Sales Of Organic Food Skyrocket

By Dan Nosowitz on May 4, 2015

The increase in organic purchasing is partly due to public outcry, which leads to larger companies offering organic products. If you offer it, people will buy it...

http://modernfarmer.com/2015/05/sales-of-organic-food-skyrockets/

What happens when a family that usually doesn’t eat organic food suddenly starts?

The study was conducted by the Swedish Environmental Research Institute IVL, and the full report is available here:

2 minute video

https://www.coop.se/organiceffect

National Science Foundation Awards $5.5 Million Grant for Rice Research
MAY 5, 2015 9:02 PM0 COMMENTS
By REBECCA BLAIR

Cornell researchers received a $5.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to use genome editing techniques to improve rice cultivation on Friday.

Genome editing is a process by researchers can alter an organism’s DNA. Cornell researchers will use this grant to “focus on such quantitative traits in rice as disease resistance and tolerance to acidic soils,” according to a University press release.

“We have the ability to open the genome like a book, go to a certain chapter and a specific word and change the word or correct its spelling,” said lead scientist Adam Bogdanove in the release.

This is significant because rice is a “staple crop that feeds half the world’s people,” according to the University. Increasing the quality and reliability of the rice crop could have profound humanitarian implications.

“Scientists are also in a race against time to double the production of cereal crops on limited arable land by 2050, when the global population could reach 9.5 billion,” the University said.

Bogdanove said researchers have already identified section of rice DNA which could present the opportunity for beneficial genome editing.

“Now, we don’t have to do years of breeding; we can just make the precise changes needed in a few short steps,” he said.

Tests Confirm Rare Cancer in Susquehanna River Smallmouth Bass

Beyond Pesticides, May 7, 2015

Though the findings do not point to a specific cause for the cancer found on the smallmouth bass (SMB), agricultural pesticides, particularly endocrine disrupting chemicals, that have been found in the watershed, likely play a part in the rampant disease issues in SMB in the Susquehanna River.

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?p=15593

Lessons in communication strategy from Big Soda

by Fernando Quintero posted on 08/20/2014

Tobacco control advocates taught us that we could use media advocacy to hold a powerful industry accountable for creating unhealthy environments. Their success in passing policies to reduce smoking rates has been partly the result of decades of studying Big Tobacco's playbook, anticipating the industry's arguments against regulation, and using the power of the media to reframe the issue and shape the opinions of policymakers and the public.

http://www.bmsg.org/blog/communication-strategy-big-soda

Pesticides in Paradise: Hawai‘i’s Health & Environment at Risk

May 06, 2015

On O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, Maui, and Moloka‘i, chemical and biotechnology companies Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont-Pioneer, Dow Chemical, and BASF have purchased prime agricultural land, taking advantage of Hawai‘i’s isolation and year-round growing season, in order to field test crops that have been genetically engineered to withstand greater applications of pesticides.

http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/repor...ronment-at-risk

Did the Media Just Buckle from Biotech Industry Pressure?

May 5, 2015

The smear job does have one merit. It brings out into the open what GMO investigators have to deal with every day: constant intimidation and threat. Any scientist who dares take on GMO special interests will be told that his or her career will be ruined, and then ever more intense pressure will follow. Why? Because the biotech and Big Pharma companies involved have huge sums of money at their disposal—money that can make or break university research budgets, and money that is channeled to media advertising, which is keeping traditional media alive.

Rather than adding anything meaningful to the debate, the major media outlets are sending a clear message to the restaurant industry: “If you follow in Chipotle’s footsteps, we will make an example of you.” It seems clear to us that such a frontal attack by major news outlets must have been instigated by the biotech industry’s PR departments.

http://www.anh-usa.org/did-the-media-just-buckle-from-biotech-industry-pressure/

Moms for GMO Labeling

By Just Label It  May 6th, 2015

http://www.justlabelit.org/right-to-know-center/moms-for-gmo-labeling/

Stand with Senators Sanders, Warren, and Brown: President Obama must release full text of TPP

http://act.credoaction.com/sign/tpp_reve...rce=fb_share_sp

Is Genetically Engineered Food A Fraud?

Claims author: It’s the biggest fraud in the history of science and not the answer to feeding the world.

April 22, 2015

For opponents of GMOs, Monsanto is the villain. Yet you say scientists themselves are the main “propagandists.” Why would they do this – if they didn’t believe they are right?

[Laughs] Oh, I do think that most of them believe that they’re right. That’s not the issue. A large percentage of “life scientists” have financial interests, one way or another, in genetic engineering. Either they have helped found biotech firms, or they have consulting contracts with biotech firms. Even those scientists and foundations that don’t have such conflicts of interest, have overlooked many of the risks. Contrary evidence has been suppressed, research showing risks is attacked unfairly, the scientists who did the research have had their reputations destroyed. Even the American Association for the Advancement of Science released a statement calculated to defeat a labeling initiative in California, which had several significant misrepresentations in it. When those misrepresentations were called to their attention, they would not retract them. That helped swing the election and defeated the labeling initiative, by misleading many Californians.

I challenge any fair thinking, good-willed scientist, or intelligent man or women, to read this book and decide for him or herself where the evidence lies—who has been telling the truth and has not been telling the truth.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/...itation_ro_all#

Second wave of conventional retailers now demanding natural, organic, non-GMO, says Hain Celestial

By Elaine Watson+, 08-May-2015

Second wave of conventional retailers now demanding natural, organic, non-GMO, says Hain Celestial

Retailers want growth, and CPG giants such as Heinz and Kraft are no longer delivering it, said Hain Celestial bosses this week.

