YIKES OT: This Week's Biggest Environment and Consumer News Tidbits (Organic Bytes #53)

[Guest guest]

oh man..................

" WENDY'S: A woman eating at a 's restaurant in San California

found a human finger in her chili. Authorities are running fingerprints on

the 1 1/2 " long digit to find its owner, who is likely an employee of one

of the restaurant chain's food processing plants. Officials claim the body

part probably belongs to a woman, saying it was well manicured.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/wendys.cfm "

Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 11:47:00 -0800

From: Organic Consumers Association <listadmin@...>

Subject: This Week's Biggest Environment and Consumer News Tidbits (Organic

Bytes #53)

Organic Consumers Association

Hello Friend,

Organic Bytes #52

Food and Consumer News Tidbits with an Edge!

3/28/2005

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MONSANTO WARNS TWO BILLION FARMERS: " STOP SAVING YOUR SEEDS "

Since the advent of farming, thousands of years ago, farmers have

carefully collected seeds at harvest so as to have enough seed for the next

year's planting. Concerned that seed saving by farmers reduces their

profits, seed and biotech giants like Monsanto have rammed though

controversial " intellectual property laws " in numerous countries that make

traditional seed saving a crime. Last year, Monsanto harassed and/or sued

more than 500 U.S. farmers who saved their seeds, forcing them to pay the

company over $15 million in fines, including up to 8 month long prison

sentences. http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/seedsaving031405.cfm

__________________________________

MONSANTO HELPS KEEP A NOTORIOUS TOXIC PESTICIDE ON THE MARKET

This week, Minnesota became the first U.S. state to attempt to follow the

lead of the European Union and ban Atrazine. The commonly used corn

pesticide has been directly linked to cancer, low sperm counts and

widespread deformities in frogs, and has been showing up at increasing

rates in wells and municipal water supplies. In response to the proposed

law, chemically-dependent corn farmers and distributors of the pesticide,

including Monsanto and Syngenta, successfully flexed their lobbying muscle

and convinced lawmakers to reject the bill, claiming that Atrazine is safe,

and that a ban would negatively impact profits.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/atrazine031705.cfm

__________________________________

JUDGE RULES AGAINST ONE MILLION VIETNAMESE

IN FAVOR OF MONSANTO

On March 10, conservative Judge Jack B. Weinstein ruled against

compensating Vietnamese children and adults who have suffered serious

health damage due to the intensive spraying of the herbicide Agent Orange

during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange was widely applied to remove forest

cover, despite being categorized as a highly toxic dioxin to humans. Backed

by legal teams that only billions of dollars in annual sales can provide,

the Monsanto Corporation (the original producer of Agent Orange), Dow, and

others claimed the chemical is not toxic, even though it is now globally

banned for that very reason. Over a million Vietnamese suffer serious

health problems, ranging from cancer to birth defects, due to exposure to

Agent Orange, which still persists in the nation's environment. Birth

defect rates are among the highest in the world in regions where Agent

Orange was applied. Here, children are frequently born without eyes, limbs,

or are even missing internal organs. In making his ruling in favor of

Monsanto and Dow, Judge Weinstein claimed that pesticides and birth defects

are not related, saying, " There is no basis for any of the claims of

plaintiffs. The case is dismissed. "

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Politics/agentorange031405.cfm

__________________________________

IN THE WORDS OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

" Studies evaluating the role of pesticides in birth defects have found an

association between maternal and paternal exposure to pesticides and

increased risks of offspring having or dying from birth defects. "

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (America's Children and the

Environment)

For more U.S. Government statements on the health effects of pesticides

check out this Fact Sheet (PDF)

__________________________________

MILLIONS OF CITIZENS COUNTERING MONSANTO'S BUSINESS PRACTICES

Given Monsanto's ongoing, criminally irresponsible record of disregarding

human health and the environment, the Organic Consumers Association (OCA)

is stepping up the pace in our " Millions Against Monsanto " campaign. If

you're talking about Agent Orange, rBGH, water privatization, PCBs, or DDT,

you're talking about Monsanto. Sign the " Millions Against Monsanto "

petition now, and forward this Alert to your friends and colleagues. TAKE

ACTION HERE: http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.html

We really need your financial support right now to keep up the pressure on

Monsanto and the biotech industry. Strike a blow against enfoods,

pesticides, and corporate bullying by helping us in our efforts. DONATE

HERE: http://www.organicconsumers.org/donations.htm

__________________________________

BIRTH DEFECT RATES SKYROCKET ON FLORIDA FARMS

The state of Florida launched an investigation last week into illegally

exposing migrant workers to pesticides. Records show that at least 4,609

pesticide regulations were violated in the last ten years, but only 7.6% of

those resulted in penalties. As a result, migrant farm workers are

unknowingly facing highly dangerous working conditions in order to supply

the nation with cheap produce. For example, in Immokalee, Florida, migrant

workers in pesticide intensive tomato fields have witnessed three children

born with severe birth defects in the last three months alone. " People have

mentioned to me that maybe this has to do with chemicals, " says Francisca

Herrera, who was told it was " safe " to work in the tomato fields for most

of her pregnancy. Recently Francisca's new baby was born without arms or

legs. http://www.organicconsumers.org/OFGU/birthdefects031405.cfm

__________________________________

QUICK FOOD COMPANY NEWS MUNCHIES

TACO BELL: In an effort to end a three year long boycott of Taco Bell

restaurants by the Coalition of Immokalee Worker's (CIW), Taco Bell has

agreed to address the substandard wages and working conditions of Florida

tomato workers by guaranteeing to pay field workers a full penny per pound

of tomatoes purchased by the restaurant chain.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Politics/tacobell32205.cfm

