La Vida Locavore is the blog for anyone whose crazy life includes planting, growing, weeding, fertilizing, raising, picking, harvesting, processing, cooking, baking, making, serving, buying, selling, distributing, transporting, composting, organizing around, lobbying about, writing about, thinking about, talking about, playing with, and eating food!
Agriculture
Chair: Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
- Max Baucus (D-MT)
- Michael Bennet (D-CO)
- Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
- Bob Casey (D-PA)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
- Pat Leahy (D-VT)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
- Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
- Mike Johanns (R-NE)
- Dick Lugar (R-IN)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Pat Roberts (R-KS)
- John R. Thune (R-SD)
Appropriations
Chair: Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: Herb Kohl (D-WI)
- Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
- Dick Durbin (D-IL)
- Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Tim Johnson (D-SD)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Jack Reed (D-RI)
- Robert Bennett (R-UT)
- Christopher Bond (R-MO)
- Sam Brownback (R-KS)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions
- Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Agriculture
Chair: B Collin Peterson (D-MN)
V. Chair: B Tim Holden (D-PA)
B Joe Baca (D-CA)
- John Boccieri (D-OH)
B* Leonard Boswell (D-IA)
- Bobby Bright (D-AL)
B* Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
- Travis Childers (D-MS)
B Jim Costa (D-CA)
- Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
- Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA)
B Brad Ellsworth (D-IN)
- Debbie Halvorson (D-IL)
B Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD)
- Steve Kagen (D-WI)
- Larry Kissell (D-NC)
B Frank Kratovil (D-MD)
- Betsy Markey (D-CO)
B Jim Marshall (D-GA)
P Eric Massa (D-NY)
B Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
- Walt Minnick (D-ID)
B Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)
- Mark Schauer (D-MI)
- Kurt Schrader (D-OR)
B David Scott (D-GA)
B Zachary Space (D-OH)
- Timothy Walz (D-MN)
- Frank Lucas (R-OK)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- K. Michael Conaway (R-TX)
- Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
- Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
- Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
- Sam Graves (R-MO)
- Timothy Johnson (R-IL)
- Steve King (R-IA)
- Robert Latta (R-OH)
- Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
- Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
- Jerry Moran (R-KS)
- Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Mike Rogers (R-AL)
- Jean Schmidt (R-OH)
- Adrian Smith (R-NE)
- Glenn Thompson (R-PA) *=House Organic Caucus member B=Blue Dog Democrat
Appropriations
Chair: Dave Obey (D-WI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: P Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
- Sanford Bishop (D-GA)
* Allen Boyd (D-FL)
- Lincoln Davis (D-TN)
*P Sam Farr (D-CA)
*P Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
P Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
P Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
- Jack Kingston (R-GA)
- Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
- Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
* Tom Latham (R-IA) *=House Organic Caucus member
P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
Education and Labor
P Chair: George Miller (D-CA)
- Jason Altmire (D-PA)
- Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
- Timothy Bishop (D-NY)
P Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
- Joe Courtney (D-CT)
- Susan Davis (D-CA)
P Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
P Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
P Phil Hare (D-IL)
- Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
P Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Rush Holt (D-NJ)
- Dale Kildee (D-MI)
P Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
P Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
- Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
P Donald Payne (D-NJ)
- Jared Polis (D-CO)
- Robert Scott (D-VA)
- Joe Sestak (D-PA)
- Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)
P John Tierney (D-MA)
- Dina Titus (D-NV)
- Paul Tonko (D-NY)
P Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
- David Wu (D-OR)
- Buck McKeon (R-CA)
- Judy Biggert (R-IL)
- Rob Bishop (R-UT)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- Michael Castle (R-DE)
- Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
- Luis F Fortuno (R-PR)
- Brett Guthrie (R-KY)
- Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)
- Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA)
- John Kline (R-MN)
- Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
- Tom McClintock (R-CA)
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
- Thomas Petri (R-WI)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
- Tom Price (R-GA)
- Mark Souder (R-IN)
- GT Thompson (R-PA)
- Joe Wilson (R-SC) P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
You may have seen an action alert going around by Food Democracy Now about Monsanto's GM Alfalfa. The introduction of genetically modified alfalfa will contaminate organic alfalfa and that will cause significant economic harm to small conventional and organic family farmers.
Food Democracy Now says:
During the Bush administration, Monsanto illegally won USDA approval for its GMO alfalfa by convincing USDA regulators to bypass a mandatory environmental review. In 2007, a court reversed this decision, ordering the USDA to complete the legally required environmental impact statement (EIS).
Shockingly, the Obama Administration's recent review would approve Monsanto's GMO alfalfa.
