Organic Bytes: Organic Dairy, Sludge, and GMOs

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Organic Dairy, Sludge, and GMOs

#213, February 18, 2010

 

Health, Justice and Sustainability News

from the _Organic Consumers Association_

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Edited by Alexis Baden-Mayer and Ronnie Cummins

 

In this issue:

* _Victory of the Week: New Organic Regulations Ban Factory-Style

Dairy Feedlots_ (mip://0421e420/default.html#SEC1)

* Take Action:

* _Obama USDA Poised to Approve Monsanto's Genetically Engineered

Alfalfa_ (mip://0421e420/default.html#SEC2)

* _Tell San Francisco to Stop Giving Away or Selling Toxic Sludge

Under the Guise of " Organic Compost " or Fertilizer_

(mip://0421e420/default.html#SEC3)

* _Vignette of the Week: Eating Like Our Parents Left for the

Weekend by Will Allen_ (mip://0421e420/default.html#SEC4)

* _Video of the Week: Vandana Shiva on Monsanto Indian Farmer

Suicide_ (mip://0421e420/default.html#SEC5)

*

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Victory of the Week

 

New Organic Rules Ban Intensive Confinement Dairy Feedlots

 

After years of claims that the organic dairy " access to pasture "

requirement was vague and couldn't be enforced, the USDA NOP has finally come

out

with a rule that bans intensive confinement feedlots and requires that

organic cows get at least 30% of their feed from grazing for at least four

months

out of the year.

Read more about the _history of the organic dairy pasture fight_

(http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2 & c=t5kfdKnuv6ZtfZi19DDbVRkg\

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mb) and the _new pasture rule victory_

(http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2 & c=HBsRiUGfTjc2NDrPBYZJmRkg\

od4+6Bmb) .

This rule is a great victory for organic consumers and organic dairy

farmers who properly graze their animals, but what about beef? The USDA wants

to

know what consumers think about " finishing " or fattening up organic beef

cattle for four months in factory farm-style feedlots.

Studies show that cattle confined and fed grain in feedlots are prone to

E. coli 0157H contamination, whereas healthy organic cattle grazing on grass

are typically free of this dangerous pathogen. The meat from grass-fed

beef is also healthier and more nutritious than beef that's been " marbleized "

in the feedlot.

Take Action: Tell the USDA National Organic Program that you don't want

organic beef cattle to be kept in factory-farm-style feedlots for the last

four months of their lives.

Deadline: April 19, 2010

_Take Action_

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PLEASE DONATE!

OCA Needs Your Help to Spread the Organic Revolution

OCA and our international network of organic consumers and farmers

understand that we have a positive life-affirming solution for the global food,

health, and climate crisis: organic food, farming, and ranching. But to get

out our all-important message we need your support. Please send us a

tax-deductible donation today.

_PLEASE DONATE_

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Take Action Against Monsanto's GE Alfalfa

Obama USDA Poised to Approve Monsanto's Genetically Engineered Alfalfa

Don't believe Monsanto's green-washing. Genetically modified organisms

(GMOs), aren't meant to feed the world or survive the evermore frequent

droughts and floods brought on by global warming. GMOs are designed to sell

Monsanto's herbicide Roundup and the patented " Roundup Ready " genes now spliced

into millions of acres of corn, cotton, soy, canola, sugar beets and

alfalfa. A 2009 study showed that, in 13 years, Roundup Ready crops increased

herbicide use by 383 million pounds.

During the Bush administration, the movement to stop GMOs was making

progress. Reflecting public concern over GMOs, in 2007, a Federal court ruled

that the Bush USDA's approval of Roundup Ready alfalfa violated the law

because it failed to analyze risks such as the contamination of conventional

and

organic alfalfa and the development of " super-weeds. " The court banned the

planting of GM alfalfa until USDA completed a rigorous analysis of these

impacts. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals twice affirmed the national ban

on Roundup Ready alfalfa planting, but Monsanto is appealing. They're taking

organic alfalfa farmers all the way to the Supreme Court!

Now the Obama Administration's USDA is trying to get the court-ordered ban

on Roundup Ready alfalfa lifted. They've issued a new draft environmental

impact statement (EIS) that denies and downplays the obvious environmental

and human health hazards of GM alfalfa.

Widespread GMO-contamination of organic alfalfa is inevitable if the Obama

Administration successfully distorts science and ignores public opinion

and allows Monsanto's GM Roundup Ready alfalfa to be planted across the U.S.

