Organic Bytes: What's Wrong With Local Foods?

Subscribe | Unsubscribe | Read Past Issues | OCA Homepage | What's Wrong With Local Foods? #265, February 24, 2011 In this issue: Essay of the Week: Local and Organic Food and Farming: The Gold Standard Exposé of the Week: Monsanto's Roundup Ready Crops Devastate Soil Life and Mammal Fertility Alert of the Week: Kraft Admits It Uses Genetically Engineered Bovine Growth Hormone Alert Update: Congress Can Stop Frankenfish Millions Against Monsanto Actions Remember to Take Action... Little Bytes Essay of the Week Local and Organic Food and Farming: The Gold Standard by Will Allen, Ronnie Cummins, and Kate Duesterberg "[T]he organic system of food production has legal definitions, a handbook of rules, permitted and prohibited substances, acceptable practices, an inspection process, and labels to guide the consumers. Local has none of these guidelines, rules, inspections or protections. It has the cachet of popularity without any guarantee of safety or sustainability. "Some chemical farmers, and even poultry, egg, pork, dairy, or beef operators feeding their animals genetically modified (GMO) grains, claim that local is better than organic, because it stimulates the local economy and reduces the distance (food miles) that food travels between the farm or feedlot and your table. But does so-called local farming, utilizing toxic pesticides, GMO seeds and feed, chemical fertilizers, and animal drugs mean that the food is safe and sustainable? Obviously not. We believe that there shouldn't have to be a choice between local and safe organic; but rather that consumers should look for food that is not only local or regionally produced, but food that is also organic and therefore safe and sustainable. Local and chemical, or local using GMO seeds and feed, is nothing more than greenwashing. Organic and local is the new gold standard!" Read More PLEASE DONATE Millions Against Monsanto Fundraising Appeal A quarter of a million people have already signed up as participants and supporters in our Millions Against Monsanto Truth-in-Labeling Campaign. But we need money to print leaflets, to buy hundreds of copies of the video "The World According to Monsanto," to print up T-shirts and bumper stickers, and to pay our campaign staff. As you know GMOs, Factory Farms, and deceptively labeled consumer products pose a mortal threat to public health, climate stability, and all living things. As we speak, organic crops are being contaminated with Monsanto's GMOs. We need your financial contributions to educate and mobilize consumers, to protect and maintain strict organic standards, and to pressure the entire food industry, including our own natural food stores and co-ops, to adopt Truth-in-Labeling practices. Please Donate EXPOSÈ OF THE WEEK Monsanto's Roundup-Ready Crops Devastate Soil Life and Mammal Fertility In a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, made public by the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, Dr. Don Huber, one of the nation's senior soil scientists, alerted the federal government to an organism that appears NEW to science: a microscopic pathogen that appears to significantly impact the health of plants, animals, and probably human beings. It is widespread, very serious, and is in much higher concentrations in Monsanto's genetically modified Roundup-Ready (RR) soybeans and corn - suggesting a link with the RR gene or more likely the presence of Roundup. Linked with Outbreaks of Plant Disease * This newly discovered pathogen could result in a collapse of US soy and corn export markets and significant disruption of domestic food and feed supplies. * It appears to be the first micro-fungus ever identified. This infectious agent promotes diseases of both plants and mammals, which is very rare. * The organism is prolific in plants infected with sudden death syndrome (SDS) in soy, Goss' wilt in corn and is found in the fungal causative agent of SDS (Fusarium solon fop glycines). Implicated in Animal Reproductive Failure * Laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of this organism in a wide variety of livestock that have experienced spontaneous abortions and infertility. Preliminary results from ongoing research have also been able to reproduce abortions in a clinical setting. Read More Alert of the Week Kraft Admits It Uses Genetically Engineered Bovine Growth Hormone Thank you to the OCA activist who shared a recent e-mail she received from Kraft Foods which admits "We are not rejecting milk from BGH/BST supplemented herds." BGH/BST is the genetically modified Bovine Growth Hormone developed by Monsanto and now marketed by Eli Lilly. It was the first genetically modified organism to become part of the food supply. It is well-known by federal regulators that GMO bovine growth hormone produces milk that is less nutritious, contaminated with pus, and has elevated levels of IGF-1. Elevated levels of IGF-1 are correlated with increased rates of cancer. Producers of GMO foods would prefer that their customers didn't know anything about genetically modified organisms and most people, about three quarters of US consumers, have no idea that their food has been genetically modified. Kraft is one of the few companies to admit to using GMOs - not that you'll find anything on Kraft Web sites or food packaging about it. Another famous food manufacturer that admits it uses GMOs is Kellogg's. Let Kraft & Kellogg's know you're joining a boycott of their brands because you want to avoid GMOs! Some of our readers have decided to take matters into their own hands. Since the Obama administration won't label GMOs, they've decided to do it ourselves. When they come across Kraft or Kellogg's products, they are sticking an "Oh No! Is It GMO?" label on it. Take a picture, download it to your computer and use the "See Me" function to attach your photo to your letters to Kraft & Kellogg's. Your photos will also appear in our activist photo album. Write & Send Photos to Kraft Write & Send Photos to Kellogg's "Oh No! Is It GMO?" Stickers PDF (prints on Avery# 5160 address labels) Alert Update Congress Can Stop Frankenfish! Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey offered an amendment to the 2011 Continuing Resolution (Amendment No. 491 to H.R.1) that would have stopped the FDA from using its funding to approve genetically engineered salmon. Unfortunately, the amendment was blocked and not voted on. Congress's budget vote was only their first opportunity to stop Frankenfish. The FDA hasn't approved GMO salmon yet. There's still time for Congress to act. Let's work for passage of Congressman Don Young's bill, H.R.521, to stop GMO salmon. Take Action Millions Against Monsanto Actions Millions Against Monsanto is at 286,511 Supporters! The Millions Against Monsanto campaign currently has 286,511 supporters. Our goal is to grow that to 1,000,000 by World Food Day, October 16, 2011, when we'll get everyone out for a nationwide day of action against Monsanto. We need your help to build our ranks and use our power. Please get involved! Here's how... Tonight: First Millions Against Monsanto Truth-in-Labeling Webinar! THIS FREE WEBINAR IS "SOLD OUT" - ALL 1,000 SPOTS RESERVED Natural News' Mike Adams joins OCA director Ronnie Cummins for a live discussion on the myth of "coexistence" between organics and GMOs, and how grassroots action and truth-in-labeling can start to drive Monsanto's genetically engineered crops and foods off the market. This is the first in a series. When: February 24th, 2011, 7 p.m. Central Time This will be a call-in event, and it is an action-oriented effort to help educate the public about the GMOs in foods that are being sold right now, in grocery stores and even health food stores across America (and around the world). Our goal in this campaign is to protect consumers from the genetically engineered ingredients in their foods. At the very least, consumers have a right to know when they're buying GMOs, and that's why the honest, accurate labeling of foods that contain genetically engineered ingredients is something that consumers must now demand from the food companies. This event is filled to capacity, but will be recorded and made available on our Web site at: http://www.MillionsAgainstMonsanto.org Volunteer to Launch a Local Millions Against Monsanto Chapter So far, 3,267 organic activists have signed up to volunteer to launch Millions Against Monsanto campaign chapters in their congressional districts. We still need volunteers in the following districts: AR-4, CA-39, CA-47, FL-12, FL-21, GA-13, IA-5, KS-1, LA-4, LA-5, MI-10, MI-14, MS-2, NY-16, PA-3, TX-15, TX-29, WV-3 Please volunteer (scroll down and check the "Volunteer for Millions Against Monsanto" box). Don't know which congressional district you're in? Click here. Join Your Local Millions Against Monsanto Facebook Cause About 170 of our Millions Against Monsanto chapters now have home pages at Facebook Causes! Thank you to our congressional district volunteers who worked so hard over the last two weeks to make that happen! Find out if there's one set up yet for your congressional district. If you don't see one for your congressional district and would like to help, please click here. Make March a Month Without Monsanto The Millions Against Monsanto challenge for March is replicating the experiment April Dávila conducted in March 2010 when she tried to go a month without consuming any Monsanto products. Read More If you're ready for a Month Without Monsanto, join the Facebook group! Use #monthwithoutmonsanto to tweet about it! Help Recruit 1,000,000 for World Food Day 10/16/11 In the worldwide movement to stop GMOs, World Food Day has frequently been marked as a day of action. Following this tradition, Organic Consumers Association's Millions Against Monsanto campaign is calling for actions from each of our congressional district chapters, with the goal of turning out 2300 people at each event to make a million nationwide. That means each district chapter needs to recruit 330 people each month between now and the end of September. The first step to getting people involved is to get them to sign our Millions Against Monsanto petition. They can sign online here Or you can collect their information on our paper petition (PDF)... ...and then enter it online Thanks for everything you do! You're one in a million!   Remember to Take Action... Ban Triclosan! Take action by April 8, 2011 New York: Label Milk From Cows Given rBGH (Genetically Engineered Bovine Growth Hormone)! California: Label GM Salmon! Hawaii: Demand Truth-in-Labeling!  Alaska: Stop GMO Salmon! Little Bytes Open Letter to the Organic Community: Why is the Organic Trade Association Controlled by Representatives of the "Natural" Products Industry? READ MORE The High Price of Beauty READ MORE Peace Cereal Illegally Misleading Consumers? READ MORE Ten Percent of World's Crops Are Genetically Engineered READ MORE For Once, Developments in Washington Could Make Things Better on the Farm READ MORE LOCAL HI NEWS OF THE WEEK HI - Get Involved Locally Learn more about OCA related action alerts and other news in HI here. Dr. Bronner's is Celebrating Our 60th Anniversary! Marking the 60th Anniversary of the company, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps is pleased to announce that all classic liquid & bar soaps are now not only certified under the USDA National Organic Program, but also certified Fair Trade! In addition, we are pleased to introduce a revolutionary new range of high-quality organic products, from hair rinses to shaving gels – all certified under the same USDA program that certifies organic foods. Please visit us on the web at DrBronner.com Become an OCA Sponsor! Every issue of Organic Bytes now goes to 265,000 organic consumers with a thousand new subscribers each week. Please help us and your business by letting our subscribers know who you are and that you support the work of the OCA. Please contact us if you want more information! Please forward this publication to family and friends, place it on web sites, print it, duplicate it and post it freely. Knowledge is power! 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