rBGH
rBGH is a genetically engineered variant of the natural growth hormone produced by cows. Sold to dairy farmers under the trade name Posilac (formerly owned by Monsnato, now owned by Eli Lilly), injection of this hormone forces cows to boost milk production by about 10%, while increasing mastitis, lameness, and reproductive complications.
Thanks to consumer pressure (including OCA's Millions Against Monsanto campaign), major retailers, dairies, and cafes, from Kroger to Starbucks, have commited to sourcing milk from rBGH-free cows.
Everyone – We just received advanced word that Yoplait is going rBGH-free by August of this year – WE DID IT!
They will have a formal announcement this coming Monday, but we wanted to get word out to everyone now.
Their advance word is below – note that they said they were doing this in response to customer demand. (Also note that they say they’re the first leading yogurt brand to go rBGH-free. This will undoubtedly come as a surprise to Stonyfield, Brown Cow, Cascade Fresh, Nancy’s and all the all-organic brands)
Yoplait is the 19th largest dairy
Read moreAgri-Mark Says Stop Usage or Truck Milk to N.Y. Instead
Steve Taylor
N.H. Correspondent
CABOT, Vt. - For all intents and purposes, the New England dairy industry will be "rbST-free" by the end of summer 2009.
Facing the threat of losing markets for its highly successful Cabot brand of cheeses, cooperative owner Agri-Mark has told its member farmers that if they want to continue using bovine somatotropin to boost production their milk will have to go to a cheese plant in northern New York State at a cost to them of up to $2 per hundredweight
Read moreFrom organic fish to synthetic growth hormones in dairy production, Americans have some big concerns about our food supply, according to a November 2008 Consumer Reports food-labeling poll. Here's a snapshot of what consumers said, plus a look at the realities of each issue.
Organic Fish
• 93 percent of consumers polled agree that fish labeled organic should be produced from 100 percent organic feed like all other organic food animals.
• 90 percent of consumers polled agree that organic fish farms should be required to recover all waste
Read moreThe Secretary of Agriculture Position has not been filled yet but is likely to be announced in the coming week. Negotiations are still underway. We need to flood Obama office with our insistence that his three top choices be dismissed. Please see the article below.
--- (Michael Pollan, Wendell Berry, Alice Waters, et. al.--- are backing these 6 candidates:
1. Gus Schumacher, former Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services and former Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture.
2. Chuck Hassebrook, executive director, Center
Read morePlease e-mail President-Elect Obama NOW
(You...) may remember this name: Dennis Wolff. He's the Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture, dairy farmer and rBGH user, and the author of the infamous PA rules that would have banned ANY kind of rBGH-free labeling. This was an outrageous attempt to censor the freedom of speech of dairy processors and snuff out the consumers' right to know what's in their dairy products. In response, Oregon PSR and our nationwide and PA colleagues organized a massive grass roots effort to protest to Governor Ed Rendell. After receiving thousands of messages
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Anti-biotech forces turned out in Kansas on Tuesday to argue against a state plan that would limit how dairy products free from artificial hormones can be labeled.
The Kansas Department of Agriculture held its final hearing on the matter Tuesday morning, considering a regulation that would ban dairy product labels from stating the product as "rBST free." The law would take effect in January 2010.
In addition to banning "rBST-free" claims, the rule would require that labels declaring products to have been derived from cows not supplemented
Read moreToday's dose of Tom Philpott brings word that Obama's graciously invited a well-known "fox" to serve on his transition team. How will the henhouse ever be safe now?
The transition named its "team members" looking at energy and natural resources agencies, which includes USDA. The list includes Michael R. Taylor, a man who spent his career bouncing between the employ of GMO-seed giant Monsanto and Bill Clinton's FDA and USDA. Taylor is widely credited with ushering Monsanto's recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH)
PA Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff - the Monsanto shill who approved a stealth milk labeling ban on Monsanto's Bovine Growth Hormone last year - is in talks with the Obama Administration for a post at the USDA
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania's agriculture secretary said Friday that he is talking with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team about the possibility of joining the administration. Dennis Wolff said the talks have covered him perhaps heading the U.S. Department of Agriculture or serving as an undersecretary.
"For me, it's just a
Read moreShamrock Dairy, based in Phoenix, Arizona, announced that it was supplying its rBGH free milk to 21,000 Subway sandwich shops around the country. Founded in 1922, Shamrock Farms is the largest family-owned and - operated dairy in the Southwest. They produce fresh milk, sour cream, cottage cheese, whipping cream, ice cream, and more. Shamrock, which is the 52nd largest dairy processor in the country, has Read more
for rBGH
