Archive for the ‘Food-Nutrition-Health’ Category

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Over 1 Million Americans Support GMO-Labeling

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

Frankenfood

by Catherine Haug, March 28, 2012

(OCA’s Frankenfood Image used by permission)

The Just Label It campaign announced in a March 27, 2012 press release that over 1,000,000 Americans support labeling GMO foods, and foods containing GMO products. To read the press release which includes results of a recent survey by The Mellman Group, go to Record-Breaking One Million Americans Tell FDA: We Have a Right to Know What’s in Our Food. This support by over 92% of all Americans goes across our political spectrum, according to pollster Mark Mellman:

“The survey found nearly all Democrats (93% favor, 2% oppose), Independents (90% favor, 5% oppose) and Republicans (89% favor, 5% oppose) in favor of labeling.”

See JustLabelIt.org for lots more, including 8 Things You Can Do. I’ve rearranged them a bit, and added one of my own: (more…)

Posted in Food-Nutrition-Health | Comments Closed

“Hungry For Change” Premier: free through March 31, 2012

Saturday, March 24th, 2012

by Catherine Haug

Hungry for Change is a 90-minute documentary sequel to Food Matters. (2) The sequel is available for a free viewing, in its entirety, through March 31; the first 40 minutes of the original is available for free viewing as well. Read on for more about these films, and for links to the free viewings. (more…)

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Child’s potato project – why local & Organic is important

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

by Catherine Haug, March 1, 2012

Fourth-grader Elise is onto something, with her science experiment using sweet potatoes. The YouTube video is only 2.5 minutes long and definitely worth the watch. Do you want your family to eat veggies and fruits sprayed with Bud Nip (Chlorpropham)? It’s not only used on sweet potatoes but also regular potatoes and many other types of non-Organic produce.

Watch: My Potato Project; The Importance of “Organic”

See also Mother Earth News: The Dangers of Bud Nip in a Compact Sweet Potato Project. From this article:

“According to the Pesticide Action Network, the dangers of bud nip include toxicity to amphibians and honeybees, important pollinators of crops we eat every day. Bud nip can be found on potatoes, kale, peaches, broccoli and other common fruits and vegetables.”

Cornell University Extension has more good info on the toxicity of this spray; see Pesticide Information Profile: Chlorpropham

As a chemist, I can tell you that synthetic compounds containing chlorine are almost always toxic – sometimes highly so. And this includes the popular sweetener sucralose (Splenda). Note that common table salt (sodium chloride) is a natural substance that is not toxic at normal levels of consumption.

 

Posted in Agriculture, Ecology, Food-Nutrition-Health, Organics | Comments Closed

Fresh: the film about moving toward sustainable food supply

Sunday, February 26th, 2012

by Catherine Haug, February 26, 2012

Dr. Mercola featured this documentary film in his newsletter today. You can view it on his website FOR FREE through March 3, 2012. It’s a little more than 1 hour in length. Go to Polyculture vs Monoculture: Fresh, the Film. Mercola writes:

The documentary “FRESH” celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system.

The film demonstrates how we can collectively transform the current “industrial agricultural paradigm” into a healthier, more sustainable way of feeding the world, while restoring the health of our ailing planet.

You can also view the trailer for this movie: Fresh (the movie): Trailers. And you can support the film by purchasing a copy or making a donation.

If you miss the free viewing deadline, you may be able to Find a screening in our area, or host a screening. If you choose to host a screening and would welcome ESP members, let me know and I’ll publish an event notice.

Posted in Agriculture, Ecology, Food-Nutrition-Health, Gardening, Livestock | Comments Closed

GMOs: Government People who Worked for Monsanto

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

by Catherine Haug, February 15, 2012

One of the reasons it is so hard to get our government to stop the expansion of approved GMO crops, or even to label foods containing GMO ingredients, is because so many of our government officials are former counsel to, or employees/executives of Monsanto. That’s like the fox protecting the hen house….

Now there’s a very revealing diagram that shows these relationships. I know the print is small, but it comes with a magnifying glass icon that allows you to make the print bigger. Go to: GMO Relationships: Monsanto to Federal Government to see the diagram.

Go to the Just Label It campaign to sign the petition, if this issue is important to you. This link is also on our home page in the right hand column under “GMO”

Posted in Agriculture, Food-Nutrition-Health, GMO | 1 Comment »

Colorado’s Boulder County Outlaws GMO Crops – We can too

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

by Catherine Haug, February 7, 2912

Boulder County in Colorado recently approved a transition process that would eventually ban GMO crops from county open space. This action came after citizen outcry that led to a policy recommendation crafted by the county’s Food and Agriculture Policy Council, despite fears the county would lose farmers and revenue.

“Currently, about 16,000 acres of county-woned land are planted with genetically engineered corn [primarily Bt corn]; the new rule will mean these crops will be transitioned out in favor of traditional GMO-free farming practices.”

See Second committee votes to phase out Boulder County GMOs (1) and Colorado [county] bans GMO crops (2) for more on this story.

But corn isn’t the only GE/GMO crop grown in the US. Soy, canola and most recently sugar beets and alfalfa are the primary crops, but unless this madness is stopped, more will surely follow suit. GMO papaya and zucchini are also sold in the produce section of many grocery stores. GMO sweet corn is awaiting approval.

The problem is that you don’t know if a product is GMO because it is not required to be labeled. My response to this problem is to buy only Certified Organic version of the suspect crops. However, even products that are “Made with Organic” can contain GE/GMO ingredients because up to 30% of the total ingredients (by weight) can be non-Organic. See my earlier posts: Natural vs Organic Labeling and Reading Food Labels for more.

Posted in Agriculture, Community, GMO | Comments Closed

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