Organic Bytes #30 - Food and Consumer Tidbits with an Edge!

[Guest guest]

ALERT: DEFEND THE MENDOCINO VICTORY & SPREAD GE-FREE ZONES EVERYWHERE

People across the U.S. and the world have been inspired by the historic

David versus Goliath victory in Mendocino County, California on March 2,

2004 where voters banned the production of genetically engineered crops

and animals. Mendocino is the first county in the U.S to implement such

a ban. The Mendocino GE ban has rattled Monsanto and the Gene Giants,

who fear that global civil society will now follow Mendocino's example.

Of course this is exactly what is happening. Just in the past week,

halfway across the world, a number of major agricultural states in

Australia, including Western Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, have

already passed, or will soon pass, GE crop bans.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/tasmania032504.cfm

 

But as the OCA warned in an Action Alert last week, Monsanto and their

friends are fighting back. Sources have warned the OCA that the biotech

lobby will soon introduce a bill in California to nullify the Mendocino

GE ban and make it illegal for other California counties to pass similar

laws. World Trade Organization bureaucrats and the White House have also

made it clear in the past that local citizen control over unpopular

technologies such as genetic engineering will not be tolerated. OCA has

launched a major campaign called the Biodemocracy Alliance to defeat

this legislation and spread GE-Free zones across at least a dozen of

California's 59 counties, as well as counties all over the U.S.

 

We need your help to spread the word, organize GE bans in your local

area, and, most of all, we need donations to finance this effort. In the

past 10 days, since we sent out an Action Alert, we have raised $20,000

from online donations and checks in the mail, but we need to raise at

least $30,000 more in the next few weeks to keep up the momentum. We

believe this is the most crucial moment in the ten-year history of the

anti-GE foods movement. Please make an online donation today by clicking

here: https://www.securemysite.com/greenpeople/ocadonate.cfm

 

 

 

MONSANTO RESUMES ITS BULLYING ON GE WHEAT

Up until last week, Monsanto had promised that it would not press for

Bush Administration approval for its genetically engineered (GE) wheat

until Canadian regulatory officials were ready to approve the

controversial crop. However, due to strong resistance to GE wheat from

Canadian consumers and farmers, Monsanto has announced it may choose to

break this vow, causing great concern inside the U.S. wheat industry.

"If we introduce and the Canadians do not, that would make it easier for

countries to continue to insist on buying from a country that is GM-free

and it would give Canada a distinct marketing advantage," said U.S.

Wheat President Alan Tracy. Monsanto claims it has every right to do

what it pleases. The bottom line is that Monsanto is desperate and

believes that its friends in the White House have no qualms about

forcing Frankenfoods down consumers' throats--even if it means billions

of dollars in export losses for hapless U.S. wheat farmers.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/forcewheat031904.cfm

 

 

 

NEW MAD COW REGULATIONS STILL MAKE US MAD

In response to the discovery of the first case of Mad Cow Disease in the

U.S. last December, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced

it will increase testing of the nation's cattle up to 480,000 cows per

year. Consumer groups, including the Organic Consumers Association and

the Consumers Union, say these new projections for testing are

completely inadequate, given that the U.S. Cattle industry slaughters 35

million animals annually. The government and large beef corporations

fear more tests since they know Mad Cow disease has now spread to more

and more cattle in North America. However, many ranchers in Kansas,

California, and other states, desperate to regain their export markets,

say they're willing to test all cows, as Japan and other nations have

demanded. http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/nytimes032204.cfm

 

 

 

EARTH FRIENDLY LABELING LIES

Consumers are quickly learning that government oversight of product

labeling is all too loosely regulated. To add to the already existing

confusion, the Hudson Institute's Center for Global Food Issues (CGFI),

an agribusiness and biotech front group, has announced it will now be

labeling qualifying products as "Earth Friendly". This designation will

be placed on genetically engineered foods and factory farmed meat and

dairy products.. The corporate-funded CGFI claim they have a right to

label products as such, given their "scientific" opinion that certain

aspects of GE crops and densely packed feedlots are better for the

environment than organic agriculture.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/labels031904.cfm

 

 

 

SCARY FISH FACTS

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released new safety guidelines

for fish consumption, due to ever-increasing levels of mercury

contamination. The fish containing the highest levels of mercury are:

shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish. The guidelines suggest

eating up to two meals a week (totaling 12 ounces) of fish that are low

in mercury such as shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock and

catfish.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/fish032204.cfm

 

 

 

GETTING JUNK FOOD OUT OF SCHOOLS

With the Bush Administration's reduced funding for education, many

school districts have been forced to seek other sources of income,

including widespread installation of junk-food vending machines. School

districts can make up to $100,000 per year under these contracts, but as

a result of increased access to unhealthy foods, the childhood obesity

and diabetes epidemics are on the increase. In response, two dozen

states are now considering banning junk food vending machines in

schools. The National Soft Drink Association is contesting this ban,

claiming that high levels of junk food consumption are okay, and placing

the blame on schools for not teaching the kids to exercise more.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/obesity031904.cfm

 

 

 

REGULATING ROCKET FUEL LEVELS IN WATER

California has become the first state to consider regulating the levels

of allowable toxic perchlorates in drinking water. The pollutant has

been found in increasing levels in waterways around the U.S.,

particularly in areas near military bases and test sites (the toxin is

most commonly originates in rocket fuels). Perchlorates cause severe

neurological and thyroid dysfunction and are currently unregulated. In

related news, the U.S. Department of Defense is insisting to Congress it

should not be forced to comply with any environmental regulations, as a

matter of national security.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/water032204.cfm