* Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine's Capitol Hill Briefing
By Chantal Clement
Organic Consumers Association, March 3, 2009
Straight to the Source

* No to HR875, HR759, HR814, HR1105 and S.425 and No to NAIS!
By Linn Cohen-Cole
February 27, 2009

Corn engineered with human genes (Dow)

Rice engineered with human genes (in California) (Applied Phytologics)

Sugarcane engineered with human genes (Hawaii Agricultural Research Center)

Corn with pig, hepatitis B virus & simian immunodeficiency virus genes (ProdiGene)

Pigs engineered with mouse and e-coli genes “Enviropigs” (Ontario’s University of Guelph, which is financially supported by Monsanto)

Corn engineered with mouse and human genes (Garst)

Eggs with human genes (Avigenics)

Corn with UNDISCLOSED GENES on nearly 500 acres in UNDISCLOSED LOCATIONS in 20 states, including California, Texas, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan & Wisconsin (Pioneer/Monsanto) Click to continue

* Monsanto Investigator in Illinois Laughs They Are Doing 'Rural Cleansing'
By Linn Cohen-Cole
Daily Kos, January 11, 2009
Straight to the Source

TAKE ACTION: Contact your local newspaper in the U.S. or congress people: Investigate Monsanto's antitrust and criminal activities. http://www.usalone.net/cgi-bin/oen.cgi?qnum=6778
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As of last night, a US Marshal, 2 state police and a county police are all over Mr. Hixon's area, serving notices to farmers that they are being sued by Monsanto. They arrive in pairs, with two cars parked a quarter mile and half mile down the road. They've served 3 so far and said "a bunch more are coming." No telling how many will be served since Hixon has between 200-400 farmers he cleans seeds for and these farmers have been repeatedly threatened by Monsanto thugs for the last two months, getting "visits," letters, and calls daily.

Farmers report that a Monsanto investigator laughed that they were doing "rural cleansing."

Steve Hixon is a seed cleaner in southern Illinois. He has equipment that takes the plant materials and "cleans" it so that the seeds are separated out and can be given back to farmers to save for the next season. It's a mechanized step up from farmers hand picking seeds off their own plants, which, with hundreds of acres - or even 10 - would not be easy to do.

Mr. Hixon has the non-distinction of being attacked by Monsanto. He is far from alone. Monsanto has been picking off seed cleaners across the Midwest, having already done its thuggish thing in Pilot Grove, Missouri, and in Indiana, attacking Maurice Parr, destroying business for all of them. Click to Read More

LIFE Certified Organic Farm - New CSA Program!

LIFE Certified Organic Farm launches a CSA (community supported agriculture) program this year? Community members provide money in very early spring to support farm operations for the growing season. In exchange, they receive a 'share' of the harvest, often presented as a weekly basket of produce which changes throughout the season to reflect the changing crop varieties on the farm, as well as any major crop successes or failures.

The LIFE crew is very excited about building a strong connection between the farm and our CSA members. We hope to foster a strong understanding of activities on the farm and the importance of organic farming methods through a CSA newsletter, weekly recipes, farm tours/days, special events and education, and of course conversation as the season progresses.

LIFE CSA has a variety of share options and delivery options in Bloomington, Greenwood and Mooresville/Plainfield. Visit their website at www.eatlifeup.com.

Enjoy,
Bobbi Boos
LIFE Certified Organic CSA
812-272-3656

For Local Food CSA List click here

Our compost starts as manure from local stables then goes through the composting process to become a valuable addition to your soil. Each batch comes with a history sheet and an analysis. The history sheet shows the source of the compost and the steps taken to produce the compost. The analysis shows the amount of major and minor nutrients and pH of the compost. For more information call Dave at (812) 824-6875 or (812) 322-3547 or send an email to dashparsons@hughes.net - Check Our Page!

