Organic Bytes: Economic Meltdown, GE Animals, Natural Beef from Sweat...

[Guest guest]

 

Hello Shan,

ORGANIC BYTES #145

Health, Justice and Sustainability News Tidbits with an Edge!

 

9/24/2008

IN THIS ISSUE:

* Quotes of the Week

* How to Survive the Market Meltdown

* Unlabeled Genetically Engineered Animals In the Food Supply?

* Tell Whole Foods: No Sweatshop 'Natural' Beef! Mobilize Oct. 4 & 5

* What's Up With Pasteurized 'Raw' Almonds?

* Health Tip of the Week: Sleeping Through the Insanity

* Online Climate Time Machine

* Register to Vote

* Top Headlines of the Week

* The Battle in Seattle

Written and edited by Craig Minowa and Ronnie Cummins

 

 

 

Quotes of the Week

" We're literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our financial

system, with all the implications here at home and globally. "

*Senator Christopher J. Dodd - Chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban

Affairs Committee

" This financial crisis has exposed the right-wing's anti-regulation philosophy

as an abject failure. Their hands-off approach... has resulted in greedy

corporate titans getting rich on the backs of working people... and is causing

irreparable harm to the planet. And now we face a trillion-dollar

taxpayer-funded bailout. Enough is enough. We oppose the Bush

administration's... blank-check bailout... What is needed is truly fundamental

reform, not this no-strings-attached proposal. The government must impose

oversight and re-regulation... The days of the fox guarding the henhouse, with

corporate lobbyists writing the laws that regulate their industries, must end. "

*Brent Blackwelder, Friends of the Earth, Sept. 22, 2008

_

 

  Consumer Tip of the Week:

How to Survive the Market Meltdown

The headlines are ablaze with news of an impending global financial catastrophe.

While the U.S. federal government, which is already in the throes of the largest

national deficit in history, piles nearly a trillion additional tax-payer

dollars at the floodwalls of Wall Street to avoid certain collapse, the U.S.

dollar teeters on the threshold of one of the greatest inflationary periods in

history. Nothing destroys investments or savings like inflation. So how is the

every day organic consumer supposed to respond to this? Hopefully, the recent

bailouts although so far severely misguided, in terms of giving Wall Street

speculators a blank check give consumers a little more time to prepare. Here are

some quick tips:

1. Food: As noted in previous issues of Organic Bytes, it's a good time to

learn how to grow and preserve your own food, and cook healthy organic meals

from scratch. Peak oil and inflation will cause food prices, especially

processed food and meat, to go through the roof. The sooner you relearn the

cooking, canning, and gardening skills of your grandparents, the sooner you'll

have stability on your food shelf.

2. Finances: If you have notable amounts of cash in a savings account, consider

paying down debt, investing in " green' survival-oriented products, or purchasing

real assets. The value of the dollar is plummeting, so a $10k bank account

doesn't mean as much if the dollar is worth half that.

3. Home: There's no better time than the present to look for ways to make your

home more energy efficient. Energy costs are going to escalate. The energy use

in the average American home can be cut in half with some fairly simple

conservation measures.

4. Transportation: What do you drive? Resale value of fuel efficient cars is

increasing as fuel prices go up. If you drive, consider trading your current car

for a used fuel efficient vehicle. You'll likely be able to sell it for more

than you purchased it for, if you buy it used and in decent condition (for our

urban readers, we don't need to tell you how far bicycles and mass

transportation can take you).

5. Lifestyle: Redefine what you consider to be " desirable " . Instead of the

newest flat-screen television, start doing some research into items like

pressure cookers, homesteading books, electricity backup devices, etc. Refine

your diet, eat less (or no) meat and animal products, and eat more whole grains,

beans, and vegetables.

6. Politics: Call Congress now and urge your representatives to require those

who profited from three decades of reckless finance to be required to pay for

the bailout.

Call 202-224-3121.

(Stay tuned... The OCA will be launching a " Transitions Culture " website soon,

which will feature related information.)

_

 

Alert of the Week:

Unlabeled Genetically Engineered Animals In the Food Supply?

The Food and Drug Administration released a " draft guidance " document on

September 18th that outlines the regulatory approval process for Genetically

Engineered (GE) animals. To date, the process has not been transparent, and

maintains that GE animals, like their plant counterparts, do not need to be

labeled. Food derived from GE animals will not be labeled and represents a huge

risk for human health and the environment. Some GE animals will be designed to

produce drugs and might even outcompete native species. Without mandatory

labeling, adequate environmental impact studies and genuine public

participation, GE animals should be prohibited from entering the food supply.

Act now! Visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service public comment forum and tell the FDA all Genetically

Engineered Animals must be labeled! 

Learn more

 

 

Mark Your Calendars:

Tell Whole Foods: No Sweatshop 'Natural' Beef! Mobilize Oct. 4 & 5

The Organic Consumers Association has reported and acted on the chronic abuses

of workers rights at the Beef Northwest feedlots in Oregon and the United Farm

Workers ongoing union drive. With the majority of Beef Northwest's workers

signing cards indicating that they want the United Farmworkers Union to

represent them, even Barack Obama has recently told Beef Northwest that they

need to start collective bargaining with the UFW.

