Raw Living Foods Lifestyle Training - chiDiet.net

Ron Paul making Amazing Inroads

What is behind the improbably successful presidential campaign of Ron Paul, a 72-year-old, 10-term Republican congressman from Texas who favors the gold standard?

How did Paul manage to set a one-day GOP record by raising $4.3 million on the Internet? Paul's campaign didn't even organize the fundraiser -- an independent-minded supporter did.

According to this Washington Post editorial, a new and potentially transformative force is growing in American politics. Americans are increasingly disillusioned with government becoming ever more intrusive at all levels.

Paul’s philosophy of principled libertarianism, predicated on the fundamental notion that a smaller government allows individuals more freedom, appeals to these voters.

Read more: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/12/15/libertarians-a-force-to-be-reckoned-with.aspx

First our Almonds, now our Greens

The proposal is for federal regulations to mandate the 'pasteurization' of all greens. And as bad as that sounds, it gets worse: the FDA has started using the word 'pasteurize' as a euphemism or cover for what they really are up to, which is irradiation. I've seen this coming (they've already mandated 'pasteurizing' almonds -- burning them with carcinogenic, banned rocket fuel... yes, really!) -- but they've sprung it on us, revealing their plan only recently, and allowing only untill Monday, Dec. 3 for public comment. (In the past, the FDA had comment periods of several weeks or even months. This is obscene! 

We need to take action. Almonds in September 2007; all greens (including organic) in the near future; what's next? If we don't act, we have only ourselves to blame as our food supply becomes ever more nutrient-deprived and/or toxic.

Follow the link to read more and take action at the FDA Comment Line.  Also pass it on to your friends:
http://cornucopia.org/index.php/protect-fresh-leafy-greens-and-family-farms/#more-362

Even more important, get to know your Senators and Representatives and call them; their willingness to address issues depends on how many constituents call them to complain or voice their support. It only takes 5 minutes to call the toll-free Congressional switchboard numbers when an important issue like this comes up, and they are listening.

For example, I remember a number of years back when the FDA wanted to dismantle the the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act that is the underpinning that allows Americans the health freedom to pursue alternative medicine, herbs and supplements. Thousands of Americans called and wrote Congress to protest aggressively, and as a result the plan was tabled.

Sadly, the FDA hardly ever listens to the public and heeds their wishes at all these days.  That's why I personally think it's even more important to voice your concern Monday to the Senators and Representatives who represent you. Let them know you want your the agri-business corporations to take responsibility and use more hygienic handling practices and more prudent shipping methods, even if it costs them a little more, rather than passing the burden on to you in the form of toxic, devitalized food devoid of most of its nutritional value. Enough is enough!

[ For years I was complemented that I had subscribers to the newsletter with email addresses that said @monsanto.com, @pepsico.com, etc. I naively thought that we were changing Big Agra from within, one person at a time. The Raw Living Foods movement has been growing about 4x annually, and I really thought we were getting close to “mainstream.”

I now realize that Big Agra has been monitoring the Movement all this time, and fears us greatly. This is their latest attempt to destroy the movement. When Big Agra and Big Pharma couldn’t discredit us or trivialize us, they decided that they’d just eliminate our Food Supply.

I don’t usually bother with petitions like this, having seen how the will of the people is constantly ignored by the governmental agencies (the almond hearing was 99.8% against fumigation, but the USDA order fumigation anyway). 

But enough is enough! I spent ten minutes finding the comment form and filling it out. Even though we may be ignored, I think it’s important that we let our feelings be know, so that when we the people regain control of our government our comments will be on file for the next generation of bureaucrats.  Tomorrow I'm calling my Senator and Congressman! – Jim Carey]

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1) To submit online:
Go to www.regulations.gov. In the middle of the screen, you will see “Search Documents.”
In Step 1, choose “Documents with an open comments period”
In Step 2, choose “Department of Agriculture”
In Step 3, choose “PROPOSED RULES”
In Step 4, choose “Docket ID” and then type in “AMS-FV-07-0090”
Hit “Submit.”
Next, you will see a column titled “Comments, add/due by.”
Click on the tiny tan dialogue icon, and you are now ready to submit your information and your comment.

[ Anybody else would set this website up so that you could do a direct link! - Jim Carey]

2) To fax: (202) 720-8938.

[ It took me about 10 minutes to find and complete the form.]

