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Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2003 12:46 PM
Subject: [Biodemocracy]Organic Bytes #17


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> ORGANIC BYTES
>
> Organic & Food News Tidbits With an Edge Issue #17
> 7/16/2003
>
> By Organic Consumers Association
>
> IN THIS ISSUE:
> GENETICALLY MODIFYING CONSUMER RIGHTS|
> QUICK QUIZ|
> WEIRD WHEAT WEILDS WOES
> HOW MONSANTO'S POLICIES HAVE BECOME U.S. POLICY
> ORGANIC CASH - THE BEST WAY TO GET RICH
> GE-WHIZ, AFRICA'S POOR, NOT DUMB
> COTTON FILLS BELLIES
> AMERICAN APPAREL GOING ORGANIC
> RADIOACTIVE YUMMY NUMMIES
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> GENETICALLY MODIFYING CONSUMER RIGHTS
>
> Monsanto is suing Portland, Maine-based Oakhurst Dairy for labeling their
> milk "Our Farmers' Pledge: No Artificial Growth Hormones." According to
> Monsanto, manufacturer of the genetically engineered recombinant Bovine
> Growth Hormone (known as rBGH or rBST), Oakhurst Dairy does not have the
> right to let its customers know whether its milk is laced with genetically
> engineered hormones. Oakhurst says they've been labeling their products
like
> this for four years, in response to consumer demand. Although rBGH has
been
> banned in every industrialized nation in the world except for the United
> States, Monsanto continues to claim that rBGH-derived milk is no different
> from the natural stuff, despite documentation that rBGH milk contains
> substantially higher levels of a potent cancer tumor promoter called
IGF-1.
> Monsanto sued two dairies and threatened several thousand retailers in
1994
> for labeling or advertising milk and dairy products as "rBGH-free."
Despite
> Monsanto's intimidation tactics, more than 10% of U.S. milk is currently
> labeled as "rBGH-free," while sales of organic milk and dairy products
> (which prohibit rBGH) are booming. In recent months a Monsanto-funded
front
> group, the Center for Consumer Freedom, has launched a smear campaign
> against organic dairies, including Organic Valley, claiming they are
> defrauding consumers.
> http://www.organicconsumers.org/rbgh/071303_rbgh.cfm
>  For a full discussion on the rBGH controversy, see the rBGH section on
the
> OCA website:
> http://www.organicconsumers.org/rbghlink.html
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> QUICK QUIZ: HOW U.S. DEMOCRACY WORKS
>
> Question: How is it that every industrialized nation in the world has
banned
> Monsanto's rBGH as unsafe, but it's legal (and unlabeled) in the United
> States?
>
> Answer: In order for the FDA to determine if Monsanto's growth hormones
were
> safe or not, Monsanto was required to submit a scientific report on that
> topic. Margaret Miller, one of Monsanto's researchers put the report
> together. Shortly before the report submission, Miller left Monsanto and
was
> hired by the FDA. Her first job for the FDA was to determine whether or
not
> to approve the report she wrote for Monsanto. In short, Monsanto approved
> its own report. Assisting Miller was another former Monsanto researcher,
> Susan Sechen. Deciding whether or not rBGH-derived milk should be labeled
> fell under the jurisdiction of another FDA official, Michael Taylor, who
> previously worked as a lawyer for Monsanto.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> WEIRD WHEAT WEILDS WOES
>
> Scientists from the University of Manitoba have released a report
> indicating, "Under current conditions the release of Roundup Ready wheat
in
> Western Canada would be environmentally unsafe." Monsanto's GE wheat would
> lead to an increase in the use of glyphosate herbicide, a widely-used
> chemical now being linked to increased growth of fungal plant pathogens,
> known as fusarium head blight (FHB). FHB has already caused tens of
millions
> of dollars in losses for wheat farmers on the eastern prairies of Canada.
> http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/071403_ge_wheat.cfm
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> HOW MONSANTO'S POLICIES HAVE BECOME U.S. POLICY
>
> Prior to being the Supreme Court Judge who put G.W. in office, Clarence
> Thomas was Monsanto's lawyer. The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (Anne
> Veneman) was on the Board of Directors of Monsanto's Calgene Corporation.
