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  • From: "Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>
  • To: <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Homestead] Fw: This Week's Biggest Environmental & Consumer News Briefs (Organic Bytes)
  • Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 12:56:34 -0700

Organic Bytes #63 - Food and Consumer News Tidbits with an Edge!Monsanto has
finally got totally bonkers which leaves one to wonder if the rest of the
world has also. Will they get their way with this also?

Lynda
----- Original Message -----
From: Organic Consumers Association



Hello Derek,

Food, Consumer and Environment News Tidbits with an Edge!


ORGANIC BYTES #63
8/11/2005

____________________________________

MONSANTO FILES PATENT CLAIMING OWNERSHIP OF MILLIONS OF PIGS
Monsanto has filed patents in 160 nations for... pigs. The World
Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva recently published the patent
requests, which has left the pork industry squealing with contention. If
approved, Monsanto would gain ownership of certain types of breeding
techniques that are already in common use by farmers around the world. The
patents also request Monsanto overtake of ownership of the pigs born of those
breeding techniques as well as their related herds. Although controversial,
the profit incentive of this legal maneuver for Monsanto is enormous, as
annual pork sales in the U.S., alone, are $38 billion annually. Take action:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/pigs.cfm

____________________________________

A RAT POISONING STORY WITH A HAPPY ENDING
In January, the Organic Consumers Association alerted Organic Bytes
readers about the EPA striking a backroom deal with chemical companies to
weaken rat poisoning regulations that were originally created to protect
children. These regulations previously required the addition of artificial
coloring as well as a chemical to give the rat poison a bitter taste for
children. We would like to personally thank the thousands of organic
consumers who signed OCA's action alert to the EPA. Vindicating our position
on Aug. 8, a federal judge ordered the EPA to implement stronger safety
guidelines for rat poisons. Congratulations to everyone for standing up to
the government and the chemical companies to protect children's health.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/toxic/rat.cfm


____________________________________

GASEOUS COWS ON FACTORY FARMS: IT AIN'T NO JOKE
Thanks to dense populations of bovines in California's heavily factory
farmed San Joaquin Valley, cow burps and flatulence are now creating more
smog and greenhouse gases in the local area than cars. Each and every one of
the valley's 2.5 million cows excretes nearly 20 pounds of gas per day,
causing new policy debates between air quality regulators and the dairy
industry. "This is not some arcane dispute about cow gases," said Brent
Newell, an attorney for the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment. "We
are talking about a public health crisis. It's not funny to joke about cow
burps and farts when one in six children in Fresno schools is carrying an
inhaler." http://www.organicconsumers.org/OFGU/gases080305.cfm


____________________________________

NEW STUDIES: MONSANTO'S BEST SELLING "SAFE" PESTICIDE IS HIGHLY TOXIC
Two new peer-reviewed scientific studies have further confirmed the
toxicity of glyphosate, the world's most commonly used herbicide. The June
2005 scientific journal "Environmental Health Perspectives" reports that
glyphosate, sold by Monsanto under the brand name "Roundup," damages human
placental cells at exposure levels ten times less than what the company
claims is safe. A study in the August journal Ecological Applications found
that even when applied at concentrations that are one-third of the maximum
concentrations typically found in waterways, Roundup still killed up to 71
percent of tadpoles in the study. Similar glyphosate studies around the world
have been equally alarming. The American Academy of Family Physicians
epidemiological research has now linked exposure to the herbicide with
increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a life-threatening cancer, while a
Canadian study has linked glyphosate exposure with increased risk for
miscarriage. A 2002 study linked glyphosate exposure with increased incidence
of attention deficit disorder in children. Despite these studies, Monsanto
continues to advertise Roundup, sprayed heavily on 140 million acres of
genetically engineered crops across the world, as one of the "safest"
pesticides on the market. Learn more & take action:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.html

