The Institute of Science in Society
ISIS Press Release 06/04/05 (for the U.S. that is 4/6/05)
Sustainable World - A Global Initiative
Please support this unique Global Initiative to make our food production system sustainable, to ameliorate climate change and guarantee food security for all ... more
Organic Agriculture Can Feed the World
FEATURES
The European Dream
Building Sustainable Development
by Jeremy Rifkin
A growing number of Americans are beginning to wonder why Europe has leaped ahead of the U.S. to become the most environmentally advanced political space in the world today. To understand why Europe has left America behind in the race to create a sustainable society, we need to look at the very different dreams that characterize the American and European frame of mind........
BREAKING THE CHAINS: BUYING LOCAL, ORGANIC & FAIR MADE
MILLIONS OF CITIZENS COUNTERING MONSANTO'S BUSINESS PRACTICES
Given Monsanto's ongoing, criminally irresponsible record of disregarding human health and the environment, the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is stepping up the pace in our "Millions Against Monsanto" campaign. If you're talking about Agent Orange, rBGH, water privatization, PCBs, or DDT, you're talking about Monsanto. Sign the "Millions Against Monsanto" petition now, and forward this Alert to your friends and colleagues. TAKE ACTION HERE: http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.html
www.olyfarms.org - check it out
Judge Approves $107.6 Million Settlement against DuPont over Alleged Poisoning of Water
March 01, 2005 — By Erik Schelzig, Associated Press
CHARLESTON, W. Va. — A judge Monday approved a $107.6 million (euro81.16 million)
settlement of a class-action lawsuit against DuPont Co. in which residents
alleged that a chemical used in making the nonstick substance Teflon contaminated
their water supplies.
For complete environmental news and headlines,
please visit www.enn.com
Traders Gather for Conference on the World's Newest Trading Commodity: Pollution
March 01, 2005 — By Arthur Max, Associated Press
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — With trade booming and prices up, it's no wonder
traders are anxious to talk about the world's latest commodity: pollution
permits.
For complete environmental news and headlines,
please visit www.enn.com
Organic
Bytes #51
Food and Consumer News Tidbits with an Edge!
2/25/2005
OLYMPIA -- Lyndsey Wilder says healthful foods usually don't taste very good.
But the 11-year-old Washington Middle School sixth-grader changed her mind
Tuesday after sampling organic and natural snacks that soon will be available
in a vending machine at the school.
"I don't see how it can be healthy and still taste so good," she
said.
"It's healthy?" Emma Smith, 11, another sixth-grader at the school, asked incredulously after trying the low-fat chips and crackers that will be in the machine. "You can't tell."
New Hampshire-based Stonyfield Farm -- which claims to be the world's largest organic yogurt maker -- is providing the vending machine to Washington Middle School for a year without requiring the school to pay for a lease. The campus is one of five middle and high schools statewide that were selected to participate in the vending machine program, a partnership of Stonyfield Farms and Summit Vending.
February 2, 2005
Thirty years ago, in the country of Kenya, 90% of the
forest had been chopped down. Without trees to hold
the topsoil in place, the land became like a desert.
When the women and girls would go in search of
firewood in order to prepare the meals, they would
have to spend hours and hours looking for what few
branches remained. more
Missoula County's farms and ranches are in danger of growing
more houses than crops, food supply specialists told members of the Missoula
City Council on Wednesday morning. And local government is key in setting
policy that protects local agriculture and a local food supply.....
By GINNY MERRIAM of the Missoulian
"They propose a 15- to 20-member council of food and agriculture specialists and citizens from many arenas, with representatives from city and county government. The council would advise government on policy and carry out projects designed to foster local farming and ranching and a local food supply." - the Missoulian
Organic Bytes #4
Food and Consumer News Tidbits with an Edge!
1/28/2005
ALERT: NEW EPA DEAL LETS FACTORY FARMS POLLUTE AIR WITHOUT
RESTRICTION
The day after the inauguration, January 21, the Bush Administration signed
an agreement that allows factory farms to freely violate any and all clean
air standards for the next two years, and forgives these same companies from
paying fines for past air pollution violations. In exchange for the freedom
to pollute without any restrictions, the deal "requests" that factory
farms agree to monitor their air pollution and provide that data to the government.