We must stop the Obama administration from taking away our right to grow

and consume organic and GMO-free food. The " change we believe in " is a

healthy and sustainable future based upon organic food and farming and a green

economy.

So far, 16,099 Organic Consumers Association activists have sent letters,

if you haven't...

_Take Action Now_

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If you happen to be in San Diego, Monsanto's coming to town! Join the

demonstration here:

_Say No to GMO! A Peaceful Eat-In (Facebook event)_

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Take Action Against Toxic Sludge

 

 

Tell San Francisco City Officials to Stop Endangering Public Health and

Degrading the Word " Organic " by Distributing Toxic Sewage Sludge Under the

Guise of " Organic Compost "

The city of San Francisco, along with other municipalities across the

U.S., are trying to trick Bay Area gardeners and farmers into spreading toxic

sewage sludge on their fields and gardens. We need to stop San Francisco

from promoting and distributing toxic sludge, and then we need to stop your

city from doing the same thing.

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission pays Synagro, the corporate

giant of the toxic sludge industry, to take its toxic sewage sludge, mix it

with the waste of a half-dozen other California counties, and then claim

that it's been magically transformed into " high-quality, nutrient-rich,

organic biosolids compost. " But of course sewage sludge is hazardous waste, not

" organic fertilizer. " Sewage sludge is banned in organic agriculture and

it should be banned for all land applications, period.

Municipal sludge is the toxic residue that is left over after household,

industrial, hospital, and storm-water sewage has passed through a

waste-water treatment plant.

Municipal sludge routinely contains hundreds of dangerous pathogens, toxic

heavy metals, flame retardants, endocrine disruptors, carcinogens,

pharmaceutical drugs and other hazardous chemicals.

Cities such as San Francisco and the toxic sewage sludge industry

shouldn't be allowed to continue to lie to us and poison us!

San Francisco and other cities' toxic sewage sludge giveaways must stop.

Over 4,000 OCA activists have emailed San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in

protest and hundreds have called, but his office still claims not to

understand the problem.

Please help us get their attention by sending a free fax to Mayor Newsom!

_Take action_

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Vignette of the Week

Eating Like Our Parents Left for the Weekend by Will Allen

" If these kids can't afford to go to Biggest Losers to change their lives,

they are probably reduced to eating bad burgers, on bad bread, with fries

and a coke. Seeing their beauty, and their diminished hopes, and viewing

the fat swollen cage they find themselves in it makes me feel desperate. They

are young folks stuck with nearly useless bodies, chronically sore knees

and hips, aching feet, a puzzling future, a dicey surgical hope, and

always-hungry stomachs filled with shit food. "

" The plight of the young couple reminds me of a Roseanne segment from the

TV show. Her husband had just returned from the market and they were

unloading the bags. After a few minutes of pulling cookies, potato chips,

cokes,

candy, ice cream, more cookies, and a cake out of the bags, she ranted, as

only Roseanne could: " You know, at some point we need to grow up and stop

eating like our parents just left for the weekend. " That segment really

struck me. We are a nation that eats like its parents just left for the

weekend! "

_Read More_

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Video of the Week

Vandana Shiva on Monsanto Indian Farmer Suicide

" Every seed that is in the market in cotton today, linked to one company

or others, is licensed and controlled by Monsanto. "

_Watch_

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LOCAL OR NEWS OF THE WEEK

OR - Get Involved Locally

* Learn more about OCA related action alerts and other news in OR

_here_

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* Join OR discussion groups in our _forum_

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* Post events in OR on our community _calendar_

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Message from our Sponsors

USDA Certified Organic Household Cleaners are Finally Here! Greenology

Products Has Made History

 

 

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The word " natural " continues to remain undefined and is often confusing to

consumers. Many manufacturers push the boundaries of what is truly

considered natural. Because of this, Greenology Products spent 18 months

developing a line of organic All-Purpose, Bathroom, Glass & Kitchen Cleaners

that

met NOP (National Organic Program) requirements and are certified by the

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easy motivation for us because so much evidence points to chemical related

health symptoms and poor indoor air quality at home, school and work.

As for performance, our Glass cleaner was _given a " BEST " rating by the NY

Times in a May 14th, 2009 review against 19 other national brand Glass

cleaners_

(http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2 & c=K6TfpoubXdXZ55w9cfLeVxkg\

od4+6Bmb) . Not only are we certified organic, but the product

works extremely well and is competitively priced against the national brands.

It's a win for consumers and families.

_Learn More_

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

sites,

print it, duplicate it and post it freely. Knowledge is power!

Organic Bytes is a publication of _Organic Consumers Association_

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