Organic Bytes #52 , This Week's Environment and Consumer News

[Guest guest]

Fri, 11 Mar 2005 11:33:37 -0800

" Organic Consumers Association " <listadmin

Add to Address

 

 

 

 

This Week's Environment and Consumer News Tidbits (Organic

Bytes #52)

 

 

 

Organic Consumers Association

 

 

 

Organic Bytes #52

Food and Consumer News Tidbits with an Edge!

3/11/2005

 

 

 

 

 

ALERT: STOP THE PENTAGON'S WAR ON PUBLIC HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT

The Pentagon is lobbying Congress to pass a new law that would allow

the military to freely violate a host of environmental regulations.

Entitled " The Readiness and Range Preservation Initiative, " the

legislation would allow military facilities to ignore laws like the

Clean Air Act. The Pentagon claims environmental regulations are a

threat to national security, since they restrict the military. The

proposal comes on the heels of a sharply different bill sponsored by

Senator Diane Feinstein of California that would hold the military

responsible for cleaning up perchlorate pollution (rocket fuel), which

has recently been discovered in 93% of the nation's lettuce and 97% of

breast milk samples.

Take action here: http://www.organicconsumers.org/perchlorate.htm

 

 

 

MEXICO DROPS BAN ON GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CROPS

On February 15, the Mexican government voted to legalize genetically

engineered (GE) crops. Up until now, GE crops have been banned in the

country in order to keep GE contamination away from what is the

world's most diverse, important, and pure collection of maize (corn)

varieties. Although surveys reveal the vast majority of Mexican

citizens oppose the legalization of GE crops, intense pressure from

the U.S. eventually won over. Monsanto, which owns the patents and

distribution rights to 91% of GE seeds in the world, is now one of the

leading advertisers in Mexico, second only to Coca-Cola.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/mexicoapprove022805.cfm

 

 

 

 

BIOPIRATES LOSE PATENT ON SEEDS OF INDIA'S SACRED TREE, THE NEEM

Under the New World Order of the World Trade Organization (WTO),

corporations now have the right to " discover " seeds and genetic

materials used by indigenous peoples for centuries, and patent these

materials, thereby obtaining monopoly rights to its products and

profits. One such example is that of India's Neem Tree, traditionally

considered a sacred tree, whose seeds have a fungicidal quality that

has been common knowledge to the indigenous people of India for

centuries. Despite this widespread traditional use, an American

company, Thermo Trilogy, was able to obtain a patent on that process.

In other words, using Neem Tree seeds as a fungicide suddenly became

illegal, unless you paid Thermo Trilogy its royalties first. But last

week, for the first time in history, a patent has been revoked as a

matter of protecting traditional knowledge and practices. This

landmark decision, made by the European Patent Office, is being

celebrated in India and will likely inspire the reassessment of dozens

of other similar patents.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/patent/neemtree030905.cfm

 

 

 

STINK BUGS OUTWIT GENETIC ENGINEERS

Southern U.S. cotton farmers are speaking out against Bt cotton, a

plant genetically engineered to create its own pesticide to ward off

bollworms. Although Bt cotton farmers are enjoying a decrease in

bollworm damage, they say the plants are unexpectedly attracting other

pests at a much higher rate. This week, North Carolina State

University released a study on the matter, indicating that the state's

Bt cotton fields have an average of three times more damage from stink

bugs than conventional cotton.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/clothes/stinkbugs030905.cfm

 

 

 

HIDDEN CARCINOGENS IN BABY CARE PRODUCTS

American moms and dads are expressing anger over new reports revealing

a host of hidden carcinogens in baby care products. According to

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, " The cosmetics industry has borrowed a page

from the playbook of the tobacco industry by putting profits ahead of

public health. " The OCA and Cancer Prevention Coalition joined

together last week to inform consumers of these dangers while

providing information about safe alternatives.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/babies030105.cfm

 

 

 

