ORGANIC BYTES #68 Health, Environment and Consumer News

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Fri, 28 Oct 2005 10:55:30 -0700

" Organic Consumers Association " <listadmin

This Week's Biggest Environment, Health, and Consumer News

Tidbits (Organic Bytes #68)

 

 

ORGANIC BYTES #68

Health, Environment and Consumer News Tidbits with and Edge!

 

10/28/2005

 

 

 

IN THIS ISSUE

 

* INDUSTRY SNEAK ATTACK ON ORGANIC STANDARDS RAMMED THROUGH CONGRESS

* ALERT: STOP FACTORY FARM DAIRY FEEDLOTS FROM LABELING THEIR

PRODUCTS AS ORGANIC

*

WHERE DID YOUR FOOD COME FROM?

* HEALTH NEWS: JUST PLAIN OLD SOAP IS ALL YOU NEED

* TEENAGE GIRLS MAKE THE SALE

* SIGN UP TO ORGANIZE A " BREAKING THE CHAINS " EVENT IN YOUR AREA

* DISASSEMBLING THE FAMILY FARM: CONGRESS CUTS MORE PROGRAMS

* QUICK TIDBITS

 

 

INDUSTRY SNEAK ATTACK ON ORGANIC STANDARDS RAMMED THROUGH CONGRESS

Despite receiving over 350,000 letters and phone calls from OCA

members and the organic community, Republican leaders in Congress

October 27 attached a rider to the 2006 Agricultural Appropriations

Bill to weaken the nation's organic food standards in response to

pressure from large-scale food manufacturers. " Congress voted last

night to weaken the national organic standards that consumers count on

to preserve the integrity of the organic label, " said Ronnie Cummins,

National Director of the Organic Consumers Association. " The process

was profoundly undemocratic and the end result is a serious setback

for the multi billion dollar alternative food and farming system that

the organic community has so painstakingly built up over the past 35

years. As passed, the amendment sponsored by the Organic Trade

Association allows: Numerous synthetic food additives and processing

aids, including over 500 food contact substances, to be used in

organic foods without public review. Young dairy cows to continue to

be treated with antibiotics and fed genetically engineered feed prior

to being converted to organic production. Loopholes under which

non-organic ingredients could be substituted for organic ingredients

without any notification of the public based on " emergency decrees. "

OCA will work to reverse this rider with an " Organic Restoration Act "

in Congress in 2006. http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm

 

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ALERT: STOP FACTORY FARM DAIRY FEEDLOTS FROM LABELING THEIR PRODUCTS

AS ORGANIC

Organic consumers assume that when they're buying " USDA Organic " milk

or dairy products, that the animals have access to pasture, and have

been raised organically for their entire lives on sustainably-sized

farms. Unfortunately, as the Cornucopia Institute has pointed out,

companies like Dean Foods (Horizon) and Aurora have become leaders in

the organic dairy sector by producing cheap milk on factory farm

feedlots, feeding the cows organic grains, but providing no access to

pasture, as organic standards require. The National Organic Standards

Board (NOSB) has pleaded with the USDA for four years to clarify

federal regulations requiring pasture access and to put an end to

factory farm dairy feedlots calling themselves organic. Unfortunately

USDA, no doubt under pressure from " industrial organic " lobbyists, has

failed to act. In addition loopholes in federal organic standards are

allowing unscrupulous organic dairy operators to increase their herd

size by importing young calves from conventional farms, where the

animals are routinely weaned on cattle blood, injected or medicated

with antibiotics, and fed genetically engineered grains, laced with

slaughterhouse waste and tainted animal fat. The NOSB will be meeting

on November 16, at which time public comments will be reviewed on this

issue. Please sign OCA's petition to the USDA, calling on the agency

to close loopholes in federal regulations that are allowing factory

farms to produce milk labeled " organic. " Please give the US Department

of Agriculture a call at 202-720-3631 and ask them to stop allowing

factory dairy farms to use the " USDA Organic " Label.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/alert102505.cfm

 

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WHERE DOES YOUR ORGANIC FOOD COME FROM?

Increasing numbers of food companies, including Brand Name organic

companies, are " outsourcing " their ingredients from overseas in order

to increase their bottom-line profits. Suppliers in places like China,

where prices and wages are rock-bottom, are gaining market preference

over " Made in the USA " products, where wages and environmental

regulations are more strictly regulated. Consumers are left guessing

which products to buy, due to a lack of " country of origin labeling "

on grocery items (except fish). Congress passed a mandatory country of

origin labeling law two years ago, in the wake of massive consumer

pressure, but has not yet funded or implemented this law. Now

transnational food giants and supermarket chains, like Wal-Mart, are

pressuring congress to rid of mandatory country of origin labeling

laws and make the labels strictly voluntary for industry. To learn

more about organic outsourcing see:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/imports101005.cfm To tell

Congress to make country of origin labeling mandatory go to:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/Politics/cool091605.cfm

 

