GMO Labeling Movement Pushes On Despite Prop 37 Defeat

Former Fairfax, CA Mayor Frank Eggar campaigning. Photo: S. Bates

Yesterday Californians voted on Proposition 37, a GMO labeling initiative that we've been following for many months now.  Unfortunately, the initiative lost by 6 percentage points, with the no on 37 vote at 53.7% and the yes vote at 46.3% as of early this morning.  This is certainly discouraging news, since labeling only seeks to give consumers the basic right to know what is in their food, and the initiative was favored by a large majority of California voters up until recently.  Agribusiness giants have been able to sway public opinion on GMO labeling by wielding huge sums of money used to advertise the no on 37 campaign.  With such wealthy opposition, the fight to label genetically modified foods in this country might seem like an impossible dream, but in the wake of the Prop 37 defeat, I want to share with you a quote from the San Francisco Chronicle's article written today:

Stacy Melken, a spokeswoman for the Prop, 37 campaign, said supporters believe they will win the labeling debate over the long term. She noted that proponents were outspent by a five to one margin and still managed to capture more than 4.2 million votes.

"We showed that there is a food movement in the United States, and it is strong, vibrant and too powerful to stop," she said. "We always knew we were the underdogs."

That quote helped to put things in perspective for me, and I don't feel nearly as discouraged now as I did this morning.  The fact that the yes on 37 campaign was outspent five to one and still managed to rally nearly half the California vote is really impressive, and proves that money is powerful, but a strong movement is more powerful.  It often takes time to build a movement, and even more time to push the values of that movement through government, so although feeling discouraged is natural and understandable in the wake of a defeat, the truth is that the loss of Prop 37 is really just one part of a much larger picture.

The GMO labeling movement isn't going away.   The issue of labeling will continue to be brought up in the political sphere, forcing agribusiness to spend its money each time to quell it until finally enough people who won't be swayed by costly marketing exist to pass a labeling law.  Proposition 37 shows us how far we have come as Americans who want the right to know what is in our food.  It shows how resourceful and resilient the movement is, and it shows that we really can pass labeling legislation if we keep working toward it.  In the meantime, know what's in your food by knowing where your food comes from.  Buy whole, local, organic, and in season whenever possible, and get to know farmers near you.  Ask your grocery store to stock more local items, and start a garden in your yard, or in containers if you don't have a yard.  And talk to your friends and family about GMOs and why it's important to label them.  Check out justlabelit.org and sign the federal petition, and if you still feel a bit discouraged, read this article.  Labeling initiatives are currently being brought up in other states and nationally.  Gary Hirshberg, co-founder of Stonyfield Farm organic yogurt company, and chairman of the "Just Label It" campaign, puts it very succinctly:

Labeling of GE (genetically engineered) foods is not a question of whether, but when.

Have a great evening!
-Melissa

Today is Food Day!

A Pig's Tail

Today represents a nationwide celebration and movement toward a more sustainable, healthy, and affordable food system. Celebrate Food Day today by attending one of the many Food Day Events located across the country and online. You can also participate by having a healthy dinner at home using one of the Food Day recipes or watching a film recommended in Food Day's Film Screening Guide.  At least two food-related films, including the Humane Society’s A Pig’s Tail and Anna Lappe’s Food Myth Busters, are having their premieres today online.

This evening, Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME), one of the keynotes at the NOFA Summer Conference, is hosting a conference in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center in Washington D.C. on the Future of Food: 2050, during which panelists from Walmart, the Worldwatch Institute, the Institute for Alternative Futures and other organizations will speculate on what diets and agriculture might look like by the middle of the century.

In New Haven, the University of New Haven will celebrate Food Day today with a panel discussion and movie. Bill Duesing, our Executive Director, will be on the panel, and the movie, “Fresh,” will be shown at 1:30 p.m. “Fresh” is a documentary featuring Michael Pollan, the author of “The Omnivore's Dilemma.” The movie celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people responsible for the country’s food supply. Additional information about the documentary can be found at here.

No matter what your tastes are, or how you'd like to get involved, there is a Food Day event out there for you.  Let's raise awareness for more sustainable food in our future!

Have a great day!
-Melissa

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

As the Farm Bill debate goes on and is in sharp contrast with a devastating drought that has affected agricultural yields across the country.  According to David Rogers at Politico, Republicans in the House might not call up the New Farm Bill for a vote before the law expires on September 30.  Rogers reports that no Farm Bill, once out of committee, has ever failed to be called for a vote.  In Rogers' article today, the House's Republican leadership is considering extending the old Farm Bill while Democratic Representatives Debbie Stabenow (Michigan) and Collin Peterson (Minnesota) insist that extension is not an option because the drought requires specific political action and there is agreement that direct cash payments to producers must be ended with the new Farm Bill.

