New Studies Show Organic Food has Higher Nutritional Quality
April 11, 2007

New Studies Show Organic Food has Higher Nutritional Quality

naturalMatters.net Three new European research projects have just revealed that organic tomatoes, peaches and processed apples all have higher nutritional quality than non-organic, supporting the results of research from America on kiwi fruit reported 26 March 2007. Researchers found that organic tomatoes “contained more dry matter, total and...

Food Irradiation Rules May Be Relaxed
April 4, 2007

Food Irradiation Rules May Be Relaxed

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government proposed Tuesday relaxing its rules on labeling of irradiated foods and suggested it may allow some products zapped with radiation to be called “pasteurized.” The Food and Drug Administration said the proposed rule would require companies to label irradiated food only when the radiation...

Is This the End of Organic Coffee?
April 3, 2007

Is This the End of Organic Coffee?

Thanks to a recent hush-hush USDA ruling, your clean-conscience, fair-trade, organic latte may soon be a thing of the past Salon By Samuel Fromartz Enjoy your organic coffee now, while it’s hot — because it may not be around for long. Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture quietly...

Judge Rules U.S. Government Must Allow Private Testing for Mad Cow Disease
April 2, 2007

Judge Rules U.S. Government Must Allow Private Testing for Mad Cow Disease

WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. government must allow meatpackers to test their animals for mad cow disease, a judge ruled Thursday. Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, a meatpacker based in Arkansas City, Kan., wants to test all of its cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who...

Investors Continue to Challenge Dean Foods’ Approach to Organics
March 30, 2007

Investors Continue to Challenge Dean Foods’ Approach to Organics

Investment in Factory Farms Questioned BOSTON: Socially concerned investors for the second year in a row have filed a shareholder proposal asking Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF) to report to shareholders how it is responding to widespread concern that industrial-scale organic dairies, supplying milk for its Horizon Organic brand,...

Filling Their Sales
March 23, 2007

Filling Their Sales

If organic food is so popular, why are so few farms transitioning their land? Grist By Tom Philpott On a recent trip to Austin, I visited the flagship Whole Foods — a vast space where people gather en masse to render financial sacrifice to that new god, organic food....

“Bt Cotton Poisoning” Reported by Officials in India
March 20, 2007

“Bt Cotton Poisoning” Reported by Officials in India

Bt cotton spells doom for cattle? The Hindu Andhra Pradesh ADILABAD: Grazing on residual Bt cotton crop seems to have resulted in the death of over 200 animals in various mandals of the district in the last two months. The Animal Husbandry Department has sounded an alarm as the...

Federal Judge Orders First-ever Moratorium on Sale of Genetically Altered Seed
March 20, 2007

Federal Judge Orders First-ever Moratorium on Sale of Genetically Altered Seed

USDA approval of genetically engineered alfalfa is vacated, seed sales halted San Francisco, CA: A Federal judge ruled today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) 2005 approval of genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa is vacated and ordered an immediate halt to sales of the GE seed. The ruling follows...

FDA Rules Override Warnings About Drug
March 6, 2007

FDA Rules Override Warnings About Drug

Cattle Antibiotic Moves Forward Despite Fears of Human Risk Washington Post By Rick Weiss The government is on track to approve a new antibiotic to treat a pneumonia-like disease in cattle, despite warnings from health groups and a majority of the agency’s own expert advisers that the decision will...

USDA Backs Production of Rice With Human Genes
March 2, 2007

USDA Backs Production of Rice With Human Genes

Washington Post By Rick Weiss The Agriculture Department has given a preliminary green light for the first commercial production of a food crop engineered to contain human genes, reigniting fears that biomedically potent substances in high-tech plants could escape and turn up in other foods. The plan, confirmed yesterday...

Organic Watchdog Obtains Suppressed Public Documents From USDA Lawsuit
March 2, 2007

Organic Watchdog Obtains Suppressed Public Documents From USDA Lawsuit

Secrecy of National Organic Program Successfully Challenged MADISON, WI: Sometimes the dismissal of a lawsuit against the government can still be viewed as a victory for the plaintiffs. That was the case earlier this month in federal district court in Madison, Wisconsin, when Judge Barbara Crabb dismissed a lawsuit...

National Farmers Union to Congress:   Implement COOL
March 1, 2007

National Farmers Union to Congress: Implement COOL

Country of Origin Labeling needed for food WASHINGTON — National Farmers Union, along with more than 200 organizations representing a broad cross-section of groups including consumers, urged members of Congress to support mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL). This is the largest coalition letter ever sent on COOL. (The Cornucopia Institute...

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