SPLENDA'S MISLEADING ADVERTISING

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has filed a formal complaint

with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the advertising

practices of Splenda. The artificial sweetener carries the slogan

" Made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar, " and as a result, nearly

half of all consumers believe Splenda is natural, according to a

survey done by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. In

actuality, Splenda is made through a complex chemical process using

chlorination and phosgene gas.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/corp/splenda030105.cfm

 

 

 

BAD NEWS FOR JUNK FOOD LOVERS

This week, a committee of 35 scientists from 13 countries, organized

by the World Health Organization, announced major concerns with

increasing levels of acrylamides in food. Acrylamides are carcinogens

that are now known to be created when carbohydrates are cooked at

extremely high temperatures, like french fries and potato chips.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/junkfood30705.cfm

 

_________________________________

 

GOOD NEWS FOR FRESH PRODUCE LOVERS

The American Medical Association has published the results of three

new studies, further underlining the fact that plant based diets

reduce cancer risks. A diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables offers

nutrient combinations that are consistently being shown to lower risks

of prostate, breast and colon cancers.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/eatveg30705.cfm

 

________________________________

 

THE ACTION ALERTS OF ORGANIC BYTES SHOW " REAL BITE "

The OCA would like to thank all of you who have joined in on our

Organic Bytes Action Alerts, signing our online petitions and

forwarding these important news briefs to friends and colleagues. We

now have 250,000 online rs to Organic Bytes and 20,000 people

visiting our website daily. Here's a quick update on some of our

recent victories:

 

SUPPORT TILLAMOOK CHEESE AGAINST MONSANTO INTIMIDATION (Issue #51) -

On 2/25/2005, the OCA called on Bytes readers to support a large

nationwide distributor of cheese that was considering going rBGH-free.

Thanks in part to your action, despite threats by Monsanto, the

Tillamook board of directors has voted to go rBGH-free. We hope this

will inspire a chain reaction of other major dairy companies to do the

same. http://www.organicconsumers.org/rbghlink.html

 

TERMINATE THE TERMINATOR (Issue #50) - On 2/11/2005, the OCA informed

you of new efforts to legalize the " Terminator " gene, an experimental

genetic engineering technique that makes plant seeds sterile. Thanks

in part to your letters to the United Nations, those efforts by the

biotech industry were stopped, and the terminator has been (at least

temporarily) terminated. http://www.organicconsumers.org/un.htm

 

NEW EPA DEAL LETS FACTORY FARMS POLLUTE AIR WITHOUT RESTRICTION (Issue

#49) - On 1/28/2005, the OCA notified rs about a new

agreement between the Bush Administration and factory farms that

allows these industrial operations to ignore a variety of

environmental regulations. The good news is that a federal court has

ruled that Bush's new water pollution policies for factory farms are

so lax they are illegal. The bad news is that the EPA has not reversed

its January 2005 announcement that factory farms don't have to follow

the Clean Air Act. If you have not signed the petition yet, please do

so now: http://www.organicconsumers.org/epa3.htm

 

EPA CUTTING BACKROOM DEAL THAT THREATENS KIDS (Issue #47)- On

12/31/2005, the OCA alerted Bytes readers about Dow Chemical and the

EPA meeting behind closed doors to remove the ban on the toxic termite

pesticide Dursban. Thanks in part to your overwhelming response to

that alert, that backroom deal was dropped and the ban on Dursban is

still in force. http://www.organicconsumers.org/epa-dow.htm

 

 

 

Donate Now!

http://www.organicconsumers.org/donations.htm

 

_________________________________

 

 

Rustle the Leaf

 

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

 

Please forward this publication to family and friends, place it on

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

 

 

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. Within

24 hours of the release of each email version of Organic Bytes, an

attractive print-friendly PDF version is posted and available for free

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

 

 

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

 

DONATE TO THE OCA

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

For additional daily environmental and political news, visit:

http://www.ens-newswire.com

http://www.planetsave.com