[All] Fwd: Slicing the Frankenapple, Protecting Monsanto

[Robert Milligan]

> Subject: FW: Slicing the Frankenapple, Protecting Monsanto
>
> fyi...
>
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> Subscribe & Read Past Issues | OCA Homepage | Donate 				
> ESSAY OF THE WEEK
>
> Frankenapple: Bad News
> No Matter How You Slice It
>
> Thanks to the biotech industry’s relentless quest to control our  
> food, McDonald’s, Burger King and even school cafeterias will soon  
> be able to serve up apples that won’t turn brown when they’re sliced  
> or bitten into. A new, almost entirely untested genetic modification  
> technology, called RNA interference, or double strand RNA (dsRNA),  
> is responsible for this new food miracle. Scientists warn that this  
> genetic manipulation poses health risks, as the manipulated RNA gets  
> into our digestive systems and bloodstreams. The biotech industry  
> claims otherwise.
> Like any non-organic apple, the new GMO Arctic® Apple will be  
> drenched in toxic pesticide residues, untested by the U.S. Food &  
> Drug Association (FDA) and likely unlabeled. And of course these  
> shiny new high-tech apples will cost less than a pesticide-free,  
> nutrient-dense, old-fashioned organic apple that turns a little  
> brown after you slice it up.
>
> Unless we stop them, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will  
> approve “Frankenapple” this year.
> Read the essay
>
>
> Help Us Upset the Biotech Apple Cart!
>
> RSVP: Join the GMO Apple Protest in Chicago!
>
> The biotech industry is so proud of its latest frankenfood, it’s  
> giving Okanagan Specialty Fruits, Inc. (OSF), creator of the  
> genetically modified Arctic® Apple, an award. We thought it would be  
> fun to let them know what we think about that. So we’ve planned an  
> event of our own, and we hope you’ll join in. The OCA, along with  
> other consumer activists, will protest the GMO apple award ceremony  
> on April 23, at noon, outside the McCormick Place Convention Center  
> in Chicago. Join us for a press conference, rally and picket line,  
> complete with free T-shirts, organic apples and posters. Warning:  
> Things might get a little theatrical when we start piling poisonous  
> GMO apples into the biotech apple cart!
>
> Read the press release
>
> More details and RSVP
>
>
>
> Action Alert
>
> Bluntly Speaking: You Should Resign, Sen. Blunt!
>
> TAKE ACTION: Kill the Monsanto Protection Act: Force Senator Roy  
> Blunt to Resign!
>
> He’s been labeled "prodigious pork-meister" (Providence Journal),  
> "Senator Earmark" (Wall Street Journal) and "Most Corrupt" (Citizens  
> for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington). Sen. Roy Blunt, a  
> Republican from Monsanto’s home state of Missouri, has also been  
> called a magnet for PAC money from the agribusiness industry, raking  
> in over $243,000 in 2010 alone.
> Biotech’s investment in Sen. Blunt has paid off handsomely. Teaming  
> up with Monsanto lobbyists, Sen. Blunt helped craft the language for  
> the Farmer Assurance Provision. Aptly renamed the Monsanto  
> Protection Act, it’s a sneaky rider that strips federal courts of  
> their power to stop Monsanto from planting unproven, potentially  
> dangerous crops.
> Without any hearings, the provision was slipped into the  
> Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act 2013, and  
> recently signed into law by President Obama.
> The good news: Like the spending bill it’s attached to, the Monsanto  
> Protection Act expires on Sept. 30, 2013. The best way to make sure  
> it doesn’t survive is to force Sen. Blunt to resign.
>
> TAKE ACTION: Kill the Monsanto Protection Act: Force Senator Roy  
> Blunt to Resign!
>
> Had Enough? Join the March
> Against Monsanto
>
> “We will not stand for cronyism. We will not stand for poison.”  
> That’s why on May 25, activists around the world will unite to March  
> against Monsanto.
>
> Join the march
>
> Find participating cities
>
> Start your own march
>
> Learn more
>
> Watch the video
>
>
>
> ACTION ALERT
>
> 46,498 and Counting. Will You Sign On?
