Organic Bytes #50 Food and Consumer News Tidbits with an Edge!

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Fri, 11 Feb 2005 09:46:47 -0800

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This Week's Biggest Organic and Consumer News Tidbits

(Organic Bytes #50)

 

 

Organic Consumers Association

 

Organic Bytes #50

Food and Consumer News Tidbits with an Edge!

2/11/2005

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ACTION ALERT--TERMINATE THE TERMINATOR

Consumer, farmer, and environmental organizations across the globe are

mobilizing to stop the legalization and commercialization of the

controversial Terminator Gene Technology, whereby seeds are

genetically engineered to become sterile or commit suicide after one

growing season. The Monsanto corporation and the biotech industry

support the Terminator Technology, because it will force many of the

1.4 billion farmers around the world to stop saving their seeds and

instead to purchase patented seed varieties from the Gene Giants. In

addition, scientists are concerned that genetic pollution from

Terminator crops will lead to killing off a wide range of crops and

plants, as Terminator pollen and seeds are spread by the wind, insect

pollinators, and commercial seed co-mingling and transportation. After

a massive international campaign in 1998, Monsanto Corporation

announced they were shelving plans to commercialize the Terminator,

while the United Nations (UN) called for a global ban. But today

(2/11/2005), renewed efforts to overturn the worldwide ban were

launched at a UN conference in Bangkok.

 

Learn more and sign OCA's petition to the UN to terminate the

Terminator Gene: http://organicconsumers.org/un.htm

 

 

 

CATHOLIC LEADERS CLARIFY VATICAN'S STANCE ON GENETIC ENGINEERING

Catholic leaders around the world are standing up against the biotech

industry's claim that the Vatican endorses genetically engineered (GE)

crops. Biotech proponents have enjoyed a major public relations boost

by trumpeting a portion of a report released by the Vatican last year.

In one part, the report stated that it is the Catholic Church's stance

that God gave humans the right to manipulate and control the natural

environment on any level, including genetic engineering. The biotech

industry has failed to mention that the report also states that GE

crops should not be spread unless they are conclusively proven to be

safe for human health and the environment. The Vatican report

elaborates on that point, indicating that the Catholic Church does not

believe adequate testing of GE crops has been done, saying, " available

scientific data are contradictory or quantitatively scarce. It may

then be appropriate to base evaluations on the precautionary

principle. " Learn more...

 

 

 

SHARING GOD'S PLANET

The Church of England is seriously discussing making major changes in

its practices, in order to exercise the type of stewardship towards

the earth that they believe is commanded by God in the Bible. The

changes include serving fair trade coffee, providing organic bread and

wine, increasing recycling, using natural fibers in clergy robes, and

pressuring the UK government to take a stronger stance on global

climate change. Archbishops will meet in late February to discuss

these changes as well as a new report by the Church of England

entitled " Sharing God's Planet, " in which Christians are urged to take

much more active roles in protecting the environment, in order to

" celebrate and care for God's creation. " Learn more...

 

 

 

MAD COW TIDBITS

 

The British government is investigating a report that cosmetic plastic

surgery injections for fuller cheekbones and plumper lips with

infected collagen could spread the human form of mad cow disease,

called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Due to increasing demand for

such procedures, a number of rogue clinics have opened that are not

adhering to the stringent guidelines dictating that collagen " fillers "

should be sourced only from tissues guaranteed to be free from Mad

Cow. UK Tests have already found illegal and potentially contaminated

collagen in widespread use, derived from dead cows, birds, and human

tissue. Learn more...

 

Japanese officials confirmed the human variant of mad cow disease

caused a man's death. The victim is believed to have become infected

with the disease in 1989 when he was on a short visit to the UK. At

the time, the UK was undergoing an massive outbreak of mad cow

disease. Japan has tested all of its cattle for the disease since 2001

and banned U.S. and Canadian beef imports after the disease was

discovered in those countries. Learn more...

 

More cases of Mad Cow are being diagnosed in North America, but beef

industry practices in the U.S. remain unchanged. The fatal disease can

be expected to spread across the continent as the massive feeding of

slaughterhouse waste, blood, and manure to animals continues unabated.

OCA has a new educational DVD on Mad Cow Disease, featuring a lecture

by Dr. Michael Greger, OCA's Mad Cow coordinator, for use for house

parties or community showings. To learn more about how to get a copy

of the Michael Greger Mad Cow DVD and a manual for how to organize a

showing of this DVD, click here

 

 

RBGH MILK IS RBGH MILK

The Center for Global Food Safety, an industry front group funded in

part by the Monsanto Corporation, has launched an aggressive " Milk is

Milk " campaign, claiming there is no difference between milk produced

by cows injected with genetically engineered hormones (Monsanto's

recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone), and organic or naturally produced

milk. The FDA is aiding the industry's anti-organic " Milk is Milk "

campaign, saying they will crack down on organic and rBGH-free dairies

that label their products as " hormone free. " Monsanto's controversial

hormone has been banned in every industrialized country in the world,

other than the U.S., Brazil and Mexico, due to scientific evidence

indicating that the milk from injected cows contains more pus,

antibiotic residues, and IGF-1, a potent cancer tumor promoter. The

drug also seriously damages the health of the cows. Read an analysis

of the risks of rBGH and a response to the launching of the " Milk is

Milk " campaign by Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.(University of Illinois at

Chicago School of Public Health) and Ronnie Cummins of the OCA. Learn

more...

 

 

 

TEENY-TINY NEWS TIDBITS

 

North Dakota legislators are proposing a bill that would keep

information about factory farm feedlots confidential and inaccessible

to the public. People living near a feedlot currently have the right

to information regarding the facility's pollutants. Proponents of the

bill say that it is necessary to begin to keep that information secret

so that it doesn't fall into the hands of terrorists. Learn more...

 

In Arkansas and Texas, childhood obesity rates are as high as 38%,

leading to the recent passage of new laws that require schools to

report children's body fat index to parents along with the student's

grades. Learn more...

 

The second annual State of Science Review has found that

cancer-fighting antioxidant levels are, on average, 30% higher in

organic produce vs. conventionally grown fruits and vegetables. The

cause for this, say scientists, is that antioxidant chemicals are

created within a plant grown organically or in the wild when the plant

triggers internal defense mechanisms. These beneficial mechanisms are

rarely triggered in plants that are raised with synthetic fertilizers

and pesticides. Learn more...

 

 

 

 

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