[Pvgreens-discussion] [GPOC] Fwd: Organic Bytes #81 - Sneak Attack on Organic Standards

[Nancy York]

Note the boycott of Horizon organics and the supplier of Safeway's O 
brand
organics - Aurora.

Bruce

------- Forwarded message -------
From: "Organic Consumers Association" <listadmin at ORGANICCONSUMERS.ORG>
To: BRUCE at DEMANDEARTH.COM
Subject: Organic Bytes #81 - Sneak Attack on Organic Standards
Date: Wed, 10 May 2006 12:11:49 -0600

Hello Bruce,

ORGANIC BYTES #81
Health, Justice and Sustainability News Tidbits with an Edge!

5/10/2006

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

Written and edited by Craig Minowa and Ronnie Cummins
IN THIS ISSUE

ALERT: STOP THE USDA’S LATEST SNEAK ATTACK ON ORGANIC STANDARDS

ALERT: FREE THOUSANDS OF AMERICA’S ORGANIC COWS FROM INTENSIVE 
CONFINEMENT

HORIZON AND AURORA BANNED IN CO-OPS

PROTEST STARBUCKS

DESPITE BIG SODA PR, COMPANIES WON'T BE LEAVING SCHOOLS

BIRD FLU SCARE HITS U.S. - IN A MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE

VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS & THE BIRD FLU PANDEMIC

QUICK TIDBITS
ALERT: STOP THE USDA’S LATEST SNEAK ATTACK ON ORGANIC STANDARDS
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, no doubt hoping to limit public
controversy,
has announced a very short public comment period (ends May 12, 2006) on
proposed
new federal regulations that will weaken organic standards. USDA’s 
proposed
amendments, supported by grocery store chains and large food 
corporations,
will
allow so-called organic dairy feedlots to continuously import calves 
from
conventional farms—where the calves have been weaned on blood, dosed 
with
antibiotics, and fed genetically engineered grains and slaughterhouse
waste.
USDA’s new rules will also allow over 500 artificial (synthetic)
substances in
organic processed foods without prior scrutiny and review by the 
National
Organic Standards Board. USDA’s latest efforts are basically an attempt 
to
codify last fall’s controversial “Sneak Attack” in Congress, when 
industry
players and the Organic Trade Association convinced the Republican Party
majority to attach a last minute rider to the 2006 Agricultural
Appropriations
Bill. Take action now and tell the USDA to back off on lowering 
standards!
http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm

Please send a donation to the OCA so we can continue to fight to 
preserve
organic standards!

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

photo parody
ALERT: FREE THOUSANDS OF AMERICA’S ORGANIC COWS FROM INTENSIVE 
CONFINEMENT
The USDA is also seeking public comments on revisions it has made to the
National Organic Program regarding pasture access for organic dairy
cattle. Two
of the largest organic dairy companies in the nation, Horizon Organic (a
subsidiary of Dean Foods), a supplier to Wal-Mart and many health food
stores;
and Aurora Organic, a supplier of private brand name organic milk to
Costco,
Safeway, Giant, Wild Oats and others, are purchasing the majority of 
their
milk
  from so-called organic feedlot dairies where the cows are kept in 
intensive
confinement, with little or no access to pasture. Together, Horizon and
Aurora
control nearly 65% of the organic dairy market. Recent scientific 
studies
have
shown that humanely raised, grass-fed dairy and beef are qualitatively
better
for human health and the environment. Take action to close the 
loopholes in
organic standards that currently allow factory farm dairies to call 
their
products “organic.”
http://www.organicconsumers.org/nosb2.htm

__________________________________
HORIZON AND AURORA BANNED IN CO-OPS
One month ago, after a poll of our members, the Organic Consumers
Association
called on consumers to boycott dairy companies like Horizon and Aurora 
for
their
practice of raising "organic" cattle on intensive confinement feedlots. 
A
number
of natural food stores and co-ops across the U.S. are beginning to 
respond
to
concerned consumers and removing suspect dairy products from their 
stores.
The
Wedge Co-op in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the second largest co-op in the
U.S., no
longer carries Horizon products. In Colorado, the Boulder Co-op Market,
has also
discontinued stocking Horizon products. Amy Wyatt, Assistant General
Manager for
the Co-op, says, "Based on our concerns regarding Horizon's practices, 
we
didn't
feel that continuing to carry this company's products was consistent 
with
our
mission and values.” Dean Foods, Horizon’s parent company, is also
starting to
come under fire for abandoning U.S. organic soybean farmers and 
importing
cheap
soybeans from China, where organic standards are dubious, and farm labor
wages
and conditions are abysmal. Dean Foods now controls the nation’s largest
organic
soymilk brand, Silk, as well as the largest organic tofu brand, White 
Wave.
Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_400.cfm

