traces of glyphosate found in ben & jerry’s icecream leads company to launch an organic range.

credit: Daniel Acker/Getty Images 

The Health Research Institute (HRI) laboratories  recently reported that there were traces of glyphosate found in  13 out of 14 tubs of Ben & Jerry ice cream tested in the EU. The samples came from a range of countries including  the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Glyphosate is one of the most controversial of weedkillers and had been classified by the WHO as “probably carcinogenic to humans”. Although according to the New York Times, similar levels of glyphosate in B&J ice-cream have also been recorded in the US, scientists claim that the amounts found were “very low and not likely to pose a public health problem”. European consumers are becoming less and less tolerant of traces of poison in their food. There have been recent calls for a blanket ban on glyphosate at EU level.

fda questions safety of the ‘impossible burger’

photo credit: Natural News

Recent documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that the Impossible Burger, a meatless burger derived from a protein found in the root of the soy plant is not necessarily safe for human consumption. The burger in question has received a lot of high profile attention recently because despite containing no meat, it looks very much like a regular beef patty, and it ‘bleeds’ like one too. It is a frontrunner in the race to create lab-grown ‘meat’.

The FOI documents show that the FDA cast doubt on the safety of the key GMO ingredient,soy leghemeglobin, with the company being told that they has not provided adequate proof of safety for their genetically engineered protein before putting it on the market.  Impossible Foods based their safety analysis on the similarities between their protein and the proteins found in pork. What they failed to identify and acknowledge was the differences between both proteins and the impact of these differences. 

vintage grange pin

Spotted this weekend at the NOFA Mass Winter Conference! Thanks to conference presenter Martin Dagoberto of MA Right to Know and MA Pollen Action for coming over to share this sweet swag with us!

preach!

Galvanizing video by none other than Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir to support their amazing new project that maps playgrounds and parks that use round-up.

ASAP: demand that obama veto the DARK act!

The following message is from our friends at the Cornucopia Institute and references the recent GMO labeling law, so called the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act, which purports to mandate GMO labeling while, in reality, does not give the FDA the ability to enforce the act, allows companies to opt for labeling practices that are not –er– exactly labeling, and (perhaps most dangerously) takes the right away from states such as Vermont to enact their own GMO labeling laws.

“President Obama has yet to sign the toothless GMO food labeling bill passed by Congress.  If you already called the President, or signed one of the “unofficial” petitions, urging him to veto the bill you still have one more chance to influence him.  Please sign the official We the People petitionto the White House today urging President Obama to veto this bill.”

Modified is a gorgeous and deeply personal feature-length documentary that delves into the labyrinth of asking why, if they are labelled in 64 other world counties, are genetically modified organisms (GMOs)– not labeled on food products in Canada and the United States.

Film maker Aube Giroux (the mastermind behind Kitchen Vignettes) has entirely self-produced the film up until this point and has launched a kickstarted to cover the post-production costs. I don’t know about you, but I want to see this movie! Let’s make it happen!

 

hawaiins fight in court to preserve GMO ban

In case you missed it, two weeks ago, our friends and allies at the Hawai’i Center for Food Safety took five cases through the 9th circuit appeals court focusing on the rights of local communities to regulate and legislate genetically engineered seed crops and pesticide use. The video embedded below has the live recording of court proceedings. Scroll to 1:40:00 to see CFS lawyer Andy Kimbrell in action in court. See fellow CFS lawyer Sylvia Wu speak about the impacts of these cases here.

act now to prevent the soon-to-be largest chemical and gmo seed company in the world

If you thought Monsanto was bad, this could be even worse: Chinese chemical giant ChemChina has begun a $43 billion merger with Swiss-based seed and pesticide company Syngenta to create one of the largest chemical and GMO seed companies in the world.

This proposed merger could have huge ramifications in the U.S. and across the entire global food system, where only six companies now control 75 percent of the world’s seed and agricultural chemical business.¹ Further consolidation would put our food production system in the hands of even fewer multinational corporations, with the potential of unchecked use of more toxic chemicals and GMOs in our food supply.

A bipartisan group of members of Congress is calling on the Obama administration to more aggressively scrutinize the merger, with the potential of stopping it from moving forward.² We must act now to pressure the Obama Administration to stop this dangerous merger before it’s too late.

To act, click HERE.

DARK Act Comeback

This just in from the Organic Consumers Association newsletter:

DARK Act Comeback? Everybody loves a Comeback Kid—unless that “kid” is the DARK Act. In March, the Senate voted down the DARK Act, the bill that would Deny Americans our Right to Know about GMOs. Since then, Monsanto and its front groups, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) have been using their power, influence and, most of all, money to ram some version of the DARK Act through Congress before Vermont’s first-in-the-nation GMO labeling law takes effect on July 1. Reliable sources say that the DARK Act will soon be up for another vote. Last time, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) didn’t have the votes to pass his bill to take away states’ rights to label GMOs. Many of those who voted against the bill were pro-GMO Senators who take campaign contributions (and their talking points) from companies like Monsanto. But realizing they would take a lot of heat from their constituents, they voted no in the hope that a more palatable “compromise” bill might come along. The Senators who voted against the DARK Act last time could easily flip their votes to support a “compromise” (capitulation) to block Vermont’s law and replace it with a weak federal standard, because of—what else?—pressure from the big corporations who profit from toxic pesticides and GMO foods. TAKE ACTION: Stop the DARK Act Comeback! Tell your Senators: Protect Vermont’s GMO labeling law.  Dial 888-897-0174 to tell your Senators to vote against any compromise that would block or delay Vermont’s bill from taking effect. Help us protect Vermont’s GMO labeling law

do you know where the presidential candidates stand on agriculture?

This week, for In These Times, John Collins researches what the current presidential candidates have to say about agriculture— and what he discovers might surprise you. For instance, Hilary Clinton has the most detailed proposition for supporting small farms, including mention of student debt reform. She even proposes doubling funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. But, then again, she has received significant campaign funding from GMO industries. Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, has a sort of nebulous proposition that ignores the details and gets to the heart of the matter, notably including: reversing NAFTA and a fun little historical rid-bit about how Abraham Lincoln called the USDA the “People’s Department.”

mars candy bars: pro gmo labeling and pro gmo

Mars’ Position on GMO Labeling in the U.S.

At Mars, we not only ensure the safety of all raw materials in our products, we’re also committed to being transparent with our consumers so they can understand what’s in the products they love.

In 2014, the state of Vermont passed a mandatory genetically modified (GM) ingredient labeling law that requires most human food products containing GM ingredients to include on-pack labeling as of July 2016. To comply with that law, Mars is introducing clear, on-pack labeling on our products that contain GM ingredients nationwide.

We firmly believe GM ingredients are safe. Food developed through biotechnology has been studied extensively and judged safe by a broad range of regulatory agencies, scientists, health professionals, and other experts around the world.

To read Mars’ website on this,  click HERE!

the dark act has been introduced into the senate

Monsanto’s Dream Bill (H.R. 1599) would prohibit any state efforts to require labeling of genetically engineered foods (GMOs) — and it already passed in the House of Representatives and was just introduced in the Senate. We have to stop this bill in the Senate!

The Grocery Manufacturers Association, an industry group that represents Monsanto, Nestlé, Dow and Pepsi, is pushing this bill because it would let them continue to keep quiet about their production and use of GMO foods.

Make sure our Senators hear from their actual constituents, since they’re already hearing from the industry lobbyists. It’s our right to know what is in our food, and corporations should not be allowed to keep us in the dark.

Sign HERE to send an email to your Senators. Personalize it to tell them why this issue is important to you!

protect our babies

We’re reposting this message from Michelle in California, as sent by Mom’s Across America. It’s powerful and important. Please take the time to visit, read, and consider signing and sharing the petition at the bottom.

Trigger warning: content about birth defects, miscarriage, and infant death.

“I lost my baby due to anencephaly.  I was exposed to Roundup (glyphosate) when a family member sprayed our yard early in my pregnancy. My baby was born without a brain, took a few breaths, and died. When I heard about the increased birth defects in Hawaii, Washington State, and now the UK, and learned that glyphosate and atrazine have been linked to these birth defects, I knew I had to speak up.  People don’t know that these toxic chemicals we are spraying in our yards, on farms and orchards, city parks, county roads, and water ways could be killing our babies.

This has to stop.

I am starting this petition to raise awareness and to ask the EPA to do 3 things:

1. Test the affected area resident’s water, urine and breast milk for glyphosate, atrazine, lead and other toxins to prevent further deaths.
2. Require proof of safety via tests of the COMBINATIONS, all the ingredients in the products together, not just one “active chemical ingredient”. If the entire product is not proven safe it should not be permitted anywhere.
3. Ban toxic chemicals from products that can be used in gardens, school yards, trees, public spaces on feed and food crops.

I am asking moms in America to speak up too, go to www.momsacrossamerica.com/action and apply for free glyphosate and pesticide water and urine testing if you have had multiple miscarriages or a baby with anencephaly, gastrochisis or other birth defects. If you know of a childhood cancer cluster, please also ask those parents to come forward and also apply to get their children tested.

When we know better, we do better. It is time to face the fear of knowing so we can take action and save lives.

Please sign and share this petition!
Thank you.”

sweet little cherry bombe

Trailer for 2013 film More Than Honey about colony collapse in honey bees. The film has won a number of international awards and is rated 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.