Food, Farms, Forests and Fracking (With comment by PHB)
Ronnie Cummins Organic Consumers Association
NOTE: Why is there never ay discussion of the real source of global warming, the 5000 plus active under-ocean volcanoes that are presently warming the oceans of our planet? ---PHB
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Food, Farms, Forests and Fracking: Uniting Our Movements to Survive
Droughts. Storms. Dying oceans. Scientists agree: We’re on a dangerous path to higher temperatures and greater climate instability. The climate movement is focused on curbing our use of fossil fuels. But we need to do more.
Agribusiness, with its genetically engineered, pesticide-drenched mono-crops and methane-emitting, water-polluting factory farms, plays a major role in climate change. And hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” the oil and gas industry’s new darling, has become the second largest contributor of greenhouse gases in the U.S.
We can’t wait for top-down solutions that may never materialize. The climate change solution must come from the grassroots. But it will take cooperation and collaboration. It’s time for the powerful anti-GMO (genetically modified organisms), forest-protection, anti-fracking and anti-factory farming movements to join forces with the climate movement. Before runaway global warming destroys the conditions we need to grow food. And sustain life.
ACTION ALERT
Send Gut-Wrenching Additives Off into the Sunset!
TAKE ACTION: Get Gut-Wrenching Carrageenan Out of Organic!
Carrageenan, a commonly used food additive, is linked to colitis, irritable bowel syndrome and higher rates of colon cancer. So why is it allowed in certified organic foods and juices? And organic baby formula?
Because the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) approved it for use in organics. That approval is set to expire, or “sunset.” Unfortunately, despite scientific evidence refuting the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) claim that carrageenan is safe, the NOP is recommending it be allowed in organic for another five years.
Europe has banned the use of carrageenan in infant formula, organic or otherwise. But here in the U.S., it’s allowed in organic foods, including juices, chocolate milk and organic infant formula. Could the lobbying efforts of organic brands, like J.M. Smucker Co.’s Santa Cruz Organic and R. W. Knudsen Family, and Dean Foods’ WhiteWave and Horizon Organic, have something to do with that? It’s time to put an end to carrageenan in organics!
TAKE ACTION: Get Gut-Wrenching Carrageenan Out of Organic!
ACTION ALERT
He Can Run. But Will He Be Able to Hide?
TAKE ACTION: Kill the Monsanto Protection Act: Force Senator Roy Blunt to Resign!
The last thing Senator Roy Blunt wants is a face-to-face meeting with a representative of the OCA. But that’s exactly what he’ll get, if we can collect 100,000 signatures on our petition demanding that he resign.
Sen. Blunt played a key role in helping Monsanto lobbyists write the Farmer Assurance Provision, aptly renamed the Monsanto Protection Act. This sneaky rider, slipped into the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act 2013, strips federal courts of their power to stop Monsanto from planting unproven, potentially dangerous crops.
The Monsanto Protection Act became law when President Obama signed the emergency appropriations bill. The good news: Like the spending bill it’s attached to, the Monsanto Protection Act expires on Sept. 30, 2013. The best way to make sure it doesn’t survive is to force Sen. Blunt to resign. And the best way for us to demand Blunt’s resignation is by camping out in his office until he agrees to accept our petition, signed by 100,000 angry consumers.
TAKE ACTION: Kill the Monsanto Protection Act: Force Senator Roy Blunt to Resign!
SUPPORT THE OCA & OCF
Donate by May 15 and We’ll Send You Some Seeds!
Nothing says hope better than a package of non-GMO, heirloom seeds.
In the spirit of hope and generosity, the folks at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, have donated a variety of beautiful seeds, just in time for spring planting. The list of seeds is too long to list, but it includes specialty varieties like Detroit Dark Red Beets, Atomic Red Carrots, Early Purple Vienna Kohlrabi and Persian Carpet Zinnias.
Here’s the deal. Make a donation of $50 or more by May 15, and we’ll send you four packages of seeds. Be sure to write “seeds” in the comment field with your online donation (or on the memo line of your check).
Let’s plant a little hope! Thank you!
Donate to the Organic Consumers Fund (non-tax-deductible, but necessary for our legislative efforts in Washington, Vermont and other states)
If you need your donation to be tax-deductible, you can donate to the Organic Consumers Association (tax-deductible, helps support our work on behalf of organic standards, fair trade and public education)
Join the March Against Monsanto and Help Spread the Word!
“We will not stand for cronyism. We will not stand for poison.”
Where will you be on May 25, at 11 a.m. Pacific time? Tami Monroe Canal, a dedicated mom and grassroots organizer, hopes you’ll be marching against Monsanto. Along with tens of thousands of other protestors, on six continents, in 250 cities, in 36 countries around the world.
Tami organized the March Against Monsanto on behalf of her two daughters, and children everywhere, whose health is being threatened by the Most Hated Corporation in the World. She hopes you’ll join in!
If you’re organizing a march in your area, the OCA has flyers, posters and stickers available to help you spread the word about Monsanto’s poisonous takeover of the world’s seeds and crops. Please call our office, at 218-353-7651, if you need materials to hand out on May 25.
ORGANIC RETAILERS AND CONSUMERS ALLIANCE
Last Chance: Nominate Your Favorite Retailer!
“Jimbo’s Naturally in Escondido is where I do a lot of my shopping (besides my local CSA and Primal Pasture’s in Temecula for eggs and chicken). They have four other stores though, and are completely committed to the Non-GMO project. They even provide a non-GMO shopping list." – On Jimbo’s Naturally, as nominated by Shelly Hackspiel
Why do you shop where you shop? What makes one farmers market or food co-op or health food store better than another? You tell us!
The OCA wants to acknowledge and promote the best practices of those retailers who are doing their best to promote organic and non-GMO products. Please talk to your local co-op or natural food store manager and email us about what your retailer is doing (or not doing) to support your right to know. After we read all your reports, and interview targeted grocers, we’ll announce the Top Ten Right to Know Grocers. But hurry! We’ll accept nominations until midnight, May 15, and announce the winners on May 30.
See who’s been nominated, and nominate your grocer
LITTLE BYTES
Essential Reading for the Week
Is There Reason to Worry About New "Most Lethal" Bird Flu Strain?
Over 5,000 Children's Products Contain Toxic Chemicals Linked to Cancer and Hormone Disruption
Fracking Ourselves to Death in Pennsylvania
The High Price of Our Fertilizer Addiction
MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS
Do your herbal and food supplements have these
unique qualities? 
- 100% Synthetic Free Formulas
Climate Collision Course: CO2 Levels About to Hit 400
- Ethically farmed or wild-crafted and fairly traded
- Easy to swallow small tablets made with Pur-Tab® method, containing no excipients, preservatives, allergenic or synthetic ingredients
- Supported by hundreds of studies in third party peer-reviewed journals and by extensive clinical trials
- Produced in state-of-the-art facilities certified to pharmaceutical good manufacturing practices (GMP) and ISO and Organic Certification
- Sourced from unpolluted pristine agricultural regions and farms
- Potency of every ingredient fully disclosed on the label panel
- Made from fresh raw plants never heated over 100 degrees
- Easy to digest, containing all of the plant’s active, living bioactives
- Highest naturally occurring potency at the same or better pricing as non-concentrated powdered powdered herbal and nutrient formulas
- Full spectrum standardized extracts
- Identification of herbs done with chromatography and contemporary analysis to ensure purity, consistency, and active potencies of herbal and food species
- Herbs subjected to Organoleptic testing to confirm specifications
- Microbiological testing ensures that the herbs do not have harmful bacteria or contaminants
ronniecummins@organicconsumers.org