Check out the hidden costs of the Farm Bill that's about to expire - it makes it pretty clear why these laws require replacement and the reasoning behind calls for improvements in the Farm Bill.  And also why the new Farm Bill's deep cuts to the Food Stamp program and nutrition programming are pretty disconcerting.  

Infographic from Takepart.com

Best,
Kristiane

Looking Back to Look Forward - Independence in America

Back in 1976, Robert Rodale wrote an editorial for the September issue of Organic Farming and Gardening about personal independence.  Almost 36 years later, the relationship between personal independence and sustainability is a major issue in current social and political movements, regardless of whether those movements are conservative or liberal, and related concerns about food, energy, and healthcare are some of the most hotly debated topics in the United States today. Case in point: the images in this post are not from the 70's; they're part of the current shift in mindset from reliance on outside groups to a more local and holistic approach to living, an approach Rodale discusses in his editorial:

The garden is the best place to start looking for ways to help people become more independent. A garden is both the symbol and reality of self-sufficiency—especially an organic garden, which recycles organic wastes of the yard and household, permits the production of significant amounts of food with only minimal reliance on outside resources. Any campaign to boost personal independence should start by helping people become gardeners—teaching, motivating, and making land available.

Liberty doesn't end at the border of the garden, though. Home production of a variety of goods and services extends the idea of gardening. Both gardeners and non-gardeners can also grow their own bean sprouts, make some of their own clothes, become proficient at crafts, improve insulation of their home, and do similar home production tasks. Each such activity you learn makes you less dependent on others.

Even treatment of disease could be improved by fostering a greater spirit of personal independence. We need to learn more about how to take care of ourselves during illness. Any doctor will tell you that an intelligent patient, who knows how to observe and evaluate symptoms, can be treated with fewer drugs, and is therefore less likely to have side effects and will probably recover faster. Being totally dependent on the doctor is the worst way to act when sick.

As of yesterday our nation is one year older.  As you take time to be with friends and family and celebrate our country's independence, take a moment to think about your own independence and what that means to you. Think about all the ways you can take charge of your life and live more independently, and save money be healthier and happier as a result. Whether your goal is to start your own garden, replace some of your driving with bicycling, or buy goods and services from people in your town, every step you take toward sustaining yourself is also a step toward making us more sustainable as a nation.  What better way to show your patriotism than by advocating for one of the most fundamental ideals of our country?

Happy Belated Independence Day!
-Melissa

DEADLINE TOMORROW: Sign up to Support Key Amendments to the Farm Bill

The Senate Food and Farm Bill Needs Your Help!

Please call your Senators - It's easy! The Food and Farm Bill is on the floor of the US Senate and your action is needed to make it better! Right now they are lining up support for amendments that are sorely needed in this bill. Please take action!

Please call your Senators and tell them what you want. If you are with an organization, please make calls and also sign on to letters.

Phone Calls: Just dial the Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121 Ask to be connected with one Senator from your state, and then call back and ask to speak with the other Senator. Once connected, introduce yourself and ask to speak with the agriculture staffer. Tell that staffer (or leave a message) what you support or opposes from the amendments, or other key points.

Key Senate Farm Bill Amendments:
Pick your issues and make the call! SUPPORT:

• Brown- (SA 2362) The amendment includes important programs to farmers and local food infrastructure, beginning and socially disadvantaged farmer programs, including: Value-Added Producer Grants, Rural Microentrepeneur Assistance Program, Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Program (Section 2501)

• Tester (SA 2234)- This amendment will set aside 5% of annual funding for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative for public cultivar and breed development.

• Grassley-Conrad (SA 2170) - This amendment will make it unlawful for a meatpacker to own, feed or control livestock intended for slaughter for more than 14 days before slaughter. This will reduce vertical integration of the livestock market and help independent and family growers compete.

• Merkley-Feinstein-Sanders-Kerry (SA 2382) - This amendment will address barriers to make crop insurance more accessible to organic farmers.

• Durbin-Coburn (SA2186) - reduces the federal premium support for farmers with Adjusted Gross Income of more than $750,000.

• Cardin -(SA2219) This amendment would ensure that farmers receiving taxpayer-subsidized premium subsidies for crop insurance do not drain wetlands or farm erosion-prone soil without conservation measures (eligibility only for the crop insurance federal premium subsidy and it only applies to highly erodible land.)

• Gillibrand (SA 2156) - This amendment restores the $4.49 billion cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). (Cuts made in the Committee Bill that is going to the Senate floor) The SNAP funding would be paid for by a cut to the amount the federal government pays to insurance companies to provide crop insurance to farmers. Gillibrand’s amendment will also provide an additional $500 million over 10 years to the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP). This program provides fresh produce snacks to schoolchildren. The bill also grants authority to USDA to make bonus purchases for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) has submitted an amendment that would eliminate the fresh-only requirement in the FFVP by expanding this program to include frozen, dried, or canned fruits and vegetables.