SUSTAINABLE SOURCING, Agricultural Raw Materials Summit in London. The conference featured experts in sustainable seafood, coffee, milk, cocoa, soy and palm oil production. Presenters discussed their efforts and challenges in developing sustainable supply chains for these and other commodities.

The US's Kathy Larson, Frontier's VP of Sustainability, presented Frontier's Well Earth sustainable sourcing program to the conference. The group was impressed with the social and environmental criteria used in the program, as well as the developmental help and benefits Well Earth partners have received in just the first two years of its existence. For example, pepper farmers in India are increasing harvests due to Frontier-sponsored training in more efficient methods of organic production.

At current usage rates and population growth, world food production will need to increase by 50% by 2030. The challenges of climate change, combined with the demand for land-intensive foods such as meat and milk in developing countries, make it even more imperative that sustainability be a key component in the supply chain of every food company.

Click to learn more information on the conference at www.sustainable-sourcing-agricultural-raw-materials.com/

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) represents a half million people, like you, working together to support family farms, sustainable agriculture, safe food, and a healthy environment. Without you, there is no OCA. Together we are bringing about positive change!

CLICK FOR AN OVER-VIEW OF WATER PRIVATIZATION
Updates include resources for Monroe County Indiana and current news!
-Public Citizen site - Water for All Campaign
-Clean Water Action - a national citizen's organization working for clean, safe, and affordable water

Did you know ?

• Once GMO's are released into the environment they can never be recalled.
• We have been eating GMO food since 1996
• The United States grows 75% of the world's genetically engineered crops
• Most GMO crops are engineered to require the use of toxic weed killers
• Labeling of GMO foods is required in Europe, Japan, Russia and Australia, but not in the US

At the top of the world wide news is Genetic Engineering of the food we eat. Altering genetic makeup of species undermines and destroys the genetic foundation of agricultural systems world wide. Local Food believes that with the use of world altering technologies being applied to what we eat, that it is a small thing to ask that all GE foods and modified food products be labled. Monsanto and other American mega food corporations are spending six million to defeat the measure. Local Food supports your right to know what you are consuming and support the choice of consumers being knowledgeable about their food. The Organic Consumers Association have been lobbying against these giants with less than $150,000, yet the volunteer effort is strong and excellent work is resulting. Of course they can use your help. Much information can be found on the subject of GE foods at Genetically Engineered Food Alert . Another site, Genetically Modified Food News has a listing of over 2000 news articles about Genetically Modified Organisms in the food chain.

The Union of concerned Scientist have great articles like

• Listing of genetically engineered foods currently allowed on the market
• Genetically engineered salmon

Felix Ballarin spent 15 years of his life developing a special organically-grown variety of red corn. It would bring a high price on the market because local chicken farmers said the red color lent a rosy hue to the meat and eggs from their corn-fed chickens. But when the corn emerged from the ground last year, yellow kernels were mixed with the red. Government officials later confirmed with DNA tests that Mr. Ballarin's crop had become contaminated with a genetically modified (GMO) strain of corn.
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6106

TEN YEARS OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS FAIL TO DELIVER BENEFITS TO AFRICA
PRESS RELEASE
African Center for Biosafety and Friends of the Earth Nigeria
January 10, 2006

Johannesburg (South Africa), Lagos (Nigeria), January 10, 2006 - Ten years after the first significant planting of Genetically Modified (GM) crops there are no apparent benefits for consumers, farmers or the environment, and despite renewed promises by biotech corporations, there has been no impact on hunger and poverty, according to a report by the African Center for Biosafety and Friends of the Earth International. [1]
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=6107

Why water privatization is not your friend
"……..Formerly, water - clean, healthy water was practically a right. It didn't matter who I was. Turn on the tap and the water flows. If it didn't, there was hell to pay and we could vote the water commissioners, councilmen, or whoever was responsible, out of office and even demand that they be heavily fined or jailed for betraying a public trust.
Once privatized, what was our water isn't a right anymore. It is a product. If it becomes more profitable to do something else with it than sell it to us at whatever rate the market will bear, then we'd better get used to not having any water."http://www.canyon-news.com/artman/publish/article_3763.php

