This Week's Biggest Environment and Consumer News Tidbits (Organic Bytes #53)

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Mon, 28 Mar 2005 15:29:00 -0800

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Subject:This Week's Biggest Environment and Consumer News Tidbits

(Organic Bytes #53)

 

 

Organic Bytes #53

Food and Consumer News Tidbits with an Edge!

3/28/2005

 

 

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MONSANTO WARNS TWO BILLION FARMERS: " STOP SAVING YOUR SEEDS "

Since the advent of farming, thousands of years ago, farmers have

carefully collected seeds at harvest so as to have enough seed for the

next year's planting. Concerned that seed saving by farmers reduces

their profits, seed and biotech giants like Monsanto have rammed

though controversial " intellectual property laws " in numerous

countries that make traditional seed saving a crime. Last year,

Monsanto harassed and/or sued more than 500 U.S. farmers who saved

their seeds, forcing them to pay the company over $15 million in

fines, including up to 8 month long prison sentences.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/seedsaving031405.cfm

 

 

 

MONSANTO HELPS KEEP A NOTORIOUS TOXIC PESTICIDE ON THE MARKET

This week, Minnesota became the first U.S. state to attempt to follow

the lead of the European Union and ban Atrazine. The commonly used

corn pesticide has been directly linked to cancer, low sperm counts

and widespread deformities in frogs, and has been showing up at

increasing rates in wells and municipal water supplies. In response to

the proposed law, chemically-dependent corn farmers and distributors

of the pesticide, including Monsanto and Syngenta, successfully flexed

their lobbying muscle and convinced lawmakers to reject the bill,

claiming that Atrazine is safe, and that a ban would negatively impact

profits. http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/atrazine031705.cfm

 

 

JUDGE RULES AGAINST ONE MILLION VIETNAMESE

IN FAVOR OF MONSANTO

On March 10, conservative Judge Jack B. Weinstein ruled against

compensating Vietnamese children and adults who have suffered serious

health damage due to the intensive spraying of the herbicide Agent

Orange during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange was widely applied to

remove forest cover, despite being categorized as a highly toxic

dioxin to humans. Backed by legal teams that only billions of dollars

in annual sales can provide, the Monsanto Corporation (the original

producer of Agent Orange), Dow, and others claimed the chemical is not

toxic, even though it is now globally banned for that very reason.

Over a million Vietnamese suffer serious health problems, ranging from

cancer to birth defects, due to exposure to Agent Orange, which still

persists in the nation's environment. Birth defect rates are among the

highest in the world in regions where Agent Orange was applied. Here,

children are frequently born without eyes, limbs, or are even missing

internal organs. In making his ruling in favor of Monsanto and Dow,

Judge Weinstein claimed that pesticides and birth defects are not

related, saying, " There is no basis for any of the claims of

plaintiffs. The case is dismissed. "

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Politics/agentorange031405.cfm

 

 

 

 

IN THE WORDS OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

" Studies evaluating the role of pesticides in birth defects have found

an association between maternal and paternal exposure to pesticides

and increased risks of offspring having or dying from birth defects. "

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (America's Children and

the Environment)

For more U.S. Government statements on the health effects of

pesticides check out this Fact Sheet (PDF)

 

 

 

MILLIONS OF CITIZENS COUNTERING MONSANTO'S BUSINESS PRACTICES

Given Monsanto's ongoing, criminally irresponsible record of

disregarding human health and the environment, the Organic Consumers

Association (OCA) is stepping up the pace in our " Millions Against

Monsanto " campaign. If you're talking about Agent Orange, rBGH, water

privatization, PCBs, or DDT, you're talking about Monsanto. Sign the

" Millions Against Monsanto " petition now, and forward this Alert to

your friends and colleagues. TAKE ACTION HERE:

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

 

We really need your financial support right now to keep up the

pressure on Monsanto and the biotech industry. Strike a blow against

Frankenfoods, pesticides, and corporate bullying by helping us in our

efforts. DONATE HERE: http://www.organicconsumers.org/donations.htm

 

 

 

BIRTH DEFECT RATES SKYROCKET ON FLORIDA FARMS

The state of Florida launched an investigation last week into

illegally exposing migrant workers to pesticides. Records show that at

least 4,609 pesticide regulations were violated in the last ten years,

but only 7.6% of those resulted in penalties. As a result, migrant

farm workers are unknowingly facing highly dangerous working

conditions in order to supply the nation with cheap produce. For

example, in Immokalee, Florida, migrant workers in pesticide intensive

tomato fields have witnessed three children born with severe birth

defects in the last three months alone. " People have mentioned to me

that maybe this has to do with chemicals, " says Francisca Herrera, who

was told it was " safe " to work in the tomato fields for most of her

pregnancy. Recently Francisca's new baby was born without arms or

legs. http://www.organicconsumers.org/OFGU/birthdefects031405.cfm

 

 

 

QUICK FOOD COMPANY NEWS MUNCHIES

 

TACO BELL: In an effort to end a three year long boycott of Taco Bell

restaurants by the Coalition of Immokalee Worker's (CIW), Taco Bell

has agreed to address the substandard wages and working conditions of

Florida tomato workers by guaranteeing to pay field workers a full

penny per pound of tomatoes purchased by the restaurant chain.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Politics/tacobell32205.cfm

 

WENDY'S: A woman eating at a Wendy's restaurant in San Jose California

found a human finger in her chili. Authorities are running

fingerprints on the 1 1/2 " long digit to find its owner, who is likely

an employee of one of the restaurant chain's food processing plants.