The draft USDA EIS was issued in December 2009 and is poised to allow Monsanto's GMO alfalfa on the market, despite the fact that the USDA admits that these seeds will contaminate organic feed that organic dairy farmers rely on to produce organic milk.
According to the CEO of the largest farmer-owned organic dairy coop in the U.S., GMO alfalfa "threatens the very fabric of the organic industry." We can't allow this to happen.
Despite massive public outcry in the past, the USDA's environmental review went so far as to say that U.S. organic consumers don't care about GMO contamination.
Tell Secretary Vilsack that you care about organic contamination and that you want him to stand up for the organic industry and organic consumers.
What you can do BY END OF DAY TODAY:
1) Calling is absolutely the best, and the hold time is not onerous:
White House Comments: 202-456-1111
I've got three action alerts to share on two different topics.
First, from CREDO, school lunch should be better than fast food. Kind of a no-brainer, except for the fact that a recent USA Today article revealed that fast food joints often have higher standards than the USDA's school lunch program. Ouch!
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coaltion has a new action alert out about the food safety bill, and I urge everyone who reads this to please send a message to your two Senators - especially if they are on the HELP committee. Details are below and at the link.
Note that action is required before November 18. That gives you just less than a week. To take action on a second alert, one for the Organic Farming Research Foundation, go here.
John and Jackie Stower run the Manna Storehouse in LaGrange, Ohio. Last December their organic food coop and homeschool were raided by a SWAT team, who invaded their home with guns drawn, held them and their family captive for six hours, and confiscated a large amount of food. No charges were ever filed. The Buckeye Institute is helping the Stowers sue the The Lorain County General Health District, the Ohio Attorney General's Office and the Ohio Department of Agriculture. The trial will open October 8 and 9 at 8:30 am.
This diary is crossposted on DocuDharma and Daily Kos. (It's also my first diary here, though I have been lurking for some time.)
The Crosby Mint Farm in St. Johns, Michigan is the oldest working mint farm in the country. The owners are facing foreclosure on Friday, 8/14/09, unless they can sell enough product.
Industrial Agri-business developed a plan called the National Animal Identification System, or NAIS, back in the 1990s and then used its influence with the USDA to make it a federal program. NAIS calls for every single livestock and poultry animal in the country to be registered, tagged (in most cases with electronic ID), and their movements reported.
The costs of NAIS, in both time and money, will drive many sustainable livestock farmers out of business and place heavy burdens on people who are simply trying to raise food for themselves or their local communities.
Right now, we have an opportunity in the Senate to cut back on the funding for NAIS, an important step in stopping this program. Please keep reading and take action!
The House Oversight committee Domestic Policy subcommittee will be holding a hearing on the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement on Wednesday, July 29 (tomorrow). We need YOU to give them a call to tell them that you oppose the LGMA and any expansion of it. You may recall the LGMA from a diary I posted a week or so ago called Mass Stupidity Alert: Scorched Earth Food "Safety" Tactics. You can give it a quick once-over again if you'd like, but the gist of it is that the LGMA calls for farmers to rip out hedgerows and discourage any form of life other than their crops anywhere near their fields. The practices are NOT upheld by science and they've been deadly to wildlife without actually preventing E. coli contamination in any meaningful way.
Please give a quick phone call to the committee at 202-225-6427 or fax them at 202-225-2392. The good news is that the subcommittee chair is Dennis Kucinich. If you call, tell the briefly that you oppose the LGMA and any expansion of it because it is harmful to the environment and sustainable agriculture and it is also ineffective. If you want to give them a longer message, either send a fax, or call and ask for an email address you can write your comments to.
This one is close to home. I live in the Ground Zero for strawberries. Previously, the strawberry growers used methyl bromide to fumigate the ground before planting the strawberries. Alas, it was worse than CFCs for the ozone layer, and it was phased out internationally. As recently as a few years ago, the US was still being quite uncooperative about phasing it out. It appears now that they are replacing methyl bromide with methyl iodide - a carcinogen. Ain't modern science great?
You can take action here. Think of me when you sign the letter. The pesticide drift mentioned below, well... that's in my county. I'll have the enormous pleasure of breathing that stuff. Thanks, but no thanks.
There is overwhelming evidence of potential harm from exposure to this pesticide - a chemical so toxic that scientists take precautions to use methyl iodide in a ventilation hood in very small quantities. In contrast, if registered as a soil fumigant, methyl iodide would be applied in agricultural fields at rates up to 175 pounds per acre. Since fumigants spread as a gas, they drift from the application site, poisoning neighboring residents and farm workers in nearby fields.