• Sanders-Leahy (SA 2386)- Enables schools to purchase from local and regional producers.

• Udall (NM) (SA 2417)– Disadvantaged Producer Training – This amendment would restore funding for the Outreach and Assistance Program for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and Veteran Farmers and Rancher (also known as the 2501 Program).

• Harkin (SA 2239) – Beginning Producer Training – This amendment would increase funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.

• Harkin-Casey (SA 2245) – Microloans to Beginning and Veteran Producers – This amendment would allow FSA to make smaller "microloans" of up to $35,000, tailored to meet the needs of small, young, beginning, and veteran farmers and ranchers, streamline the application process, and provide discretionary authority to FSA to establish intermediary lender pilot projects. This amendment would also give FSA discretionary authority to establish a new pilot program to support micro-credit programs administered by non-governmental or community-based organizations.

Please call your senators or sign on to the letter by tomorrow to give these amendments a chance in the Senate!

A Recipe Finder with Built-In Price Estimator and Nutrition Facts

The SNAP-Ed Connection recently released a new resource that anyone can use to find healthy, affordable recipes, regardless of whether or not they are using the SNAP Program. The new Build a Cookbook feature added to the SNAP-Ed Connection Recipe Finder allows users to create a personalized cookbook from any of the nearly 600 low cost, healthy recipes in the Recipe Finder. You can also choose one of the fixed cookbook options that use pre-selected recipes from categories such as children’s favorites, older adults, or fruit and veggie recipes.

All recipes are nutritious and budget friendly, include cost and nutrition information, and are available in English and Spanish. Users can search for recipes by ingredient, recipe name, menu item and cost, as well as a variety of other search options including audience, cooking equipment required, and nutrition education topic. You can also rate each recipe and view ratings from others.

This is a great resource if you've ever found yourself wanting to cook something but are concerned about what the total cost will be.  If you are cooking for a larger group, cost can be especially important, so this is a good way to estimate your total cost ahead of time and budget accordingly.  This is also a good search engine if you want to see the nutrition facts of what you're cooking.  What a convenient way to keep track of what is in your food!

And if you want to save your recipes in a cookbook, you can enter a cookbook title, choose a cover design, and personalize it with your name and/or organization. Completed cookbooks will be available as a PDF file for viewing and printing. Get started building your new cookbook today at Recipe Finder!

What's on my Food? A Pesticide Resource

Pesticide residues are on your food, even after washing. What are the dangers of these pesticides? How much of this stuff is really on the food we eat?

The Pesticide Action Network has developed a valuable resource that can tell you what pesticides, and how much of them, are on the foods you buy in the grocery store and from conventional farms. What’s On My Food? is a searchable database designed to make the public problem of pesticide exposure visible and more understandable.  The database allows you to search by pesticide or by product, and lists how often a particular pesticide is found, in what ways it is toxic, and what other produce has been exposed to it.  You can search the database online or download the free iPhone app and take it with you when you go shopping.  With every dollar you spend, you make a choice about whether or not to support the poisoning of yourself and the planet.  Arm yourself with this tool in order to make more informed decisions about what is going into your body and take a stand against harmful agrochemicals.

Pesticide exposure is a huge problem in the United States.  Chemicals sprayed on produce remain after washing and turn up in the human body and in the environment thousands of miles from where they were originally applied to crops.  They disrupt our bodies and the bodies of other lifeforms.  In the United States, pesticide regulation lags behind the rest of the industrialized world. The Pesticide Action Network explains:

Since the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) regulates most chemicals on a chemical-by-chemical basis, the combined and cumulative effects of a mixture of pesticides are nearly impossible for them to address – and so they usually don’t.  Pesticides and industrial chemicals in the U.S. are innocent until proven guilty. It often takes decades to prove a chemical guilty. Meanwhile, we are exposed to dozens of pesticides in the food we eat, water we drink and air we breathe.

As always, a great way to limit your pesticide exposure is to buy organic and local.  Organic foods are prohibited from being sprayed with synthetic pesticides.  Talk to your local farmer.  Even if they aren't USDA Certified Organic, they might not be spraying their crops with harmful chemicals.  Building a relationship with a nearby farmer is the best way to ensure that you limit your pesticide exposure while supporting your local economy. 

Not sure how to take that first step toward buying local and organic?  Check out our website for a listing of Connecticut farmers markets where our member farms sell their produce, or download a PDF of our Farm and Food Guide to see a listing of all our member farms by county.  Visiting a farm or farmers market transforms the chore of grocery shopping into a fun and healthy experience for your whole family.  What better way to help us secure a brighter future for ourselves and the planet!