Officials claim the body part probably belongs to a woman, saying it

was well manicured. http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/wendys.cfm

 

MCDONALD'S: A McDonald's restaurant in Russia's Pushkin Square has

officially become the busiest in the world, serving 30,000 customers

per day. The fast food chain is also Russia's biggest corporate

landowner, serving the standard menu items with the addition of

cabbage pie and other traditional Russian foods.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Politics/russia32205.cfm

 

BURGER KING has won the Center for Science in the Public Interest's

" Booby Prize, " for containing the highest level of hydrogenated fat in

its french fries. News of the prize arrived on the heels of a New

England Journal of Medicine report that reveals, for the first time in

history, U.S. life expectancy is expected to drop. As a result of the

obesity epidemic increasing risks of cancer, diabetes and heart

disease, the average U.S. lifespan is dropping by as many as five

years. http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/obesityo5.cfm

 

KRAFT: In Organic Bytes issue #22, the Organic Consumers Association

reported that Kraft Foods was sourcing fewer genetically modified

ingredients in its products. But the world's largest packaged food

producer is once again changing course on its food policy with the

guidance of new CEO, Roger Deromedi. Speaking at Reuters Food Summit

in Chicago last week, Deromedi said, " We believe that over time

genetically modified ingredients will play a very important role both

nutritionally and environmentally in terms of reduction of pesticide

use around the world. "

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Kraft/nutritious031605.cfm

 

 

 

GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CROPS REQUIRE MORE PESTICIDES

" While the discovery and adoption of GE crop technology has changed

American agriculture in many ways, reducing overall pesticide use is

not among them. The average acre planted to glyphosate-tolerant crops

[Monsanto's Roundup] requires more and more help from other

herbicides, a trend with serious environmental and economic implications. "

Source: Benbrook Consulting 2004 Technical Paper on USDA National

Agricultural Statistics Service

 

 

 

 

GLOBAL GE NEWS TIDBITS

 

*

U.K.: A recently released government commissioned comparison

study of genetically engineered (GE) crops vs. traditional crops

showed the former has a far greater negative impact on the environment

(reducing butterfly and bee populations).

 

*

EASTERN EUROPE: A sixth province in Poland announced last week

it is banning genetically engineered (GE) crops, resulting in roughly

half of the agriculture of the nation now being GE-free. In the

meantime, Eastern Europe governments have announced the implementation

of the world's largest organic research budget. According to Janez

Potocnik, the EU Commissioner for Research, " I believe that the

importance of research into organic and low-input food production can

be a perfect example of how science can unlock potentials for human

well-being. "

 

*

AFRICA: Stakeholders in Tanzania are appealing to the government

to continue the country's ban on GE crops for the next ten years.

 

* JAPAN: Nearly a quarter of a million petition signatures

opposing GE farming in Hokkaido, Japan have been submitted to the

local government. Of the 5,000 farmers in the region, only ten (along

with backing from the Monsanto Corporation) support GE crops.

 

* U.S.: Vermont is holding public hearings on a bill that, for the

first time in U.S. history, would hold biotech companies liable for

damage to non-GE crops due to drifting GE pollen. Meanwhile, in

Missouri, the USDA is on the brink of approving field tests of rice

engineered with human genes.

 

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge-free.htm

 

 

 

NEW STUDIES SHOW SUSTAINABLE FARMING CREATES NUTRITIONALLY SUPERIOR FOOD

 

*

" High nitrogen levels make plants grow fast and bulk up with

carbohydrates and water. While the fruits these plants produce may be

big, they suffer in nutritional quality, whereas organic production

systems [which use slow-release forms of nitrogen] produce foods that

usually yield denser concentrations of nutrients and deliver consumers

a better nutritional bargain per calorie consumed. "

[Agriculture expert Charles Benbrook, Ph.D. explains why

conventional produce has lower nutrient values than organic produce.]

 

*

Eggs from free-range hens contain up to 30% more vitamin E, 50%

more folic acid and 30% more vitamin B-12 than factory eggs, while the

yolk holds higher levels of antioxidant carotenes.

 

*

Beef from cattle raised in feedlots on growth hormones and

high-grain diets has lower levels of vitamins E, A, D and betacarotene

and twice as much fat as grass-fed beef.

 

Source:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/lessnutritious032205.cfm

 

 

 

UK SCHOOLS GOING ORGANIC

Due to overwhelming pressure from parents of school-age children in

the U.K., Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced the establishment of

a new government based " School Food Trust, " wherein junk foods will be

removed from schools while organic " made-from-scratch " meals will be

instituted. According to Blair, " If changes are made it will only be a

matter of months before British health, education and farming could be

affected for the better. It could be one of the biggest food

revolutions that England has ever seen. "

http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/blair032105.cfm

 

 

 

 

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