____________________________________
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/
____________________________________
ORGANICS IN THE FRIGHTENING WAKE OF KATRINA
Smile, Laugh & Cry with
Ode