Beginning Farmer Funding in the 2012 Farm Bill

Our Beginning Farmer Program at CT NOFA is funded by the USDA's Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) established in the 2008 Farm Bill.  This program funds local organizations to create community-based support for new farmers.  This program might be now facing cuts in the new farm bill.  We rely on this funding as do many other organizations and many of our nation's future farmers.  You can learn more about the program from their 2011 Progress Report. It’s a great example of how public investments can stimulate the outcomes we want –  more beginning farmers getting started and succeeding. That is something we all know we need more of.

Our Beginning Farmer lunch at the Greenhouse Workshop was funded by our BFRDP Grant!

The U.S. Senate version of the 2012 Farm Bill will be introduced by Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow in the next few days, and immediately following its introduction it will be marked up and voted on by the Senate Agriculture Committee. Changes to programs and funding levels are being floated — some not so good and some outright bad.

The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program has no funding past 2012. As Senate Farm Bill proceeds, it is still unclear if any resources will be dedicated to the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. The only indication we have to go on is what happened in the proposed “Secret Farm Bill” within the failed Super Committee process last fall. In the “Secret Farm Bill” only $10 million a year was provided to the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. That would be a 47 percent decrease compared to what was offered for the program this year and represents a massive cut to the program overall. We cannot allow this to happen in the Senate Farm Bill.

U.S. Senators need to hear from organizations and farmers about the need for making real investments in beginning farmer support. Ask your Senator to secure these resources that maintain and grow training and assistance for our next generation of American farmers and ranchers. 

To contact your Senator, use the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at: 202-224-3121.

Message:   I want Senator __________ to make the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program a top priority and to ensure it is funded at $25 million a year in the Farm Bill. We need to invest in support for new farmers. Dedicate the funding and continue this new farmer support program as is.  It does not need changes. It does not need tweaks. It needs funding.

When you call, it’s best to try and contact the staff member responsible for agriculture issues if you can.  If they are not available, make sure to leave a message with the receptionist. Let them know what organization you’re with and where you’re from.

The U.S. EPA denies petition to cancel 2,4-D

2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, or 2,4-D is the most widely used pesticide in the world, and one of the main pesticides used in North America.  2,4-D was made especially famous (or infamous) by it's inclusion in Agent Orange, the defoliant used by the United States to wage war on Vietnam's countryside in the Vietnam War.

The herbicide has been used in the U.S. since the 1940s and is used in about 600 products registered for agricultural, residential and industiral uses (Beyond Pesticides).  The chemical has also been associated with a number of serious health isues including soft tissue sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and birth defects.

In 2008, the Natural Resources Defense Council requested that the EPA cancel all product registrations and revoke any tolerances for 2,4-D.  A "tolerance" refers to a legal residue limit in food.   The EPA reviewed the data cited by the NRDC and the new studies submitted to the EPA and has ruled that there is not enough data to conclude that 2,4-D is directly contributing to cancer and health issues.

This is especially worrisome, because Dow AgroSciences is seeking federal approval to sell corn seeds that have been genetically modified to be resistant to 2,4-D which will most likely result in even more widespread use as we have already seen with the use of Round-Up on "Round-Up Ready" genetically modified crops.

The New York Times article on the subject reported that the main study which conflicted with the studies submited by the NRCS was one financed by 2,4-D manufacturers conducted by Dow, which exposed test rats to the chemical and found no reproductive problems related to the exposure.

Update: A Citizen's Assembly of Support for Family Farmers vs. Monsanto

Community members assembled early this morning.

At 9:00 am this morning community members and stakeholders assembled outside of the Southern District Court in New York City to announce a public message that they stand behind family farmers as they go to court with Monsanto.  The lead plaintiffs in the case stated, " In the past two decades, Monsanto’s seed monopoly has grown so powerful that they control the genetics of nearly 90% of five major commodity crops including corn, soybeans, cotton, canola and sugar beets. This has resulted in onerous costs to farmers through high technology patent fees for seeds as well as burdensome litigation costs in defending themselves against lawsuits asserted by Monsanto.  In many cases organic and conventional farmers are forced to stop growing certain crops in order to avoid genetic contamination and potential lawsuits."  In response to the injustice leveraged on farmers by Monsanto, the Organic Seed Growers and Traders Association has filed suit against Monsanto.

Activists rallied after the court hearing.

The lawsuit OSGATA (Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association) et al vs. Monsanto was filed on behalf of 300,000 organic and non-GMO farmers and citizens to seek judicial relief in "protect[ing] themselves from ever being accused of infringing patents on transgenic (GMO) seed". The judge has requested and agreed to hear oral argument in orders to make a decision of whether or not to allow the farmers’ case to move forward in the courts after Monsanto filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Supporters of farmers’ rights to grow food without fear and intimidation assembled outside the courtroom today to support the farmers in their claims, recognizing that these injustices affect us all and that this case is deserving of the court’s time and attention.

