Organic Bytes: Health, Justice and Sustainability News #162
Thursday, February 19th, 2009| Alert Update of the Week: U.S. Government To Electronically Track Your Animals |
 Last week’s Organic Bytes featured an alert targeting the USDA on the pending National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Over 12,000 people have taken action, rejecting the NAIS program as a threat to family-scale and sustainable farms and ranches. Great job!
|
| Web Video of the Week: |
 This short 7 minute video will give you a brief overview of USDA’s Big Brother National Animal Identification System and why it should be stopped.
|
| Good News of the Week: European Countries Continue Ban on Genetically Engineered Crops |
 Although more than 70% of the non-organic food in American supermarkets contains genetically engineered ingredients, massive opposition to GMO crops in Europe has basically kept them off the market (except for imported animal feed). According to the majority the EU, biotech crops pose unacceptable risks to human health and the environment– despite industry, U.S. Government, and many trade officials’ insistence that they are perfectly safe. This week, France’s Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo announced that his country, along with several other European nations, would be renewing its ban on all genetically engineered (GE) crops, including Monsanto’s GE corn (MON 810), which is the only biotech crop allowed for human consumption in the EU. According to Borloo, “The basis of the safeguard clause, which tackles open-field cultivation of the Monsanto 810 maize, is on risks considered as severe for the environment…”Learn more
|
| Related Facts of the Week: Genetically Engineered Crops Creating More Pesticide Addiction in U.S. |
 According to a recent (December 2008) global summary report from the Worldwatch Institute:1) The U.S. leads the world, by far, in genetically engineered crop production and consumption.
2) The widespread planting of crops genetically engineered to resist specific pesticides (which allows farmers to apply more pesticides to their 3) Due to the presence of these new superweeds, GM crop production has already led to a $60 million annual increase in pesticide use in the U.S. |
| Organic Transitions Essay of the Week: Getting Prepared for the Great Collapse: Dmitry Orlov |
 Moving way beyond OCA’s ongoing campaign to press the Obama Administration and industry to drop “business as usual” and green the economy–before it’s too late–Orlov reminds us, with brilliant historical analysis and humor, that it probably is too late, and we’d better start comparing “best practices” for collapsing societies, to guarantee our collective survival in the coming catastrophic times.Read Orlov’s essay
|
| Organic Bytes Readers Talk Back: Yoplait Dumps Monsanto? |
 Note from Organic Bytes Reader: “Thank you very much for the latest issue of Organic Bytes (#161). I am always anxious to read it. I am writing in reference to your story about Yoplait’s decision to stop using rBGH in their Yogurt. The title of the newsletter announces this article with the phrase “Yoplait Dumps Monsanto”, but Yoplait continues to use another controversial Monsanto product – Aspartame – in its low-fat yogurt (which is one of the reasons I don’t eat it!). Because of this fact, I find the announcement “Yoplait Dumps Monsanto” pretty misleading. I’m sure it was not intended that way – but some clarification would be greatly appreciated in the future.”Response from OCA: Thanks for your thoughtful response. You are certainly correct, and we apologize for the misleading headline. Although the G.D.Searle chemical company developed aspartame back in 1965, Monsanto bought Searle in 1985 and then sold it later. The headline “Yoplait Drops Monsanto” is indeed incorrect since in late 2008, Monsanto announced it would be selling Posilac, which is the rBGH drug, to Eli Lilly. So, technically speaking, the headline should indicate Yoplait is dumping Eli Lilly. As always, we thank you and our readers for pointing out any mistakes in our reporting. We also thank you, again, for pushing Yoplait to dump rBGH and aspartame!
Post your questions and comments about Organic Bytes in OCA’s Web Forum |
| Web Forum Posting of the Week: If It’s Certified Organic, is It Organically Shipped? |
 OCA Web Forum User ‘Michael’ posted the following question. Over 9,000 people have viewed the question and many have replied:“When I buy organic apples from Chile the certification says that they were “organically grown”. Does that also mean they were organically shipped? The reason I ask is that I have traveled quite a bit to and from other parts of South America. It seemed to me that they were spraying a lot of stuff, including luggage, with pesticides then wrapping it in plastic before loading it on the airplane. It occurred to me that they might be doing something similar with the organically grown fruit they ship from there. Is there some way to get assurance that they do not do this?”
