Acne.org Products
This is more like what I say when I write to my congressmen:
Stop subsidizing agriculture that makes us fat and sickly, is inhumane and is harmful to the environment. Oppose the undemocratic Secret farm bill.
Instead, please support the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act.
Thank you.
Grist article you might want to read. Links to various alternative farm bills and info about how California is lobbying to be involved in the process but being left out.
Meanwhile, California food, farming, conservation, and environmental groups have been lobbying hard to have some say in the proposed Farm Bill. But the state -- whose agricultural industry is said to produce more than 400 different crops, employ 800,000 people and generate annual revenues of $37.5 billion -- will most likely continue to be left out of the discussion. One reason is that California farms don't produce the bulk of those commodity crops -- like corn, soy, and wheat -- that farm bills tend to concentrate on.
http://www.grist.org/factory-farms/2011-10-31-will-a-secret-farm-bill-be-passed-this-week
Article on the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/local-and-regional-food-bill-prepared-for-inclusion-in-new-farm-bill/
Beginning Farmer Bill http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/new-farmer-bill-introduced/
Another petition you might want to sign. This one focuses on the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program and Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.
http://salsa.democra...action_KEY=8383
And a couple of articles on the supercommittee and the secret farm bill:
http://opinionator.b...cret-farm-bill/
http://www.ewg.org/agmag/2011/10/detailing-the-big-handout-to-big-ag/
What's happening now is a 'supercommittee' of a few reps is trying to put together a budget deficit reduction bill that will pull money from all over, mostly places they shouldn't cut while trying like hell to avoid cuts in our bloated defense budget which is where a huge percentage of our money goes. One such place being farm subsidies. So in effect, they will be replacing the farm bill that isn't up for renewal until next year. And will probably not be getting the kinds of reforms we want to see in farm subsidies. And they are taking the advice from 4 congressmen from big ag states.
And a site with a database on who got subsidies for the past nearly 10 years. http://farm.ewg.org/...mSubsidySummary
Apparently the USDA is/has been up to no good in how they 'regulate' organic farming and labeling. This is a letter they'd like those concerned to print and mail before November 30.
Monsanto infiltrating our government.. And no, it's not a conspiracy theory. Unfortunately.
Another Mercola article that contains this bit about how Monsanto people have infiltrated our government and regulatory bodies:
Biotech giant Monsanto is a prime example of how the industry has infiltrated U.S. regulatory agencies like the FDA and the USDA with their previous employees who are still very loyal to Monsanto. Cummins pointed out the following connections as a start:
- Clarence Thomas, who did not withdraw himself from a Supreme Court decision on genetically engineered alfalfa last year, used to be the general counsel for Monsanto.
- Michael Taylor, who was formerly the vice president of Monsanto, is now the Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner for Foods.
- Roger Beachy, the former director of the Monsanto-funded Danforth Plant Science Center in Saint Louis, is now the director of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
- Islam Siddiqui was vice president of Monsanto and Dupont's funded pesticide-promotion group CropLife. He is now the agricultural negotiator for the U.S. Trade Representative. In other words, he is the enforcer for U.S. foreign policy that countries have to accept our genetically engineered exports.
- Rajiv Shah is the former Agricultural Development Director for the pro-biotech Gates Foundation, who are frequently partnering with Monsanto. He served as Obama's USDA undersecretary for Research, Education and Economics.
- Elena Kagan has served as President Obama's Solicitor General. She took Monsanto's side against organic farmers on the roundup ready alfalfa case.
- Ramona Ramiro, corporate counsel to Dupont, another biotech bully, has been nominated by President Obama to serve as general counsel for the USDA.
This is not an issue of Republican versus Democrat. As Cummins noted, both parties are guilty:
"We must point that it's not just the Obama Administration that has served as a revolving door for Monsanto. We saw the same situation under Bush Jr., Clinton and Bush Sr. We have a corporation Monsanto that is not only out of control, but that places its people in high positions; that donates large sums of money to members of congress; and that basically gets its way every time there is a policy decision made in Washington."
It should not come as a surprise, then, that even the current secretary of the USDA, Tom Vilsack, is thoroughly entrenched in the industry. As the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) pointed out:
- Vilsack has been a strong supporter of genetically engineered crops, including bio-pharmaceutical corn.
- The biggest biotechnology industry group, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, named Vilsack Biotech Governor of the Year. He was also the founder and former chair of the Governor's Biotechnology Partnership.
- When Vilsack created the Iowa Values Fund, his first poster child of economic development potential was Trans Ova and their pursuit of cloning dairy cows.
- The undemocratic and highly unpopular 2005 seed pre-emption bill was Vilsack's brainchild. The law strips local government's right to regulate genetically engineered seed (including where GE can be grown, maintaining GE-free buffers or banning GE corn locally).