We won't know the results of the hearing for a few weeks, but are taking a stand and are committed to seeing this through. 

Have a great afternoon!

Another Reason to Avoid GMOs: Bt Toxin Superpests

This is hardly breaking news, but worth remembering when deciding if you want to eat food processed with Bt corn or soy.  At the end of last year, both Grist and GM Freeze wrote articles about insects developing resistance to genetically modified Bt crops.  The following is an excerpt from GM Freeze:

Corn Rootworm

Scientists have confirmed five incidents of insects evolving resistance to Bt toxins in the field to date: Bt cotton in India (2010) and US (2008), moth pests in maize in Puerto Rico (2007) and South Africa (2007) and a beetle pest in maize in the US (2011).

Reasons for resistance developing are:

• Failure to provide adequate non-GM refuges in GM crops to ensure non-resistant adult insects can survive to breed with resistant ones so that the resistance gene does not become dominant. Refuges are required by US laws that are widely flouted.
• Levels of Bt toxin in the crops too low to deliver lethal doses to pests. Sub-lethal doses mean resistance can develop as pests survive, mate and pass on the resistance gene. If the number of resistant individuals is high they can multiply quite rapidly and become dominant.

This failure of Bt crops goes hand in hand with a separate superweed problem affecting Monsanto's Roundup Ready line of herbicide resistant crops. The moral of this story: genetic tinkering has a host of unintended consequences, some of which you can plan for (as in the case of non-GM refuges, which demonstrates another issue of whether or not companies will comply with knowledge-based regulations) and some of which you can't.  Since the yields of these crops are the same or worse than the organic alternative, why not just skip the GMOs altogether?

If you would like to know what's in your food, join our GMO Activist Project and add your voice to the public outcry to label genetically modified foods.  Check out our GMO resource page and take action at Just Label It.  If you want to learn more about the dangers of GMOs, register for our Winter Conference with keynote Jeffrey Smith, the leading spokesperson on the health dangers of genetically modified organisms.

Have a great rest of your week!
Melissa

One Great Reason to go Organic: GMOs

Right now the only way to know for sure if the food you're eating is GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) free is to buy organic.  Organic produce is prohibited from containing any genetically modified material, and organic livestock may not be given any genetically modified feed.  Maria Rodale, CEO and Chairman of Rodale, Inc., posted an article yesterday on the Huffington Post that describes the dangers of GMOs and the resulting need for product labeling.  Maria sites three studies listed in her article and summarizes them concisely: "One reports that GMOs survive in our bodies -- they aren't killed in the stomach, as some have suggested, but travel to the intestine where they remain active in the body. Another study reports that we are exposed to these GMOs, not only from the GMO foods themselves, but also from eating animals that eat GMO foods. And finally, animal studies reveal that these GMOs may be linked to disease.

So I say, Just Label It!"

The Just Label It campaign calls for mandatory labeling of GMO ingredients. The NOFA Interstate Council, NOFA RI, NOFA-VT, NOFA-NY and CT NOFA have joined the Campaign and are also plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Monsanto to protect organic producers from the ramifications of GMO contamination.  As part of our GMO Activist Program, we are building a list of members interested in anti-GMO activism who can help send letters to the FDA or locally organize to advocate for state labeling regulation in which Rep. Roy and the Ledgelight Health District have led the way. Please e-mail Kristiane if you'd like to be added to the list as we coordinate more GMO activism activities.

Check out our webpage to learn more about what you can do to ensure that you know what's in your food.

Have a great week!
-Melissa

Understanding the 2012 Farm Bill: The "Hackathon"

Comparison between government nutrition recommendations and federal agriculture subsidies in FoodTech Connect's entry in the Farm Bill Hackathon

The Farm Bill is a pretty dense document, with such complicated subsidy structures and a huge variety of programs, that it is a challenge for experts to follow and completely inaccessible to many of the people it effects the most: consumers and farmers.  The 2008 Farm Bill is very difficult to read, as Marion Nestle points out in her column in The Atlantic even for experts, and the 2012 Farm Bill shapes agricultural policy for the next five years, which also determines what kind of food Americans will be eating for the next five years.

To break apart the Farm Bill to the essentials, GRACE Communications Foundation sponsored a "Hackathon" to bring together sustainable food advocates and computer programs to create infographics and online tools to communicate the important points of the Farm Bill, and what our country (and even the world) needs from the 2012 bill.

Teams created different tools and slideshows, as entries in the Hackathon, which was also a contest to create the best powerpoints.

Watch the winning entry:

A Clean Bill of Health

View more presentations from FoodTechConnect

There are a variety of Farm Bill Hackathon slides in this slideshow, which highlighted the stark contrast between Food Want and Food Waste.