USDA Proposes Rule Undermining Organics and Small Farms

The USDA is accepting public comments until December 3 on a new proposed rule that would force small farms growing green leafy vegetables, such as spinach and lettuce, to put into place industrial-style sterilization measures that reduce biodiversity and soil fertility.

The proposal follows in the wake of the USDA's recent controversial crackdown on raw almonds, continued interference with raw milk production, and bans on the sale of locally produced organic meat directly to consumers. The proposed rules basically cover up the fact that e-coli 0157H contamination in lettuce and spinach crops comes from feedlot or industrial livestock-contaminated irrigation waters or contamination in large processing plants. The rule limits hedgerows, and other non-crop vegetation commonly found on and around small organic and sustainable farms.

In addition, although every organic farmer knows that healthy soil is literally alive with multiple types of healthy bacteria, the rules also discourage the development of beneficial microbial life in the soil. Send a message to the USDA today.

Learn more and take action: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_8679.cfm

School Lunches and Farm Politics

Why does a salad cost more than a burger? Part of the problem is that school lunch programs and other food assistance programs are used as dumping grounds for agricultural commodities. When meat or cheese prices fall, the government boosts farm income by buying up millions of dollars worth of these products and sending them to schools and other food programs. Livestock companies get rich, while public health and animals suffer.

We now have the chance to change things. The Farm Bill, which includes the blueprints for agricultural subsidies and food assistance programs, comes up for renewal this fall. Certain helpful amendments will be proposed that would cut subsidies for unhealthful foods and would bring vegetables and fruits into nutrition programs. Call or write your senators now and let them know how you feel.

Follow these links for more information:

from PCRM: http://www.pcrm.org/magazine/gm07autumn/health_pork.html

from Farm Sanctuary: http://www.farmsanctuary.org/campaign/DC_may07.htm

You Might Lose Your Job If You Smoke or Eat Junk Food

In an effort to reduce health care costs, employers are beginning to scrutinize the lifestyle habits of their employees -- even those that happen outside of business hours.

It's commonplace for insurance companies to question clients about their smoking habits, weight, or other health issues. However, a new trend has employers screening employees and new job applicants for these same factors. The following factors could now put your job on the line:

1. Smoking
2. Blood pressure
3. Blood glucose levels
4. Body mass
5. Bad cholesterol levels

Currently only a small portion of U.S. employers have taken action against what they deem unhealthy behaviors, but the list is growing. For instance, in September 2007 The Cleveland Clinic began screening potential employees for nicotine. If any is found in their systems, they're denied employment.

In 2009, another company, Clarian Health, plans to start charging employees $5 per paycheck if they are found using tobacco or to have abnormal levels of cholesterol or high blood pressure.

Meanwhile, employees at Weyco Incorporated can be charged $50 fees per paycheck not only if they smoke, but if their spouse smokes as well.

Privacy advocates are concerned that these monitoring trends will get out of hand, with employers charging fines for eating fast food or visiting a tavern. Most experts believe, however, that as health care costs continue to rise, employers will continue to enact penalties for unhealthy behaviors.

How to Improve Your Health and Keep Your Job: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/11/03/you-might-lose-your-job-if-you-smoke-or-eat-junk-food.aspx

FDA to reclassify vitamins, supplements, herbs, vegetable juices as regulated drugs

Originally published April 11 2007

Health freedom action alert:
FDA attempting to regulate supplements, herbs and juices as "drugs"

by Mike Adams

When it comes to health freedom, this is the FDA's end game. A new FDA "guidance" document, published on the FDA's website, reveals plans to reclassify virtually all vitamins, supplements, herbs and even vegetable juices as FDA-regulated drugs.

Massage oils and massage rocks will be classified as "medical devices" and require FDA approval.

The document is called Docket No. 2006D-0480. Draft Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA is accepting public comments on the docket until April 30th. They tried to sneak this under the radar, but word got out and now the natural health community is up in arms over this rule. If you wish to protect your access to nutritional supplements, herbs, essential oils, homeopathic medicine or any other "complementary" or "alternative" modality, it is crucial that you take action to post your comments with the FDA right now and write your representatives in Washington to put a stop to this outrageous effort to destroy natural medicine. (And be sure to really write them. Just sending an email has virtually no impact compared to writing a physical letter in your own words.)

Click here for the direct link to the FDA's comment posting page for this docket.