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HEALTH NEWS: JUST PLAIN OLD SOAP IS ALL YOU NEED

There's good news for old fashioned soap lovers. U.S. health experts

and scientists asked the FDA to pass restrictions on antibacterial

soaps last week. Scientists referenced a mounting body of studies

showing that standard soap removes bacteria as effectively as soaps

with antimicrobial chemical additives. Experts said that, due to the

overuse of antibacterial soaps, bacteria are developing resistance to

important antimicrobial disinfectants and medicines. The panel

recommended that antibacterial soaps only be used in medical

facilities or in homes of the elderly and sick. As a related note,

USDA Certified Organic soaps are now available at your local natural

products store. http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/fda-soap.cfm

 

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TEENAGE GIRLS MAKE THE SALE

" Buzz Marketing " is becoming the new rage in corporate advertising and

marketing. Kids are literally being " hired " by the hundreds of

thousands to coax their peers into buying certain products. Marketers

are getting a much bigger bang for their buck with this technique,

since people trust what their peers have to say over an advertiser's

voice on the TV or radio. Although few people are aware of it, a full

85% of the nation's top 1,000 marketers now use the technique. Procter

& Gamble, alone, has a force of 250,000 kids, 75% of whom are girls,

age 13 to 19, who are mailed free products in return for suggesting

those products to friends. Tremor, one of the largest firms employing

this marketing technique, says it's completely ethical. " To be a

member is empowering for a teen, " says Steve Knox, CEO of Tremor.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/nabbing102005.cfm

 

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SIGN UP TO ORGANIZE A " BREAKING THE CHAINS " EVENT IN YOUR AREA

This holiday season, Organic Consumers Association is calling on

consumers worldwide to take part in a series of events to help spread

the good news about buying " local, Fair Made, and organic. " Between

November 13 and December 31 the OCA will be organizing hundreds of

events, working with a critical mass of global citizens to " Break the

Chains " and take back control of our communities, our food and

commerce, and our future. We ask you to please consider organizing an

event near you. The OCA will help you organize your event and provide

you with materials for the type of event that is most appropriate for

you. You could throw a " Breaking the Chains " house party, organize a

film showing, hold a leafleting event, picket an area Wal-Mart, or

coordinate a " buycott " (helping others find local independently owned

businesses). This campaign is fun, it's effective, and it's one of the

best ways to help health, environmental, and justice minded consumers

stop the Wal-Martization of their community and the planet by

supporting local products from independent grocers, restaurants,

coffeehouses, bookstores, and farms. Learn more and sign up here:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/btc.htm

 

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DISASSEMBLING THE FAMILY FARM: CONGRESS CUTS MORE PROGRAMS

A big thanks to all of you who responded to the Organic Consumers

Association's Alert two weeks ago regarding impending agriculture

appropriations cuts in Congress. The original proposed Budget

Reconciliation bill would have cut $3 billion in conservation programs

and food stamps to low- income Americans. Your letters helped stop

Congress from cutting food stamps. Unfortunately, corporate

agribusiness lobbyists got most of what they wanted, slashing funds

for sustainable agriculture and farm conservation programs, while

maintaining $20 billion in annual taxpayer subsidies to the nation's

largest chemical-intensive and genetically engineered farms. According

to Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), the Conservation Security Program, which

helps family farmers protect the land and reduce pollution, received

the bulk of the cuts, while the 2006 Federal Budget " authorizes

additional tax breaks of $70 billion - the lion's share of which will

go to the very wealthiest Americans. "

http://www.organicconsumers.org/corp/agbill102105.cfm

 

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QUICK TIDBITS

 

During Halloween, chocolate sales to children are at their highest.

This is a great opportunity to show your support for Fair Trade

practices and to take steps towards ending the production of chocolate

by hundreds of thousands of child cocoa laborers. Global Exchange, the

International Labor Rights Fund, Oxfam America, Co-op America, and

United Students for Fair Trade are promoting a campaign to help you

serve Fair Trade Certified Chocolate this Halloween. For more

information visit http://www.globalexchange.org/halloween

 

The city of Madison, Wisconsin is going sweatshop free. The City

Council voted unanimously to pass an ordinance that requires that all

city worker clothing apparel be made in conditions " that respect the

economic dignity and human rights of workers, including the right to

organize. " http://www.organicconsumers.org/cfac/madison101805.cfm

 

A new Russian study found that genetically modified (GM) soy

negatively affects the offspring of rats. A group of mother rats with

newborn babies who were fed standard soy had three of their offspring

die in three weeks. A similarly sized group of mother rats who were

fed GM soy had 25 of their babies die in the same three week period.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/deadrats101805.cfm

 

Tip of the Week: Feel like you have money problems? This little link

can fix your financial frustrations in a matter of seconds. In

comparison to the rest of the world's population, you might not have

it so bad. Now you can find out exactly how you rank among the world's

richest and poorest people. Just type in your annual income and this

website will calculate specifically how you compare with the rest of

the world. http://globalrichlist.com

 

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__

 

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