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ORGANIC BYTES #66

 

9/29/2005

 

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IN THIS ISSUE:

 

UPDATE: STOP THE SNEAK ATTACK ON ORGANIC STANDARDS

GENETICALLY ENGINEERED PIGS FOR DINNER

YOUR FAVORITE DRUG DEALERS SHARE THEIR SECRETS

WEIGHING THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS VS. AFFORDABILITY

ALERT : KIDS AT RISK FROM PESTICIDES IN SCHOOLS

UPDATE: PARENTING MAGAZINE ADVISES KIDS EAT THEIR PESTICIDES

QUICK TIDBITS

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UPDATE: STOP THE SNEAK ATTACK ON ORGANIC STANDARDS

Last week, the Organic Consumers Association alerted you and all of our

supporters about a " Sneak Attack " on organic standards in the U.S.

Congress. As a result, network members deluged the U.S. congress with over

60,000 emails and 10,000 telephone calls. Thank you for your support.

This nearly unprecedented grassroots upsurge has temporarily rattled

Congress and the industry, delaying the initial Sneak Attack in the Senate

on organic standards, resulting in a temporary compromise amendment

(H.R. 2744), which calls for " further study of the issue. " Unfortunately

we are on the threshold of another, possibly even more serious,

follow-up attack on organic standards in the House/Senate Conference Committee

over the next week as Congress members put the final wording together

for the 2006 Congressional Agriculture Appropriations Bill. The OCA is

calling on consumers and the organic community to apply pressure to

their House of Representatives members as well as their Senators to stop

the Conference Committee from degrading the standards. If you haven't

already done so, please send a letter to congress here:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/rd-ofpa.htm

 

 

 

GENETICALLY ENGINEERED PIGS FOR DINNER

The FDA has officially closed its investigation on a 2003 food safety

mishap, wherein nearly 400 bioengineered pigs, developed for research,

mistakenly ended up in the U.S. food supply. The University of Illinois

says it accidentally sold the pigs to a livestock dealer, instead of

incinerating them, as is required by law. The FDA claims it cannot make a

statement regarding potential risk to human health, given the fact that

the researchers kept insufficient records. The mishap follows on the

heels of a similar situation occurring in 2001, when genetically

engineered pigs were stolen from the University of Florida, and later turned up

in the sausage served at a funeral in High Springs, FL.

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

 

 

 

YOUR FAVORITE DRUG DEALERS SHARE THEIR SECRETS

Over the last decade, the doctor-patient relationship roles have

changed dramatically in the U.S. Traditionally, a patient would visit a

doctor with an ailment, the doctor would diagnose the ailment, and the best

known remedy would be prescribed. But now, pharmaceutical companies

have discovered how to bypass this system by convincing patients to demand

specific brand name drugs that they've seen advertised over and over

again on TV and in magazines and newspapers. Recent studies show drug

companies now spend a record $3 billion on direct advertising to

consumers. A 60-second commercial slot on TV can tell a viewer what's wrong with

them and what drug will fix them. And it works... the advertising, that

is. Recently released marketing statistics show that each year,

prescriptions for the 50 most heavily advertised drugs rise six times faster

than prescriptions for all other drugs. Unfortunately, the side effects

of these same prescription drugs kill over 100,000 Americans every

year. http://www.organicconsumers.org/Politics/drugcon091605.cfm

 

 

 

WEIGHING THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS VS. AFFORDABILITY

Is it really just too hard and expensive to produce organic food? A

group of market analysts and public officials in California say it is. In

response, the state and federal government have approved a half million

dollar grant to begin certifying food products to a lesser standard

with a new " Sustainable " label. Although organic farmers say this will

weaken demand in the organic market and confuse consumers, proponents of

the new label say it provides consumers with an affordable alternative

to pricey organic products. The new certification system has

requirements for wildlife protection and soil/water management but allows the

use

of pesticides and a wide gamut of synthetic processing agents. As

always, the OCA recommends consumers look for the " USDA Organic " label on

their products or, better yet, buy local and regionally produced organic

products from farmers you can meet in person at farmers markets or

through direct buying in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) projects.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/sustainablelabel091105.cfm