This move by the FDA is designed to once and for all destroy the 1994 DSHEA law that has made supplements "legal" while eliminating nutritional supplements and natural medicine from the United States, ensuring monopoly profits and control by drug companies and the FDA. It is the latest action item by the FDA / Big Pharma conspiracy that will not stop until health freedom has been abolished, drug companies rule the nation, and every citizen is diagnosied with a fictitious disease and drugged up on monopoly-priced pharmaceuticals.

FDA "experts" will decide what's a drug or medical device

Under these proposed guidelines, FDA "experts" (the same corrupt officials who reapproved Vioxx after it killed over 50,000 Americans) will decide whether herbs, supplements, vitamins or simple devices like massage stones are to be regulated as drugs and medical devices. If the FDA experts, in their infinite wisdom, decide that these things are to be reclassified, they will essentially be outlawed, stripped from the shelves, and regulated out of existence. Anyone who dares to manufacture, promote or sell such products may be branded a criminal and rounded up by armed FDA agents who have a well established history of suppressing natural medicine.

I've documented much of the criminal history of the FDA in my recent book, Natural Health Solutions and the Conspiracy to Keep You From Knowing About Them, which suddenly seems even more relevant today than when I wrote it. In that book, I documented the FDA ordered book burnings, the raids on vitamin shops, the kidnapping of natural health practitioners, the threats, intimidation and oppression tactics that have been used to suppress natural medicine for nearly a hundred years now. And now, with this CAM Products Regulation effort, the FDA is about to deal a final, fatal blow to the alternative medicine industry, outlawing nutritional supplements, functional foods, homeopathy and natural therapies all at once.

This is not a drill. It really is time to be alarmed. Nothing else I've written about this year is as important as this sinister plot to destroy natural medicine and force the American population to resort to dangerous prescription medications sold at monopoly prices under a system of medical tyranny.

Your access to vitamins, supplements, herbs, and even energy medicine modalities is now directly threatened, and you have until April 30 to make your voice heard.

Action items

First, read the document yourself. Click here for the PDF version.

Take special care to notice the following text, taken directly from the FDA's own document: (italicized text is from the FDA, with my own translation following)

"...a product used in a CAM therapy or practice may be subject to regulation as a biological product, cosmetic, drug, device, or food (including food additives and dietary supplements) under the act or the PHS Act. Second, neither the act nor the PHS Act exempts CAM products from regulation."

Translation: Anything used in any system of medicine may now be regulated as a drug or medical device by the FDA. This includes a biofeedback machine, acupuncture needles, a cup of herbal tea, massage oil, a glass of vegetable juice or even a bottle of water.

"...if a person decides to produce and sell raw vegetable juice for use in juice therapy to promote optimal health... [and] if the juice therapy is intended for use as part of a disease treatment regimen instead of for the general wellness, the vegetable juice would also be subject to regulation as a drug under the Act."

Translation: Raw vegetable juice will be regulated as a drug and must be FDA approved as a drug if it has any health effect whatsoever. Handing a cup of raw vegetable juice to someone and telling them it's good for the detoxification of their liver will get you arrested for practicing medicine without a license and promoting an "unapproved drug."

..."biologically based practices" includes, but is not limited to, botanicals, animal-derived extracts, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids, proteins, prebiotics and probiotics: whole diets, and "functional foods". ...a botanical product intended for use in treating a disease would generally be regulated as a drug." ..."functional foods" may be subject to FDA regulation as foods, dietary supplements, or drugs under the Act.

Translation: All foods, supplements, superfoods and functional foods may be reclassified as drugs by the FDA, then regulated off the market.

If... the manipulative and body-based practices involve the use of equipment (such as massage devices) or the application of a product (such as a lotion, cream, or oil) to the skin or other parts of the body, those products may be subject to regulation under the Act."

Translation: Massage oils and creams will be regulated as "drugs" and acupuncture needles as "medical devices." Taking this absurdity one step further, massage therapists who use their fingers to touch patients may have their fingers regulated as "medical devices" and be accused of practicing medicine for merely touching patients.