Read more at:
Food and Tech Connect
Grist.com

Best,
Kristiane

10 Things You Should Know About GMOs

A new article by Care2 provides a concise and well-written outline of topics you can use in the event of a Genetically Modified Organism debate, courtesy of Jeffrey Smith, the Keynote speaker at our upcoming Winter Conference.  Advocates for GMO use have a lot to say about why GMOs are great for humanity, but numerous studies argue otherwise.  Here are some of the highlights:

1. GMOs are unhealthy.
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) urges doctors to prescribe non-GMO diets for all patients. They cite animal studies showing organ damage, gastrointestinal and immune system disorders, accelerated aging, and infertility. Human studies show how genetically modified (GM) food can leave material behind inside us, possibly causing long-term problems. Genes inserted into GM soy, for example, can transfer into the DNA of bacteria living inside us, and that the toxic insecticide produced by GM corn was found in the blood of pregnant women and their unborn fetuses.

3. GMOs increase herbicide use.
Most GM crops are engineered to be “herbicide tolerant”―they defy deadly weed killer. Monsanto, for example, sells Roundup Ready crops, designed to survive applications of their Roundup herbicide.
Between 1996 and 2008, US farmers sprayed an extra 383 million pounds of herbicide on GMOs. Overuse of Roundup results in “superweeds,” resistant to the herbicide. This is causing farmers to use even more toxic herbicides every year. Not only does this create environmental harm, GM foods contain higher residues of toxic herbicides. Roundup, for example, is linked with sterility, hormone disruption, birth defects, and cancer.

5. Government oversight is dangerously lax.
Most of the health and environmental risks of GMOs are ignored by governments’ superficial regulations and safety assessments. The reason for this tragedy is largely political. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for example, doesn’t require a single safety study, does not mandate labeling of GMOs, and allows companies to put their GM foods onto the market without even notifying the agency. Their justification was the claim that they had no information showing that GM foods were substantially different. But this was a lie. Secret agency memos made public by a lawsuit show that the overwhelming consensus even among the FDA’s own scientists was that GMOs can create unpredictable, hard-to-detect side effects. They urged long-term safety studies. But the White House had instructed the FDA to promote biotechnology, and the agency official in charge of policy was Michael Taylor, Monsanto’s former attorney, later their vice president. He’s now the US Food Safety Czar.

8. GMOs harm the environment.
GM crops and their associated herbicides can harm birds, insects, amphibians, marine ecosystems, and soil organisms. They reduce bio-diversity, pollute water resources, and are unsustainable. For example, GM crops are eliminating habitat for monarch butterflies, whose populations are down 50% in the US. Roundup herbicide has been shown to cause birth defects in amphibians, embryonic deaths and endocrine disruptions, and organ damage in animals even at very low doses. GM canola has been found growing wild in North Dakota and California, threatening to pass on its herbicide tolerant genes on to weeds.

9. GMOs do not increase yields, and work against feeding a hungry world.
Whereas sustainable non-GMO agricultural methods used in developing countries have conclusively resulted in yield increases of 79% and higher, GMOs do not, on average, increase yields at all. This was evident in the Union of Concerned Scientists’ 2009 report Failure to Yield―the definitive study to date on GM crops and yield.

And that's only half of the list!  To read the full list, go here.  If you want to hear Jeffrey Smith speak in person about the dangers of GMOs, register for our Winter Conference being held on March 3, 2012 in Manchester, CT.  To learn more and to register, click here.

Have a great afternoon!
-Melissa

As long as we're talking 99% vs. the 1% . . .

Did you know that only 1% of America's population lists their occupation as "farmer". That is 1% of our population that feeds 100% of our population. 
The Occupy movement, in its flexibility and broad appeal, has also become a central part of the sustainable food, food justice, and sustainable farming movements.  You probably get why the occupy movement complements the sustainable food movement, but lets go over a few important connections to make:

• small farms, especially those growing "specialty crops (fruits and vegetables) receive far fewer subsidies than large farms that produce cotton, corn and soy
• the wealthy 1% can afford the local, organic, high quality food everyone needs to be healthy
• the most economically depressed areas of the United States are often food deserts
• supporting farming supports job creation
• supporting organic, local farming supports much more job creation than on larger farms where farm machinery is relied on more heavily than manual labor
• local farms and local foods support local economies instead of buying produce from South America which send our money out of the country or to multi-national corporations like Dole and Chiquita.
• right now food production and poisonous chemical production (by large multinational corporations like Dow, Monsanto and Dupont) go hand in hand. Food produced organically is completely independent of the chemical production industry (unless their crops are contaminated by Monsanto's GMO genes of course)

Given all these connections (and there are many many more) farmers have joined Occupy Wallstreet. On December 4th, food justice activists (both producers and consumers) traveled from all over the coutry to occupy in New York City.  The march began at La Plaza Cultural Community Farde and ended at Zuccotti Park/Liberty Plaza. 
The message was that much of rural America supports the Occupy movement.  The movement is not made up of lazy, spoiled notheasterners who would rather camp in parks in below freezing weather than get a job (come on).
Another occupy movement in New York City, protesters at Morning Glory Community Garden in the South Bronx were broken up by police and five were arrested.  The police broke up a festival in celebration of food on the sidewalk because the community garden supporters had no permit.  I should also add that the community garden (which used to be in illegal dumping site) was raided by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development - pulling plants out by the roots, deconstructing raised beds, and building a fence around the community space in November.