Bush's "Dirty Air" agreement is outrageous, given that the Clean
Air Act already requires factory farms to provide air pollution data, while
also requiring facilities to adhere to clean air standards. One of the companies
that will benefit the most from this arrangement with the Bush Administration
is Tyson Foods, who also happened to be one of the largest donors to the Bush
inaugural festivities. Fortunately there is a 30 day public comment period.
Please make your voice heard. Take action here. http://www.organicconsumers.org/epa3.htm
_________________________________________________
"Kaiser permanente Oakland medical Center in Oakland, Calif., has made it easier for physicians to prescribe an apple a day-as long as apples are in season. In May 2003, the 289-staffed-bed hospital opened Kaiser Permanente's first farmers' market at the urging of Preston Maring, M.D, associate physician in chief at the Oakland medical center.
Kaiser now hosts 11 markets of varying scope and....
Bringing produce to the people, Solomon says, can impact their food choices in a direct and positive way. "Our members cannot be healthy if the communities they live in are not healthy."
ETC Group's first Communique of 2005 focuses on Syngenta, the global gene giant that ranks first in agrochemicals and third in seeds. Syngenta has a patent pending in 115 countries that, if approved, would give it a multi-genome monopoly over at least 40 plant species.
"If Syngenta is granted this patent, it will make Monsanto look like Santa Claus."
Complete article below
Seed Saver's Classes (more important than ever)
Monsanto Suing Farmers Over Piracy Issues
On Monday, January 10, 2005, the longstanding nine-member commission was eliminated and will be replaced with seven new members. The county is wanting to create a decision-making body to represent a broader range of local opinion, experience and expertise, according to Community Development Director Bob Johnson.
The old planning commission was operating under 1978 rules. The state passed the Growth Management Act (GMA) in 1990 and the county is endeavoring to bring county regulations up to date, along with creating a comission with broad-based representation and that allows for open public discussion of all sides of the issues.
-excerpts from The Chronicle , January 12, 2005
The planning commission meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month.
To apply, send a letter of intent and a brief resume by January 31, 2005 to:
Phillip Rupp
350 N. Market Blvd.
Chehalis, WA 98532-2626
Lewis County judge denies GMA appeal
State land decision upheld: Thousands of acres remain in legal limbo
Saturday, January 08, 2005 The Chronicle
"The Dec. 23 ruling by Superior Court Judge H. John Hall is a setback for Lewis County governmental leaders and a victory for citizen activists trying to protect more farmland from development..... The full story is available online if you are a subscriber, or can be accessed at libraries.
A shakeup is in the works for Lewis County's feisty planning
commission, which once passed a resolution occusing a
state hearings board of “rural cleansing” and been
chastised for discouraging public discussion.
Saturday, January 08, 2005 The Chronicle
The full story is available online if you are a subscriber, or can be accessed at libraries.
HOW RICH DO YOU THINK THIS COMMUNITY IS?
Vermont's Intervale Produces Local Food and Farmers The New Farm Web site profiles Burlington, Vermont's Intervale Project. The 700-acre project features an innovative farm incubator program and a large-scale composting operation, and provides six percent of Burlington's fresh food. Most importantly, it helps protect Vermont's agricultural heritage." The agricultural landscape is part of our culture and our character—and it's also a huge benefit to our tourism industry," said program director Lindsey Ketchel." But you can't preserve that landscape without farmers working the land."
ETC Group News Release
Monday, January 10, 2005
http://www.etcgroup.org
Syngenta Claims Multi-Genome Monopoly
ETC Group's first Communique of 2005 focuses on Syngenta, the global gene giant that ranks first in grochemicals and third in seeds. Syngenta has a patent pending in 115 countries that, if approved, would give it a multi-genome monopoly over at least 40 plant species.
Calling Syngenta's patent claims "an unprecedented bid for multi-genome monopoly," ETC Group pronounced "et cetera") has written to the European Patent Office (EPO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) demanding that the patents be rejected. Simultaneously, ETC Group has written to the Director-General of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and to the Chair of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) asking them to oppose Syngenta's applications, "on the grounds that they represent a direct threat to world food security and an attack on public agricultural research," said ETC Group's Research Director, Hope Shand.
