[cgfc-discuss] [Biodemocracy]Organic Bytes #15

Wed Jun 11 15:35:14 CDT 2003

If you would like to unsubscribe from the OCA News list:  please send an
email to <biodemocracy-request at lists.organicconsumers.org> with the word
unsubscribe in the subject or body

---------------------------------------------------------

ORGANIC BYTES ~~~ Organic news tidbits with an edge!

Issue 15: June 11, 2003 By Organic Consumers Association

IN THIS ISSUE:
BIOPIRATE BOOTY & FRANKENFOODS FOR ALL

QUICK QUIRKY QUOTE

HUMAN CHILDREN ARE ACTUALLY GUINEA PIGS!

CRITICS SHOULDN'T BE SO CRITICAL

FORCE FED FUNKY FODDER

WEIRD FOOD NEWS TIDBIT OF THE WEEK

MEAT-EATERS: GO ORGANIC OR GO MAD

STARBUCKS BULLIES ABORIGINAL TRIBE

ALL WE ARE IS WHEAT IN THE WIND

---------------------------------------------------------

BIOPIRATE BOOTY & FRANKENFOODS FOR ALL

Thanks to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and a host of "free trade"
agreements, it is completely legal for a large corporation to patent and own
the genes of individual plants, animals, indigenous medicines and even
humans. The WTO states that all member countries must honor all patents
filed in the U.S. or face economic sanctions, also known as cross
retaliation. In other words, the U.S. can legally impose economic sanctions
on Mexico if the Mayan people use their traditional herbal medicines without
paying royalties to transnational corporations like Dow Chemical, which now
owns patents on some of these thousand- year- old remedies. Heck, it's even
legal to patent the genes of the shaman who gives you that medicine. Since
the mid-90s, there has been a deluge of U.S. patent applications on human
genes of tribal peoples all over the world. Thanks to the WTO, even your
genes can be legally owned by corporations or individuals. And now the Bush
Administration plans to use a secret trade tribunal of the WTO to force
Frankenfoods down the throats of Europeans and consumers worldwide. Ticked
off? Do something about it:

Join the OCA and other public interest groups protesting against the WTO and
Frankencrops in Sacramento, California (June 20-25) and/or travel on an
escorted OCA delegation to attend the historic teach-ins and protests at the
next international WTO Ministerial meeting in Cancun Mexico (Sept. 4-11)
http://www.organicconsumers.org/wto_cancun.htm

---------------------------------------------------------

QUICK QUIRKY QUOTE

"If all the rich people in the world divided up their money among themselves
there wouldn't be enough to go around."

Christina Stead (1903 - 1983), House of All Nations (1938) "Credo"

---------------------------------------------------------

HUMAN CHILDREN ARE ACTUALLY GUINEA PIGS!

Despite a landslide of public comments opposing the idea, the USDA has
decided to begin bombarding school lunches with massive doses of radiation.
Food safety groups slammed the decision, saying the action turns schools
into the world's foremost purveyors of inadequately tested irradiated food,
forcing millions of children to serve as guinea pigs. Countless studies have
shown that irradiated foods lose nutrients, acquire known carcinogens, and
contain new chemical compounds unique to irradiated foods.  Local school
boards will have the choice of refusing this dubious gift-which is actually
more expensive. Spread the word and call your school board members now!

Take Action -- http://www.organicconsumers.org/irradlink.html

---------------------------------------------------------

CRITICS SHOULDN'T BE SO CRITICAL

Writers, musicians, artists.even restaurateurs have to learn to accept both
good and bad reviews, as it's all just part of the business. But when one of
Italy's top food critics recently wrote that  McDonald's hamburgers tasted
like rubber and the French fries like cardboard, the fast food chain decided
they shouldn't have to put up with a bad review. So they're suing the
critic. McDonald's has actually done this in the past and somehow won, but
critic Edoardo Raspelli says he's not backing down, and he still thinks
their food is nasty.

Full story -- http://www.organicconsumers.org/corp/mcdonalds060503.cfm

---------------------------------------------------------

FORCE FED FUNKY FODDER

The last issue of Organic Bytes (#14) took a good look at President Bush's
recent decision to file a complaint to the World Trade Organization against
the EU, based on the "problem" that European consumers are freely able to
choose not to eat genetically mutated foods. The U.S. filed the complaint
and was only able to whip four other nations of the world into supporting
it: Argentina, Australia, Egypt and Canada. Unfortunately for G.W., Egypt
has now withdrawn its support of Bush's aggressive stance against the EU,
citing "the need to preserve adequate and effective consumer and
environmental protection."  Bush added fuel to the fire by blaming world
hunger on the European decision not to import GE foods. European leaders are
downright confused by this accusation, pointing out that the US currently
ranks 22nd in the percentage of its gross national income devoted to foreign
aid - the lowest of any industrial nation.

