-----Original Message-----
From: Organic Consumers Association [mailto:listad...@ORGANICCONSUMERS.ORG]
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2005 7:45 AM
To: bramblecr...@PEOPLEPC.COM
Subject: Weekly Environment, Consumer, and Health News Tidbits

      Hello Diane,

      Environmental, Consumer and Health News Tidbits with an Edge!

      ORGANIC BYTES #65

      9/11/2005

      Subscribe to this Bi-weekly Email Newsletter:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/organicbytes.htm

      In this issue:

        a.. ORGANICS IN THE FRIGHTENING WAKE OF KATRINA
        b.. ACTION ALERT: CRITICAL BUDGET CUTS DEBATED THIS WEEK
        c.. UPDATE ON PAST ACTION ALERT: ANOTHER MAJOR SUCCESS STORY!
        d.. THOUSANDS OF EPA SCIENTISTS ISSUE WARNING ON FLUORIDE
        e.. GOVERNMENT STUDY: HIGH LEVELS OF PESTICIDES IN KIDS' DIETS
        f.. A CUP OF COFFEE A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY?
        g.. THE ETHICS OF FISH
        h.. ORGANICS & EXCESSIVE PACKAGING
        i.. QUICK TIDBITS
      ____________________________________

      ORGANICS IN THE FRIGHTENING WAKE OF KATRINA
      The unfolding human and ecological catastrophe in New Orleans and the
Gulf Coast has literally blown the lid off "business and politics as usual"
in the United States. Katrina has forcefully reminded us here at the Organic
Consumers Association (OCA), as it has millions of Americans, that
out-of-control government and corporate greed, global warming, the Iraq war,
racism, poverty, oil dependency, and wetlands destruction are literally
matters of life and death, which we, as socially responsible consumers and
citizens, can no longer ignore or downplay. If you haven't yet made a
donation to relief efforts in New Orleans, you can click on the hurricane
icon on the home page of our website. In the "Daily News" section of our
website you will also find a number of excellent in-depth articles on
Katrina and global warming, which elucidate, not only what happened, and
what is happening, but point to solutions as well.

      ____________________________________

      ACTION ALERT: CRITICAL BUDGET CUTS DEBATED THIS WEEK
      The U.S. Congress has been ordered to cut $3 billion from farm and
nutritional programs by the Bush Administration. This week (9/12-9/16), the
final decision will be made by Congress regarding what specific programs
will be cut. At the moment, powerful members of Congress are leaning towards
cutting farm conservation programs as well as food stamps for hundreds of
thousands of poor people. But a broad coalition of nonprofit public interest
organizations, including the Organic Consumers Association, Oxfam, Community
Food Security Coalition, and the Land Stewardship Project, adamantly
disagrees with placing the burden of budget cuts on the backs of the needy
and the environment. Instead, we STRONGLY feel the cuts should be taken out
of the $20 billion annual pork-barrel subsidies that are currently being
given to the wealthiest factory farms, commodity exporters, and industrial
agriculture corporations. Iowa Senator Grassley has proposed an amendment to
USDA appropriations that would cap taxpayer subsidies to corporate farms at
$250,000 a year. It's no surprise that even this modest attempt at reducing
corporate welfare is being attacked by corporate agribusiness. The nation's
food stamp recipients, as well as the environment, need your support now, as
this decision will be made in the next few days. Take action and support the
"Rural America Preservation Act" (S. 385, a Senate bill which would set a
cap on subsidies). Send a letter to your U.S. Senator here:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/rd-subsidy.htm

      ____________________________________

      UPDATE ON PAST ACTION ALERT: ANOTHER MAJOR SUCCESS STORY!
      Organic Consumers Association supporters sent over ten thousand emails
to legislators in the last two weeks, urging California policymakers to
resist a "Monsanto Law" which was aimed at overturning local rights to
democratically create zones free of genetically engineered (GE) crops.
Thanks to all of you, legislators responded to the deluge of emails, faxes,
and calls, and held the current GE bans in place, which were originally
created by the majority votes of citizens, like you. But the biotech
corporations are vowing the battle is not over. We need your participation
and donations to get ready for the next round of Monsanto Laws in California
and dozens of other states across the country in 2006. To get involved or
keep up to date, stay tuned to the OCA's BioDemocracy Alliance web page
http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge-free.htm

      ____________________________________

      THOUSANDS OF EPA SCIENTISTS ISSUE WARNING ON FLUORIDE
      Over 7,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees have
called on Congress to pass a moratorium on the use of fluoride in drinking
water, citing a series of new studies directly connecting the chemical to
cancer. The group, made up predominantly of EPA scientists, has sent letters
to key Congressional committees and the EPA Secretary, calling for the EPA
to classify fluoride as a human carcinogen. At this point, it appears the
National Academy of Sciences is being instructed to review relevant studies
and report to Congress and the EPA on the topic in early 2006. The OCA will
be calling on its supporters to take action when that report is released.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/flouride090105.cfm

      ____________________________________

      GOVERNMENT STUDY: HIGH LEVELS OF PESTICIDES IN KIDS' DIETS
      U.S. government scientists from the Centers for Disease Control have
released a new study revealing that switching to organic foods provides
children with "dramatic and immediate" protection from toxic pesticides. The
scientists tested the urine of elementary school children for 15 days.
Children ate conventional foods for ten of the days and ate organic foods
for five days. During those five days, researchers saw the toxins malathion
and chlorpyrifos in the children's urine completely disappear. These
chemicals are two of the most commonly found pesticides on non-organic
foods, and are associated with nerve damage in children. Pesticide levels
increased five-fold in the children's urine as soon as conventional foods
were reintroduced to their diet. The study concludes, "An organic diet
provides a dramatic and immediate protective effect against exposure to
organophosphorus pesticides that are commonly used in agricultural
production." http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/organicstudy090405.cfm

