Organic Bytes: Greening America, Yoplait Dumps Monsanto, Organic Valentines, and More...

[Guest guest]

FW: Organic Bytes: Greening America, Yoplait Dumps Monsanto,

Organic ValentineP

Please

take action on the red section below. This is ancillary to the fight on

Codex, but part and parcel of the same drive to toxify the food supply

to the benefit of big corporations...they’ll also be mandating

compulsory drugging of animals later on as part of this strategy.

Thanks,

Doc

 

Organic Bytes: Greening America, Yoplait Dumps Monsanto,

Organic Valentines, and More...

 

Welcome to another exciting issue of Organic Bytes: Health, Justice and

Sustainability News

 

February 11, 2009 - Issue #161

 

In This Issue

 

Alert: Stop NAIS - Protect your right to farm and to eat local food!

GNA Alert of the Week: Good Jobs, Green Jobs

Consumer Victory of the Week: Yoplait Goes rBGH-Free

Valentines Tips of the Week: Turn Your Heart Green

Web Video of the Week:The OCA Presents "Slammed" - A Valentines Video

Headlines and Articles of the Week

 

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Alert of the Week:

Stop NAIS - Protect your right to farm and to eat local food!

 

The USDA has proposed a rule to require all farms and ranches where

animals are raised to be registered in a federal database under the

National Animal Identification System (NAIS) for existing disease

control programs. The draft rule covers programs for cattle, sheep,

goats, and swine. It also sets the stage for the entire NAIS program to

be mandated for everyone, including anyone who owns even one livestock

animal, for example, a single chicken or a horse. It is critical that

the USDA and Congress hear from the hundreds of thousands of people who

will be adversely affected by the NAIS program. This includes not only

animal owners, but also consumers who care about local and sustainable

foods, taxpayers who object to wasteful government programs, and

advocates for a safer food system.

 

Take action today!

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16812.cfm

 

 

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GNA Alert of the Week: Good Jobs, Green Jobs

 

The U.S. system of petroleum-based, biotech, and chemical-intensive

agriculture produces an enormous amount of relatively inexpensive food.

Of course, that's ignoring the huge hidden costs to taxpayers and

damage to public health, the environment, and climate stability (not to

mention the routine exploitation of farmers and laborers). Our leaders

in Washington are currently looking at making some major policy

changes, so there's no better time to let our elected public officials

to create jobs in the food and farming sector that help, rather than

undermine public health; that conserve and rejuvenate the environment;

and that guarantee workers living wages, safe working conditions, and

the right to organize. Energy-efficient, carbon-sequestering organic

agriculture is the only system with the potential to turn back global

warming, create millions of green jobs, and produce healthy, affordable

food.

Related Alerts:

 

* Demand an economic recovery that creates good, green jobs in the

organic food and farming sector.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16817.cfm

 

* Tell Congress to approve Hilda Solis Labor Secretary & to pass

the pro-worker Employee Free Choice Act.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16498.cfm

 

* Support farm workers battling labor exploitation in the Florida

fields.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16816.cfm

 

 

* On February 5, 2009, Alexis Baden-Mayer, the Organic Consumers

Association's Political Director, participated as a panelist in the

national Green Jobs, Good Jobs conference in Washington, DC, a joint

effort of the labor, consumer,and environmental movements.

Read her talk http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16782.cfm

 

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Consumer Victory of the Week:

Yoplait Goes rBGH-Free

 

Yoplait, a leading brand of yoghurt, and the 19th largest dairy

producer in the U.S., has announced, that as of August 2009, it will no

longer purchase milk from dairies injecting their cows with Monsanto's

controversial genetically engineered synthetic hormone, recombinant

Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). Yoplait's rejection of rBGH-tainted milk

comes in the wake of a consumer campaign organized by the Oregon

Physicians for Social Responsibility, the OCA, and dozens of allied

public interest organizations. Yoplait's action is amplified by a

growing number of mainstream companies who have recently turned their

backs on rBGH, including Starbucks, Caribou, Cabot cheese, and Subway.