Things that will be regulated out of existence

It is very clear that the FDA is intending to regulate and ultimately destroy the entire CAM industry (Complementary and Alternative Medicine). Based on the explanations in the FDA's own document, the following things are likely to occur:

• All vitamins, nutritional supplements and functional foods will be stripped of their structure & function claims, reducing them to empty labels where virtually nothing at all is allowed to be stated.
• Vegetable juice will be regulated as a drug. Raw juice retreats will be raided or shut down.
• Growing and selling common garden herbs will get you arrested as a drug dealer.
• Massage oils and handheld massagers will be regulated as "medical devices."
• Yoga props, pilates machines and weight machines will be regulated as "medical devices" and require FDA approval before being sold or used.
• Raw sprouts and other anti-cancer foods will be regulated as drugs.
• Bottled water that "treats" dehydration will be regulated as a drug.
• Massage therapists who use hot rocks as part of their therapy will have the ROCKS regulated as medical devices! (It's true. The FDA will actually look at a pile of rocks and declare, "Those are medical devices!")
• Functional foods, supplements, vitamins and homeopathic remedies will disappear from store shelves, pending FDA "review." (The only things remaining will be processed junk foods and pharmaceuticals, which is exactly what Big Business wants.)
• Therapeutic tea products, such as green tea, will be outlawed and confiscated.
• Vitamin store owners will be arrested and prosecuted for "practicing medicine without a license."
• Citizens owning personal inventories of "unapproved drugs" (vitamins and herbs) may have their homes raided at gunpoint and their inventories confiscated by armed law enforcement agents.
• The importation of herbs and functional foods from all countries may be banned.

Keep in mind that the FDA is the same agency that:

• Wants to label irradiated foods as "pasteurized."
• Voted to put the deadly drug Vioxx back on the market after tens of thousands of deaths, even after its own manufacurer pulled it from pharmacies.
• Raided a church at gunpoint, confiscating biofeedback machines and charging that they were "practicing medicine" by counseling church members on issues like depression.
• Openly allows corrupt, "on the take" experts to vote on new drug approvals, even when those experts are taking money from the same companies impacted by their votes.
• Refuses to legalize stevia, the safe, natural herbal sweetener that's used virtually everywhere else in the world. The agenda? Protect the profits of aspartame and other chemical sweeteners.
• Openly allows the mass poisoning of the public with cancer-causing food additives such as sodium nitrite.
• Refuses to enforce its own laws regarding unsafe chemical toxins in personal care products, allowing perfume and lotion companies to continue poisoning the public with cancer-causing chemicals that don't even have to be listed on the label, nor proven safe.
• Ordered the destruction of recipe books that mentioned stevia. (A campaign to keep the public ignorant of the herb.)
• Does everything in its power to protect drug company profits, including discrediting herbs, supplements and alternative medicine.

Does anyone honestly believe that this criminal organization has any capacity whatsoever to act in the public interest? Even many Senators are fed up with the FDA's unprecedented level of corruption and criminal behavior.

Action items, continued...

Read Jon Barron's comments on this rule at the JonBarron.org website

Next, lodge your complaint against the FDA by commenting on this docket through the FDA's docket comment form.

And finally, write your Senator or Congressperson about this issue and let them know, in blatant language, that you will not stand by and allow the criminals running medicine today to take away your access to vitamins, supplements, herbs and homeopathic medicine. Write the letter in your own words, even if it's just two sentences. Individual letters have a hundred times the impact of form letters.

Medical wasteland USA

Everything is at stake here. If the FDA gets its way, the United States will become a medical wasteland, dominated by corporate drug company interests, where the naturopaths are imprisoned and their products destroyed. Supplements and herbs will become contraband, and gardeners who grow their own medicinal herbs may be raided and arrested by DEA agents wielding assault rifles. Simply selling dried broccoli sprouts as being "good anti-cancer foods" may land you in prison, and running a vitamin shop could result in you being arrested for "practicing medicine."

Imagine a nation where Whole Foods stores are stripped of all herbs and supplements, where vitamin shops are emptied and abandoned, where books that promote herbs are bulldozed into large piles and burned, where natural healers are rounded up and "disappeared" into incarceration centers. This is the future that will become reality if the FDA has its way. The plan has been explained to us in plain language. Any agency that openly states "vegetable juice will be regulated as a drug" has quite simply lost its marbles. We're are now clearly being regulated by clinically insane bureaucrats.

With this desperate proposal by the FDA -- clearly designed as a last-ditch effort to save the failing conventional medical industry from a massive public shift towards natural medicine -- the war against health freedom has reached our shores, and the FDA is plotting a 9/11-style attack to bring down the towers of health freedom in one swift motion.