Remember even if you're not prepared to put on multiple winter coats and illegally camp in Zuccotti Park, you can occupy the food movement.  The only people who don't benefit from local food production are the large companies and corporations that have crafted our imbalanced global food system, and if they're not ready to change, then it's time to stop supporting them.

On that note, have a lovely weekend!
~ Kristiane

Food Labeling - What the Words Really Mean

On a typical trip to the grocery store, we're bombarded with a flood of catchy slogans and claims about what's in each product, where it comes from, and how buying it will benefit us. When we get to the meat counter, we often see two deceptively similar claims sitting right next to each other - the terms "certified organic" and "all natural".  The package with the all natural logo is usually cheaper, and since it sounds so similar to organic, we should opt for the cheaper one, right?  Unfortunately, like most things, you do in fact get what you pay for.

Certified USDA Organic foods are required to pass a rigorous federally mandated verification program before they can be considered organic.  This process is governed by well established regulations and enforced by the US government.  Animals that are raised organically must never be treated with antibiotics, and must only be fed organic, non-genetically modified food.  Livestock raised under such strict regulations is often much more expensive than its factory farmed brethren, so buying the cheaper "natural" version might seem like a great deal.

However, foods labeled "natural" are cheaper for a reason.  In truth, the natural label doesn't really tell us anything about the food.  In the case of meat, the common assumption that all natural livestock was raised under better, more wholesome conditions than animals without the natural label is wholly incorrect.  The natural label only means that the meat was minimally processed without artificial ingredients, which has nothing to do with how the animal lived before it reached the slaughterhouse.

According to an article for KNVO news, the USDA has been working to clarify this confusing labeling system, but for now they have had little success.  For consumers, the best course of action for now is to know what different labels mean.  I had posted a great resource from the Natural Resources Defense Council a while back as an addition to another topic, but I felt that I didn't give it enough direct attention at the time, so here it is again.  This is a comprehensive list of labels rated on reliability, with full explanations about what each label really means.  If we arm ourselves with the knowledge that's out there, we will ultimately be doing ourselves, our economy, and our food policy a huge favor.

Wishing you a pleasant shopping experience,
-Melissa

The Demand for Beginning Farmers

The National Young Farmer's Coalition released a study yesterday identifying and analyzing the barrier that new farmers face in making food production their full time career. The Report, Building a Future With Farmers: Challenges Faced by Young American Farmers and a National Strategy to Help Them Succeed surveryed over 1000 beginning farmers and identified the main obstacles, which are no surprise really:

• Capital: Farmers need better access to capital, credit and small operating loans for start-up costs to start a farm business
• Land: Farm land is scarce, it is unaffordable and it is difficult to convince landowners to make long-term lease agreements so that farmers can secure land that they can really invest in
• Health Care: it is vital and unaffordable for beginning farmers

Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack is calling for hundreds of thousands of new farmers  nationwide.  For every single farmer under 35 there are 6 over the age of 65 and the average age of a farmer is 58.  This measn that about 1/4 of our nation's farmers are expected to retire in the next 20 years.  In order to replace these farmers, the US needs 500,000 new farmers - that's 10,000 farmers per state!  And as we have seen this year, farming is a risky business, so all farmers, (but especially less experienced, less financially-secure farmers) need a well crafted safety net for their businesses - provided by the US Government 

The 2012 Farm Bill is being written now, and it needs to include or increase funding to a number of initiatives to support beginning farmers:

• micro-lending programs and loan pre-approval for farmers
• training for people in the Farm Service Agency to work with beginning farmers more effectively
• funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Accounts ( Pilot Program
• tax credits for leasing or selling land to a farmer
• expand the Transition Incentives Program
• reinstate funding for the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, a database of farm apprenticeships and internships
• fully fund the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (which has funded CT NOFA's Beginning Women Farmer program and the regional NOFA's Beginning Farmer Program)
• restore funding to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to provide cost sharing between farmers and the federal government for farmers to invest in organic and sustainable production

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has advice on how to communicate to your legislators the this farm bill needs to be about the future of farming instead of about the continued profit of unsustainable, large-scale farming.  As we continue to mortgage our future, the farm bill has been scaled back considerably, but there is some hope for the Beginning Farmer Programs: http://westernfarmpress.com/government/beginning-farmer-legislation-introduced-farm-bill.  Much of the decision making has been made (mostly behind closed doors) but it's never too late to let your legislators know that you value investments in new farmers, in rural, suburban and urban areas, and for new farms that maintain the land in a way that respects the environment, the community and future generations.