Methyl iodide is a clear threat to public health, could contaminate groundwater, and is not needed to build a secure, viable and healthy agricultural economy in California. Again, we strongly urge you to not fast-track the registration of methyl iodide, and instead allow DPR's process that incorporates independent scientific review and public input to proceed as planned.
After you sign the petition, do me another favor. Don't support these dumbasses with your business. Buy a bunch of strawberries in season, locally, and freeze them. Then don't buy the California strawberries available when they are out of season where you live.
Forbes just published a piece called How Now, Green Cow? about the recent study "proving" that factory farming dairy is "better" for the environment. I wrote about the study here.
I just sent them the following letter, and I would very much appreciate if you'd send them a piece of your mind as well. Send your letters to readers at forbes.com and be sure to include your name, address, and phone number. Keep your letters brief - under 150 words is best.
I am deeply concerned over the article "How Now, Green Cow?" which summarizes the recent Cornell study that claims factory farming produces more environmentally-friendly milk. The study's conclusion is tainted by the affiliations of its authors. The Cornell researchers involved in the study have previously received funding from Monsanto, the original owner of rbGH, the controversial growth hormone that makes cows produce more milk, and the study included a consultant from Elanco, the current owner of rbGH.
Comparing 1944 milk production to modern day organic production is quite misleading. Due to advances in breeding and other production practices, organic cows produced an average of 13,601 lbs of milk per cow in 2005 according to a recent USDA report on emerging trends in organics compared to 4555 lbs of milk in 1944. That is just one of many flaws in the study and its conclusion that factory farming is "greener" than organic methods.
(This diary was originally posted as a response on the Comfood listserv to a question about if and how the current milk price collapse is affecting small- and mid-scale dairy farmers.)
As a staff person of an organization hearing from dairy farmers across the country on our hotline and through our website, I wanted to respond to your question. The answer, as far as we're concerned, is that the dairy crisis affects all of us.
As you may know, a group of us have been participating in a blogathone to raise awareness about hunger in AMerica, and about a program sponsored by Feeding America wherein your donation of a paltry Thirty Six Dollars can feed a child for the entire summer.
There have been a number of absolutely terrific diaries on this subject this weekend, thanks to the arganizing skill and cheerleading of our beloved noweasels, but I'm going to take a minor detour to close this series, because I believe that producing our own food locally is the clear path towards solving our increasing food poverty.
Dairy is in the worst crisis since the Great Depression right now. Dairy farmers are getting about $1 per gallon of milk, less than the cost of production. That means they are losing money for every cow they have to feed and care for, every single month. With even 50 cows the losses can be substantial, but imagine the farms that have 100 cows, or more!
Organic dairy farmers are getting more than conventional farmers - more than $1/gallon - but because organic dairy is having problems too, some farmers are losing their production contracts. So - if nobody will buy your milk, it's worth nothing. And if the only other buyers in your area aren't organic, well... nobody's gonna pay you the organic price for your milk if they aren't getting organic prices from the customers.
Organic Consumers Association has an action alert here. Scroll to the bottom to take action. And spread the word to your friends!
(Also - if you've got time to take action on a second item - please tell the USDA you endorse OCF's comments to the NOSB. Translation: You endorse the Organic Consumer Fund's comments to the National Organic Standards Board about how we can keep the organic standards strong.)
Tom Harkin just introduced S.934, a bill that will update the rules on what's allowed to be served or sold in schools. Right now, almost everything is fair game to sell in schools. You just can't sell the worst junk in the cafeteria during lunch time. Outside of the cafeteria, anything goes. In the cafeteria when it's not time for lunch, anything goes. The new bill will update that. The text of the bill is not up on the website yet, but seriously - there's no way the current laws could be made worse unless there was a new rule for mandatory soda and candy consumption in it. There's little doubt that whatever the text of the bill contains will be a needed improvement.
Here are the current co-sponsors of the bill:
Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN]
Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R-AK]
Sen. Michael Bennet [D-CO]
Sen. Kent Conrad [D-ND]
Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT]
Sen. Robert Casey [D-PA]
Sen. Sherrod Brown [D-OH]
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY]
The Cornucopia Institute has a new action alert out. They are asking us to write the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to request that organic soy lecithin MUST be used when available in all USDA certified organic products. Comments are due by Monday, April 20th.
Instructions on commenting, details on this issue, and a sample letter are below.
Today is the LAST DAY to comment on NAIS, the National Animal ID System. Organic Consumers Association has an excellent action alert you can use to just fill in your name and click submit.
Below, I've pasted the National Sustainable Ag Coalition's newsletter blurb about the NAIS hearing held in the House Ag Committee last week. It did NOT go well, sadly. You can find instructions to send them a piece of your mind here (do this by the end of today as well).
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