USDA ORGANIC...PRODUCT OF CHINA?

Apparently, quite a few packages of frozen "organic" veggies from China are now available at many local grocery stores, including PCC Natural Markets and Whole Foods. Whole Foods, the country's leader in organics, sells a variety of frozen organic produce from China - peas, spinach, asparagus - under its "365 House" brand. Whole Foods says it's proud of the organic products it sells from China. To its credit, the company puts "product of China" on the package -- something it is not required to do. The company says most of the organic produce grown in the U.S. goes to the fresh market, requiring it to look elsewhere for frozen veggies. More here.

Tomato 'repacking' vexes salmonella trackers

A pretty fascinating follow up to the June 10 post about salmonella on tomatoes. 90 percent of tomatoes are repacked to meet the needs of commercial customers, such as restaurant chains, that demand that each box contain vegetables of similar size and ripeness. Not only does repacking make it harder to figure out where a bad tomato may have been grown, it raises the prospect that consumers who think they are buying produce from one of the many designated "safe" states - California is one of them - may be getting tomatoes comingled with produce from other regions. At least 810 Americans have been sickened by the strain Salmonella Saintpaul, which can cause stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhea, making it the largest recorded outbreak of the illness ever traced to produce. Fresh tomatoes grown this spring in South Florida and Jalisco, Coahuila and Sinaloa, Mexico, remain the primary focus of the investigation, although tests of 1,700 samples so far have turned up no trace of the bug. More here.

GMO Corn To Make Men Sterile...ALREADY A REALITY!

OK, this is just terrifying... A small California biotech company, Epicyte, in 2001 announced the development of genetically engineered corn which contained a spermicide which made the semen of men who ate it sterile. At the time Epicyte had a joint venture agreement to spread its technology with DuPont and Syngenta, two of the sponsors of the Svalbard Doomsday Seed Vault. Epicyte was since acquired by a North Carolina biotech company. Astonishing to learn was that Epicyte had developed its spermicidal GMO corn with research funds from the US Department of Agriculture, the same USDA which, despite worldwide opposition, continued to finance the development of Terminator technology, now held by Monsanto. More here.
Now do you want labels on your GMO foods? Click here to get active.

Score One For McCain

Corn ethanol generates less than two units of energy for every unit of energy used to produce it, while the energy ratio for sugar cane is more than 8 to 1. With lower production costs and cheaper land prices in the tropical countries where it is grown, sugar cane is a more efficient source. Ethanol is one area in which Senator Obama strongly disagrees with his Republican opponent, Senator McCain. While both presidential candidates emphasize the need for the United States to achieve “energy security” while also slowing down the carbon emissions that are believed to contribute to global warming, they offer sharply different visions of the role that ethanol should play in those efforts.
Mr. McCain advocates eliminating the multibillion-dollar annual government subsidies that domestic ethanol has long enjoyed. As a free trade advocate, he also opposes the 54-cent-a-gallon tariff that the United States slaps on imports of ethanol made from sugar cane, which packs more of an energy punch than corn-based ethanol and is cheaper to produce. Mr. Obama, in contrast, favors the subsidies, some of which end up in the hands of the same oil companies he says should be subjected to a windfall profits tax. In the name of helping the United States build “energy independence,” he also supports the tariff, which some economists say may well be illegal under the World Trade Organization’s rules but which his advisers say is not.
More here.
Follow Up 06/24: A little more fuel on the fire. Oxfam reports that the replacement of traditional fuels with biofuels has dragged more than 30 million people worldwide into poverty! More here.
*Feel free to disagree! Make your voice heard in the comments section below.

Officials call of aerial spray for apple moth

On Thursday, California Agricultural Secretary A.G. Kawamura and a U.S. Department of Agriculture official announced a halt to plans for aerial spraying against the light brown apple moth in urban areas, including the San Francisco Bay Area. Instead, officials intend to fight the invading, leaf-munching pest by releasing sterile moths and using biological and chemical controls to help control the pest in urban areas. Growers may use the pesticides according to agricultural rules. The change represents the victory of a "presumed dangerous until proven safe" approach to chemicals over the United States' standard "presumed safe until proven dangerous" approach. Much of the criticism of the aerial spraying program centered on a dearth of study of the short-term and long-term health effects of the pheromone pesticide on humans, pets, wildlife and fish as wells as bees, butterflies and organic crops. After the state sprayed aerially in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties last year, hundreds of people reported respiratory and other health effects. More here.

