April 8 Update
April 8, 2013
Environmental Justice/Food Justice/Food Sovereignty
· When Eating Is an Economic Act http://buswk.co/YNbZDT
Why does the buying and selling of food derivatives present not only legal and economic problems, but also social concerns?
· Instead of Trying to Feed the World, Let’s Help It Feed Itself http://bit.ly/ZhVHyr
We know about the ecological problems that follow when farmers are asked to “feed the world.” What would happen if they just tried to feed their neighbors instead?
· At World Social Forum, Global Peasant Movement Offers the ‘Peoples Solution’ http://bit.ly/14BWwbe
‘Another world isn’t just possible, it makes sense’
· Bee Deaths From Colony Collapse Disorder On The Rise As Researchers Point To Pesticides http://huff.to/14tF20m
o Pesticide makes bees forget the scent for food, new study finds http://bit.ly/YfLuo9
Neonicotinoids block part of the brain bees use for learning, leaving them unable to make link between floral scents and nectar
o “Nicotine Bees” Population Restored With Neonicotinoids Ban http://bit.ly/H7XsDl
o How We Could Prevent Massive Bee Deaths and Save Our Food http://bit.ly/15tWNbS
o Are Agriculture’s Most Popular Insecticides Killing Our Bees? http://n.pr/10aRywj
o Pesticide Lobby Spends Millions To Defend Chemicals Tied To Bee Deaths http://huff.to/10om1qv
· Report: Soda Sales Declining At A Quickening Pace http://huff.to/ZqqdXQ
· An urban farming oasis is saved from the bulldozer blade (Cincinnati, OH) http://bit.ly/ZqgYac
· Dairy cooperatives stabilize communities in Afghanistan http://bit.ly/Tnmg0a
· Farm Bots and Two-Month-Old Bread: Innovations in Food and Agriculture http://buswk.co/USsaO1
· Experts Say (processed) Food May Contribute to Anger, Violent Behavior http://cbsloc.al/13YwaPY
· FarmedHere, Nation’s Largest Indoor Vertical Farm, Opens In Chicago Area http://huff.to/WLW4SI
Nothing new here at all folks; the same kind of industrial factory farming mentality with all the same EVIL and in a lot of respects, even worse.
– Ken Kailing
From my understanding, it is rare to turn a profit on these projects. Organic Farmers have a hard time financially, and they’re using far fewer inputs and energy. And what is the energy use on this?
· Maximus Thaler, Tufts University Student, Wants To Open Café That Serves Discarded Food For Freehttp://huff.to/165cRBe
· Preserving Biodiversity: As If Life Depends on It http://bit.ly/XAGoz8
· Turning (Sugar) Beets Into Ethanol: California Farmers Team Up For Unique New Project http://huff.to/14hf5kh
· As Coffee Rust Devastates Latin America, Colombia’s Cenicafé Leads the Resistance http://huff.to/16U8njY
· College Park (Orlando, FL) man fights to keep vegetable garden in front yard http://bit.ly/Z1Oeng
Orlando says garden against city code
· Oceans: Environmental victim or savior? http://bit.ly/YBuncQ
· Veniamin Balika Allegedly Steals 21 Tons Of Cheese http://huff.to/10UdCh8
· 7 States Running Out of Water http://huff.to/10pw8Ky
Labor/Coops/Economics
· Restaurant group (MN) pushes back on minimum wage bill http://bit.ly/YEQan4
The Minnesota Restaurant Association released results of a survey today that show 90% of its member would increase menu prices…
No surprise here, the National Restaurant Association has been fighting minimum wage increases for decades…
o Restaurateurs tell Senate minimum wake hike will hurt http://bit.ly/119raYr
· New York’s Paid Sick Leave Bill May Serve As Model for US http://huff.to/107OORc
· Jobless-Discrimination Law In New York City Is Adopted http://huff.to/16kW7YP
· I say Tomahto, You Say Exploitation http://huff.to/WFmsh1
· Undocumented Workers’ Grim Reality: Speak Out on Abuse and Risk Deportation http://bit.ly/14B0CQO
Migrants in the low-wage depths of the US economy say they’re being targeted for simply standing up for employees’ rights
· Labor Unions in the New Economy http://bit.ly/14nn8fW
· Mill Moyers: Richard Wolf on How Worker-Owned Companies Work http://bit.ly/100CTCg
· Credit Unions Put Your Money to Work – Right Where You Live http://bit.ly/YrRRBf
What if your bank’s first priority was to do good? Vancouver’s Vancity leads the way in putting dollars back into the community.
