Proven in the Jungles of Vietnam as Part of Agent Orange!

Dow Chemical is seeking USDA approval for a genetically engineered (GE) version of corn that is resistant to 2,4-D, a herbicide that was used in the formulation of the highly toxic defoliant Agent Orange.  Agent Orange (half 2,4-D by composition) was extensively used in Vietnam by the military to destroy forests and crops.

Dow’s Christmas gift for America was formally announced, by the USDA, in the December 27, 2011 edition of the Federal Register.  If the federal government wants to bury something in the news, and burn up part of our window to publicly respond, you can bet they’ll do it around the holidays.  The public has 60 days to comment on Dow’s petition for deregulation, and can do so online at:

http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2010-0103-0001

Weeds are increasingly adapting to Monsanto’s genetically engineered line of crops that rely on the use of a different herbicide, glyphosate, which Monsanto markets as Round-up®.  This is leading competitors, like Dow, and proponents of GE agriculture to look for weed killing alternatives.  Herbicides more toxic than Round-up® appear to be next up in the pipeline. Read Full Article »

Posted in Action Alerts

Hello,

Like every public interest charity we depend on the generosity of our members at the end of the year to carry out our mission.

For the first time in the history of the organic movement we are going in reverse. We are losing farmers, and crop acreage, because some folks are losing money in organics while watching their conventional neighbors cash in on high grain prices driven by demand for ethanol and a tight market around the world. And organic markets have been injured by fraud and cheating. Read Full Article »

Posted in Cornucopia News

The Atlantic
By Barry Estabrook

The USDA keeps a list of inorganic products that can legally go into foods labeled organic, but new board members could change things

When is “USDA Organic” not organic? More often than you probably realize. The USDA keeps a “National List” of inorganic products that can legally go into foods labeled as organic. The casings for those tasty USDA Organic sausages can come from conventionally raised animals that have been fed antibiotics. The hops in your favorite organic beer can be sprayed with all manner of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Strawberries can be labeled as organic even if they had their start in a conventional nursery.

According to USDA rules, if 95 percent of a product is made up of organic ingredients, it can be called organic. If it’s 70 percent organic, the label can read “made with organic ingredients.”

For the past several years, public interest groups such as the Cornucopia Institute have complained that the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which has the power to determine what materials can — and cannot — be used in organic production, too often weakens regulations in the face of intense lobbying by corporations who are more interested in the higher profits conferred by the word “organic” than in strong and meaningful standards.

Clad in well-worn jeans, a denim vest over a salmon-colored turtleneck sweater, and a pair of scuffed work boots, Richardson snooped from one end of the bakery to the other.

Recently, five new members were nominated for five-year terms to the 15-member board. Read Full Article »

Posted in Opinion/Editorial

Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Associated Press

WASHINGTON: Monsanto Co. spent $2 million in the third quarter to lobby the federal government on issues including regulations for genetically engineered crops and patent reforms, according to a recent disclosure report.

That’s slightly more than the $1.9 million Monsanto spent a year earlier and up almost 18 percent from the $1.7 million it spent during previous quarter. Read Full Article »

Posted in Media/News

The Daily Mail – UK
By Vincent Graff

Admittedly, it sounds like the most foolhardy of criminal capers, and one of the cheekiest, too.

Outside the police station in the small Victorian mill town of Todmorden, West Yorkshire, there are three large raised flower beds.

If you’d visited a few months ago, you’d have found them overflowing with curly kale, carrot plants, lettuces, spring onions — all manner of vegetables and salad leaves.

Today the beds are bare. Why? Because people have been wandering up to the police station forecourt in broad daylight and digging up the vegetables. And what are the cops doing about this brazen theft from right under their noses? Nothing. Read Full Article »

Posted in Media/News