Fire Recovery Funds

United Way Santa Cruz now has both Summit and Martin fire recovery funds links on their homepage. They promise to ensure that 100% of all donations will go to victims. (Above: Salvia Apiana beneath yesterday's tubercular sky).

U.S. caves into lobbyists over massive bee deaths

 U.S. caves into lobbyists over massive bee deaths Sierra Club, June 10 2008

Contact: Laurel Hopwood, Sierra Club
216-371-9779
lhopwood@roadrunner.com

*U.S.D.A. caves into lobbyists over massive bee deaths while Germany takes a major step to keep their pollinators pollinating crops*

In light of the mounting evidence that new seed chemical coatings are deadly to bees and the action of Germany to call for an immediate suspension of these seed treatments, the Sierra Club today reaffirmed its call for a U.S. moratorium on specific chemical treatments to protect our bees and crops, until more study can be done.

Recently Germany's federal agricultural research institute noted, "It can unequivocally be concluded that poisoning of the bees is due to the rub-off of the pesticide ingredient clothianidin from corn seeds."

At issue are the neonicotinoids, including clothianidin, being used in a new way - as seed coatings.

For years, farmers have been spraying neonicotinoids onto their crops to stop insect infestation. Now Bayer and Monsanto have acquired patents to coat their proprietary corn seeds with these neonicotinoids.

"Part of the equation in the U.S. is genetically engineered corn, as more and more corn seeds are being gene spliced with a completely different species - a bacteria," said Walter Haefeker, of the German Beekeepers Association Board of Directors. "Bayer and Monsanto recently entered into agreements to manufacture neonicotinic-coated genetically engineered corn. It's likely that this will worsen the bee die-off problem."

David Hackenburg, former president of the American Beekeeping Federation, has been urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to do more study. "Look at what's time based. The massive bee decimation started when regulatory agencies rubber stamped the use of neonicotinoid spraying and coating," he said.

"Sierra Club joins the concern of beekeepers," said Laurel Hopwood, Sierra Club Genetic Engineering Committee Chair. "It's unfortunate that regulatory agencies are using double speak. They claim to protect our food supply - yet they aren't doing the proper studies. The loss of honeybees will leave a huge void in the kitchens of the American people and an estimated loss of 14 billion dollars to farmers. We expect the U.S.D.A. to do their job. We call for a precautionary moratorium on these powerful crop treatments to protect our bees and our food." http://www.sierraclub.org/biotech/

This Isn't Pretty Either...

This week, growers are panicking that a 17-state salmonella outbreak linked to raw tomatoes could turn their summer market upside down. On Tuesday, federal authorities cleared fresh tomatoes being harvested in Florida and all those grown in California -- the nation's top two tomato-producing states -- of responsibility in the national food poisoning scare, which has sickened 167 people since April. But farmers said the list of safe-to-eat varieties still isn't enough to convince consumers that tomatoes are safe for salads and salsas, or to move their crops back on grocery shelves and restaurant menus. The outbreak is especially hurting Mexican growers because they can't sell their crops to U.S. buyers. On Tuesday, a major Mexican tomato-growers' association said U.S. importers had stopped buying their winter tomatoes. More here.

The Not So Good News...

