[permaculture] Another Shill for Monsanto
Nancy Frank
oppty at mac.com
Sat Dec 27 22:27:23 EST 2008
Please be aware that the OCA petition site address came across with
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NF
On Dec 27, 2008, at 8:48 PM, Nicholas Roberts wrote:
> *Tom Vilsack's Kind of Agriculture * *Another Shill for Monsanto *
>
> By RONNIE CUMMINS
>
> Yesterday's announcement that former Iowa Governor, Tom Vilsack,
> has been
> selected as the new Secretary of Agriculture sent a chill through the
> sustainable food and farming community who have been lobbying for a
> champion
> in the new administration.
>
> "Vilsack's nomination sends the message that dangerous, untested,
> unlabeled
> genetically engineered crops will be the norm in the Obama
> Administration,"
> said Ronnie Cummins, Executive Director of Organic Consumers
> Association.
> "Our nation's future depends on crafting a forward-thinking
> strategy to
> promote organic and sustainable food and farming, and address the
> related
> crises of climate change, diminishing energy supplies,
> deteriorating public
> health, and economic depression."
>
> The Department of Agriculture during the Bush Administration failed to
> promote a sustainable vision for food and farming and did not protect
> consumers from the chemical-intensive toxic practices inherent to
> industrial
> agriculture. While factory farms and junk food have been subsidized
> with
> billions of tax dollars, the US industrial farm system has released
> massive
> amounts of climate-destabilizing greenhouse gases into the
> atmosphere and
> increased our dependence on foreign oil.
>
> The Secretary of Agriculture is responsible for directing the U.S.
> Department of Agriculture and its $97 billion annual budget,
> including the
> National Organic Program, food stamp and nutrition programs,
> agriculture
> subsidies, and the Forest Service.
>
> While Vilsack has worked to restrain livestock monopolies, his
> overall
> record is one of aiding and abetting Concentrated Animal Feeding
> Operations
> (CAFOs, also known as factory farms). Vilsack's support for
> unsustainable
> industrial ethanol production has already caused global corn and grain
> prices to skyrocket, literally taking food off the table for a billion
> people in the developing world.
>
> Over the past month, Organic Consumers Association members have
> sent over
> 20,000 emails to President-Elect Obama's Transition Team, calling
> for the
> appointment of a Secretary of Agriculture who would develop and
> implement a
> plan that promotes family-scale farming, a safe and nutritious food
> system,
> and a sustainable and organic vision for the future.
>
> "Obama's choice for Secretary of Agriculture points to the
> continuation of
> agribusiness as usual, the failed policies of chemical- and
> energy-intensive, genetically engineered industrial agriculture," said
> Cummins. "Americans were promised 'change,' not just another shill for
> Monsanto and corporate agribusiness. Considering the challenges we
> collectively face as a nation, from climate change and rising
> energy costs
> to food insecurity, we need an administration that moves beyond
> 'business as
> usual' to fundamental change—before it's too late," concluded Cummins.
>
> Vilsack's business as usual positions have included the following:
>
> · Vilsack has been a strong supporter of genetically engineered
> pharmaceutical crops, especially pharmaceutical corn.
>
> · The biggest biotechnology industry group, the Biotechnology
> Industry
> Organization, named Vilsack Governor of the Year. He is also the
> founder and
> former chair of the Governor's Biotechnology Partnership.
>
> · When Vilsack created the Iowa Values Fund, his first poster
> child for
> economic development was Trans Ova and their pursuit of cloning
> dairy cows.
>
> · The undemocratic 2005 seed pre-emption bill was the Vilsack's
> brainchild. The law strips local government's right to regulate
> genetically
> engineered seed.
>
> · Vilsack is an ardent supporter of corn and soy based
> biofuels, which
> use as much or more energy to produce as they generate and drive up
> world
> food prices, literally starving the poor.
>
> The OCA has launched an online petition campaign at
> www.stopvilsack.orgto
> mobilize hundreds of thousands of people to oppose Vilsack's Senate
> confirmation.
>
> Additionally, OCA's nationwide network of 850,000 organic consumers
> are
> urging members of Congress to move beyond business as usual and
> implement a
> comprehensive strategy for organic food and farming in 2009 and
> beyond.
>
> *Ronnie Cummins* is director of the Organic Consumers Alliance. He
> can be
> reached at: ronnie at organicconsumers.org.
>
> --
> Nicholas Roberts
> [im] skype:niccolor
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