Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>]

Welcome to another exciting issue of Organic Bytes: Health, Justice and
Sustainability News 

February 26, 2009 -  Issue #163

In This Issue

-Alert of the Week: The Obama Administration's Stance on Frankenfoods 
-Another OCA rBGH Victory - Dannon Will Dump Bovine Growth Hormone 
-Utilizing the Stimulus Package:  How to Retrofit Your Home and Receive Big
Tax Credits 
-Web Videos of the Week: "Meet the Farmer" TV 
-OCA at BioFach -- The World Organic Trade Fair 
-Share Your Organic Vision for a U.S. National Organic Action Plan Featured

-OCA Blog of the Week: Thinking Globally 
-Headlines and Articles of the Week

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Alert of the Week:
The New Administration and Frankenfoods

It is a new year, we have a new administration, and the time is now to rein
in genetically engineered foods and products once and for all. Recent news
has underscored the urgent need to take action. For example, the USDA
recently admitted that genetic contamination of organic and non-ge crops
was inevitable. The New York Times reported  that  biotech corporations are
thwarting research and that Monsanto is in line to receive millions of
dollars  in tax credits this year while family farmers declare bankruptcy
in staggering numbers.

You can make a difference. Join the Organic Consumers Association and
contact your Congresspersons today and urge them to:

1) Require mandatory labeling of all GE plants and animals
2) Place a moratorium on all efforts to deregulate or approve new
genetically engineered plants or animals, and
3) Protect non-GE and organic farmers by assigning liability for injury
caused by genetically engineered organisms.

Learn more and take action
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17040.cfm

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Alert Update of the Week:
Another OCA rBGH Victory - Dannon Will Dump Bovine Growth Hormone

Dannon (or Danone), the French-based multinational that owns Activa and the
popular organic brand Stonyfield Farm, has announced it is committed to
eliminating rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone) by the end of 2009.
This controversial genetically engineered growth hormone was originally
developed by Monsanto and is injected into cows to force them to produce
more milk. Dannon joins a host of other companies, like Starbucks and
Yoplait, that have also recently responded to your emails and pressure by
removing rBGH from their products.

We and our allies are making progress driving rBGH off the market and
educating the public about the health and environmental hazards of
genetically engineered foods, and the benefits of organics. Unfortunately,
hazardous rBGH-tainted dairy  products are still force-fed to our children
and low-income consumers as part of the national school lunch program and
federal nutrition programs such as Food Stamps and the WIC program. But you
can change that. Tell Congress to mandate that school lunch and other
taxpayer-funded federal nutrition programs purchase only rBGH-free milk and
instead supply our children and low-income communities with certified "USDA
Organic" milk.

Learn more and take action
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17044.cfm

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Sustainability Tip of the Week:
Stimulus Package-- How to Retrofit Your Home and Receive Big Tax Credits

President Obama's new stimulus package is now signed into law. Here's how
it affects the green home owner:

1) New incentives and tax credits are now available for households for
energy conservation and alternative energy. Homeowners investing in
energy-saving insulation, replacement windows, duct seals, or
high-efficiency heating and cooling systems can now receive a tax credit
worth 30 percent of the upgrade cost (maximum credit value: $1,500). The
previous tax credit was 10 percent of an upgrade cost, up to a maximum of
$500.

2) If you have been thinking about switching to sustainable energy, now is
the time.
Solar panels, geothermal heat pumps, and windmills also qualify for a 30
percent  tax credit. For example, a $24,000 investment to make a home
solar-powered would generate a federal tax credit worth $7,200. Previously,
the cap was $2,000 for geothermal and solar; $4,000 for wind. Add state and
utility credits to this and consumers will see significant discounts in
these purchases.

3) New hybrid cars now qualify for tax credits worth anywhere from $2,500
to $7,500, while  plug-in conversion kits for old hybrids, now generate tax
credits worth 10 percent of the kit's cost (maximum credit value: $4,000).

For questions about home energy conservation and renewable energy options,
you can contact a contractor trained by the federal Home Performance with
Energy Star program 
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home_improvement.hm_improvement_hpwes.


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Web Videos of the Week:
"Meet the Farmer" TV

This new program looks at the links between eating local and the costs of
not doing so.  Explore the business of small family farms, and the health
benefits derived  from eating organic, not to mention the economic benefits
to the community from  supporting local farms. We've posted two of these
half-hour programs to our website for your viewing. Watch how one family
starts up their own small farming operation from scratch. In the second
episode, watch how this group of people fulfills Obama's request to U.S.
citizens to begin volunteering one day per week when they start getting
involved helping out at a local sustainable farm.