In a year when global harvests need to be excellent to ease the threat of pervasive food shortages, evidence is mounting that they will be average at best. Some farmers are starting to fear disaster. American corn and soybean farmers are suffering from too much rain, while Australian wheat farmers have been plagued by drought. At a moment when the country’s corn should be flourishing, one plant in 10 has not even emerged from the ground, the Agriculture Department said Monday. Because corn planted late is more sensitive to heat damage in high summer, every day’s delay practically guarantees a lower yield at harvest. United States soybean plantings are running 16 percent behind last year. The world wheat harvest is forecast to rise more than 8 percent this year, because of better weather and more acreage under cultivation. But even this bright spot is tentative. Australia was expected to emerge from a two-year drought, but that prediction is looking somewhat doubtful. As a result, the harvest is likely to be below average: 5 million to 15 million tons of wheat available for export, compared with 17 million or 18 million tons in an average year. China also faces trouble: the agriculture ministry issued an urgent notice to wheat and rice farmers in southern China on Sunday, telling them to harvest as much of their crop as possible immediately in the face of unseasonable torrential rains expected to rake the region for the next 10 days. More gloom and doom here.

California's first GE bill passes another legislative hurdle

Californians for GE-Free Agriculture -News in Genetic Engineering- June 5, 2008 California's GE Bill Approved By Senate Ag Committee Bill Would Protect Farmers from Monsanto's Harassment AB 541 is one step closer to becoming California's first state law protecting farmers from the hazards of genetically engineered crops. Having already passed the Assembly, it passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on June 5th. It has the support of Community Alliance with Family Farmers, the California Farmers Union, California Certified Organic Farmers, the California Farm Bureau, the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations, and many food safety and environmental organizations. Introduced by Assembly Member Jared Huffman (6th AD) early in 2007 as a comprehensive bill to address many aspects of the problems associated with genetic engineering (GE) contamination, the bill was held over in the Agriculture Committee in April. Since then, AB 541 has been scaled back to address two provisions related to farmer protections. AB 541 will enact protections for California farmers against frivolous lawsuits that intimidate and harass those who have not been able to prevent the inevitable - the drift of GE pollen or seed. It will level the playing field for farmers accused by agricultural biotechnology companies and other patent holders of contract violations, and discourage the practice of biotech companies sampling crops without explicit permission from farmers and prosecuting based on unverifiable testing results. Specifically, the newly amended bill would provide for: 1. Protection from patent infringement lawsuits for farmers unknowingly contaminated by GE crops. Currently, farmers with crops that become contaminated by patented seeds or pollen have been the target of such lawsuits without clear recourse or defense. 2. The establishment of a mandatory crop sampling protocol to be used by patent holders when investigating farmers they believe may have violated patents or seed contracts. This protocol would require the farmer's written permission for sampling, and provide for a state agriculture official to accompany the patent holder during the sampling and collect duplicate samples for independent verification if requested by either party. "I am very pleased that the stakeholders on this issue have found a way to address one of the issues related to genetic contamination of crops," stated Assembly Member Huffman. "While there is still work to do on other issues concerning genetic engineering contamination, AB 541 would be an important step in establishing basic protections for California's farmers." "While AB 541 as currently amended represents only a small piece of what our stakeholders identify as issues to be addressed, we think this represents a move in the right direction," stated Renata Brillinger, director of the Genetic Engineering Policy Project, the 13-member coalition of organic and conventional farmers, food industry, environmental, and faith organizations sponsoring AB 541. The bill will be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 24th and then in the full Senate. GENETIC ENGINEERING POLICY PROJECT California Certified Organic Farmers · California Church IMPACT · Center for Food Safety · Center for Environmental Health · Community Alliance with Family Farmers · Earthbound Farm · Ecological Farming Association · Environment California · Good Earth Natural Foods · Occidental Arts and Ecology Center · Oakland Institute · Ocean Beach People's Organic Food Co-op · Pesticide Action Network North America · United Natural Foods, Inc. Help Build the California GE-Free Network As one of the largest agricultural economies in the world, California has the opportunity to become a leader in safeguarding our public and private lands, fisheries, forests, schools, gardens and nurseries from GE contamination. If GE is an issue that you are concerned about and you are not already a member, sign on to the Cal GE-Free list serve to receive this newsletter. To make a tax-deductible donation, send a check payable to Cal GE-Free to: 15290 Coleman Valley Rd., Occidental, CA 95465. PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO INTERESTED FRIENDS AND FAMILY! And for more information, check out the Cal GE-Free web site.