      ____________________________________

      A CUP OF COFFEE A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY?
      A new study from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania indicates
coffee is one of the leading dietary sources of antioxidants for Americans.
Researchers analyzed 100 of the most common food items in the American diet
and found coffee led the pack, contributing 1,299 milligrams of antioxidants
to the average American each day. Tea was a distant second (294 mg.) and
bananas fell into third place (72mg.). The results were based on average
daily consumption of these food products, and researchers were quick to note
that coffee, which can also increase cholesterol levels, should not be
substituted for a healthy intake of fruits and vegetables and should only be
consumed in moderation. The study also cautions that high antioxidant levels
in foods and beverages don't necessarily translate into levels found in the
body. The potential health benefits of these antioxidants ultimately depends
on how they are absorbed and utilized in the body, a process that is still
poorly understood.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/coffee090305.cfm

      ____________________________________

      THE ETHICS OF FISH
      The ethics of fish-eating is becoming murkier. Species depletion,
mercury and other toxic contamination, and yet recommendations from
nutritionists that fish is good for you. Take the case of salmon: There are
those that say it's best to purchase wild salmon, which spends its life in
the ocean, feeding naturally, and thereby has less toxic residues in its
body. It's like "free-range" fish, they say. And then there are the
aquaculture proponents who note we're over-harvesting the ocean's fish to
the point of extinction. On this side of the issue, they'll tell you it's
best to raise salmon on coastal fish farms. They'll tell you it's the only
way to produce enough fish to feed hungry North American consumers. But the
coastal farms have their problems, as well. Concentrated production of fish
creates aquatic clouds of feces that literally kills the coastal waters,
while diseases and parasites run rampant and spread to wild fish. Feeding
captive fish antibiotics, concentrated fish meal, and slaughterhouse waste
also increases toxins in their bodies. Now a new breed of fish producers
claims to have the "ultimate" environmentally conscious method. By raising
fish in massive closed tanks, large numbers of fish can be produced without
the spread of disease into the wild and the feces is collected and used as
compost. But what about the well-being of the fish? Is it possible to assess
whether or not our finned friends are content with swimming in such close
quarters? Or is it simply time to dramatically cut back on these types of
fish in our diets? Download your pocket seafood guide here
(http://www.organicconsumers.org/Toxic/seafood-guide.pdf), and share your
thoughts on this topic in OCA's web forum
http://www.organicconsumers.org/chat/index.php

      ____________________________________

      ORGANICS & EXCESSIVE PACKAGING
      Eco-conscious consumers are increasingly suffering ethical
short-circuits while shopping. Yes, those organic crackers were made from
organic wheat that was not doused with synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.
Good for the environment and worth the extra cost? Yes... But what about the
packaging? Neatly lined up in a plastic tray that's shrinkwrapped in more
plastic and then swaddled up in a sealed plastic bag, these "organic"
crackers suddenly lose their environmental edge. So what's a consumer to do?
Well, if you're from the UK, things are looking up. This week, the British
Government announced a new funding program that will reduce waste from
packaging of organic products and create new guidelines wherein producers
seeking organic certification must also meet stringent packaging waste
standards. For organic consumers outside of the UK, the OCA recommends
choosing organic products with minimal and/or recycled packaging.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/packaging090205.cfm

      ____________________________________

      QUICK TIDBITS
      The New York Times calls it "the biggest surge in campus activism in
nearly two decades," but students say it's simply the right thing to do. As
the fall 2006 semester kicks off, over 100 colleges in the U.S. have
committed to producing their logo-bearing clothing items from organic and
fair trade cotton. Learn how to get your school involved here:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/clothes/backtoschool083105.cfm

      Eating a healthy sized breakfast actually decreases obesity trends,
reports a new study. "We think it actually kick starts metabolism," said one
of the study's authors, Bruce Barton. Skipping breakfast actually leads to
higher levels of unhealthy and ongoing snacking later in the day and into
the evening, due to the body's resulting compensatory hunger for high sugar,
fat and carbohydrate foods. In addition, eating a high sugar breakfast
actually shocks the body into unbalanced increases in hunger levels
throughout the day. Nutritionists claim part of the obesity epidemic is due
to the fact that the vast majority of Americans eat small or high sugar
breakfasts, part of which is programmed in youth. Over 90% of the cereals
directly marketed to children are sugar coated.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/breakfast.cfm

      A coalition of over a thousand Canadian farmers has taken the Monsanto
and Bayer corporations to court. The group is demanding compensation for
financial losses due to contamination of organic fields by genetically
engineered pollen drift. According to one plaintiff farmer, Dale Beaudoin,
"This is no minor issue. It is a matter of independence and survival for all
farmers world-wide."
http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/lawsuit090805.cfm

      Harvest time has arrived. One way of Breaking the Chains is to buy
locally grown food and/or grow your own. But with the demise of the family
farm over the last few decades, so too has the art of home food preservation
faded. Fret not, the National Center for Home Food Preservation, a
research-based nonprofit, provides all the info you need to safely and
tastily can, dry, freeze, smoke, ferment, pickle and jam this year's
harvest. It's really not as hard as you might think!
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

      ____________________________________

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