3/7/06

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ACTION ALERT: PROTECT FOOD SAFETY LAWS

When at the grocery store it's nice to know whether or not a filet of salmon was farmed or wild caught; if a bottle of water has high levels of arsenic; and even if a box of mac n' cheese has cancer- causing agents. Well, we may have to kiss all that information goodbye. This week, Congress is poised to vote on a bill that could strip state labeling requirements, many of which are stronger than FDA standards. Proponents of H.R. 4167, the National Uniformity for Food Act, claim that the bill would provide a standard labeling format that would end confusion caused by different state standards. But opponents argue that it would remove important health, safety, and environmental information on labels, and eliminate food safety investigations and sanitation standards for restaurants. The bill has seen little public debate and is moving fast with pressure from the food industry which is seeking to escape current and pending state regulations. Act Now!

Contact your Representative in the House and ask him/her to VOTE NO on H.R. 4167. 

Learn more about this issue! 

SHAREHOLDERS EMPOWERED FOR ORGANICS

Last year the Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin based farm policy organization filed complaints with the USDA. These complaints alleged that three industrial dairies were violating organic standards by not allowing their cattle to graze openly. 

Now, according to an Institute press release, shareholders of Dean Foods, one of the accused companies, have requested the company review company policies and procedures for sourcing raw milk for its organic products. Dean Foods is the parent company that sells the Horizon label organic product line. Shareholders have also requested an investigation to determine if company policies promote "the spirit as well as the letter of the official rules defining organic dairy products." According to the release, Dean Foods responded to shareholders "by having its lawyers file a formal protest with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), asking for permission to omit it from Dean's 2006 proxy statement on a series of legal technicalities." 

COULD HURRICANES SIGNAL A NEW DUST BOWL?

Forecasters at the weather website www.accuweather.com are warning that the 2005 hurricane season could be part of a weather pattern that could bring Dust Bowl conditions back to the Great Plains. Prior to 2005, the most hurricanes in any year occurred in 1933, and the warm Atlantic temperatures that feed hurricanes also deprive the Plains states of rainfall by "weakening and changing the course of a low- level jet stream," which normally brings moisture to the Plains from the Gulf of Mexico. When this jet stream is weakened, the bulk of that precipitation falls instead across northern Mexico, leaving the Plains states dry and hot. This is basically what happened in the 1930s, but it is too early to tell if the same pattern will play out in coming years. Meteorologists also point out that, "Today's agricultural practices, such as crop rotation and improved irrigation, as well as drought-resistant hybrid crops, would likely prevent the landscape from being as ruined as it was during the 1930s." Learn More. 

PESTICIDES: THE GOOD AND THE BAD

The bad news: Pesticide residues are widespread in U.S. waters.

The USGS analyzed 51 major river basins and aquifer systems across the U.S., as well as the aquifer system in the High Plains and found that "More than 80 percent of urban streams and more than 50 percent of agricultural streams had concentrations in water of at least one pesticide--mostly those in use during the study period--that exceeded a water-quality benchmark for aquatic life."

The most common offenders were chlorpyrifos, azinphos-methyl, p,p'-DDE, and alachlor. Most pesticide residue detections were linked to seasonal use in crops and lawns; however, "DDT, dieldrin, and chlordane--organochlorine pesticide compounds that were no longer in use when the study began--were frequently detected in bed sediment and fish in urban and agricultural areas,"a testament to the extremely long life span of some of these chemicals. 

The good news is, a separate study found that, "Children who switched their diets for only a few days to organic foods dramatically and immediately lowered the amount of toxic pesticides in their bodies." Emory University researchers found that organophosphorous pesticide levels in the urine of 23 children aged 3 to 11 fell to undetectable levels after only five days of an organic diet. They also found that pesticide residue levels returned to previous levels once the children returned to a conventional diet. Read more.

Cultivating a vision where rural and urban communities join together

 to ensure abundant family farms, healthy critters, clean water and a wild Earth.  

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