Organic Valley, a nationwide farm

coop, the organic beef is only the first step towards meeting student

demands for more organic food in the cafeterias. " We're a land-grant

university that's supposed to be supporting local farmers and reducing

environmental impact, " said John Hendrickson, senior outreach specialist

for the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems. Serving as another

shining example of the explosive growth in demand for organic foods, the

University Housing Food Service said it also plans to serve all-organic

salads, but cannot, as of yet, find enough local organic farmers to

supply their demand.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/uw100303.cfm

 

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IS YOUR NEIGHBOR GROWING SCARY DRUGS?

On a secret farm in northeastern Colorado, an experimental genetically

engineered pharmaceutical corn is being grown that can never be eaten

and is so dangerous, no other crops can be grown within a mile radius.

The plant is still in its development phase, but has such a high risk of

reeking havoc on the environment, human health and the agricultural

economy, it is being grown in an undisclosed location more than 3,000

miles away from the company who " invented " it. According to toxicologist

Suzanne Wuerthele, " Producing pharmaceutical compounds in food crops is

a really, really bad idea. The chance of it contaminating the food

supply is great, and once that happens, it will destroy our export

markets. " http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/biopharm093003.cfm

 

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TAKING OVER THE WORLD (MONSANTO)

Despite promises made during last year's presidential campaign,

President Lula da Silva has opened, at least temporarily, Brazil's

borders to Monsanto's GE soybeans. Brazil is the second largest soybean

producer in the world and is expected to take over the U.S. #1 position

by next year. Although Brazilian consumers and farmers are

overwhelmingly opposed to allowing GE soybeans to be legally grown in

the country, the producer of the GE seeds, Monsanto, stands to make

substantial profits on the deal and has been " pressuring " the Brazilian

President to ignore the demands of his constituency. The Brazilian

President was ultimately " convinced " by a triad of pressure groups: the

powerful soybean lobby in southern Brazil (many of whom have already

been growing GE soybean seeds smuggled into the country from Argentina),

the U.S. Embassy, and Monsanto (who have been threatening to sue Brazil

and its farmers) to permit the GE soybeans. Lula arranged for the

announcement to be made while he was out of the country-forcing his Vice

President Jose Alencar to make the controversial announcement. Alencar

at first resisted signing the decree, saying it violated Brazil's laws,

but President da Silva pressured him from New York, stating the Vice

President " knows what he has to do, and he will do it. " Grudgingly,

Brazil's VP signed the decree papers, saying, " The next time, I'm going

to be the one who travels. " In the short time since the decree has been

signed, its legality has been challenged on several fronts, including

Brazil's Attorney General Claudio Fontelles, arguing that the Executive

Order to allow GE soybeans is unconstitutional.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/brazil100103.cfm

 

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TAKE ACTION

If any of the issues above spark your desire to take action, please

visit OCA's Action Center for instant faxes, petitions, volunteering and

donation opportunities. http://www.organicconsumers.org/action.htm

 

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FOR MANY MORE FOOD ISSUE DAILY HEADLINES:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/log.html

 

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NOTE TO CO-OP AND NATURAL FOOD STORE SUBSCRIBERS: Organic Bytes is a

great tool for keeping your staff and customers up to date on the latest

issues. Feel free to forward this email to your staff and print for

posting on bulletin boards and staff break tables. You are also welcome

to use any of this material for your newsletters. There's also a

super-pretty print-friendly PDF version of this available for free

download at http://www.organicconsumers.org/organicbytes.htm

 

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