This is the same agency that currently represents the greatest threat to the health and safety of the American people, far outweighing the threat of real terrorism. This agency, we have seen, will do ANYTHING to protect the profits and power of drug companies. It will lie, steal, accept bribes, hide scientific evidence, distort statistics, commit scientific fraud, break federal laws, threaten its own drug safety scientists, conspire with drug company executives, intimidate American citizens and use terror-style tactics to achieve its goals of complete domination over foods, drugs and health.

Why do Americans tolerate terrorism in their own government?

It is time we put a stop to this home-grown tyranny. We have fought too hard for freedom in the United States to allow us all to be steamrolled by a criminal front group covertly working for Big Pharma. The FDA has declared war on natural medicine and the American people, and we will lose our family members, children, brothers and sisters as casualties of this war if we don't stand up now and demand radical changes. It's time to stop this terrorist organization from destroying the lives of yet more U.S. citizens.

Make your voice heard now, or forever surrender your access to supplements, herbs, superfoods and functional foods. By the time the FDA is done with this country, we'll all be eating medication for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Action reminders:

1. Lodge a complaint with the FDA by clicking here. MAKE SURE you include the docket number 2006D-0480. But don't trust this to be enough. The FDA will probably simply delete half the complaints it receives, so don't trust your complaint to actually count. It's important to continue...

2. Send a strongly-worded letter to your representatives in Washington. Be sure to cite Docket No. 2006D-0480. Draft Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration. Tell them you support open access to vitamins, herbs, and supplements, and you do not want CAM to be regulated by the FDA.

3. Send this story to everyone you know. Spread the word. Raise the alarm. With enough public support, the FDA will be forced to back off this insane proposal.

And stay tuned to NewsTarget for more news, analysis and action alerts on health freedom. Even though we're under constant attack by criminal organizations trying to disrupt our servers and take us off line, we're still here, beating the drum for health freedom, and hoping that we have enough sane-minded Americans remaining to save this country from its government.

Actual FDA quote is gobbledygook

Here's an actual FDA statement from the CAM Guidance report:

For example, naturopathic cranberry tablets might be labeled for use to maintain the health of the urinary tract. In this example, the cranberry tablets generally would be regulated as "dietary supplements" ...if they were labeled for use to "maintain the health of the urinary tract" rather than "prevent urinary tract infections." The cranberry tablets would be regulated as "drugs" ...if they were labeled for use to "treat urinary tract infections" even if they were labeled as dietary supplements.

Additional phone numbers as listed in the FDA document

Sheryl Lard-Whiteford at 301-827-0379
Daniel Nguyen at 301-827-8971
Ted Stevens at 301-594-1184
Wayne Amchin at 301-827-6739

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View original article: http://www.newstarget.com/z021789.html

"If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention."

Where are your Rights going?

In last year’s reader survey of our newsletter readers (www.chiDiet.com/subscribe.htm) the overwhelming response was “It can’t be too radical.”

In that spirit, we offer a link to this 10-minute freedom of speech video about “the end of America as we know it.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PpMdTmVMpo.  It makes you think, doesn't it?

Is it any wonder that the USDA, the FDA, and other governmental agencies are unresponsive to consumer input and the evidence of the benefits of a Raw Living Foods lifestyle? “Big Brother knows what’s best for you.” Or so "he" thinks…

"Man is not free unless government is limited... As government expands, liberty contracts." - Ronald Reagan, former US President.

There’s a 90-minute video called “Zeitgeist - The Movie.” Zeitgeist is a German word that means, “The spirit of the age,” or “The spirit and beliefs of a society at a particular point in time.” This video expands upon the above with more detail about how Americans are being emotionally and intellectually manipulated into accepting restrictions on their freedom: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5547481422995115331&q=zeitgeist+movie&total=808&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0 or here: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22zeitgeist+-+the+movie%22

“People should not be afraid of their Governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.” – Thomas Jefferson, former US President.

If you think being microchipped is a good idea, or even that it’s safe, studies show that as many as 10% of chip recipients are growing cancerous tumors around their microchips: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296175,00.html and also http://www.antichips.com/press-releases/microchip-imlants-tumors.html.

“If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”  - http://www.google.com/search?q=%E2%80%9CIf+you%E2%80%99re+not+outraged%2C+you%E2%80%99re+not+paying+attention%E2%80%9D+&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

- compiled from the contributions of numerous readers

USDA-approved chip implants causing Cancer tumors

NAIS would require that all farmers and farm animal owners, implant their animals with a computer chip, even those who just own a single cow, horse, chicken or other farm animal.

