The things these pigs can get away with.....
**********************************************************
> Subject: Monsanto Jumped Over The Moon With New
> Twist
> on Peer Review Science
> <
[email protected]>
> ORGANIC BYTES
> Organic & Food News Tidbits With an Edge Issue #17
> 7/16/2003
> By Organic Consumers Association
>
> GENETICALLY MODIFYING CONSUMER RIGHTS
>
> Monsanto is suing Portland, Maine-based Oakhurst
> Dairy
> for labeling their milk "Our Farmers' Pledge: No
> Artificial Growth Hormones." According to Monsanto,
> manufacturer of the genetically engineered
> recombinant
> Bovine Growth Hormone (known as rBGH or
> rBST),Oakhurst
> Dairy does not have the right to let its customers
> know whether its milk is laced with genetically
> engineered hormones. Oakhurst says they've been
> labeling their products like this for four years, in
> response to consumer demand. Although rBGH has been
> banned in every industrialized nation in the world
> except for the United States, Monsanto continues to
> claim that rBGH-derived milk is no different from
> the
> natural stuff, despite documentation that rBGH milk
> contains substantially higher levels of a potent
> cancer tumor promoter called IGF-1.Monsanto sued two
> dairies and threatened several thousand retailers in
>
> 1994 for labeling or advertising milk and dairy
> products as "rBGH-free." Despite Monsanto's
> intimidation tactics, more than 10% of U.S. milk is
> currently labeled as "rBGH-free," while sales of
> organic milk and dairy products(which prohibit rBGH)
> are booming. In recent months a Monsanto-funded
> front group, the Center for Consumer Freedom, has
> launched a smear campaign against organic dairies,
> including Organic Valley, claiming they are
> defrauding consumers.
>
>
http://www.organicconsumers.org/rbgh/071303_rbgh.cfm>
> For a full discussion on the rBGH controversy, see
> the
> rBGH section on the OCA website:
>
http://www.organicconsumers.org/rbghlink.html>
> QUICK QUIZ: HOW U.S. DEMOCRACY WORKS
>
> Question: How is it that every industrialized nation
> in the world has banned Monsanto's rBGH as unsafe,
> but
> it's legal (and unlabeled) in the United States?
>
> Answer: In order for the FDA to determine if
> Monsanto's growth hormones were safe or not,
> Monsanto
> was required to submit a scientific report on that
> topic. Margaret Miller, one of Monsanto's
> researchers
> put the report together. Shortly before the report
> submission, Miller left Monsanto and was hired by
> the
> FDA. Her first job for the FDA was to determine
> whether or not to approve the report she wrote for
> Monsanto. In short, Monsanto approved its own
> report.
> Assisting Miller was another former Monsanto
> researcher, Susan Sechen. Deciding whether or not
> rBGH-derived milk should be labeled fell under the
> jurisdiction of another FDA official, Michael
> Taylor,
> who previously worked as a lawyer for Monsanto.
>
> HOW MONSANTO'S POLICIES HAVE BECOME U.S. POLICY
>
> Prior to being the Supreme Court Judge who put G.W.
> in
> office, Clarence Thomas was Monsanto's lawyer. The
> U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (Anne Veneman) was on
> the Board of Directors of Monsanto's Calgene
> Corporation. The Secretary of Defense (Donald
> Rumsfeld) was on the Board of Directors of
> Monsanto's
> Searle pharmaceuticals. The U.S. Secretary of
> Health,
> Tommy Thompson, received $50,000 in donations from
> Monsanto during his winning campaign for Wisconsin's
> governor. The two congressmen receiving the most
> donations from Monsanto during the last election
> were
> Larry Combest(Chairman of the House Agricultural
> Committee) and Attorney General John Ashcroft.
> (Source: Dairy Education Board)
>
> ORGANIC CASH - THE BEST WAY TO GET RICH
>
> The Organic Monitor announced this week that global
> sales of organic foods in 2002 peaked $23 billion,
> more than a 10% increase from the previous year.
>
>
http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/070603_organic.cfm>
> The Toronto Food Policy Council manages this
> information service for people working on food
> issues
> with community organizations,social agencies, public
> health units, educational institutions and
> municipal governments. If you would like to share
> information on community gardens, urban agriculture,
> farmers markets, local food systems or educational
> and
> anti-hunger initiatives in your area, please send
> them
> to Wayne Roberts at
[email protected].
Opinions
> expressed in items carried through this information
> service do not, unless explicitly stated, reflect
> the
> views of either the Toronto Food Policy Council or
> Toronto Public Health.
>
> If you would like to view the TFPC's website, please
> visit us at:
>
http://www.toronto.ca/health/tfpc_index.htm> If you know someone who would like to receive these
> mailings, have them
> e-mail their name and address to:
[email protected]