Read more and join the discussion
|
| Headlines and Articles of the Week: |
 1) Buying Organic is Well Worth the Cost Even When Times are Tough:“Organic food is now the fastest growing segment of U.S. agriculture. In 2007, the value of retail sales from organic food was estimated at more than $20 billion. The industry is expected to grow at a rate of 18 percent per year until 2010, making organic food sales one of the fastest growing sectors in the generally sagging U.S. economy…”2) Farming Chemicals Cause Kidney Failure for Thousands of Farmworkers: “More than 3,000 workers at a sugar plant owned by Nicaragua’s most powerful company have died from chronic renal failure since 1990 and a victims’ group says another 5,000 workers have since developed the condition for the company’s use of agrochemicals…” 3) Eleven North Sea Islands Become Living Laboratories for a Waste-free Environment: 4) Aspartame/NutraSweet: The History of the Aspartame Controversy 5) James Hansen: Coal-Fired Power Plants Are Death Factories–Close Them! 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 |
1) 
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Organic Consumers Fund, Organic Consumers Association’s partner for legislative and electoral advocacy, has a new graduate student intern, Chantal Wei-Ying Clement, who is working on our 
While Congress debates a second major federal stimulus package, the banks are salivating in anticipation of their next payout. Meanwhile, thousands of family farmers find themselves squeezed between increased energy and production costs and a monopolized banking and distribution system bent on maximizing corporate profits. To stand up for the family farmer, a coalition of farm groups are pushing Congress to include loan restructuring for family farms as part of the economic stimulus package. As noted by Willie Nelson, the President of Farm Aid, “American family farmers are the backbone of our economy, the first rung on the economic ladder. When family farmers thrive, local economies thrive, and that’s a common-sense approach for rebuilding our country.”
The first 100 days of the current presidency will be the most heavily scrutinized in history, and the number one concern for the new administration is the financial crisis. Desperation has driven many to support approaches that are just re-infusions of lifeblood capital into the dying appendages of Wall Street– treating the symptoms rather than curing the disease. A new book by author David Korten offers a better approach: dismantle Wall Street, and its foundation of phantom wealth, spinning gold from nothing. And bring into being a new economy-locally based, community oriented, and devoted to creating a better life for all, for generations to come. David Korten says the ideal banking system emulates farmer’s markets.
The sushi that we eat today is derived from traditional recipes that are hundreds of years old. Back then, the oceans seemed to have an endless supply of fish. The increasing popularity of sushi cuisine has created a massive and often unsustainable demand for multiple species of fish that most Americans didn’t even know existed. So, how is the green-minded consumer supposed to know which of these exotic fish are sustainably harvested and safe to eat? Scientists at Monterey Bay Aquarium recently analyzed the data and put together a handy and practical “Seafood Watch Sushi Pocket Guide” that helps you order seafood that’s sustainable and healthy.
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.
In a new study published Monday in the scientific journal Environmental Health, mercury was found in nearly 50 percent of tested samples of commercial high fructose corn syrup. The news is disturbing given that this ingredient is present in a large portion of processed American foods. According to David Wallinga, M.D., co-author of the study, “Given how much high fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the FDA to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply.” A separate study by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy detected mercury in nearly one-third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where high fructose corn syrup is the first or second highest labeled ingredient-including products by Quaker, Hershey’s, Kraft and Smucker’s.
From 1800 up until the 1950s, U.S. Presidents utilized the yard surrounding the White House to produce a portion of their own food with vegetable gardens, fruit trees, livestock and greenhouses. For the past 50 years,a chemical and energy-intensive factory farm food system has displaced traditional organic practices, while the White House vegetable gardens have long since been buried beneath a chemically managed, perfectly manicured lawn. Enter 2009 and a new president who may consider bringing back the old tradition of the White House Victory Garden. Can the White House lawn become an organic symbol of America’s new future?
Although genetically modified (GM) corn is banned in most of the world, it has been approved as “safe” for human consumption in the U.S. for 12 years and is now likely unknowingly consumed, in one form or another, by more than 90% of Americans on a regular basis. But a recent series of peer-reviewed studies were published in 2008 confirming previous studies indicating potentially severe health and environmental problems associated with the biotech crops. Recent alarming scientific research includes:
The Organic Consumers Association’s “
Learn
Learn
ALERT OF THE WEEK:
