09/27/04

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1. Cheetah Country Beef
2. Farm Aid a Smash Success
3. Anti-biotic Resistant Germs Threaten Great Lakes
4. E.U. Postpones Biotech Corn Decision

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CHEETAH COUNTRY BEEF 

In the isolated and impoverished African country of Namibia the 
wild and beautiful cheetah is highly endangered. To help conserve 
this elegant cat, the world's fastest land mammal, the Cheetah 
Conservation Fund is enlisting the assistance of local cattle 
producers. To increase farmer income and decrease poaching, CFF 
is instituting a "Cheetah Country Beef" program that will market 
beef raised in cheetah country to costumers in high-end European 
Union markets. To achieve this goal, they have teamed up with 
Meatco, a Namibian beef processor. Together they expect to teach 
consumers how they can contribute to big cat conservation by 
purchasing specialty beef while bolstering local economies. The 
program is much like the Wolf Country Beef program initiated by 
Defenders of Wildlife several years ago in cooperation with western 
cattle producers. For more information, see the CCF website at:
http://www.cheetah.org/

FARM AID A SMASH SUCCESS

For the first time in their 19-year history Farm Aid produced their 
annual concert in the western United States. The event, held on the 
Muckleshoot reservation outside Seattle, Washington on September 
18th, was a smashing success collecting over $1 million for family 
farmers. The sellout crowd packed the 20,000 seat amphitheatre 
and a host of "virtual" concert-goers worldwide tuned in live via the 
internet. Country legend Willie Nelson, the founder and father guru 
of Farm Aid, along with Dave Mathews, Neil Young, Steve Earle 
and a host of other performers, including the still-rocking Jerry Lee 
Lewis, thrilled the audience with 8 hours of steady entertainment. 
There was ample enlightening of the masses with info about 
genetically engineered organisms, mad cow disease and factory 
farms. Above all, the event highlighted the importance of buying 
locally produced, sustainably grown food. Before the concert, 
Farm Aid board member John Mellencamp said, "It is time to take 
personal responsibility to create the future we want."

http://www.suntimes.com/output/music/cst-ftr-farm20.html

3. ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT GERMS THREATEN GREAT 
LAKES 

The United States and Canada's International Joint Commission, 
formed in 1972 to protect the Great Lakes, recently released their 
"Twelfth Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality." The 
report identified the biggest threats to the Great Lakes Ecosystem 
and the people who depend upon it: aquatic invasive species, 
chemical contamination (particularly methyl-mercury) and 
microorganisms. In particular, the report singled out as a problem 
the emergence of new, antibiotic resistant pathogens: "Some 
experts believe that the massive and largely unregulated use of 
antibiotics in agriculture and aquaculture, coupled with the 
increasing number of antibiotic-resistant pathogens found in nature, 
may present the greatest risk to the aquatic environment and to 
public health. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been spread in the 
environment through the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in human 
and animal health. If antibiotic-resistant bacteria are allowed to 
evade water treatment, or if they infect humans during recreational 
activities, finding appropriate remedies for the diseased individual 
will represent a much more difficult challenge to physicians."
The full report is available at:
http://www.ijc.org/php/publications/html/12br/english/report/index.
html

4. E.U. POSTPONES BIOTECH CORN DECISION

Environment experts from 25 European Union countries met this 
week in Belgium to consider whether to allow import for animal 
feed of a variety of genetically modified corn, but ended up 
postponing their decision on the matter. The corn variety in 
question is engineered by Monsanto to resist corn rootworm, 
According to an E.U. official quoted by Reuters, "It is a 
postponement because several member states wanted more 
clarification. There will be another meeting when they have more 
information. There wasn't a formal vote and not enough for or 
against." Reportedly, however, only four countries spoke in favor 
of accepting imports of the corn in question. This week's 
postponement does not affect the import of two other varieties of 
genetically modified corn that were previously approved by the 
E.U.
www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/27278/story.h

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Scotty Johnson and Aimee Delach
National Rural Community Outreach Campaign
sjohnson@defenders.org