>
> TAKE ACTION: Tell the Bureau of Land Management: Don’t Frack Our  
> Food and Farms!
>
> You may not live in California, but chances are a lot of the food  
> you buy, including organic produce, is grown there. California is  
> the largest producer of food in the U.S. The state’s Mediterranean  
> climate allows its 81,500 farms to grow over 450 different crops,  
> some of which are exclusive to California. But what happens to our  
> food if we frack and poison the groundwater that irrigates  
> California’s farms?
> In a move that a federal judge says violated environmental law, the  
> U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has  
> already auctioned off 1,750 square miles of California’s public  
> lands to oil companies intent on fracking California’s Monterey  
> Shale, a geological formation that extends from northern California  
> to Los Angeles. In May, the BLM plans to auction off even more of  
> California’s farmland. We need California's farms. And California  
> farms need our support. If you’ve already signed on, please forward  
> to friends and family!
>
> TAKE ACTION: Tell the Bureau of Land Management: Don’t Frack Our  
> Food and Farms!
> Join OCA’s Fracking Facebook Rally!
>
> Want to support California farmers and gardeners in their fight  
> against fracking? The OCA is hosting a virtual rally on Facebook, on  
> April 25, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. You don’t even have to leave home.  
> Just pop on to the OCA Facebook page on next Thursday evening, and  
> join in the discussion. Learn more about how fracking has already  
> ruined the lives of farmers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Dakota,  
> West Virginia and Colorado. And find out what you can do to stop  
> fracking on California farmlands.
>
>
>
>  SUPPORT THE OCA & OCF
>
> Your Voice. Your Work. Your Victory.
>
> We love amplifying your voice. We love it even more when your voices  
> and ours are heard. And good things follow.
> Last week, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) decided that  
> it will not allow the antibiotic, tetracycline, to be used in the  
> production of organic apples and pears beyond the original 2014  
> deadline.
>
> This was a hard fought victory, one that you made possible. Nearly  
> 32,000 of you signed our petition asking the NOSB to get antibiotics  
> out of organic fruit production. The OCA’s Alexis Baden-Mayer  
> delivered the petitions in person at the NOSB meeting in Portland,  
> Ore. She testified along with activists from other groups about the  
> threat these antibiotics pose to public health, and to the organic  
> industry.
>
> As one of you wrote in the petition’s comment section:
> "Tetracycline, when eaten by pregnant women like my wife, can affect  
> bone growth of a fetus. Potentially causing birth defects in our  
> unborn child. Streptomycin affects development of the cranial nerve  
> as well as the kidneys. Please, for the sake of my children, and all  
> of the other children in the world, stop this madness." – Kevin in  
> California
>
> We’re savoring the victory, but there’s still work to do. If we want  
> truly antibiotic-free apples and pears, we still have to convince  
> the NOSB to phase out streptomycin on schedule, too. With your help,  
> we’ll take this on at the next NOSB meeting in October. With your  
> support, your voice, your donations, we hope to bring back another  
> victory in October. Please consider a donation today so we can  
> continue amplifying your voice and keeping organics clean!
>
> Donate to the Organic Consumers Fund (non-tax-deductible, but  
> necessary for our legislative efforts in Washington, Vermont and  
> other states)
> If you need your donation to be tax-deductible, you can donate to  
> the Organic Consumers Association (tax-deductible, helps support our  
> work on behalf of organic standards, fair trade and public education)
>
>
>
> ORGANIC RETAILERS AND CONSUMERS ALLIANCE
>
> And the Nominees Are . . . Still Rolling In!
>
> "This store has a no-GMO policy. All products they sell are organic.  
> They have organic produce, meat and dairy including from local  
> farms. Has many many great books on sale about the danger of GMOs,  
> about healthy diets, and how to cure diseases with proper diet. The  
> store showed the biggest support for Prop 37 in California than any  
> other store in the area: they had a big display panel explaining the  
> need to support this ballot and had a one-day event where they gave  
> all the profit of the day sale to support Prop. 37."