Watch http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17025.cfm

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OCA at BioFach, the World Organic Trade Fair

Alexis Baden-Mayer from OCA's Washington, DC, office attended the 2009
BioFach World Organic Trade Fair in Nuremberg, Germany, February 19-22. In
her first report back from the expo, she says, "I learned that by eating
organic food and composting our waste, we can turn back global climate
change!"

Read more http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16991.cfm

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Share Your Organic Vision for a U.S. National Organic Action Plan

This week, OCA's Alexis Baden-Mayer is in LaCrosse, WI at the U.S. National
Organic Action Plan summit where a grassroots group of organic producers
and consumers discussed the creation of a coordinated plan articulating a
shared vision, set objectives and benchmarks for measuring organic
agriculture's social and environmental benefits, and proposals for the
future growth of U.S. organic food and agriculture for the next decade and
beyond. Countries all over the world have developed and implemented
national organic action plans with clear targets, benchmarks, and protocols
to facilitate public accountability of agricultural policies. The U.S.
National Organic Action Plan builds on this experience, but it is driven by
a non-governmental group of grassroots participants.

Read more and share your vision for the National Organic Action Plan 
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17034.cfm

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Featured OCA Blog of the Week:
Thinking Globally

Thousands of you have been active in OCA's Web Forum, but did you know it
also contains a section where folks, like you, are setting up their own
blogs. We've been featuring many of your web forum postings in past issues
of Organic Bytes, but we'd like to shift our focus to some of your thought
provoking blogs, as well.

Here's a recent blog entry by "radicalmom":
"My thoughts regarding this whole planetary mess into which we have found
ourselves are diverse and complicated...I have been lucky enough in my
travels to be exposed to alternative ideas and have explored all forms of
thought in relation to planetary actions and mind-set. My leanings are
esoteric and have molded my philosophic approach to troubles and strife, be
they local or global. A solution came to me in the form of less than ten
words: Our "planetary issues are metaphysical". Most will say it is the
"least likely" answer. I say that it is the "most probable" answer..."

Read more and join:
http://organicconsumers.org/forum/index.php?s=2ff96e76717b6e6462c1552665fe62
e5&autocom=blog

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Donate Online Now

The work of the Organic Consumer's Association, including the Organic Bytes
email you are reading, is all due to the generous contributions of our
supporters.  If  you enjoy our work, please donate today!
Donate Here http://www.organicconsumers.org/donations.cfm

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Headlines and Articles of the Week:

1) The Hidden Link Between Factory Farms, Toxic Chemicals and Human
Illness: 
A 2008 report from the Pew Commission indicates factory farm production is
intensifying worldwide, and rates of new infectious diseases are rising. Of
particular concern is the rapid rise of antibiotic-resistant microbes, an
inevitable consequence of  the widespread use of antibiotics as feed
additives in industrial livestock operations...
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16964.cfm

2) USDA Toughens Oversight of Organic Fertilizer: 
Federal regulators on Friday announced a new enforcement strategy meant to
stop manufacturers from passing off synthetic fertilizers as organic...
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17001.cfm

3) Study-- Conventionally Grown Vegetables Have Significantly Lower
Nutrient Value Than Organics: 
The February issue of the Journal of HortScience reports the average
vegetable found in today's supermarket is anywhere from 5% to 40% lower in
minerals than those harvested just 50 years ago. As Davis points out, more
than three billion people around the world suffer from malnourishment and
yet, ironically, efforts to increase food production have actually produced
food that is less nourishing. If you're still not buying the whole
"organic-is-better" argument, this study might convince you otherwise...
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17026.cfm

4) Score One for Sustainable Food: Obama Taps a Real Reformer, Kathleen
Merrigan, for Deputy USDA Secretary  
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17013.cfm

5) Washington State WIC Says Organic Milk has "No Nutritional Benefit" 
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17005.cfm

Let OCA sift through the media smog and bring you the top new and analysis
of the day. The OCA website has 10 or more news articles posted each day,
and a library  of over 40,000 articles covering issues including health,
justice, food and farming, politics, and the environment. 

Bookmark OrganicConsumers.org http://www.OrganicConsumers.org

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Organic Geek News of the Week: Do You Twitter?

The OCA is now on
Twitter! We will be posting from our news feed, as well as new campaigns,
alerts, and anything else we think you'll like! Get OCA news anywhere and
everywhere you go. Sign up http://twitter.com/organicconsumer:
http://twitter.com/organicconsumer

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Please forward this publication to family and friends, place it on web
sites, print it, duplicate it and post it freely. Knowledge is power!

ORGANIC BYTES is a publication of:
ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION
6771 South Silver Hill Drive
Finland, Minnesota 55603
Phone: (218)- 226-4164
Fax: (218) 353-7652
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