WENDY'S: A woman eating at a 's restaurant in San California

found a human finger in her chili. Authorities are running fingerprints on

the 1 1/2 " long digit to find its owner, who is likely an employee of one

of the restaurant chain's food processing plants. Officials claim the body

part probably belongs to a woman, saying it was well manicured.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/wendys.cfm

MCDONALD'S: A Mc's restaurant in Russia's Pushkin Square has

officially become the busiest in the world, serving 30,000 customers per

day. The fast food chain is also Russia's biggest corporate landowner,

serving the standard menu items with the addition of cabbage pie and other

traditional Russian foods.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Politics/russia32205.cfm

BURGER KING has won the Center for Science in the Public Interest's " Booby

Prize, " for containing the highest level of hydrogenated fat in its french

fries. News of the prize arrived on the heels of a New England Journal of

Medicine report that reveals, for the first time in history, U.S. life

expectancy is expected to drop. As a result of the obesity epidemic

increasing risks of cancer, diabetes and heart disease, the average U.S.

lifespan is dropping by as many as five years.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/obesityo5.cfm

KRAFT: In Organic Bytes issue #22, the Organic Consumers Association

reported that Kraft Foods was sourcing fewer genetically modified

ingredients in its products. But the world's largest packaged food producer

is once again changing course on its food policy with the guidance of new

CEO, Deromedi. Speaking at Reuters Food Summit in Chicago last week,

Deromedi said, " We believe that over time genetically modified ingredients

will play a very important role both nutritionally and environmentally in

terms of reduction of pesticide use around the world. "

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Kraft/nutritious031605.cfm

__________________________________

GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CROPS REQUIRE MORE PESTICIDES

" While the discovery and adoption of GE crop technology has changed

American agriculture in many ways, reducing overall pesticide use is not

among them. The average acre planted to glyphosate-tolerant crops

[Monsanto's Roundup] requires more and more help from other herbicides, a

trend with serious environmental and economic implications. "

Source: Benbrook Consulting 2004 Technical Paper on USDA National

Agricultural Statistics Service

__________________________________

GLOBAL GE NEWS TIDBITS

*

U.K.: A recently released government commissioned comparison study of

genetically engineered (GE) crops vs. traditional crops showed the former

has a far greater negative impact on the environment (reducing butterfly

and bee populations).

*

EASTERN EUROPE: A sixth province in Poland announced last week it is

banning genetically engineered (GE) crops, resulting in roughly half of the

agriculture of the nation now being GE-free. In the meantime, Eastern

Europe governments have announced the implementation of the world's largest

organic research budget. According to Janez Potocnik, the EU Commissioner

for Research, " I believe that the importance of research into organic and

low-input food production can be a perfect example of how science can

unlock potentials for human well-being. "

*

AFRICA: Stakeholders in Tanzania are appealing to the government to

continue the country's ban on GE crops for the next ten years.

* JAPAN: Nearly a quarter of a million petition signatures opposing GE

farming in Hokkaido, Japan have been submitted to the local government. Of

the 5,000 farmers in the region, only ten (along with backing from the

Monsanto Corporation) support GE crops.

* U.S.: Vermont is holding public hearings on a bill that, for the first

time in U.S. history, would hold biotech companies liable for damage to

non-GE crops due to drifting GE pollen. Meanwhile, in Missouri, the USDA is

on the brink of approving field tests of rice engineered with human genes.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge-free.htm

__________________________________

NEW STUDIES SHOW SUSTAINABLE FARMING CREATES NUTRITIONALLY SUPERIOR FOOD

*

" High nitrogen levels make plants grow fast and bulk up with

carbohydrates and water. While the fruits these plants produce may be big,

they suffer in nutritional quality, whereas organic production systems

[which use slow-release forms of nitrogen] produce foods that usually yield

denser concentrations of nutrients and deliver consumers a better

nutritional bargain per calorie consumed. "

[Agriculture expert Benbrook, Ph.D. explains why conventional

produce has lower nutrient values than organic produce.]

*

Eggs from free-range hens contain up to 30% more vitamin E, 50% more

folic acid and 30% more vitamin B-12 than factory eggs, while the yolk

holds higher levels of antioxidant carotenes.

*

Beef from cattle raised in feedlots on growth hormones and high-grain

diets has lower levels of vitamins E, A, D and betacarotene and twice as

much fat as grass-fed beef.

Source: http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/lessnutritious032205.cfm

__________________________________

UK SCHOOLS GOING ORGANIC

Due to overwhelming pressure from parents of school-age children in the

U.K., Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced the establishment of a new

government based " School Food Trust, " wherein junk foods will be removed

from schools while organic " made-from-scratch " meals will be instituted.

According to Blair, " If changes are made it will only be a matter of months

before British health, education and farming could be affected for the

better. It could be one of the biggest food revolutions that England has

ever seen. " http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/blair032105.cfm

__________________________________

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