While Whole Foods Market, the largest purchaser of Beef Northwest's " Country

Natural " beef claims to be an industry leader in promoting animal welfare

standards, they have lagged behind in protecting workers rights. OCA believes

that a healthy and sustainable food system depends on respect for the workers,

animals and the environment, including entering into a collective bargaining

process once the majority of workers sign a Union card. Read more about the

situation at Beef Northwest and the struggle to respect worker rights.

Want to send a message to Whole Foods demanding that labor exploitation must be

eliminated in the organic and natural food sector? Sign up to leaflet Whole

Foods the weekend of October 4 & 5 with OCA campaigner Ryan Zinn. OCA is teaming

up with the United Farm Workers, the Teamsters Union and other organic and

social justice advocates to send a loud message: No Sweatshop Beef! Don't have a

Whole Foods in your neighborhood?

Sign OCA's petition to Whole Foods here.

 

________________________________

  OCA Readers Talk Back:

What's Up With Pasteurized 'Raw' Almonds?

An OCA Reader Writes: " A year ago, in Organic Bytes #120, you reported that the

USDA now mandates that all almonds, even those labeled as " raw " must now be

pasteurized. Has anything changed with that issue? "

OCA Responds: More than a dozen almond growers filed a lawsuit against the USDA

this month, claiming the USDA's ruling has devastated their businesses. Foreign

producers do not have to abide by this rule, so consumers of raw almonds are

increasingly shifting their business away from domestic production. " This ruling

is a financial disaster and has closed a major customer group that we have built

up over the years, " said Dan Hyman, an almond grower and owner of D & S Ranches in

Selma, CA.

Learn more

Donate Now!

_

 

 

  Health Tip of the Week:

Sleeping Through the Insanity

With all the news of national and global financial crisis, peak oil, food

scarcity and expanding wars, some of our readers (and some of the OCA staff) are

finding it difficult to sleep at night. From our friends at NaturalNews.com here

are some bedtime snacks that can elevate your levels of tryptophan and

serotonin, two natural chemicals your body needs for a restful nights sleep.

1. Rice with miso soup

2. Whole grain pita with hummus (add tomato and red onion slices for flavor)

3. Whole grain crackers with organic peanut butter (add a touch of honey for

sweetness, if desired)

4. Rice with lentils

5. Rice, black beans, and guacamole

6. Hummus with steamed broccoli

7. Eggs with whole grain toast

Learn more

 

________________________________

  Website Tool of the Week:

Online Climate Time Machine

NASA has launched a website that provides a dramatic visualization of

temperature change, sea level rise, co2 emissions, and ice melt from the

beginning of the industrial revolution to the present. We find the temperature

change map particularly mind melting.

View

 

________________________________

 

Register to Vote!

If you are not registered to vote, or if your address has changed since the last

time you voted, please register to vote using a new online tool provided by

Peace Impact, a coalition of progressive non- profits, including the Organic

Consumers Association.

Register to vote here

 

________________________________

 

 

  Top Headlines of the Week

1. Communities Plan for a Low-Energy Future

2. Italy Joins Three Other Nations and Bans Pesticides Linked to Bee

Devastation

3. Election Theft for 2008 Already Underway: Will Americans Be Able to Trust

the Vote Count in 2008?

4. Mobile Phone Use 'Raises Children's Risk of Brain Cancer Fivefold'

5. Efforts to Halt the National Animal Identification System Head to Court

 

Let OCA sift through the media smog and bring you the top new and analysis of

the day. The OCA website has 20 or more news articles posted each day, and a

library of over 4,000 articles covering issues including health, justice, food

and farming, politics, and the environment. Bookmark OrganicConsumers.org

 

  The Battle in Seattle

In 1999 many of you helped Organic Consumers Association take a stand for

organic food and farming, fair trade, and active democracy when tens of

thousands of ordinary people, like us, stopped the World Trade Organization

(WTO) from meeting in Seattle. We have a historic opportunity this month to

rally together again to raise awareness of the WTO's failed,

poverty-perpetuating and environmentally devastating policies - and demonstrate

how ordinary people can change everything. The new feature film, " BATTLE IN

SEATTLE, " showcases activists as heroes protecting people and the planet from

destruction at the hands of callous corporations.

Get involved, inspired, and take action!

_

 

 

Mobilizing Organic Consumers In ON

Through the Organic Consumers Fund's Grassroots Netroots Alliance project,

voters are pressing the politicians to support strict organic standards,

mandatory labels for genetically engineered food, and the conversion of U.S.

farmland to organic. Find out who's answering the call in ON here.

*Learn more about OCA related action alerts and other news in ON here.

*Join ON discussion groups in our forum.

*Post events in ON on our community calendar

_

LISTEN TO PODCAST WITH ORGANIC BYTES

According to NaturalNews.com, the #1 health/wellness podcast on the internet is

" Real Health " with Dr. Steve. This podcast will now be highlighting each issue

of Organic Bytes with in-depth interviews of OCA staff. Tune-in to the podcast

today to hear OCA experts talk about the news stories we're covering in this

issue of Organic Bytes. http://web.mac.com/drsteve720/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html

_

 

SIGN-UP FOR OCA'S ACTION ALERTS

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_

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go here!

 

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