In a Communique released today, ETC Group reveals how Syngenta's public image as the "nice" multinational belies its actual activities. "No more 'Mr. Nice Guy,'" Kathy Jo Wetter at ETC's US office insists, "Syngenta is muscling its way toward control of dozens of plant species even as it appears to make nice with FAO and CGIAR as the good guy Gene Giant. If Syngenta is granted this patent, it will make Monsanto look like Santa Claus."
Syngenta's 323-page application, WO03000904A2/3 claims monopoly control of DNA that regulates flowering development, flower formation, whole plant architecture and flower timing in rice - in up to 115 countries. But the claims are not limited to vital rice gene sequences. According to a study prepared by Dr. Paul Oldham at Lancaster University (UK), the scope of this massive patent application is virtually limitless - extending to flowering plants in general, including those not yet classified by taxonomists. Syngenta's claims extend to key gene sequences of 23 major food crops annexed to the FAO Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. "If all its claims are approved," says Silvia Ribeiro in ETC's Mexico office, "FAO's seed treaty will be virtually useless." Dr. Oldham's analysis is available on the Internet: http://www.cesagen.lancs.ac.uk/docs/genomics-final.doc
Researchers are just weeks away from completing a polished sequence of the rice genome. This DNA blueprint of the crop that feeds half the world's people is also the basis for identifying similar genetic traits in other flowering plants. "Effectively," says Kathy Jo Wetter, "the completed rice map provides a template for most of the world's major food crops. Syngenta is arguing that since it can identify certain gene sequences in rice, it can monopolize the same sequences when they turn up in other species."
Syngenta's involvement with rice genome research has been convoluted and controversial. Initially, the company attempted to withhold its genomic research from the public domain and only surrendered some information after the scientific community - including two Nobel laureates - criticized Syngenta publicly. Even as the company won favorable publicity for donating some data, it was simultaneously applying for its multi-genome patent. The company has also had a sticky history with genetically modified Golden Rice - the supposedly vitamin A-rich rice created through public funds and then surrendered to the company's predecessor in order to avoid patent disputes. On the eve of World Food Day last October, Syngenta donated patent licenses to the Golden Rice Humanitarian Board. Syngenta Foundation - a company-dominated private foundation in Switzerland - stirred more controversy and embarrassment when it was invited to become a full member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
"While the Genome Giant congratulates itself for donating rice germplasm and information to public researchers, its lawyers are working overtime to monopolize rice resources," says ETC's Silvia Ribeiro.
ETC Group is calling upon FAO and CGIAR to take the unusual step of
challenging the patent application prior to its determination by patent
examiners. "The patent system is heavily biased in favor of a patent
holder," explains Hope Shand. "If we don't block this patent and it is
approved with all its claims it will take years - possibly more than a
decade - to have it rescinded. The litigation costs will be huge... It is
urgent that FAO and CGIAR defend world
food security and protect the public good now before the monopoly is granted."
The full text of the Communique is available on the ETC Group website: http://www.etcgroup.org
For further information:
Pat Mooney, ETC Group (Canada) etc@etcgroup.org, (613) 241-2267
Hope Shand and Kathy Jo Wetter, ETC Group (USA) kjo@etcgroup.org,
hope@etcgroup.org tel: +1 919 960-5223
Silvia Ribeiro, ETC Group (Mexico) silvia@etcgroup.org 52 55 55 632 664
Jim Thomas, ETC Group (UK) jim@etcgroup.org tel: +44 (0)1865 201719;
mobile: +44 (0)7752 106806
_______________________________________________
ETC Group mailing list
http://lists.etcgroup.org/mailman/listinfo/etcgroup
~~~~~ Jill Davies - - rivercare@blackfoot.net ~~~~~~
How we treat the Land is determined by how we view ourselves.
The machine model kills living systems.
www.sustainablelivingsystems.org
or www.wchi.net
~~~~~~ 329 McVey Rd. Victor, Mt. 59875 ~~~~~~~
406/ 642-3601