|
10/2/03
**************************************************************************
1. WORC ACTION ALERT! Stop Western Lands Energy Plunder
2. The Seven Deadly Myths About Industrialized Agriculture
3. Transgenic Crops Use Increases Steadily in US.
4. USDA Releases Draft National Animal Ag Conservation Framework
**************************************************************************
1. WORC NEEDS ACTION! STOP WESTERN
LANDS ENERGY PLUNDER
Throughout the west farmers and ranchers
are teaming up with conservationists and environmentalists to
stop the plunder of rural lands by oil and gas development.
To assist in this effort the Western Organization of Resource
Councils (WORC) needs your help to stop the Domenici-Tauzin
Energy Bill. According to WORC this bill"spells
disaster for America's energy future and the farmers, ranchers,
wildlife, recreationists, and rural residents of the West."
If adopted the bill will entrench oil and gas development as a
dominant use of America's western public land. At the same
time, the bill unnecessarily increases subsidies to the oil and
gas industry - to the tune of billions of dollars - all the
while shifting liability for clean-up of abandoned oil and gas
fields from energy companies to taxpayers. If you would
like to help out with this important effort to protect rural
America, you can find talking
points, contact information and a
sample letter to the editor on WORC's website.
View a discussion draft of the
legislation.
2. THE SEVEN DEADLY MYTHS ABOUT INDUSTRIAL
AGRICULTURE
Last November the Organic and Beyond
Campaign launched a tremendous new book entitled "Fatal
Harvest." With articles by folks such as Wendell
Berry, Wes Jackson, Vandana Shiva and Jim Hightower the book
informs and influences the growing public movement of activists,
farmers, policymakers, and consumers who are fighting to make
our food safer for ourselves and for the planet. Now the editors
of Fatal Harvest have compiled a list from the book of the
"Seven Deadly Myths of Industrialized Agriculture" and
are busy myth-busting.
The article, which you can find on
Alternet's website, counters industry hype that would have you
believe this destructive form of agriculture is necessary to
feed the world, to provide us with safe, nutritious, cheap food,
to produce food more efficiently, to offer us more choices, and,
of all things, to save the environment.
Additionally, when
confronted with the downside, the industry immediately points to
technological advances, especially biotechnology, as the panacea
that will solve all problems. Well, thanks to these
editors you are now armed with information and can answer back.
They even encourage people to keep the essays on hand to use
when necessary.
3. TRANSGENIC CROP USE INCREASES STEADILY IN US
Since the
introduction of GE crops in 1996, U.S. mainstream farmers have
adopted the technology fairly quickly. New data released
by the Economic Research Service (ERS) suggests that even though
progressive farmers rail against corporate seed
"ownership" and consumers worry about food-safety and
environmental impacts, transgenic seed use is growing steadily.
GMO soybeans and cotton are the most widely planted. To
obtain the data randomly selected farmers across the United
States were surveyed during 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003.
The results were then organized by crop type and state location
to illustrate the percentage of GE crops compared to total
production. The results are alarming considering the
paucity of information about transgenic effects on human health
and environments, or GMO regulation. Soybean transgenic
use increased from 54% in 2000 to 81% of all crops raised in
2003. Upland cotton increased from 61% in 2000 to 73% in
2003, and transgenic corn increased from 25% in 2000 to 40% in
2003.
4.
USDA RELEASES DRAFT NATIONAL ANIMAL AG CONSERVATION FRAMEWORK
While rural America faces mushrooming environmental and public
health risks from Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO's),
the USDA has released a draft National Animal Agriculture
Conservation Framework which will serve as a guide to the
dispersal of federal farm bill conservation dollars to livestock
producers. According to the National Campaign for
Sustainable Agriculture the draft falls short when it addresses
the problems associated with factory animal farming. In
the Campaign's "Making Hay" September newsletter they
point out the draft does not address the overall economic,
social or environmental costs of CAFO's; sets no distinction
between CAFO's and more sustainable production systems and does
not document a "good science" spin that pervades the
draft. The draft will be open for public comment
until October 27 and the Campaign is preparing comments which
will be available Friday, October 8. If you would like to
see these comments contact Martha Noble at (202) 547-5754.
View the USDA Draft
framework.
Cultivating a vision where
rural and urban communities join together
to ensure abundant family farms, healthy critters, clean water and
a wild Earth.
If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe to this list,
visit our
Rural
Updates Subscriber Center. Read previous issues by
visiting our Rural
Updates Archive.
Rural Updates!
Scotty Johnson and Aimee Delach
National Rural Community Outreach Campaign
sjohnson@defenders.org
|
