Organic Bytes: Earth Day: Go Organic Save the Planet

 

| SUBSCRIBE & Read Past Issues | View PDF | OCA Homepage | Earth Day: Go Organic, Save the Planet #273, April 21, 2011 In this issue: Quotes of the Week: Go Organic for Earth Day to Save the Planet! Alert of the Week: Safeguard Organic Standards Millions Against Monsanto News and Alerts: See You in Chicago, Seattle & New York! Get Monsanto Out of Whole Foods! Traitor Joes Get Ready for World Food Day Actions 10/16/11 Videos of the Week Little Bytes Quote of the Week Go Organic for Earth Day to Save the Planet! "2010 was the warmest year on record. And it was warm. We were on the phone one day with our 350 crew in Pakistan and one of them said, 'It's hot out here today,' and I was surprised to hear him say it because it's usually hot in Pakistan during the summer. He said, no it's really hot. We just set the new, all time Asia temperature record, 129 degrees. That kind of heat melts the arctic. That kind of heat causes drought so deep across Russia that the Kremlin stops all grain exports. That kind of heat causes the flooding that still has 4 million people across Pakistan homeless tonight. "It's tough, it's grim, but the good news at least is that it's clear, the science. We have a number: 350 parts per million. 350, the most important number on earth. As the NASA team put it in January 2008, 'any value in the atmosphere greater than 350 parts per million is not compatible with the planet on which civilization developed and which life on earth is adapted.' Getting back to 350 parts per million will be very very tough, the toughest thing human beings have ever done, but there is no use complaining about it, it's just physics and chemistry. That's what we have to do." - Bill McKibben, Speaking at the National Power Shift Conference, 2011 Read More "The research is showing increasingly that organic farming has some of the greatest potential to store carbon. The whole system of organic farming and other sustainable practices that come out of the organic toolbox, they all really focus on soil building." - Renata Brillinger, from California's Climate and Agriculture Network 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 educational videos, 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 natural food stores and co-ops, to adopt Truth-in-Labeling practices. Please Donate Alert OF THE WEEK Safeguard Organic Standards At the end of the month, the USDA's National Organic Standards Board is meeting in Seattle, WA. Please take action on the following alerts from the Organic Consumers Association's ally, the Cornucopia Institute, before April 26, 2011: Protect Babies' Health Through corruption at the USDA some questionable 'nutrient' ingredients—produced by Martek Biosciences Corporation's (DHA/ARA oils from algae and soil fungus) — have illegally found their way into organic foods, including organic infant formula, baby food and milk. And they are making some children very sick. Video & Petition Stop Factory Farming of "Organic" Eggs & Chicken In the European Union, organic standards require at least 43 square feet of outdoor space per bird, but the National Organic Standards Board Livestock Committee is recommending that USDA organic standards should require just 2 square feet per layer and 1 square foot per broiler! Videos & Alert Millions Against Monsanto News and Alerts Millions Against Monsanto in Chicago, Seattle & New York! To gear up for the Millions Against Monsanto actions on World Food Day, October 16, 2011, we're hosting regional anti-GMO summits at each of the Green Festivals around the country: Chicago May 14-15, 2011 Seattle May 21-22, 2011 New York October 1-2, 2011 We need volunteers in each city to host gatherings at their homes or community centers, to put up OCA staff and volunteers in their homes and to work in the Millions Against Monsanto booths. To volunteer, please click here. Millions Against Monsanto News and Alerts Get Monsanto Out of Whole Foods! As we reported last week, Whole Foods Market claims to support mandatory GMO labels, but admits selling unlabeled foods made with genetically modified organisms. During the month of May, we're stepping up our efforts to get Monsanto out of Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's. Here's what you can do: 1. Forward the Whole Foods Market petition to your friends 2. Take Millions Against Monsanto posters, petitions, flyers and do-it-yourself GMO labels to your local Whole Foods Market or Trader Joe's. You'll find all the materials you need here. 3. Go to Whole Foods Market or Trader Joe's, fill up a shopping cart, take it to the register, and tell the clerk that you only want to buy the products that don't have any genetically modified ingredients (including ingredients that come from factory farms where animals are fed genetically modified feed or given genetically modified growth hormones or vaccines). Document your visit with a video, photos, or a first-hand account and send it to us. Here's what happened when OCA did this at the Whole Foods Market in San Francisco. 4. If you'd like to get together with other Millions Against Monsanto activists for your trip to Whole Foods Market or Trader Joe's, pick a date, time and location, and we'll invite everyone on our list in your area. Send us the details! 5. If you're on Facebook, create an event like this one. Invite your friends, and we'll distribute it to our fans on Facebook if you send the link to us. 6. You can connect with other Millions Against Monsanto activists working on the Whole Foods campaign on this Facebook page and this Facebook group. And through your local Millions Against Monsanto chapter: http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/state-map.cfm ACTION ALERT Traitor Joe's The OCA is partnering with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and Just Harvest USA in support of farmworker demands to Trader Joe's. For several years, the CIW and its allies have attempted to persuade Trader Joe's -- the highly profitable "cheap-chic" grocer that is considered one of the "world's most ethical companies" -- to join the Fair Food program, an innovative solution to the decades-oldproblem of farmworker poverty. Visit OCA's Trader Joe's action center and get involved. Time to turn the heat up in support of Fair Food. Go further: read the OCA's Fair World Project article on the CIW, Supermarkets, Tomatoes and Farmworker Justice Millions Against Monsanto News and Alerts Get Ready for World Food Day Actions 10/16/11 On Sunday, October 16, 2011, the Organic Consumers Association's Millions Against Monsanto campaign is calling for World Food Day actions to get genetically engineered organisms out of our food. Get involved by joining your local Millions Against Monsanto chapter: http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/state-map.cfm The goal is to have 435 actions, one in each U.S. Congressional District, and for each action to represent 2300 Millions Against Monsanto supporters. 435 x 2300 = 1,000,000 Against Monsanto It would be great to have 2300 people participating in each event, but we can also demonstrate our numbers by delivering petitions signed by 2300 people in each Congressional District. Anyone who can't attend an action on 10/16/11, can join the virtual rally by signing the Millions Against Monsanto petition. Time to start planning! Read more to get started! Video of the Week The Greenhorns A documentary film about young farmers... Watch Watch more of OCA's favorite videos on our YouTube Channel! Little Bytes Van Jones At Power Shift 2011: 'While They're Stuck On Stupid In DC, Your Generation Is Rising' READ MORE What Japan's Disaster Tells Us about Peak Oil READ MORE Endless War and Empire: Your Tax Dollars at Work READ MORE The Food Movement's Multiple-Personality Disorder: Let's Move Beyond Foodies and Localists READ MORE Beyond BPA: Could 'BPA-Free' Products Be Just as Unsafe? READ MORE Message From Our Sponsors Eden Foods Offers OCA Customers 15% Discount Eden Foods is one of the few national organic food producers who goes beyond the USDA Organic Standards. Although Eden Foods is USDA certified, their products do not bear the USDA seal, because they say the USDA standard really represents a "minimum standard" that Eden Foods goes far beyond. As a subscriber to Organic Bytes, you can enjoy a 15% discount rate on any Eden Foods products by going here. Learn More 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! Organic Bytes is a publication of Organic Consumers Association 6771 South Silver Hill Drive - Finland, MN 55603 - Phone: 218-226-4164 - Fax: 218-353-7652 Subscribe & Read past issues and print- friendly PDF versions of Organic Bytes Connect with us: