Coastal Post Online
MARIN COUNTY'S NEWS
MONTHLY - FREE PRESS
(415)868-1600 -
(415)868-0502(fax) - P.O. Box 31, Bolinas, CA, 94924
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Mad Cows and Insane Bureaucrats
Despite repeated claims that "all is well." a third case of Mad Cow
Disease has been confirmed in Canada. The
discovery has prompted the US Department of Agriculture to reconsider their
plan to reopen US borders to Canadian cattle exports. The beef industry and the
USDA have always claimed that North America
was free from the fatal brain wasting disease-until the first confirmed case in
2003. Mad Cow has killed approximately 150 consumers in UK and Europe since
1996. Mad Cow disease is spread through the routine practice of feeding blood,
manure, and slaughterhouse waste to cattle, a practice banned in Europe and prohibited on organic farms
across the world. OCA Policy Board member John Stauber, co-author of the book,
Mad Cow USA, points out how current US and
Canadian regulations are putting public health at risk.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/jokeregs011305.cfm
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Warnings Of Disaster From Animals
According to National Geographic, there have been a significant number of
reports documenting animals who seemed to sense the recent Asian tsunami before
it hit. For example, Sri
Lanka's Yala National Park
suffered many human casualties, but park managers said the wildlife suffered
almost no casualties. "The elephants, wild boar, deer, monkeys and others
had moved inland to avoid the killer waves." In Thailand, seemingly insane elephants broke
their chains and fled inland before the waves hit. Authorities in India reported that "the indigenous,
stone-age tribes of the Andaman and Nicobar islands escaped the effects of the
tsunami because they heeded warning signals from birds and animals." A
number of scientists have pointed out that this remarkable behavior should
alert us to pay closer attention to a wide range of warnings from the animal
kingdom, not only in regards to natural disasters, but also in relation to
danger signs of the impact on animal and human health of environmental
pollution, such as the recent outbreak of frog mutations, species extinctions,
and drops in mammalian
fertility. http://www.organicconsumers.org/corp/tsunami.cfm
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Monsanto Found Guilty of International Bribery
Monsanto, the leading global producer of genetically engineered seeds and
crops, has been found guilty of bribing government officials in Indonesia. The Justice Department has fined
Monsanto $1.5 million for bribing the Indonesian Ministry of Environment to
allow the company to ignore required environmental impact studies before
proceeding to plant genetically modified crops. Meanwhile, in the US, bribery seems hardly necessary for the Gene Giant,
given that the Bush administration and regulatory agencies are stacked with
former Monsanto employees and pro-biotech bureaucrats. Monsanto strengthened
its grip on US policymaking last week when one of its former lobbyists, Martha
Scott, was appointed as Staff Director of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Other Monsanto boosters in the Washington
power elite include former Secretary of Agriculture Anne Veneman (formerly head
of the Monsanto subsidiary Calgene), Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
(formerly CEO of a Monsanto pharmaceutical subsidiary, Searle) and Supreme
Court Justice Clarence Thomas (formerly a Monsanto lawyer).
http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.html
* * *
Organic Factory Farms?
The Wisconsin-based Cornucopia Institute has filed a formal complaint with the
USDA National Organic Program against an "organic" dairy farm in Colorado. The industrial sized feedlot,
Aurora Dairy, claims its milk is organic, despite the fact the facility houses
5,600 dairy cows in a factory farm setting with no real access to pasture
(which is required by the National Organic Standards). A similar factory farm
in Idaho supplies Horizon Organic (now owned
by dairy giant Dean Foods) with much of its "organic" milk. Mark Kastel,
Cornucopia's Senior Farm Analyst, said that such factory style operations go
against the spirit of organic standards and threaten the livelihood of genuine
organic family farmers. Almost immediately following the complaint submission,
the USDA issued an internal memo, asking the National Organic Standards Board
to develop strict policies on the pasture requirements.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/cornucopia011205.cfm
* * *
Organic Milk Has More Nutrients And Antioxidants
A new study has found that organic milk has higher levels of nutrients and
antioxidants than conventional milk. According to research spearheaded by the UK's Soil Association, dairy cattle raised on an organic
diet produce milk with 50% more Vitamin E and 75% more beta carotene than
conventionally farmed dairy. The organic milk is also two to three times higher
in zeaxanthine and lutein, which are powerful antioxidants. Jill Eisberg, chief
executive of The Dairy Council said the research is "an interesting new
development for the dairy industry".
http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/milk011005.cfm