- Vilsack is an ardent supporter of corn and soy-based biofuels, which use as much or more fossil fuel energy to produce them as they generate, while driving up world food prices and literally starving the poor.
- Overall, Vilsack's record is one of aiding and abetting Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) and promoting animal cloning.
This is usually the problem with our regulatory agencies. They are filled with people from the field they are supposed to regulate. They are servants for the industry. Not for you.
More in the article, such as the move to allow GMO'd alfalfa which will threaten the organic food industry as it is a primary feed for livestock.
http://articles.merc...11129_DNL_art_2
My Senator actually wrote me an email in response to one of the petitions I signed:
Thank you for writing about the need to reform agricultural subsidies that help to promote unhealthy food. I agree with you that steps need to be taken to ensure that Americans can afford healthy food, and not just food made with artificially cheap crops.
I believe that our first step to making a healthy America is to teach our children better eating habits. Working with the USDA, I was able help to increase funding for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program to over $6.7 million in New York. This funding will ensure that children in low income schools have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and not just cheaper processed foods. These programs should help to instill healthy eating habits in our children early in life.
The last Farm Bill was passed in 2008. While I did vote for some amendments which would have curbed subsidies for crops, those amendments did not pass. When the 2012 Farm Bill comes up for reauthorization, however, I will continue to push to cut wasteful subsidies.
Again, thank you for contacting me on this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can ever be of assistance to you on this or any other matter.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator
Progress?? At least he wrote me back and it shows that someone up there supports "healthy" foods, though I doubt he knows the real definition of that word. At least processed foods are known as bad. That's a start. Didn't mention anything about meat though 
^ Mine write me back too. With a lot of Republican party line B.S. and you often can't tell what letter or petition they are responding to. Besides I already know the B.S. since the pundits repeat the buzz words of the day over and over and John Stewart arranges it all into a nice montage.
Your Senator at least sounds a lot less useless than mine.
For more info on what's going on:
Greetings!
Last week while most of us were planning Thanksgiving dinners, the congressional Super Committee was trying to find agreement on how to cut $1.2 trillion from the federal budget. As a part of this process, congressional agriculture committees were trying to write a new farm bill and cut $23 billion from agriculture spending.
They werent successful, and thats fortunate for those of us who care about rural communities and family farms. Some of the proposed cuts would have shortchanged rural America. This months Notes from the Center is filled with updates about impacts of recent congressional actions on rural folks.
(For a quick primer on what the Super Committee was tasked with, click here or here.)
Misguided Farm Bill Shortchanges Rural America
By Chuck Hassebrook
The recent proposal for a farm bill was written for inclusion in larger budget-cutting legislation. When that stalled, the farm bill stalled. That is fitting. This farm bill was not worthy of advancing. Among the reasons why - limits on subsidy payments to large farms doubled, it left crop insurance premium subsidies for the biggest farms uncapped, it reduced conservation enrollment, and devastated rural development programs. Read more here...
A Handful of Opinions on the 2011 Farm Bill That Wasnt
It is unclear whether the agriculture committees will use the proposal they developed for the 2012 farm bill or whether theyll start over. Here are a few analyses we found interesting: Chris Clayton from DTN; Phillip Brasher from the Des Moines Register; and David Bennett fromDelta Farm Press. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has a pair of blog posts for those who like to get down in the weeds - this one on the next steps of the budget process, and this one on the details of the proposal that died.
Keystone XL Pipeline UpdateThe proposed TransCanada pipeline has been grabbing some national headlines, and a special session ofNebraska's state legislature passed two bills related to the Keystone XL pipeline. Read more here...
Local Farms, Food & Jobs ActLocal food systems connect consumers to farmers, boost farm income, and stimulate job creation and economic development. Are your legislators co-sponsors of this bill? Check here for your Representative, and here for your Senators. If not,call them and ask them to be co-sponsors!
Finish the GIPSA Rule, Congress! Meatpackers give mega livestock farms a premium just because they're big, and Congress blocked (for now) the GIPSA rule that would ensure that all producers would have the same opportunities to earn quality premiums. Sign this petition, and send it to 11 friends.
<img align="right" alt="" height="93" hspace="1" vspace="1" width="135" />Holiday TributeThis holiday season, give a Center for Rural Affairs Tribute card! Leave a legacy that supports rural Americans. Click here!
Rural Health Wins in Super Committee Failure
Blog for Rural America | Nov. 29, 2011 | Brian Depew
Agriculture cuts werent the only ones being considered - the Super Committee also considered deep reductions in rural health programs that make limited special payments to some rural hospitals to account for the challenges of delivering care in rural areas. No deal by the Super Committee means these cuts are off the table for the time being. Read more here...