> The Secretary of Defense (Donald Rumsfeld) was on the Board of Directors
of
> Monsanto's Searle pharmaceuticals. The U.S. Secretary of Health, Tommy
> Thompson, received $50,000 in donations from Monsanto during his winning
> campaign for Wisconsin's governor. The two congressmen receiving the most
> donations from Monsanto during the last election were Larry Combest
> (Chairman of the House Agricultural Committee) and Attorney General John
> Ashcroft. (Source: Dairy Education Board)
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ORGANIC CASH - THE BEST WAY TO GET RICH
>
> The Organic Monitor announced this week that global sales of organic foods
> in 2002 peaked $23 billion, more than a 10% increase from the previous
year.
>
> http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/070603_organic.cfm
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> GE-WHIZ, AFRICA'S POOR, NOT DUMB
>
> According to a piece in the New York Times, Bush and his biotech backers
are
> grossly mistaken in their claim that GE crops would help alleviate hunger
in
> Africa. "The first generation of genetically modified food crops - corn
and
> soybean seeds - were created to make pest management simpler on America's
> large, mechanized farms. The technologies would be far less effective on
> African farms, which are small and diversified and rely largely on human
> labor," wrote respected scientist Dr. Charles Benbrook. The article also
> points out that GE crops need nearly ideal growing conditions, something
the
> arid and drought-ridden climes of Africa simply cannot provide- not to
> mention the fact that impoverished African farmers can't even afford GE
> seeds, which typically cost 35% more than traditional seeds.
> http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/071403_ge_africa.cfm
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> COTTON FILLS BELLIES
>
> If the Bush Administration is truly interested in helping Africa's ailing
> economy, consideration should be given to a July 11 New York Times Op Ed
> piece from African agricultural experts. Put simply, these experts point
out
> that government subsidies to U.S. cotton farmers are strangling Africa's
> economy. Cotton production accounts for as much as 40% of exports in some
> African nations, where much of the cotton is grown with few or no
> pesticides. In contrast, over 70% of U.S. cotton is genetically
engineered,
> and it has become the most pesticide intensive crop. U.S. cotton farmers
> received over $3 billion in government subsidies in the last two years,
more
> than the entire economic output of African nations like Burkina Faso,
where
> more than two million people depend on cotton.
> http://www.organicconsumers.org/clothes/071303_cotton_subsidies.cfm
>
> For a full discussion on the global cotton crisis see the Clothes for a
> Change section on the OCA website:
>
> http://www.organicconsumers.org/clothes/
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> AMERICAN APPAREL GOING ORGANIC
>
> Last week, the OCA reached a significant milestone in its national
"Clothes
> for a Change" Campaign. The OCA and its allies have successfully lobbied
> American Apparel, the largest T-shirt company in the U.S., known for its
> strong stance against sweatshops, to work towards achieving an 80% blend
of
> organic cotton in its clothing. Los Angeles-based American Apparel's
> transition to organic program will provide a stable market for over 1,000
> acres of California-grown organic cotton.
>
> http://www.organicconsumers.org/clothes/070903_sweatshop.cfm
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> RADIOACTIVE YUMMY NUMMIES
>
> The World Trade Organization has decided that food can be irradiated at
any
> dose, no matter how high. Consumer groups reacted with shock at the news
> that international food radiation laws, in place since 1979, have been
> gutted. "The UN and WHO have abandoned their mission to protect the health
> and welfare of the world's population," said Andrianna Natsoulas of Public
> Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "People who eat
> irradiated foods will become guinea pigs in what will amount to one of the
> largest feeding experiments in history."
>
> Get Involved: Attend the WTO teach-ins and protests in Cancun on an
escorted
> delegation with Ronnie Cummins and the OCA:
> http://www.organicconsumers.org/corp/0624_wto.cfm
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> FOR MANY MORE FOOD ISSUE DAILY HEADLINES:
> http://www.organicconsumers.org/log.html
>
> ORGANIC BYTES is a publication of:
>
> ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION
>
> 6101 Cliff Estate Road
>
> Little Marais, MN 55614
>
> Phone: (218) 226-4164
>
> Fax: (218) 353-7652
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> NOTE TO CO-OP AND NATURAL FOOD STORE SUBSCRIBERS: Organic Bytes is a great
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>
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>
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