[Biodemocracy] ORGANIC BYTES - Food and Consumer News Tidbits with an Edge! (Issue #36)

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> Thu, 8 Jul 2004 14:13:31 -0500

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> [biodemocracy]

> ORGANIC BYTES - Food and Consumer News Tidbits with

> an Edge! (Issue #36)

>

> ORGANIC BYTES #36

> Food and Consumer News Tidbits with an Edge!

> 7/8/2004 By Organic Consumers Association

>

> Please forward this publication to family and

> friends, place it on

> websites, print it, and post it. Knowledge is power!

>

>

>

> MAD COW REGULATIONS: A LONG TIME COMING

> Last January, after the first case of Mad Cow

> Disease was discovered in

> the U.S, the federal government tried to alleviate

> consumer concerns by

> announcing new regulations that would forbid the

> feeding of blood,

> slaughterhouse wastes, and manure to cows. Six

> months later, none of

> those regulations have been implemented, although

> the USDA says the

> formal publications of new rules is imminent. The

> beef industry has

> applied intense pressure to the FDA and USDA to

> ensure that new

> regulations don't cut too deeply into profits. At

> the same time, the

> health of the American consumer is being

> jeopardized.

> http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/laws.cfm

>

>

>

> CONSUMERS TURN TO ORGANIC BEEF

> Consumers, increasingly wary of the horrors of

> industrial meat, bought

> $10 million worth of organic beef last year, as well

> as several hundred

> million dollars of transition-to-organic or

> grass-fed beef. According to

> the Organic Trade Association, the industry is

> expected to grow even

> more rapidly over the next five years.

>

http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/organic-beef.cfm

>

>

>

> PROVING WHY ORGANIC IS BETTER

> The European Union is shelling out an equivalent of

> over 22 million U.S.

> dollars to New Castle University in the UK to find

> out why food

> nutritional value and taste quality are decreasing.

> New Castle will work

> with over 30 partners across Europe to explore how

> organic farming could

> mediate these problems. The project is called

> " Quality Low Input

> Food " ---check it out: www.qlif.org

>

>

>

> IS MONSANTO QUIETLY DROPPING rBGH?

> Since its release onto the market in 1994,

> Monsanto's recombinant Bovine

> Growth Hormone (rBGH) has been banned in most

> industrialized nations,

> other than the U.S., Brazil, and Mexico. While the

> genetically

> engineered hormone is regularly being injected into

> 22% of the dairy

> herd in the U.S. to force cows to give more milk,

> scientists warn that

> it may increase milk drinkers' risks of getting

> cancer. After a decade

> of forcing unlabeled and untested rBGH-tainted milk

> and dairy products

> on consumers, Monsanto is mysteriously scaling back

> its production of

> the controversial drug. In January the company

> announced a 50% cutback

> in production. Recently, Monsanto's plants in

> Austria and Augusta,

> Georgia, have halted production entirely, supposedly

> due to minor

> contamination problems. Rumors within the industry,

> however, are that

> Monsanto is in a panic about field reports of major

> damage to bovine

> health, including bone cancer, prompting the company

> to phase out

> production of the controversial hormone so as to

> avoid legal liability.

> Stay tuned to OCA for more info

> http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.html

>

>

>

> " NATURAL " FOODS CHAIN STILL SCAMMING ITS CUSTOMERS

> Two years ago, the Organic Consumers Association

> (OCA) and Greenpeace

> were successful in forcing the billion dollar

> natural foods supermarket

> chain Trader Joe's to declare that all of its brand

> name products

> (which make up a full 80%+ of all the chain's sales)

> would become

> GMO-free Although the company's website states that

> " all of the

> manufacturers of private label food and beverage

> products for Trader

> Joe's are making those products without the use of

> genetically

> engineered ingredients, " the OCA has recently

> learned that the

> 200-store chain is still using milk in its private

> label cheeses that is

> sourced from cows injected with rBGH, a genetically

> engineered animal

> drug. In fact, many of the company's cheeses are

> still sourced from

> dairy operations where cows are regularly injected

> with rBGH. The OCA

> and Sierra Club have provided Trader Joe's with a

> list of rBGH-free

> dairy suppliers from throughout the U.S. The company

> now needs to hear

> from consumers that either Trader Joe's truly goes

> GMO-free, or its

> customers will shop elsewhere. Send a quick fax

> online today:

> http://www.organicconsumers.org/tjs.cfm

>

>

>

> ANOTHER CANCEROUS TIDBIT

> Government scientists at the National Cancer

> Institute have announced

> that at least 80% of cancer cases are due

> environmental causes, such as

> diet, tobacco, and alcohol, as well as radiation,

> infectious agents, and

> substances in the air, water, and soil.

>

http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/cancer070104.cfm

>

>

>

> MY FAVORITE CLASS IS LUNCH

> Schools in California are coming up with ingenious

> ways of bringing

> organic food to young students in an affordable and

> educational manner.

> At Berkeley Unified School, a new program teaches

> kids how to grow and

> harvest their own organic food, which is then served

> in the school's

> cafeteria. Although the school must currently raise

> funds to pay for the

> program, educators hope that after demonstrating

> that organic school

> gardens result in improved childhood health, they

> will be entitled to

> government funding. The U.S. spent $75 billion

> treating obesity related

> health problems in 2003, according to the Center for

> Disease Control.

>

http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/school-lunch.cfm

>

>

>

> AS IF ITALIAN FOOD WASN'T ALREADY GOOD ENOUGH

> Italian school food laws passed in 2002 are now

> coming into effect.

> Before 2005, 100% of foods served in schools to

> children age 3-10 must

> be organic. For students in advanced schools, 35% of

> cafeteria foods

> must be organic. Eventually 100% of the nation's

> school fare will be

> organic.

>

http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/italy062804.cfm

>

>

>

> STARLINK CORN FIASCO FINALLY PAYS OUT

> Four years ago traces of an illegal, likely

> allergenic genetically

> engineered corn (Starlink) began showing up in taco

> shells and other

> food products in the U.S. Hundreds of U.S. consumers

> reported serious

> allergic reactions food products likely contaminated

> with StarLink corn.

> A billion dollar recall of food products ensued, and

> farmers whose

> fields were contaminated by the drifting Starlink

> pollen incurred

> massive financial losses. In June of 2004, a class

> action lawsuit

> against Aventis, the producer of Starlink corn, came

> to a close with a

> settlement of $112 million to affected farmers

> (amounting to only about

> $1-2 per contaminated acre). The disaster is a

> dramatic example of how

> genetically engineered crops can go awry.

> http://www.organicconsumers.org/Corn/starlink.cfm

>

>

>

> STARLINK POLLUTION

> " In Iowa, StarLink corn represented 1 percent of the

> total crop, only 1

> percent. It has tainted 50 percent of the harvest. "

> ABC NEWS November 28, 2000

>

>

>

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> *****************************

>

>

>

> WE NEED TO TALK

> Interested in sharing your thoughts and ideas with

> thousands of other

> like-minded folks locally and around the world?

> Check out OCA's online

> web forum.

> http://www.organicconsumers.org/chat/index.php

>

>

>

> Help others learn about food safety, organics, and

> related topics. Place

> a link on YOUR website to

> http://OrganicConsumers.org

> Banners for your use -

> http://OrganicConsumers.org/logos.htm

>

> -------------------------------

>

> 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 this material for your

> newsletters. There's an

> attractive print-friendly PDF version of this

> available for free

> download at

> http://www.organicconsumers.org/organicbytes.htm

>

>

>

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>

>

> ORGANIC BYTES is a publication of:

> ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION

> 6101 Cliff Estate Road

> Little Marais, MN 55614

> Phone: (218) 226-4164 Fax: (218) 353-7652

>

>

>

> For additional daily environmental and political

> news, visit:

> http://www.ens-newswire.com

> http://www.planetsave.com

> http://www.organicconsumers.org

>

>