Appropriations Process Cuts Important Rural Entrepreneur Program
Rural communities took an additional hit in the form of cuts in the fiscal year 2012 appropriations process. Among these cuts was the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program. Congress prohibited USDA from distributing funds from the program, cutting off support for loans already given to rural small business owners. Read more about funding cuts here...Rural Issues In the Media
Shhhhh...Farm Bill | Daily Yonder | November 22, 2011
Old Farm Law May Influence Health Care | Des Moines Register | November 19, 2011
Natural Gas Companies Have Too Much Heft | York (PA) Daily Record | November 16, 2011Prices Shoot Up for Midwest Crop Land | LJWorld.com | November 22, 2011
Hispanics Reviving Faded Towns on the Plains | New York Times | November 13, 2011
How We Built Ord's Economy | Daily Yonder | November 28, 2011
Farmers joining occupy Wall street marches:
http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/farmersmarchv/?akid=430.94302.YCUCt7&rd=1&t=1
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/monsantos-gmo-corn-linked_n_420365.html
Article about Monstanto's GMO corn causing organ failure.
Has anyone seen Farmageddon yet?
Nah, is it good?
Whoa, definitely want to see this. watching the trailer now.
I wish I knew, I haven't seen it either. The only place it screened near me was Martha's Vineyard so I would have had to take the $35 ferry just to get there and I couldn't afford it then lol.
So, the USDA is currently considering approving another GMO'd corn, this time by DOW chemical
Click here if you want to express your opposition to the appropriate people: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_24592.cfm
These crops aren't just bad for the environment and our health, they ruin the livelihoods of poor farmers all over the world, making them give up, move the cities to live in the slums. The reason that Port au Prince was so overcrowded wasn't because those people had too many kids as people like my sister like to think.
Done. I desperately want to see change this year.
So, they've made genetically modified mosquitos and are planning on releasing them in the Florida keys soon. They've already done it in the Cayman islands:
http://naturalsociety.com/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-release-us-first-time/
So, they've made genetically modified mosquitos and are planning on releasing them in the Florida keys soon. They've already done it in the Cayman islands:
http://naturalsociet...-us-first-time/
I find that frightening and callous, seriously. I thought this was going to be about the anti-malaria mosquitos but this sounds worse. Yes, let's potentially destroy an entire species because they are pests. It's not like they are an important part of the food chain or anything. I'd like to look up how the mosquito populaiton in the Cayman Islands is doing though, since that was at least 2 years ago now.
Apparently big food is screwing over small farmers in Ethiopia as well. The government is pushing people off their land for foreign agriculture interests. Click here if you want to sign a letter/petition to USAid in support of them: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/7/stop-forced-relocations-ethiopia/
Did you guys hear about the lawsuit against Monsanto filed by around 300,000 organic farmers?
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/01/organic_farmers.php
More reasons to buy from the Farmer's markets. Article about things they are allowed to spray on produce, including organic.
Dude, That Isnt Wax On Your Apple!
http://realitybloger.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/that-isn-wax-on-your-apple/
^That's pretty scary. I don't mind animal gelatin as a coating (though I do feel for vegetarians, who are having animal products unknowingly forced on them...not good), all that other stuff is pretty scary.
Luckily, that got me to search for legitimate farmer's markets in my area, and I found out there's a weekly farmer's market that is held literally down my street every Thursday. Had no idea it existed. Gonna check it out tomorrow.
So, a report released last month found most of the pork found in your supermarket is contaminated with MRSA an antibiotic resistant superbug. And more info on even worse bacteria and how our government regulators are 'helpless' against Big Meat and various things they do to animals you eat.
Another Mercola article wonderfully titled 'Do You Have ANY Idea How Absurd U.S. Farm Subsidies Are?' with a call to action to help support small and organic farmers. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/27/us-farm-subsidies-absurd.aspx?e_cid=20120227_DNL_art_2 Hint - since the program began in the 50s. - only 10% of farmers receive 75% of all the hundreds of billions in subsidies. 67% of farmers receive nothing. Mega farms receive money annually whether they need it or not. Many receive subsidies even when they are no longer growing the subsidized crops. And of course, the vast majority of the money goes crops used to make the junk food that makes us sick and to feed for animals that makes them sick which makes us sick. Very little to fruits and vegetables.
According to this article, many states have already passed legislation to make any anti-GMO laws such as labeling illegal.
You are urged to join/donate to efforts in the various states (whether or not you live there) where they are trying to pass anti-GMO laws in an effort to stem the tides.
So, Monsanto now has GMed sweet corn that will soon be sold directly to unsuspecting consumers. Click here for an article and petitions to Wal-mart to no sell unlabeled GM corn.