Including help finance an urban farm in Vancouver…
· Panera Trying New Pay-What-You-Want Experiment http://huff.to/YTT2Zl
· Farmland prices soar – along with farm debt http://bit.ly/YU2KhB
While small-scale producers of fruits and vegetables are scraping by, it’s a whol ‘nother story for corn and soy farmers…
· Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi’s Pay Drops To $12.6 Million, As Company Ties Compensation To Performancehttp://huff.to/YOaGO8
· Walmart’s CEO Paid 1,034 Times More Than The Median Walmart Worker: PayScale http://huff.to/16mLKUl
o Walmart Sues Grocery Workers Union, Others Who Have Protested At Florida Storeshttp://huff.to/15PD0DS
· Walmart’s Death Grip on Groceries Is Making Life Worse for Millions of People http://bit.ly/WXeujy
Walmart’s growing control of our food system has been to intensify the rural and urban poverty that drives unhealthy food choices.
· Customers Flee Wal-Mart Empty Shelves for Target, Costco http://bloom.bg/13s6n3w
Walmart is starting to pay for cutting worker’s hours, as customers look elsewhere and shelves go empty…
o Wal-Mart shows signs of self-destructing http://on-msn.com/14yAgyJ
Empty shelves and longer checkout lines are pushing many customers to Target and other rivals. What’s going on?
Gleaning, Food Waste & Reuse
· Living in the United States of Food Waste http://buswk.co/UOMETV
· 7 tips on how to reduce food waste in your kitchen
Save money on food by getting creative with what’s already in your fridge and pantry
Government/Regulation/Policy/
· Senate Passes Monsanto Protection Act Granting Monsanto Power Over US Govt. http://bit.ly/102lZVj
o ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ slips silently through US Congress http://bit.ly/YEm2Fa
o What You Need to know About the Terrifying Monsanto Protection Act http://bit.ly/XMFBLC
o ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ 5 Terrifying Things To Know About The HR 933 Provisionhttp://bit.ly/100cHdx
o Biotech Rider a Threat to Farmers and the Environment http://bit.ly/WSdIo0
· US Senate Passes Amendment in Favor of Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Engineered Fish http://bit.ly/106DaVA
· Big Agriculture flexes its muscle http://politi.co/XJrlmH
· Why Is Vermont’s Governor Peter Shumlin Bowing to Monsanto? http://bit.ly/10DF0zN
Shumlin has repeatedly expressed reluctance to stand up to Monsanto despite the fact that 90 percent of Vermonters support labeling genetically modified foods.
· Food Safety modernization Act Testing Requirement Axed In White House Review http://huff.to/11JaqUm
· Fairness for Small Farmers: A Missing Ingredient in the U.S. Farm Bill http://bit.ly/YdlFn3
· Record Crop insurance Payout Stirs Subsidy Debate http://abcn.ws/XBRlQT
Farmers will be paid a record $16 billion in crop insurance claims for 2012 because of the widespread drought…
· Sustainable Food Loses Its Biggest Champion in Washington, D.C. http://bit.ly/13sBE6F
· 2013 EPA National Rivers And Streams Assessment: More Than Half Of Waterways In ‘Poor’ Shapehttp://huff.to/YGty2B
GMOs/Cloning/Food Technology/Poisons
· The Future of Chocolate: Will it Turn GMO? http://bit.ly/14umfCf
· Damaging the Circle of Life: Pesticides and GMOs Impact Our Coral Reefs http://bit.ly/X2iO2e
· BioDemocracy or Corporatocracy: The Food Fight of Our Lives http://bit.ly/14r3Wxq
The biotech industry and Big Food Inc. are acutely aware of the fact that North American consumers, like their European counterparts, are wary and suspicious of GE foods.