Have a great weekend!
Kristiane

How to Stop Useless Food Destruction

The Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund is a legal institution in place to defend the rights and broaden the freedoms of family farms and protect consumer access to raw milk and nutrient dense foods.  It's a valuable resource for any farmer or organization that deals with small farms and locally produced whole food, and their 24/7 hotline can help out if you are in a legal pinch.  If you are concerned that government regulators may be putting your rights and your food at risk, they are an organization to contact. 

Here's the story of Monte and Laura Bledso, owners of Quail Hollow Farm in Nevada's Moapa Valley.  On Friday, October 21, they began their farm to fork dinner with paying guests and locally produced food and music.  As their guests were arriving, farm tours were wrapping up, and the final dinner preparation was beginning, the Southern Nevada Health District showed up demanding an inspection.  They declared that the food was unfit for not only human consumption at a public event, but also consumption at a private event or even by animals.  Let me make it clear that there was nothing wrong with the food they prepared, with the sanitation of the facility, or with the farm's legal standing.  Laura and Monte had complied with all regulations up until the event, most of the food preparation was done at a certified facility offsite and a certified food trailer had been rented for the onsite preparation, and they had a special use permit from the US Health Department for the event.  Despite all if their efforts, and regardless of the fact that their food was, indeed, entirely safe for consumption, the inspector gave Laura and Monte no choice but to throw their lovingly prepared dinner that guests had paid for in the garbage.  And to add insult to injury, they were not only required to throw all the food away but were also told to pour bleach on it, thus rendering it completely useless, even for composting.  This story speaks to how out of touch with reality our national food priorities are.  Our government is willing and motivated to crack down on the small farmer who's never had an incident of illness from his or her food, but are unable or unwilling to adequately regulate large-scale factory farms that cause thousands of food recalls, illnesses, and deaths.

Fortunately, Laura and Monte's story has a happy ending.  As the inspector was forcing them to bleach and trash their dinner, they thought to call the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund, that then let them know about their right to demand a search or arrest warrant from the inspector in order for them to continue operating on their property.  When the inspector was unable to provide such a warrant, the Health District had no legal recourse but to leave the premises.  Laura and Monte were able to salvage their event, and the guests felt a greater sense of bonding and motivation to enact change as a result of the incident. 

You can go to the Fund's website to read more about Laura and Monte's experience, and to get involved yourself. 

Have a great Monday!
-Melissa

USDA Backed Grants Funding Organic Research at Universities

Sunbright Organics in Tuskegee, Alabama

On Tuesday the US Department of Agriculture announced that it will be funding 23 grants to help farmers in 18 states grow organic crops.  The new grants total $19 million and are aimed at helping small and mid-size organic farmers meet consumer demand and increase farm income at the same time. 

In Alabama, Auburn University is one of the institutions to receive federal money.  At AU the grant will fund integrated pest management research on cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and collard greens, and will help keep organic farms like Sunbright Organics in Tuskagee in business as a result.  Since green leaf vegetables attract a lot of pests and organic farmers shy away from spraying their crops with chemicals, the grant aims to help find an organic way to control these pests that farms like Sunbright Organics can use.

The USDA's strategic plan has a goal to increase the acreage of organically grown crucifers in a tri-state area of the south, and also increase organic production by 25% by the year 2015.  Learn more here.

Sign the Petition for More Robust Funding for Organic Agriculture

Tractor Protest in Madison, WI

A new article by the Examiner points to a new budget cutting process that may decrease the potential for organic agricultural funding in the next Farm Bill.  The expedited process aims to speed up the Farm Bill writing process, but since this means that many food policy decisions will be made in a short period of time, organic funding may end up getting left behind as a result.  To avoid this, the Organic Coalition is asking for citizens who care about local, sustainable, organic food to sign a petition for more robust funding for organic agriculture.

Contrary to popular belief, the organic farming industry is not only viable in the current economy, but booming.  Here are some statistics that the Examiner points out:

• The US organic sector is $29 billion industry, which is even more than the US signed in new weapons orders in 2010, $21.3 billion, according the Congressional Research Service. Those whirled peas bumper stickers must be working.
• The organic food industry creates jobs as four times the national rate and served by over 14,500 organic family farmers. Forget Wall Street, organic farming is where it’s at. It's an instant stimulus package that tastes good.
• The current demand for organic food and beverages exceeds domestic production. In order to meet this demand by 2015, the will need 42,000 organic farmers.

If you want to ensure continued access to safe, healthy food, while at the same time helping your local economy, add your name to the petition.