Learn more -- http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/rifkin060203.cfm

---------------------------------------------------------

WEIRD FOOD NEWS TIDBIT OF THE WEEK

Arlington Massachusetts is currently home to the world's only "Burnt Food
Museum". The museum's art pieces range from a ten year old burnt apple cake
to permanently preserved burned shrimp kabobs. Although the museum normally
pulls in over 25,000 visitors every year, it is currently closed.due to fire
damage.

http://www.burntfoodmuseum.com/.

---------------------------------------------------------

MEAT-EATERS: GO ORGANIC OR GO MAD

Some cattle ranchers are actually profiting from the new Canadian
occurrences of Mad Cow Disease, which can be fatal to humans, once they have
eaten the meat. The organic beef market is enjoying a tasty little boom, as
consumers are salivating for safe and humanely raised meats. This is
catching many leading food-industry economists off-guard. They can't figure
out why consumers are showing a preference for pure, free-range organics
over factory farmed meats that are laden with toxic pesticides, growth
hormones, antibiotics, radiation and potentially fatal diseases. It may take
hundreds of thousands of dollars before these economists finally have to
file this one as an "unsolved mystery".

Read all about it -- http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/oca060503.cfm

---------------------------------------------------------

STARBUCKS BULLIES ABORIGINAL TRIBE

Starbucks, a self-proclaimed promoter of fair trade, is suing an indigenous
owned cafe in a tiny B.C. town over the restaurant's name "Haida Bucks".
According to Darren Swanson, the store owner, "Aboriginal men are called
bucks. The three aboriginal partners are all Haidas. That's how we came up
with the name."  Swanson said that as a matter of principle, instead of
changing the restaurant name, he'd rather use the little money he has left
over to fight Starbucks, which raked in $3.3 billion dollars in revenue last
year.

Get involved --  http://www.organicconsumers.org/starbucks/

---------------------------------------------------------

ALL WE ARE IS WHEAT IN THE WIND

Farmers all over North America are worried about what will happen if
Monsanto's application for genetically engineered wheat is approved. Since
wheat pollen travels on the wind, the engineered genes are certain to
eventually spread throughout the wheat growing region, thus closing many
foreign markets--even to farmers who choose to grow conventional or organic
wheat. In fact, tests are showing that the US wheat supply is already
contaminated. Genes from GE corn and soybeans that have passed through the
same grain-handling facilities are showing up in unmilled wheat and in
flour. "We've already got GM contamination in wheat in small levels from
non-GM sources," said one U.S. milling source. "If we can't keep the corn
and soybeans out of the wheat, how are we going to keep the GM wheat out of
the wheat?"
Full story -- http://www.organicconsumers.org/wheat

---------------------------------------------------------

FOR MANY MORE FOOD ISSUE DAILY HEADLINES:
<http://www.organicconsumers.org/log.html>

ORGANIC BYTES is a publication of:

ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION

6101 Cliff Estate Road Little Marais, MN 55614

Phone: (218) 226-4164, Fax: (218) 353-7652

---------------------------------------------------------

NOTE TO CO-OP AND NATURAL FOOD STORE SUBSCRIBERS:

Organic Bytes is a great tool for keeping you staff and customers up to date
on the latest issues. Feel free to forward this email to your staff and
print for posting on bulletin boards and staff break tables. You are also
welcome to use this material for your newsletters. There's  a super pretty
print-friendly PDF version of this available for free download at
<http://www.organicconsumers.org/organicbytes.htm>

---------------------------------------------------------

If you would like to unsubscribe from the OCA News list:  please send an
email to <biodemocracy-request at lists.organicconsumers.org> with the word
unsubscribe in the subject or body

---------------------------------------------------------

_______________________________________________

Biodemocracy mailing list Biodemocracy at lists.organicconsumers.org

http://lists.organicconsumers.org/listinfo/biodemocracy

_______________________________________________
Biodemocracy mailing list
Biodemocracy at lists.organicconsumers.org
http://lists.organicconsumers.org/listinfo/biodemocracy