ESSAY OF THE WEEK
Back to an Organic Future
"It is easy to forget that once upon a time all agriculture was organic, grassfed and regenerative. Fortunately, a movement to rediscover and implement ‘old’ practices of bygone days has risen rapidly, abetted by innovations in technology, breakthroughs in scientific knowledge, and tons of old-fashioned, on-the-ground problem-solving.” - Courtney White, The Carbon Pilgrim, Nov. 16, 2014
We’ve heard the chorus of scientists. We know we must reduce the concentration of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere to 350 parts-per-million (ppm) in order to preserve life on Earth.
But hearing and listening don’t always go hand-in-hand.
Unfortunately the business-as-usual behavior of out-of-control corporations, indentured politicians and hordes of mindless consumers, continues to lead to billions of tons of CO2 and greenhouse gases (GHGs) being pumped into our already (398 ppm) supersaturated atmosphere and ocean.
By the time major reductions in fossil fuel use take effect—in 20 years, if we’re lucky—it could be too late.
While climate scientists sound their alarms on the global warming front, agronomists and hunger experts warn of equally catastrophic events. They tell us that unless we embark on a global campaign to reduce the damages of industrial agriculture, restore soil fertility, improve crop quality and food nutrition, and conserve water, we face increasing rural poverty, starvation and permanent food and water wars, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where the majority of the world’s population live.
These looming disasters—climate catastrophe, and rural poverty, starvation and food and water wars—are not entirely unrelated. And neither are their solutions.
MILLIONS AGAINST MONSANTO
Countdown to Capitol Hill
Photo Credit: freestock.ca ? dare to share beauty viaCompfight cc
Plans are shaping up for our December 10rally on Capitol Hill to let Congress know, in no uncertain terms, that we expect them to reject H.R. 4432, a bill intended to strip states of the right to pass GMO labeling laws.
All we need now is you. Because the more people we have lined up outside theDecember 10 hearing for H.R. 4432, the louder our collective voice, the greater the impact we’ll have.
Here’s the plan. We will pack as many people as possible into the hearing room. Then we’ll have a rally (yes, we have a permit for this), with a slate of bi-partisan speakers. From the rally, we’ll all head inside for an organic lunch and interviews with reporters.
All of the details are here, including what to do if you want to organize a bus from your state or region (but please hurry!), which states and cities have already organized buses but need more passengers, where to go, what to do, and when.
If you can attend, please call ahead and try to schedule a staff meeting with your Congress member. Then download this flyer, fill it out and leave it with staff. Also, please bring a black and red blindfold or bandana to symbolize being kept in the dark by Monsanto and Big Food. (More details here).
Can’t be there in person? Please call your members of Congress on December 10, in solidarity with our rally. (Details on how to contact Congress and what to say here).
You can also help OCA pay for buses, speakers’ travel expenses, media materials and outreach and the organic lunch by making a donation here.
H.R. 4432—the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) ACT—was introduced by Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) at the bidding of Monsanto, Big Food and the Koch Brothers. If passed, H.R. 4432 will strip your state of the right to pass a GMO labeling law.
We need to stop this bill in its tracks.
TAKE ACTION: Donate to help fund our December 10 rally against Pompeo’s bill to kill GMO labeling.
TAKE ACTION: Tell Your Representative: Don’t Support Big Food’s Bill to Kill GMO Labeling Laws!
ACTION ALERT
Level Farming Fields
Farmers know all about clearing and leveling out fields in order to plant crops.
But the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) seems determined to keep the playing field for small farmers decidedlyunlevel. If we don’t intervene, the FDA could put countless small farmers out of business.
It all has to do with something called theFood Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The FSMA is geared toward applying one-size-fits-all regulations to farms, regardless of how large or small those farms are.
Last year this time, in response to complaints from consumers, farmers and other groups, the FDA announced plans to revisit the rules.
Fast forward a year, and the issue now is the Tester-Hagan amendment which would exempt small-scale, direct-marketing farms and artisan food producers from the most burdensome aspects of the FSMA.
But now the FDA, instead of respecting the intent of the Congressionally mandated Tester-Hagan amendment, is proposing to implement the amendment in a way that will allow the agency to target small farms and food producers one-by-one and put them out of business—with little or no recourse for the farmers.
Small farms that produce healthy food are the key to healthy, economically sustainable communities. We should do everything in our power to make them flourish. So why is the FDA writing rules guaranteed to do just the opposite?
TAKE ACTION: Tell FDA food safety regulators to be fair to small farmers!
OREGON UPDATE
Mark Your Calendars
Friday, December 12. That’s the date by which every county in Oregon is expected to complete their recounts of Oregon’s Measure 92, an initiative to require mandatory labeling of GMOs.
Like you, we’ll be on pins and needles, waiting for the news.
Between now and December 12, the campaign, with the help of legal advisors and volunteers, will diligently monitor the recount process to ensure that all of the votes are counted fairly.
But here’s what really counts. For months, you’ve supported this initiative. Win or lose, we are all winners. With your help, the YES on 92 Campaign came within 812 votes of a win (although we hope that number changes after the recount). And they did it in spite of Monsanto and Big Food’s $20.7 million media blitz.
Stay tuned.
The deadline for getting money to the YES on 92 Campaign to help with the recount was this week. Through our 501(c) 4 lobbying arm, the Organic Consumers Fund, we wired another $25,000 to the campaign. If you make a donation today, you will help offset that donation. Thank you!
More here on the Oregon recount
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
A New Resistance
Forty years ago, a chemical was born. It's in our food, water, air, soil, blood, urine and breast milk.
Are you Roundup Ready? Or ready for a New Resistance?
NEW STUDY
Coincidence? Or Corruption?
A new study, published in the Journal of Organic Systems, concludes (not for the first time, we might add), that glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, is likely to have something to do with the fact that over the past 20 years, we’ve seen “an alarming” increase in serious illnesses in the U.S. Not to mention a marked decrease in life expectancy.
The authors of the study, who include Andre Leu, president of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), point out the direct correlation between the introduction of Roundup and increases in diabetes, cardiovascular disease, strokes, neurological diseases, obesity, asthma, behavior and learning problems, and chronic disease in children and young adults.
Coincidence? The scientists are clear that correlation does not necessarily equate with causation. But at the very least, they say, we should be taking a long, hard look at whether or not Roundup is making us sick.
Why isn’t that happening, despite this new study and the many that have come before it?
One reporter summed it up this way: “And as a scientist unconnected with Dr Swanson and her co-authors told GMWatch, if the issue of GM crops and their associated pesticides were not such a political and economic 'hot potato', such a rapid escalation in disease in a population would be investigated as an emergency priority.”
LITTLE BYTES
Essential Reading for the Week
5 of the Healthiest and Most Affordable Foods Available
Unbelievable Photos Show Factory Farms Destroying the American Countryside
United Nations Calls for an End to Industrialized Farming
Our Daily Poison: How Chemicals Have Contaminated the Food Chain
Mercola Top 12 Health Tips; Recommended Supplements
Here's How to Fight Climate Change, Alleviate Poverty, and Increase Resilience Too
A $10 Million Blow to Fair Trade: How a Grant to Fair Trade USA May Take Down a Movement
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