____________________________________
PROTEST STARBUCKS: Frankenbucks National Week of Action June 19th-25th
Despite years of grassroots pressure, Starbucks continues to serve milk
from
cows that are injected with Monsanto’s controversial genetically 
engineered
recombinant bovine growth hormone, also known as rBGH or rBST. Virtually
every
industrial country, except for the United States, has banned the use of
rBGH.
Milk produced from cows injected with rBGH poses serious hazards to 
human
health,
including increased risks for cancer. The time has come to kick rBGH off
the
market, once and for all. If Starbucks, a major buyer of milk, were to 
ban
rBGH
dairy products in its coffee beverages other major corporations would
likely do
the same. Join OCA and allies June 19-25, to protest or leaflet at
Starbucks
cafes in your neighborhood. Help us reach our goal of 300 actions! Click
here to
leaflet Starbucks or for more information
http://organicconsumers.org/Starbucks/

____________________________________

image parody
DESPITE BIG SODA PR, COMPANIES WON'T BE LEAVING SCHOOLS
Last week, big soda producers like Coca-Cola and Pepsi sucked up 
volumes of
positive press after announcing that they were removing soda pop from 
U.S.
schools. The beverage companies seemed to be finally responding to
pressure from
parents across the nation concerned about junk foods and beverages in
schools
and childhood obesity. A closer look at the actual statements of the 
soda
giants,
however, reveals that no actual implementation of these policies is
planned. In
fact, according to the American Beverage Association, an industry trade
group
representing soda companies, the so-called new policy is completely
voluntary,
and first requires that individual school districts actually request to
have
soda machines removed. Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage
Association said: "This is a voluntary policy, but I think schools will
want to
follow it." Because school districts already have the power to add or
remove
vending machines from schools, last week's policy announcement from the
soda
industry amounts to nothing more than another deceptive, albeit clever 
PR
campaign.
Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_404.cfm

____________________________________

image parody
BIRD FLU SCARE HITS U.S. - IN A MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE
Last night, ABC aired a movie entitled "Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in
America". The
film portrayed a worse-case scenario outbreak where millions of people 
die
within the first few weeks of an avian flu pandemic. The network
advertised the
film as being based on fact and stated it was "one step ahead of the
headlines."
A coalition of public interest organizations, including the Organic
Consumers
Association have called on ABC to take a step back from sensationalism 
and
present its viewers with factual information on the spread of such
diseases. A
letter written by the coalition to Anne Sweeney, the President of
Disney-ABC,
states "The role of large industrial-scale poultry operations – where 
up to
hundreds of thousands of birds can be housed indoors in cramped 
conditions
– is
not being examined by most of the media or by government officials 
charged
with
preventing the spread of the virus. Such facilities not only provide 
prime
conditions for the mutation and spread of the virus between birds, but
also rely
heavily on genetically similar birds not likely to be resistant to
disease."


__________________________________

image parody
VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS & THE BIRD FLU PANDEMIC
The White House is advising the public to stockpile food and water to
prepare
for a potential bird flu pandemic. The Bush Administration's report 
states
that
since the pandemic could kill as many as two million Americans, massive
taxpayer
subsidies must be handed over to the pharmaceutical industry to develop 
a
magic
bullet vaccine. Meanwhile, according to Wall Street analysts, Defense
Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld has already pocketed million dollars off of his
investments in
the company Gilead Sciences, the California biotech company that owns 
the
rights
to Tamiflu, the world’s most popular influenza remedy. On the other 
hand,
the
United Nations global coordinator on Avian Influenza is considering a 
more
holistic approach to dealing with a potential outbreak. The result is a
series
of reports, including one entitled, "The Pivotal Role for Natural 
Products
in
Countering an Avian Influenza Pandemic". The report, authored by four
leading
scientists and doctors in the fields of nutritional medicine and health,
focuses
on the key nutrients zinc, vitamin C, and vitamin A as primary 
supplemental
medicines to strengthen peoples’ immunes systems to fight off the flu.
According
to the report's lead author, "Following an extensive review of over 250
peer
reviewed studies, we believe that the protocols developed here can help 
to
buy
time and fill the gap between the outbreak of a pandemic and the months 
or
years
required for development and manufacture of effective vaccines." Learn
more:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_407.cfm


___________________________________

QUICK TIDBITS
France’s top judicial court has denied Monsanto's requests to grow test
plots of
genetically engineered corn in two locations. The court says the biotech
corporation has not provided enough details about where these 
experimental
field
trials would be located. Monsanto has responded by saying that despite 
the
court
ruling, the corporation will continue testing genetically engineered 
crops
in
France. "We'll continue our experiments, but we might have to change a 
bit
the
way we ask for licenses in the future," said Yann Fichet, director of
external
relations for Monsanto France. Learn more:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_406.cfm
----------------
Over 1600 sheep apparently died this month in India after ingesting
genetically
engineered (GE) cotton. The massive deaths occurred after several days 
of
grazing in fields where Monsanto’s Bt and herbicide resistant spliced
varieties
of cotton were planted. Scientists from India's Centre for Sustainable
Agriculture are calling on the government to launch a study into the
impacts of
GE cotton toxins. Learn more:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_387.cfm
----------------


____________________________________

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