· Food Labeling (CT) Draws Crowd & Some Star Power http://bit.ly/Ytqtsq
Jerry Green field, the “Jerry” in Ben & Jerry’s, host an ice cream social at the (CT) State Capitol…
· Debate Surrounding GMO Seeds Heats Up As Supermarkets Start Labeling Ingredients http://huff.to/YGZfsy
· Monsanto’s Death Patents http://bit.ly/11sYuJW
o Monsanto Bullies Small Farmers Over Planting Harvested GMO Seeds http://bit.ly/XegXHV
· New paper on dsRNA risks – briefing for non-specialists http://bit.ly/YFilzf
The briefing document below is a summary for the lay person of the paper published yesterday, “A comparative evaluation of the regulation of GM crops or products containing dsRNA and suggested improvements to risk assessment”…
This is scary stuff…
· Monsanto And DuPont Settle Genetically Modified Seed Battle http://huff.to/YCw1OD
· Monsanto Co. Contributions to Federal Candidates http://bit.ly/n8Pe95
· The 3 Companies That Bill Gates Thinks Are Shaping The Future of Food http://bit.ly/14prtz2
If Gates has his way we’re going beyond eggs and meat, using new substitutes that taste the same but that we can make in a lab (petri dish) instead of a farm, so we can feed the entire planet. And then we’re also going to make salt healthy, while we’re at it.
· EPA Loophole Allows Flood of Pesticides to Litter US Ecosystems http://bit.ly/14B0CQU
Approval process for toxic substance “grievously flawed’ says NRDC
Healthy/Humane/Safe Food & Water
· Food Fraud Database Lets Us All Play Detective http://n.pr/10LREwA
· The fight for the right to know (Ag Gag laws, how are our foods produced?) http://bit.ly/108aESa
Undercover video at issue nationwide…
o ALEC Is Now Deciding What You Eat http://bit.ly/Xo3NDT
· Alarming New Report Ranks Food & Beverage Companies on Nutrition Efforts http://bit.ly/Yzhu6k
o MDonald’s Nutritionist Cindy Goody: our Food Is Healthy http://huff.to/11YmzEV
o Mac & Cheese (processed) Is Nutritionally Equivalent to Cheez-Its http://bit.ly/XBdmzg
· Wings Gone Wild: Why today’s Chicken Wings Are Ginormous http://bit.ly/165yQrA
Big Bird doesn’t just live on Sesame Street anymore.
· Activist Blogger ‘Foodbabe’ Scores Big Win With Chipotle http://bit.ly/14wXAwQ
Chipotle works with blogger Vani Hari to make important changes.
· Backyard Chickens: Cute, Trendy Spreaders of Salmonella http://n.pr/Y8xoos
· China Sets Up a Food Safety Super-Regulator http://buswk.co/YuRVSZ
o 1,000 Dead Ducks Found In China’s Nanhe River; Pig Carcass Count Continues to Rise (16,000)http://huff.to/YzAgx4
· Maryland House advances Shark fin ban amid global effort to curb the trade http://bsun.md/ZVdMDp
· New Study Exposes How Natural Gas Isn’t the Clean Fossil Fuel It’s Hyped up to Be http://bit.ly/101yktV
Leakages of gas in production and distribution systems can lead to higher greenhouse gas levels than burning other fossil fuels like coal and oil.
· Environmentalists and gas companies sing Kumbaya, create voluntary fracking standards http://bit.ly/100DUfd
o Sierra Club Blasts ‘Sustainable Shale’ Center’s Partnership Between Industry And Environmental Grouphttp://huff.to/Ytytqq
This one sounds like SUNY Buffalo’s Shale Resources and Society Institute, which they were forced to close due to a study released last year that was influenced by the gas industry http://nyti.ms/XxuXNq
· Ohio is Not the Nation’s Fracking Waste Toilet http://bit.ly/1449wWi
· Parachute Creek (CO) spill continues uncontained; cause, source unknown http://bit.ly/ZYreFg
Parachute Creek feeds into the Colorado River…
· Can Fracking and Farming Mix in America’s Biggest Ag State? http://bit.ly/YKvfvR
As energy companies buy up oil rights in California, questions are raised about the safety of the nation’s food supply.
· Three Bills Seek to Halt California Fracking http://bit.ly/YaxzQa
Events
· Gar Lperovitz: What Then Must We Do? Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution: Workplace Democracyhttp://bit.ly/Zx5PV6
April 25, 7:30pm, St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave., Berkeley California,
· Slow Money 4th National Gathering, April 29 – 30, 2013, Boulder, CO http://bit.ly/neWi54
Other
· Bag it: is your life too plastic? http://www.bagitmovie.com/
o 19-Year-Old Develops Ocean Cleanup Array That Could Remove 7,250,000 Tons of Plastic From the World’s Oceans http://bit.ly/11E4ZK2