Studies are finding that these chips are causing cancer in as many as 10% of the animals and people they're implanted into: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_7570.cfm

[The Organic Comsumers Association has reported on the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), a set of controversial, mandatory regulations the U.S. Federal Government claims to have abandoned to the states, but in fact is still pushing, specifically, in the 2007 Farm Bill.]

The most astonishing health disaster of the 20th century

A five-minute video about the state of healthcare in the US today. If you haven't seen all of this info in one place before, it will shock you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPI7zdGdqo4.

Health Freedom USA

The Natural Solutions Foundation was created to protect, promote and defend Health Freedom when Rima E. Laibow, M.D. and Major General Albert N. Stubblebine III (U.S. Army, Ret.) took stock of the dismal state of health freedom in the United States domestically (e.g. privacy violations like HIPPA, attacks on DSHEA, witch hunts against advanced medical practitioners, stifled new medical technologies, “practice guidelines” designed to straight jacket doctors and force them into pharmaceutical models of treatment, etc.) and internationally.

Visit the website: http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/index.php.

FDA proposing more changes

From Steven J. Monkiewicz [drsteve720@msn.com]

Won't you take a moment tell your friends that the FDA is proposing a dangerous change in the way health claims are regulated which is Unconstitutional and will keep them from getting truthful information about supplements and health? Ask them to join you in keeping your right to learn what supplements can do for you despite the efforts of the FDA to take them away. Take action now at: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/healthfreedomusa/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=12189&t=

FDA intends to restrict Free Speech

FDA Restricts Truthful Health Claims in New Guideline

Ignoring more than 100,000 emails to Congress in support of truthful health claims, the FDA has directly challenged the Health Freedom Protection Act, HR 2177, with a new draft guidance, "Evidence-Based Review System for the Scientific Evaluation of Health Claims", Docket 2007D-0125, http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/hclmgui5.html

This draft guidance represents the FDA's current thinking on the process for evaluating the scientific evidence for a health claim through "significant scientific agreement (SSA) and the definition of credible scientific evidence to support a qualified health claim.

The use of SSA and "credible scientific evidence" to determine permitted health claims is both unconstitutional since it constitutes prior restraint of speech, violating the First Amendment, and an invitation to corrupt "junk science" being manipulated to prevent truthful, useful and helpful information from reaching consumers.

Similar rulings have been passed in Australia and it's now illegal to share your experiences with your vegan diet with others.

Visit Your Health is Your Wealth for more information.

Congress considering nearly $200 million funding for Organics - OCA

In the past few issues of Organic Bytes, the OCA has been alerting its readers to contact various congressional subcommittees who are in the process of allocating funding for the 2007 Farm Bill. This massive piece of legislation provides funding until 2012 and includes a variety of programs that would benefit organic farmers, sustainable agriculture and the environment. Thanks to your efforts and the concerted work of OCA's allies, many of these target programs have been allocated funding.

Specifically, the following funding has been approved in subcommittees for organic and sustainable agriculture related programs over the course of the next five years:

$150 million to examine optimal conservation and environmental outcomes for organically produced agricultural products, and to develop new and improved seed varieties that are particularly suited for organic agriculture.

$22 million to help farmers pay for organic certification
$5 million for outreach to organic and specialty crop producers.
$3 million to collect market and production data about organic farming.
The OCA will continue to alert you to new issues arising in this arena, as the 2007 Farm Bill continues to be developed by Congress.

Learn more: http://www.organicconsumers.org/farm.cfm

USDA loses lawsuit over "above and beyond" testing

Creekstone Farms has won one of the most bizarre court cases the USDA has brought upon itself in recent years.

Early last year, after the discovery of another case of Mad Cow Disease in the U.S., foreign markets tightened their ban on U.S. beef based on the fact that the USDA requires such a small percentage of meat to be tested for this fatal disease. In an attempt to maintain sales with customers overseas, Kansas-based Creekstone Farms announced it would voluntarily test all of its meat for Mad Cow Disease.

Surprisingly, the USDA responded to Creekstone, saying it was illegal for them to have such high quality food safety testing. This action left Creekstone and its lawyers scratching their heads trying to figure out where in the law books it states that it's illegal to test food for safety beyond what is required by law. Creekstone took the USDA to court and last week a federal judge ruled against the USDA.

The results of the case will likely create a domino effect in the industry where more producers will voluntarily choose to increase testing in order to lure international and domestic customers.