 

 

 

ALERT : KIDS AT RISK FROM PESTICIDES IN SCHOOLS

A summer 2005 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association

reports " significant increases " in pesticide poisonings of children in

schools since 1998. Nearly a third of the cases were attributable to

drifting pesticides from applications taking place off-site, while the

majority were due to the use of insecticides inside schools. Study

authors also addressed chronic exposure to herbicides due to repeated

applications on school yards, saying " the potential for chronic health effects

from pesticide exposures at schools should not be dismissed. " A piece

of legislation that would reduce these chemical risk factors in schools

is currently stalled in the House of Representatives. Learn more and

sign on to support the School Environmental Protection Act here:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/sepa-petition.htm

 

 

 

UPDATE: PARENTING MAGAZINE ADVISES KIDS EAT THEIR PESTICIDES

In July, Organic Bytes reported that Parents Magazine, one of the most

influential parenting publications in the U.S., printed an article

belittling the benefits of organic foods as a myth. Likely under the

financial sway of the magazine's conventional food advertisers, the magazine

endorsed pesticides in foods as safe, stating: " there's no evidence

that these chemicals, used at the low levels found in our food supply, are

harmful to children. " Thanks to you, thousands of letters and emails

were generated to the magazine's editorial staff. As an update on this

issue, despite this landfall of input, Parents Magazine has refused to

respond to any of these letters, including OCA's formal letter of

inquiry. (Learn more: " U.S. Government Facts - Children's Chemical & Pesticide

Exposure via Foods "

http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/wic-faq.pdf)

 

 

 

QUICK TIDBITS

In the last three years, 287 bills related to kicking junk food out of

schools have been proposed in some 45 states. The junk food industry

has lobbied hard against these laws and has successfully defeated over

85% of them. As the exception, New Jersey and Maine recently passed " junk

food laws " that will remove soda, candy and other junk foods from

schools (pre-kindergarten through high school) by the end of 2007. The OCA's

" Appetite for a Change " campaign is closely monitoring similar proposed

legislation in your state. Learn more:

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

 

San Francisco passed a law last week requiring city contractors to

provide documentation that guarantees all new municipal purchases, from

uniforms to computers, are not made from sweatshop labor. The city joins

other municipalities who have passed similar " sweatshop-free "

ordinances, including Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Newark, N.J. and Albuquerque, N.M.

At the same time, after extensive lobbying by the Organic Consumers

Association, San Francisco officials passed a resolution calling for

giving preference to " local and organic " food suppliers for city contracts.

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

 

The U.S. poultry giant, Tyson Foods, is being sued for violating Civil

Rights laws. The company's plant in Ashland, Alabama is accused of

segregating and mistreating its African American workers. The plant's

bathrooms displayed signs saying " Whites Only, " doors were padlocked, and

only white workers were given keys. Meanwhile Tyson's meats are some of

the most popular in the U.S., with over 150 million pounds of the

company's products sold every week.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Politics/TysonScandal091805.cfm

 

McDonald's subsidiary restaurant chain, Chipotle is beginning to resist

the ways of its parent corporation. Although most of the restaurant's

patrons don't realize it, the chain now quietly refuses to use factory

farmed meats, sourcing its pork and chicken from free range and family

farmed operations. " A majority of customers don't even know we do this.

We think this is a better way to go, and as people become more aware of

where their food comes from they will care, " says Chipotle president,

Steve Ells. Hopefully, Steve can clue in his parent CEO at McDonald's on

some of the finer points of animal welfare.

 

 

 

 

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I believe in compulsory cannibalism. If people were forced to eat what they

killed, there would be no more wars.

Abbie Hoffman

 

 

 

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