Organic Consumer Report 08/04/09

A Cancerous Conspiracy to Poison Your Faith in Organic Food

• GM Watch, Posted July 31, 2009
  Straight to the Source
  
  

NOTE: There's lots of support for organic food and farming published in UK national newspapers today in response to yesterday's findings by the pro-GM, anti-organic Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The FSA review dismisses health benefits of eating organic food but admits to a lack of research on which to base findings, while completely ignoring other benefits (eg to the environment and animal welfare) and the risks and damage that arise from intensive agriculture.

The Ecologist reports that researchers could only identify 11 studies relating to the health content of organic food and admitted the current evidence base was, "extremely limited both in terms of the number of studies and the quality of studies found".

The Ecologist online (30 July) http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/294394/org...

See also Editor's blog: FSA organic study: read it closely The Ecologist online (30 July) http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/bloggers/t...

The FSA has been on a pro-GM anti-organic crusade since it was first launched under the chairmanship of John Krebs. From the beginning there was a total failure to re-examine the safety of GM foods, despite the high level of consumer concern. Indeed, Krebs declared all approved GM foods safe on his first day in the job before he had even had time to look at the evidence!

Instead, he quickly ordered a safety enquiry into organic food, which has a high level of consumer confidence. Krebs then made a high profile attack on organic food that lead Dr Patrick Wall, then chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, to describe Krebs' views on organic food as "extreme".

Krebs, of course, has been far from alone at the FSA in terms of close links to the GM lobby. The first director of the Scottish arm of the FSA was Dr George Paterson -- the former director general of Health Canada's Food Directorate. Paterson has been linked to major food safety scandals in Canada involving both fast track approval for a Monsanto GM crop and the overriding of internal government scientists' health warnings on a GM product.

Krebs and the FSA's aggressive pro-GM anti-organic stance triggered to GMWatch's very first PANTS ON FIRE AWARD. http://ngin.tripod.com/pants

1. A cancerous conspiracy to poison your faith in organic food
Joanna Blythman
The Daily Mail, 31 July 2009
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1203343/JOANNA-...

For more information go to: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18716.cfm

Here at naturalfarms we believe it is our responsibility to keep our customers informed and educated on what is going on in the organic world. We can be smoothed over very easily from media, and uniformed people, and we want to keep you abreast on what is really going on behind the scenes.

H.R. 2749 The Food Safety Enhancement Act

UPDATE -- July 30, 2009, 11:30 AM: According to the Daily Leader, H.R. 2749 will come up for a vote again today, probably early afternoon.

July 29, 2009, 3:30 PM: Concerns of organic farmers and small producers prevented the House from passing H.R. 2749 today! Find out how your Congressperson voted here.

The House of Representatives is considering H.R. 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. It's an attempt to address the worst problems in U.S. agriculture, but as it stands the bill threatens to undermine the best things in U.S. agriculture - small farmers producing for local markets.

Please contact your Representative immediately and urge them to Vote No!

Related News: Yesterday, Representative Dennis Kucinich held an important food safety hearing: Ready to Eat or Not?: Examining the Impact of Leafy Green Marketing Agreements

This hearing examined one of the most pressing concerns of organic farmers, that food safety regulations for leafy greens could force them to destroy wildlife habitat (natural buffers that protect soil and water quality), poison frogs and create barriers to wildlife on the theory that wildlife might carry pathogens like E. coli into their fields (even though only 0.5% of wildlife carry E. coli O157). The Wild Farm Alliance has more information on this topic.