ACTION: Help Organic Dairy Farmers

by: Jill Richardson

Mon May 04, 2009 at 08:00:00 AM PDT

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.)

ACTION: Ask Your Senator to Co-Sponsor Harkin's School Nutrition Bill

by: Jill Richardson

Sat May 02, 2009 at 21:00:00 PM PDT

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]

If you don't see your Senator's name on that list, give them a call and ask them to sign on. The companion bill in the House is H.R.1324: The Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act of 2009 by Lynn Woolsey. She's got 128 co-sponsors but could certainly use some more!  

ACTION: Tell the National Organic Standards Board That Organic Should Mean Organic!

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Apr 10, 2009 at 18:46:25 PM PDT

Instructions on commenting, details on this issue, and a sample letter are below.

ACTION: Last Day to Comment on NAIS

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 10:00:00 AM PDT

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).

Help Me Fill Up the House Ag Committee's Inbox!

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Mar 14, 2009 at 12:00:00 PM PDT

Hello,
I am a consumer of sustainable foods and friend to many small farmers who fear that NAIS will put them out of business. After reading all of the hearing testimony, it seems to me that the primary motivation behind NAIS is for our export markets.

It seems that NAIS is detracting from attention on prevention, inspection, and testing for animal disease, and instead using our resources for tracking, which is only good AFTER we have disease already here. I'd prefer to see us prioritize on prevention FIRST (for example, keeping all downer cows out of livestock feed) and then work on testing (like testing > 0.1% of cows for BSE). Without doing those two things first, in the case of BSE, it seems like we would be allowing a problem to form and grow for a long time before we would discover it and then use an animal ID system to track down the sick animals.

If a national animal ID system IS in fact necessary for our export markets, why can't we make it mandatory for farmers who export live animals or animal products but truly voluntary for all others. The problem is that there are two food systems in this country - the industrialized, mainstream one, and the small, sustainable local one - but we are making policy that only works for the mainstream system. Those of us who are trying to improve our health and our safety (not to mention our environment and our communities) by opting out of the industrialized system and buying from local farmers should not be punished with one-size-fits-all laws. It seems to me that if NAIS is to benefit an export market, then we are putting the needs of the international community above the needs of U.S. citizens and I find that unacceptable.

Sincerely,
Jill

ACTION: Make My Yogurt With Real Milk!

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Mar 13, 2009 at 14:27:46 PM PDT

The National Yogurt Association petition being considered will:

...undermine yogurt as we know it by weakening minimum ingredient and labeling requirements in current FDA standards of
identity. The proposed amendment would allow processors to:
* Substitute imported Milk Protein Concentrate (MPC) and other cheap, inferior (imported) dairy ingredients for the American farm milk and nonfat dry milk.

* Use milk and dairy ingredients that do not meet minimum federal Grade A standards - a scary thought following the Chinese melamine milk scandal.

* Include whey derivatives as allowable ingredients in yogurt.

* Disguise the presence of aspartame and other controversial artificial sweeteners by hiding their presence in the fine print of the ingredients label.

This is NOT GOOD. If this goes through, I might have to learn how to make yogurt. For a very thorough explanation of this issue, check out what The Ethicurean has to say on it.

Take Action: Go here to submit comments. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.regulations.gov and search on Docket FDA-2000-P-0126. You need to do this prior to March 31, 2009.

Conservation Money to Factory Farms? Outrage!!!! (ACTION)

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 19:00:00 PM PST

A report (Industrial Livestock at the Taxpayer Trough by Elanor Starmer and Timothy A. Wise, Dec 2008) found that nationally, factory hog farms comprise 10.7% of all hog operations - but get 37% of all of the EQIP contracts. Factory farm dairies make up 3.9% of all dairy farms - but they get 54% of EQIP contracts. All in all, between 2003 and 2007, 1000 factory hog and dairy farms ate up $35 million in EQIP conservation funding.

This happened at the expense of smaller farms that COULD HAVE gotten the money. Mid-sized hog farms make up 15% of hog operations but got 5.4% of EQIP contracts. Mid-sized dairy farms make up 13% of dairies - and got 7% of contracts.

THIS SUCKS. And we've got til March 16 to take action.

ACTION: Tell the USDA You Oppose the National Animal ID System

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Feb 23, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM PST

The proposed rules are complex and difficult to understand, but they basically come down to "Register for NAIS or you can't do business" if my understanding is right. Here is where you go to give the USDA your comments. You can also submit your comments via Organic Consumers Association here (just be sure to personalize the letter!!). See below for talking points.

Are your Skittles destroying the rainforest? Part 2

by: rossl

Sat Feb 14, 2009 at 17:44:04 PM PST

In Part 1, I introduced you to the palm oil crisis and talked about how it is affecting orangutans.  In the poll, I also called for a "boycott."  However, that may have been the wrong move on my part.

If you're interested - particularly if you didn't read Party 1 when I posted it - please read on to learn about how a seemingly harmless vegetable oil that is in one out of ten consumer products is one of the most destructive forces on our planet today.

Action, Sustainable Ag Style

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Feb 09, 2009 at 16:52:38 PM PST

Details below...

Throw the Hungry Under the Bus First

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 17:56:28 PM PST

I've been following the stimulus coverage kind of loosely, but it seems that Obama's finally taking his message around Congress, directly to the American people. At the same time, the Republicans don't want a stimulus at all, mainly because if it works Obama will get credit and if it fails they will share the blame. They've proposed a bullshit alternative "stimulus" which is basically just more of the same stuff that we've already seen fail during the Bush years - tax cuts to corporations and capital gains. Sorry "Main Street" - Republicans don't give a damn about you.

So how's that working out, given that the Republicans are in the minority? More below...

Hacked! - White House Farmer vote cheating?

by: kevin22262

Fri Jan 30, 2009 at 15:33:18 PM PST

Here is a link to my previous diary:
http://www.lavidalocavore.org/...

Since this time, the AP has picked this up, along with many other local and national print and radio media.

More below...

Protect Our Food -- Stop NAIS!

by: JudithM

Sun Jan 11, 2009 at 06:19:27 AM PST

I picture what these young lambs' lives would be under the corporate system - tagged with radio tags at birth and tracked like so many widgets as they are crammed into feedlots knee-deep in manure and dosed with drugs.   I've been fighting to stop that from happening for the last 3 years, and I'm asking for a few seconds of your time to help now.

More, including pictures, after the flip

Are your Skittles destroying the rainforest? Part 1

by: rossl

Sun Jan 04, 2009 at 15:37:31 PM PST

Today, I've decided to start a series on palm oil and palm ingredients - and alternatives to them.  I'm in the process of building a website on the same subject ( http://www.nomorepalm.com ), but that will take a bit of time, and time is not something worth wasting in this context.

A specific type of vegetable oil may not sound like a particularly interesting subject, but palm oil is no ordinary vegetable oil.  It is one of the more destructive forces on our planet today.  Or maybe I should say that the machine of people and corporations in place to grow and distribute palm oil is one of the more destructive forces on our planet.  Either way, consuming this ingredient - which is in an unbelievable amount of foods and cosmetics and other things - is something which makes one responsible for encouraging this.

If you want some outside info, here's a good place to start:  http://www.cspinet.org/palmoil...

The hungry are still hungry after the holidays

by: Timroff

Mon Dec 29, 2008 at 11:49:41 AM PST

But there's a big problem -- one you probably didn't consider.

The holidays may be over, but the hungry are still hungry.

^{(cross-posted at dailykos.com)}