Is it out of the question to envision meats in future supermarkets bearing the voluntary label "This meat has been tested for Mad Cow Disease"? Stay tuned to the OCA... http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_4655.cfm

Monsanto trying to outlaw Truth In Labeling

This week, Monsanto declared war on dairy companies that have chosen to ban the injection of their cows with Monsanto's genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH).

Due to escalating consumer demand, an increasing number of large dairies around the U.S. have declared themselves rBGH-free in the last couple of years. Monsanto, the sole producer of the synthetic hormone, has seen substantial losses in sales as a result of this voluntary movement of the industry towards healthier milk. Although rBGH is banned in most industrialized nations, including Europe and Canada, due to its links to breast and colon cancer, the controversial drug remains legal in the U.S.

This week, Monsanto filed a formal complaint with the FDA and Federal Trade Commission, demanding that labeling of rBGH-free diary products be made illegal. Learn more and get involved with OCA's "Millions Against Monsanto" campaign by signing on to our petition. http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_4698.cfm

Raw living foods deter Global Warming

Last year a UN Report showed that the raw vegan diet is the best deterrent to global warming and promoting sustainability.

This video by Glen Beck discusses how Al Gore - and other politicians - is ignoring how going low on the food chain deters global warming (8 minutes): http://youtube.com/watch?v=VwkbDubF2qM. Includes an interview with PETA spokesperson.

So... Is the Living Foods Lifestyle an "Inconvenient Truth?"

EPA watchdog agency facing another budget cut

The federal office that has accused the US Environmental Protection Agency of manipulating science for political reasons is now dismissing staff in anticipation of budget cuts.

A February 9 e-mail memo sent from Acting EPA Inspector General Bill Roderick to his staff said that President Bush’s proposed 2008 budget contains millions of dollars in cuts for the Inspector General’s Office. It explained that the cuts would mean a reduction in staff. The e-mail was obtained by the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and reviewed by The NewStandard.

If the White House’s draft 2008 budget is accepted by Congress, the EPA inspector general will be left with just $45 million next year, compared to around $50 million allotted in each of 2006 and 2007.

"The President has stated his intention to achieve a balanced budget by 2012," Roderick wrote. "Therefore, resources available to fund federal non-defense, non-homeland security related programs, which have been declining in recent years, are projected to continue their downward trend in the coming years."

Read more: http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/4553.

We Become Silent: The Last Days of Health Freedom

If you're eating a wide-variety diet you probably don't need supplements. Still, many people take them, and that freedom is being threatened.

Here's a 28-minute video about what's going on:  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=451097355502728465.

The Price of Cheap Beef: Disease, Deforestation, Slavery and Murder

According to the Center for International Forestry Research, cattle pasture accounts for six times more cleared land in the Amazon than crop land: even the notorious soya farmers, who have plowed some 5m hectares of former rainforest, cover just one-tenth of the ground taken by the beef producers. The four Amazon states in which the most beef is produced are the four with the highest deforestation rates.

Cattle ranching, if it keeps expanding in the Amazon, threatens two-fifths of the world's remaining rainforest. This is not just the most diverse ecosystem but also the biggest reserve of standing carbon. Its clearance could provoke a hydrological disaster in South America, as rainfall is reduced as the trees come down. Next time you see footage of the forest burning, remember that you might have paid for it.

Read more: http://www.americas.org/item_22592.

You DO what you eat

Forget tougher punishments and hiring more police. The solution to crime and violence is on your plate. Here’s how healthy food can reduce aggressive behaviour: http://www.odemagazine.com/article.php?aID=4143.

Mercury Present in Many FDA-Regulated Drugs

The FDA has been sued over the use of mercury in medicine. The lawsuit, originally filed in August 2006 by the Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs (CoMeD), asked the court to force the FDA to comply with laws and regulations by providing proof of the safety and efficacy of mercury in drugs.

Mercury is present in at least 45 prescribed or over-the-counter drugs, including eye ointments, nasal sprays, and vaccines. Mercury-containing flu vaccines are administered both to children and to pregnant women.

In a 1999 internal FDA e-mail, an official wrote that the agency's failure to properly evaluate the effects of mercury in medicine would " ... raise questions about FDA being 'asleep at the switch' for decades" because they would be allowing a "potentially hazardous compound" to remain present in medications.

Read more: http://www.mercola.com/2006/nov/30/mercury-present-in-many-fda-regulated-drugs.htm.