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Manufac...organic-non-GMO

EXCLUSIVE: INTERVIEW AND CALL TO ACTION- California Attorney T. Matthew Phillips Shares His Class Action Lawsuit Against Monsanto, Free For The Taking

by Jennifer Long • May 8, 2015

He informed me that “I was just kicking it, enjoying life as an entertainment lawyer…then I learned about GMO’s….my life changed – can’t sit still no more! This is the most unique lawsuit I have ever written, or read.” He states that this case is so simple and the evidence so compelling, “almost anyone could do it.” He is asking private citizens, and States’ Attorneys General to file lawsuits there to demand truth, transparency and accountability on the “safety” of Roundup.

http://thefifthcolumnnews.com/2015/05/ex...for-the-taking/

Petition

To EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, authorities in Canada, the EU and Brazil, and all government Ministries and regulators responsible for Health and Environmental Policy:

As citizens around the world we are alarmed that glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic to humans." We call on you to exercise the precautionary principle and immediately suspend approval of glyphosate, present in herbicides like Monsanto’s RoundUp. We request you include the studies in the International Agency for Research on Cancer's report in your current safety assessments, and ensure all reviews are transparent, based on independent studies, and evaluated by independent researchers without conflicts of interest. Until glyphosate can be proven safe, you must ensure people are not exposed to it.

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/monsanto_dont_silence_science_us_rb/?bpAjTcb&v=57326

Grandparents, are you wondering why your grandkids are so sick and having extreme behaviors? Here's your answer from a pediatrician who did her homework.

March 24, 2015

Dr Michelle Perro, Pediatrician

MADGE, Sydney, Australia

Negative health effects of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and Glyphosate/Round-up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iUT9t8JGYo

The Truth About GMOs with Dr. Don Huber

Mar 22, 2015

THE TRUTH ABOUT GMOs. There is a lot of debate about the impact of GMOs on human health and crop development. We are putting together a series of interviews to help give YOU the TRUTH about this controversial topic. We kicked off our series with a doctor of plant pathology from Purdue University Don Huber.

http://www.valleynewslive.com/news/pov/h...-297181531.html

Bio: Dr. Don M. Huber

Dr. Huber is Professor Emeritus of Plant Pathology at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Idaho (1957, 1959), a Ph-D from Michigan State University (1963), and is a graduate of the US Army Command & General Staff College and Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He was Cereal Pathologist at the University of Idaho for 8 years before joining the Department of Botany & Plant Pathology at Purdue University in 1971.

His agricultural research the past 50 years has focused on the epidemiology and control of soilborne plant pathogens with emphasis on microbial ecology, cultural and biological controls, and physiology of hostparasite relationships. Research also includes nitrogen metabolism, micronutrient physiology, inhibition of nitrification, and nutrient-disease interactions.

In addition to his academic positions and research, Dr. Huber has had several concurrent careers including 14 years as a professional labor-relations mediator with 7 years service on the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board as a Mediatory/Fact Finder/Conciliator, and served 12 years on two school boards with recognition as a Master Board Member from the Indiana School Board Association and Honesty in Public Service Award from Taxpayers United For Fairness. He retired in 1995 as Associate Director of the Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center (Colonel) after 41+ years of active and reserve military service.

He has received various awards for his scientific accomplishments and contributions to government. Dr. Huber is an active scientific reviewer; international research cooperator with projects in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and Russia; and a consultant to academia, industry, and government. He is author or co-author of over 300 journal articles, Experiment Station Bulletins, research presentations, book chapters and review articles; 3 books, and 84 special invited publications. He is internationally recognized for his expertise in the development of nitrification inhibitors to improve the efficiency of N fertilizers, interactions of the form of nitrogen, manganese and other nutrients in disease, herbicide-nutrient-disease interactions, techniques for rapid microbial identification, and cultural control of plant diseases.

His greatest accomplishment has been his marriage to Paula Huber and their 11 children and 35 grandchildren. Dr. Huber currently serves as APS coordinator of the USDA National Plant Disease Recovery System (NPDRS).

New Report Criticizes Yogurt Industry

Major Brands Accused of Turning Health Food into Junk Food

“What is most egregious about our findings,” said Mark A. Kastel, Codirector of The Cornucopia Institute, “is the marketing employed by many of the largest agribusinesses selling junk food masquerading as health food, mostly aimed at moms, who are hoping to provide their children an alternative, a more nutritious snack. In some cases, they might as well be serving their children soda pop or a candy bar with a glass of milk on the side.”

http://www.cornucopia.org/yogurt/?utm_so...gn=YogurtReport

GMO food fight heats up

May 9, 2015

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story...inues/70895790/

Moms Across America

Volunteer for Moms Across America.

Research, data entry/calls or grant writing if you have the back ground.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f084ea4a829a0fc1-volunteer

USDA seeks input on new GMO rules

Published:

May 5, 2015 3:42PM

The USDA wants the public to weigh in on its authority to regulate biotech crops, possibly setting the stage for newly proposed genetic engineering rules.

http://www.capitalpress.com/Nation_World/Nation/20150505/usda-seeks-input-on-new-gmo-rules

WAIMEA, KAUAI RESIDENTS WIN FIRST ROUND ON CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST BIOTECH. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING!

EXCERPT:

A federal court jury awarded a total of $507,090 in damages to 15 Wai­mea residents who say they can't enjoy their homes because of red dust from test fields operated by DuPont Pioneer on Kauai.

The verdict said DuPont Pioneer failed to follow generally accepted agricultural and management practices from Dec. 13, 2009, to Dec. 31, 2011, and that the "seriousness of the harm to each plaintiff outweighs the public benefit of Pioneer's farming operation."

http://www.staradvertiser.com/s?action=login&f=y&id=303166291