The new facility has been designed to accommodate fieldtrips by schools and youth groups. Students will not only witness the production of all natural chocolate, but also participate in educational programs promoting conservation. Plus, ESC will work closely with food rescue and job training not-for-profit agencies.
Date Founded: 1993. Address: 5846 West 73st Street, Indianapolis, IN 46278, 1-800-293-0160, 317-844-2886, CLICK FOR MORE

Are Persimmons Better Than Apples?
Surprisingly, the persimmon, the tasty fruit with its roots in China and Japan, may be better for you than an apple.

In a recent head-to-head comparison, persimmons had twice as much fiber and much higher levels of manganese, iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium than apples. Other recent studies demonstrating the value of persimmons:
· Eating a persimmon, chock full of beneficial antioxidants, may fight heart disease by preventing LDL cholesterol from accumulating in the arteries.CLICK TO READ

- loid @ 12:29 pm
Wars do more than uproot families, cities and nations. It turns out they uproot plants. They uproot plant origins, seeds of unique species used to maintain genetic diversity among the garden plants and grains that feed the world.

Luckily, scientist with foresight shipped a genetic treasure box of seeds out of Iraq before the quagmire hit:
The box was put together in 1996 in the Baghdad suburb of Abu Ghraib. Known mainly for its notorious prison, Abu Ghraib was once the home of Iraq's main seed bank and plant breeding programme. It was here that plant scientists, fearing for the future of their collection, packed up more than 1000 vital seed varieties - everything from ancient wheats to chickpeas, lentils and fruits - and shipped them off to Aleppo for safe-keeping.

It was lucky the scientists acted as they did. In the chaos that followed the US-led invasion in 2003, the seed bank was destroyed and its equipment looted. "The black box is a genetic time capsule containing Iraq's agricultural heritage," says William Erskine, director of research at the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Aleppo, where the box has been lodged. When the time is right, its contents will form the basis for plant breeding to restore Iraqi agriculture and end the country's reliance on food aid. The box also has a global importance, as among the seeds are varieties of crops with inbuilt resistance to extreme heat, drought and salinity. These could be invaluable for plant breeding programmes worldwide in the coming century, says Adel El-Beltagy, director-general of ICARDA.
Garden of Eden, Inc. CLICK TO READ

"Introducing transgenic wheat means replacing this diversity and leaving it to extinction," warned Nagib Nassar, a professor of genetics at the Universidade de Brasilia. "It will be replaced by a monoculture with a very narrow genetic base. This is a problem. This will be a catastrophe."

Order 81, issued in 2004 by Coalition Provisional Authority Administrator L. Paul Bremer, authorizes the introduction of GM crops and gives intellectual property
rights to the developers of new GM seeds. The order makes it illegal for Iraqi
farmers to reuse seed from any crops planted using a GM seed variety, and forces
farmers who use GM varieties to buy new seed every year.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) GRAIN and Focus on the Global South say Order 81 is intended to turn Iraqi farmers into cash crop producers. The NGOs fear that Iraq's ancient agricultural practices will be lost as farmers are encouraged to replace their
old seeds in favor of new, patented crop varieties requiring heavy doses of fertilizer
and pesticide.

Since the US-led invasion, Iraq's agricultural system has been stressed to the breaking
point. While 5 million acres of wheat were under cultivation in Iraq before the invasion,
only 1 million are being farmed today.
(SOURCE: The Scientist)

CLICK TO READ THESE ARTICLES AND MANY MORE

Local Food News is a forum for the topic of food and what is happening in the Bloomington community and the world that affects what is on our tables. Information found here is available to inform the consuming public so that we may all have needed information about the changing face of food to assist us in making responsible sustainable food choices.

Local food is a resource for building local food networks, supporting sustainable agriculture and growing awareness on living in harmony with nature.