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FINLAND, Minnesota - Health-minded consumers are increasingly vocal about their basic right to know what's in their food - and with good reason.
Case in point: synthetic hormones in milk. Fourteen years after a highly contentious FDA decision allowing milk and dairy products from cows injected with Monsanto's genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone - often called rBGH-- on the market, the controversy continues.
Web Note - May 29, 2007: This Op Ed also ran in several other papers, including the Modesto Sunday Bee (CA), Charleston Sunday Gazette (WV) , San Diego Union (CA), Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, AZ), the Billings Gazette (MT), the Duluth News Tribune (MN), the Daily Herald (Provo, UT), the Miami Herald (FL), the Anniston Sunday Star (AL), the Fresno Sunday Bee (CA), the Pueblo Chieftain-Star Journal (CO), the Rochester Post-Bulletin (MN), and the Bloomington Sunday Pantagraph (IL).
Organic farmers and consumers, both U.S. and worldwide, share the same lofty ideal and daunting responsibility of making sure that everyone, as soon as possible, has access to healthy and nutritious organic food, and that the land, water, and climate are nurtured and protected so that we can feed and nourish the future generations. The good news is that 50 million Americans are turning away from energy and chemical-intensive industrial agriculture and starting to buy organic food and products.
OCA is saddened and concerned about the nationwide outbreak of E. coli food poisoning, which, according to he press, has caused one death and serious illness among more than 100 people, apparently coming from California bagged spinach, affecting several dozen brand names, possibly both organic and non-organic. A Sept. 18 Associated Press story indicates that all contaminated lettuce detected so far has come from non-organic lettuce, though a major company involved in recalling its spinach, Natural Selection Foods, distributes both organic and non-organic brands.
Demand for natural and organic foods is booming‹23% of US consumers are now buying organic products every week. In a recent poll conducted by the Hartman Group, 75% of Americans say they have begun shopping for healthier foods. Ten cents of every grocery store dollar are currently being spent on products labeled as natural or organic.
GAIA NOT GUNS: A DECLARATION OF PEACE & INTER-DEPENDENCE
Gaia: Named after an ancient Greek Goddess of the Earth, Gaia is the belief and scientific hypothesis that our entire planet is a living organism with Humankind as an integral part.
Farmers and consumers, both U.S. and worldwide, share the unique privilege and daunting responsibility of making sure that everyone is fed, and that the land, water, and climate are nurtured and protected so that we can feed and nourish the future generations.
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