For over ten years, OCA and our allies have led the charge against rBGH

and other genetically engineered foods and food ingredients. Although

rBGH is not allowed on organic farms and is banned in most of the

industrialized world because of its threats to both animal and human

health, this cruel and dangerous drug is still injected into

approximately 10% of U.S. dairy cows--to force them to produce more

milk. With your help, OCA and its allies will continue our campaign

until Monsanto's rBGH is driven completely off the market.

 

Learn more

http://www.organicconsumers.org/rbghlink.cfm

 

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Valentines Tips of the Week:

Turn Your Heart Green

 

1) Instead of buying cut roses, give your loved one a living indoor

plant. They clean the air and last a lot longer. Or plant a rose bush

in the yard.

2) Nothing strums the strings of your sweetie's heart like a homemade

gift. Take the time to put your thoughts into a hand-made card. Offer

coupons for free kisses, house chores or back rubs. Make a home-cooked

organic meal.

3) If you are planning to purchase your gift, buy organic and Fair

Trade chocolate, organic or natural candles and recycled gift cards.

 

Use OCA's Buying Guide here

http://www.organicconsumers.org/btc/BuyingGuide.cfm

 

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Web Video of the Week:

The OCA Presents "Slammed" - A Valentines Video

 

The Organic Consumers Association put together this fun animated web

video a few years ago, but most of the information is still relevant,

other than the dude in the White House. Learn how to avoid getting

"slammed" this Valentines with Fair Trade and organic chocolate and

flowers.

Watch http://www.organicconsumers.org/valentines/resources/slammed.swf

 

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Mark Your Calendars:

Join Wendell Berry & Take a Stand Against Coal at the Nation's

Capitol On March 2, 2009

 

Join Wendell Berry, poet laureate and intellectual leader of the

organic movement, and thousands of others in a multi-generational act

of civil disobedience at the Capitol Power Plant, the utility that

powers Congress with dirty energy and symbolizes a past that threatens

our future. Let's use this as a rallying cry for a clean energy economy

that will protect the health of our families, our climate, and our

future.

 

* Listen to Wendell Berry speak http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/getinvolved/event_detail.cfm?id=738

* Join the March 2 action http://www.capitolclimateaction.com/

 

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Donate Online Now

 

The work of the Organic Consumer's Association, including the Organic

Bytes email you are reading, is all due to the generous contributions

of our supporters. If you enjoy our work, please donate today!

Donate Here http://www.organicconsumers.org/donations.cfm

 

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Headlines of the Week:

 

1) Organic Sales Triple

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16807.cfm

2) At least 14 Studies Have Exposed the High Cost of Ethanol and

Biofuels

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16772.cfm

3) Environmentalists Try Greening Cane Sugar

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16733.cfm

 

4) Local Organic Food & Farming Can Help Revitalize the Economy

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16777.cfm

 

5) Did Child Labor Make Your Shirt? The Story Behind Most Cotton

Clothing

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16720.cfm

 

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

analysis of the day. The OCA website has 10 or more news articles

posted each day, and a library of over 40,000 articles covering issues

including health, justice, food and farming, politics, and the

environment.

 

Bookmark OrganicConsumers.org http://www.OrganicConsumers.org

 

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Organic Geek News of the Week: Do You Twitter?

 

The OCA is now on

Twitter! We will be posting from our news feed, as well as new

campaigns, alerts, and anything else we think you'll like! Get OCA news

anywhere and everywhere you go. Sign up http://twitter.com/organicconsumer:

http://twitter.com/organicconsumer

 

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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

6771 South Silver Hill Drive

Finland, Minnesota 55603

Phone: (218)- 226-4164

Fax: (218) 353-7652

 

 

Read past issues of Organic Bytes here

 

OCA Homepage

http://www.organicconsumers.org/organicbytes.cfm

 

Subscribe

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/signUp.jsp?key=411

 

 

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