> – Gianluigi Ciovati in her nomination of Health Trail Natural Foods,  
> Newport News, Va.
>
> Clearly there are a lot of food co-ops, farmers markets and grocery  
> stores out there that are doing the right thing. So far more than  
> 180 of you have nominated about 105 stores for the OCA’s Top Ten  
> ‘Right to Know’ Grocers Contest. And that list grows every day.
>
> We’ve had a lot of fun reading your nominations, and getting to know  
> more about the stores you love to shop in. We’re going to have a  
> tough time choosing the winners! If you haven’t yet nominated your  
> favorite store, there’s still time. Deadline for nominations is  
> midnight, May 1.
>
> Learn more and nominate your grocer
>
>
>
>
>
> Get Active on Earth Day!
>
> Nuthin’ to do on Earth Day? Here a couple of activities to make your  
> Earth Day a little more meaningful.
>
> Swarm the EPA on Earth Day!
> The bees are dying. And the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  
> (EPA) isn’t doing much to protect them. Or the humans, for that  
> matter, who depend on bees to pollinate the plants that feed us. The  
> OCA is joining other consumer groups and activists on Earth Day,  
> April 22, to swarm the EPA. It’s our way of reminding folks there  
> that if they don’t ban bee-killing pesticides, time will run out for  
> the bees. If you’re in the D.C. area, please join us!
>
> RSVP: Swarm the EPA on Earth Day
>
> Join a GMO Free USA Rally against Kellogg’s on Earth Day
> After nine months of targeting Kellogg’s, GMO Free USA, a national  
> consumer advocacy group, has organized rallies in cities across the  
> country to let the GMO Corn Flake King know that consumers are fed  
> up with Kellogg’s excuses. On April 22, GMO Free activists will  
> rally on Kellogg’s doorstep in Battle Creek, Mich., where they’ll  
> deliver thousands of petition signatures to Kellogg’s headquarters  
> asking executives to remove GMOs from their products. Join a rally  
> in your city, or lead one of your own!
>
> Attend a Honk-n-Wave rally near you
>
> Host an event
>
> More about GMO Free USA
>
>
>
>
>
> I-522 Campaign Has Eye
> on November Victory!
>
> It’s been almost six months since Proposition 37, the California  
> Right to Know GMO Labeling initiative went down in defeat, under the  
> crushing $46 million anti-labeling ad blitz sponsored by Monsanto  
> and Big Food.
>
> That was then, and this is now. The Yes on 522 campaign, also a  
> citizens’ initiative, is gearing up to take on the Biotech Bullies  
> again, this time in Washington State. Just as the entire nation  
> rallied around Prop 37, we now need to show the Yes on 522 campaign  
> that we’re behind them, too.
>
> So, read up. Visit the campaign’s website. Like them on Facebook.  
> And Donate if you can. Thank you!
>
> It’s Time for Whole Foods to Step up and Support I-522
>
> Why I-522 Won’t Cost Consumers a Dime
> Donate to I-522 GMO Labeling Campaign
>
> Visit the Yes on 522 website
>
> Like Yes on 522 on Facebook
>
>
>
> LITTLE BYTES
>
> Essential Reading for the Week
>
> How Government Cover-Up on Fish Farming Affects Your Health
>
> Gardening Tomatoes Organically – A Brief Guide
>
> Climate Change: How a Warming World is a Threat to Our Food Supplies
>
> FDA Let Drugs Approved on Fraudulent Research Stay on the Market
>
> Pennsylvania Court Deals Blow to Secrecy-Obsessed Fracking Industry:  
> Corporations Not The Same As Persons With Privacy Rights
>
> Wild Alaskan Salmon Is a Powerhouse of Nutrition
>
>
>
> MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS
>
> Dr. Bronner's Magic Pure Castile Classic Soaps
>
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> coconut, olive, jojoba and hemp oils, together with pure essential  
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> print it, duplicate it and post it freely. Knowledge is power!
>
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>
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