#219 9 A P r i l 10

ORGANIC
Org a nic Consum er s A sso ci at ion
BY TES
w w w.org a n icconsum e r s.org
F o o d & C o n su m e r N e w s W e e k ly

Take Action: Rescue Local/Organic Farming Take Action: Don’t Let USDA Okay 4-Month
from One-Size-Fits-All Food Safety Bill! Factory Farm Confinement for “Organic” Beef
The US Senate is expected to vote on a sweeping overhaul of the food The USDA wants to know what organic consumers think about “finish-
safety laws very soon - possibly as early as next week. While the bill ing” or fattening up organic beef cattle for four months in factory farm-
seeks to improve food safety, as it is currently written, S. 510 will actu- style feedlots. Studies show that cattle confined and fed grain in feedlots
ally make our food less safe. S. 510 will strengthen the forces that have are prone to E. coli 0157 contamination, whereas healthy organic cat-
led to the consolidation of our food supply in the hands of a few indus- tle grazing on grass are typically free of this dangerous pathogen. The
trial food producers, while harming small meat from grass-fed beef is also healthier and more nutri-
producers who give consumers the choice tious than beef that’s been “marbleized” in the feedlot. Take
to buy fresh, healthy, local foods. Quote of Action: Tell President Obama and the USDA National Organic
Please contact your Senators now to urge the W e ek Program that you don’t want organic beef cattle to be kept in
them to amend or oppose the bill! from factory-farm-style feedlots for the last four months of their
Congress needs to solve the real prob- lives. www.is.gd/buCIC
This Compost
lems - chemical-intensive agriculture, fac-
tory farms, industrialized and centralized
by Is This Factory Farming’s Tobacco Moment?
food production and distribution, and Walt Whitman Essay by Will Allen and Ronnie Cummins
often tainted imported foods - and not reg- Behold this compost! behold it well! The nation’s chemical and energy-intensive food and farming
ulate organic and small farms out of busi- Perhaps every mite has once form’d system, Food Inc., is out of control, posing a mortal threat to
ness. S. 510 is a “one-size-fits-all” approach part of a sick person-Yet behold! public health, the environment, and climate stability.
that will unnecessarily burden both farm- The grass of spring covers the prairies, Economically stressed and distracted consumers have
ers and small-scale food processors, ulti- The bean bursts noiselessly through become dependent on a factory farm system designed to pro-
mately depriving consumers of the choice the mould in the garden, vide cheap processed food that may be cosmetically perfect
to buy from producers they know and trust. The delicate spear of the onion and easily shipped, but which is seriously degraded in terms
www.is.gd/buCwr pierces upward, of purity and nutritional value. Read More: www.is.gd/buCP2
The apple-buds cluster together
Take Action: Hug a Farmer! on the apple-branches, Little Bytes
April 17, La Via Campesina Call to Action The resurrection of the wheat appears Retire Ronald McDonald, Junk Food Salesman
To commemorate the International Day with pale visage out of its graves, Corporate Accountability International’s “Value [the] Meal”
of Peasant Struggle on April 17, 2010, the The tinge awakes over the willow-tree campaign is launching a national initiative calling on McDon-
international peasant movement La Via and the mulberry-tree, ald’s to Retire Ronald McDonald from hooking our kids on
Campesina calls upon member organiza- The he-birds carol mornings and unhealthy food.
tions, allies and supporters to unite against evenings, while the she-birds sit on Climate Catastrophe: Obama’s Second Chance
global agribusiness corporations, which their nests, The predominant moral issue of the 21st century, almost
seek complete control over food and agri- The young of poultry break through surely, will be climate change, comparable to Nazism faced by
culture systems around the world. Small the hatch’d eggs, Churchill in the 20th century and slavery faced by Lincoln in
and family scale farmers form the back- The new-born of animals appear- the 19th century.
bone of the global food supply and are the calf is dropt from the cow, Is Whole Foods Moving Away from Greenwashing Back to
essential for transitioning to a healthy and the colt from the mare, its Organic Roots?
organic food system. Out of its little hill faithfully rise the Recent moves by Whole Foods certainly create the impres-
On April 17, 1996, nineteen landless Bra- potato’s dark green leaves, sion that the multi-billion corporation is finally listening to
zilian peasants who were defending their Out of its hill rises the yellow the criticisms of the OCA and other groups and putting a pri-
right to produce food by demanding access maize-stalk-the lilacs bloom ority on selling organic food and “walking its talk.” But is this
to land were massacred by the military in the door-yards, just corporate PR?
police. Since the massacre at El Dorado The summer growth is innocent and Climate Chaos and Peak Water
dos Carajás, every year on this date actions disdainful above all those strata of Modern farming’s overconsumption of ground water is like
are organized around the world by farm- sour dead. an open-ended blood donation—the planet’s surface, in devel-
ers’ organizations, communities, student oped areas, is becoming cadaverous as its life drains away.
groups, non-governmental organizations and activists, in order to What San Francisco Found in Their Own Sludge
demand food sovereignty and peasants’ rights to produce food. San Francisco, and no doubt your own city, claim that their toxic sew-
Join Via Campesina and the Organic Consumers Association in the age sludge is safe. Safe enough to dump on area gardens, school yards,
global struggle against multinational corporations, like Monsanto, and farms. Don’t believe them. This is a dangerous lie.
that are threatening our food supply and undermining farmers across How Marijuana Could Save California Agriculture
the globe. Visit OCA’s Millions Against Monsanto campaign center for Marijuana could potentially provide a bulwark against a future of
more information: www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm steadily declining crop yields.
To join the April 17 Day of Peasant Struggle, visit viacampesina.org Read these articles & many more: www.organicconsumers.org

Written and edited by Alexis Baden-Mayer & Ronnie Cummins · Please post, distribute, & subscribe: organicconsumers.org/organicbytes.cfm
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