____________________________________

BEING FIBBED TO MAY MAKE YOU THIN
A team of psychologists at the University of California have found that
lying to patients can actually cause them to lose weight. Published in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study reveals that
scientists successfully created aversions in patients to sweets like
strawberry ice cream by tricking the subjects into believing it made them
sick when they were kids. The scientists also planted positive memories about
nutritious foods like asparagus. Weight control experts are expressing
interest in the study, but skeptics, like Stephen Behnke, director of the
ethics office of the American Psychological Association, say addressing the
unhealthful aspects of the American diet requires a holistic cultural
approach, adding the procedure of implanting false memories "raises profound
ethical questions." http://www.organicconsumers.org/Toxic/diet-lie.cfm

____________________________________


COLLEGE CAMPUSES BREAKING THE CHAINS
Student run farms on college campuses are cropping up at record levels
across the U.S. In 27 states and at 60 colleges, these farms are providing an
opportunity for students to learn sustainable farming techniques while
incorporating healthy and locally grown produce into the college dining
programs, area farmers markets and restaurants. Another 200 colleges across
the U.S. have joined the farm-to-college program wherein local farmers
provide universities with locally grown produce. As students begin
preparation for the fall 2005 semester, the record harvest from these quickly
expanding programs clearly indicates the "buy local" movement is on the
threshold of mainstream fruition. Learn more and get involved
http://www.organicconsumers.org/btc.htm


____________________________________

ATTENTION WORKING ASSETS MEMBERS
Each year, Working Assets Long Distance (WALD) phone company donates a
portion of its profits to the individual public interest organizations that
WALD customers vote for on their annual ballot. This year, the Organic
Consumers Association (OCA) is pleased to be listed on the Working Assets
ballot. We would like to call on Organic Bytes readers who are also WALD
customers to cast your votes for the OCA. The more votes you give us, the
more money OCA will receive. If you're not already a Working Assets customer
for your long distance you can sign up and then vote for the OCA to receive
funds. It's that simple. By clicking on this quick link and taking a moment
to vote, you'll be helping OCA raise the funds we need to move forward.
http://www.workingassets.com/vote

____________________________________

QUICK TIDBITS

Recent polls show that 70% of EU consumers support a ban on GE crops.
Yet, under pressure from the Bush Administration, the European Commission has
approved a 10 year permit to Monsanto to import a controversial genetically
modified corn for use as animal feed. The Commission decision does not yet
allow the experimental corn variety to be grown for human consumption, but a
vote on this matter will come in September.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/monsanto/frankencorn080905.cfm

The annual Anholt-GMI Nations Brand Index survey of 25 nations reveals
that international consumer support of U.S. name brands is quickly slipping.
The index, used by marketing and advertising agencies, assesses global
consumer perceptions of individual nations' cultural, political and
investment potential. The U.S. ranked last place in the category of cultural
heritage, a measure of a country's "wisdom, intelligence, and integrity."
http://www.organicconsumers.org/BTC/brandname080305.cfm

Last Wednesday, a study funded by the British government's Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs reported that organic farms in the UK
support, on average, 32% more birds and 35% more bats than non-organic farms.
According to the study, thicker hedging, smaller fields and the lack of
pesticides on organic farms were all contributing factors to the richer
wildlife. http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/birdsbats080305.cfm


____________________________________



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_________________________________

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Phone: (218)-353-7454 Fax: (218) 353-7652

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92287
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Subject: [Homestead] Something new
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Just read where they "found" a waterfall they didn't know they had.
At times I forget that the world is still a big place.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050813/D8BUR47O1.html

>>WHISKEYTOWN, Calif. (AP) - Dick McDermott knows these parts as
well as any man can. But McDermott says he's never laid eyes on the
nearly 400-foot waterfall that park officials recently discovered in
a remote corner of the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, 43,000
acres of wilderness in northern California.<<




  • [Homestead] Fw: This Week's Biggest Environmental & Consumer News Briefs (Organic Bytes), Lynda, 08/12/2005

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