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July 1, 2009
Organic Bytes #180: Who's Killing Organics?
Horizon, Silk, Whole Foods Market, UNFI, and
More...
In This Issue
·
Breaking News of the Week: Horizon Sells Out
Organic Farmers With New "Natural" Milk
·
Alert of the Week: Whole Foods Market
Undermining Our Organic Future
·
Alert Update of the Week: Stop Big Brother's
NAIS
·
Political Plunder of the Week: Who is
Spending What on Lobbying?
·
Sustainability News of the Week: Some
Resources for Getting Started with a
Backyard Chicken Coop
·
Web Video of the Week: Bill McKibben on U.S.
Climate Politics
·
Other Headlines of the Week
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Breaking News of the Week
Horizon
Sells Out Organic Farmers With New "Natural"
Milk
Dean Foods' WhiteWave division has announced
it will release a new non-organic "natural"
version of its popular Horizon dairy
products. Horizon is the largest organic
dairy brand in the marketplace, and many
consumers will likely alternatively purchase
the Horizon "natural (conventional) " brand
at a premium and at a time when organic
dairy farmers are already experiencing
record losses.
Learn
more

Alert of the Week
Breaking
the Organic Monopoly and the "Natural" Foods
Myth
Whole Food Market and United Natural Foods,
Inc.: Undermining Our Organic Future
After four decades of hard work, the organic
community has built up a $25 billion
"certified organic" food and farming sector.
This consumer-driven movement, under steady
attack by the biotech and Big Food lobby,
with little or no help from government, has
managed to create a healthy and sustainable
alternative to America's disastrous,
chemical and energy-intensive system of
industrial agriculture.
However, the annual $50 billion natural food
and products industry is threatening to
undermine the organic movement by flooding
the marketplace with conventional products
greenwashed with "natural" labeling.
"Natural," in the overwhelming majority of
cases, translates to
"conventional-with-a-green-veneer." Natural
products are routinely produced using
pesticides, chemical fertilizer, hormones,
genetic engineering, and sewage sludge.
"Natural","all-natural," and "sustainable,"
products in most cases are neither backed up
by rules and regulations, nor a Third Party
certifier. These are label claims that are
neither policed nor monitored. For an
evaluation of eco-labels see the Consumers
Union Eco-Label website.
For example:
*
Tests
Show Widespread Presence of GMOs in
So-Called "Natural" Foods
* So-Called
"Natural" (non-organic) soy milk, including
leading brands such as "Silk,"
are made with conventional soy lecithin,
utilizing the hazardous chemical, Hexane, as
an extraction agent.
* Dozens of "natural" and "made with
organic"
personal
care and household cleaning products
contain known carcinogens such as 1,4
Dioxane. Just about the only personal care
products you can trust are those bearing the
"USDA Organic" label.
* 90% or more of the
vitamins
and supplements now on the market
labeled as "Whole Foods," "natural" or "food
based" are spiked with synthetic chemicals.
Despite the massive popularity and demand
for certified organic products, retailers
like Whole Foods Market, and wholesalers
like United Natural Foods Inc., continue to
push "natural" products at a premium price,
while, in effect slowing down the growth of
organics with their near market monopoly. In
fact, the majority of products sold and
distributed by Whole Foods Market and UNFI
are not certified organic, but rather
so-called "natural." Meanwhile, independent
and cooperative grocers often offer more
certified organic products at competitive
prices.
Will you stand up for organics?
Contact Whole Foods Market and UNFI today
and tell them that you will buy only
certified organic products for you and your
family.
Learn
more and take action

Related News of the Week:
Dr.
Bronner's Ups Ante in Lawsuit Against
'Organic' Personal Care Cheaters
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps filed its Second
Amended Complaint today in San Francisco
Superior Court against falsely labeled
"organic" personal care companies that use
non-organic pesticide-intensive agricultural
and/or petrochemical material to make the
main cleansing and moisturizing ingredients
in their products. Defendants include, among
others: Hain-Celestial (Jason "Pure, Natural
& Organic; Avalon "Organics"); Levlad
(Nature's Gate "Organics"); Kiss My Face
"Organic"; YSL Beaute Inc (Stella
McCartney's "100% Organic Active
Ingredients"), Country Life (Desert Essence
"Organics"); Giovanni "Organic Cosmetics";
and the certifiers Ecocert and OASIS.
Learn
more

Alert Update of the Week
Stop
Big Brother NAIS
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
has been working for over five years to
force a National Animal Identification
System (NAIS) on American farmers and animal
owners. NAIS is designed to identify and
track each and every individual livestock
and poultry animal, even those owned by
family farmers, hobby farmers, homesteaders,
and pet owners. USDA is seeking to engage
stakeholders and producers to hear not only
their concerns about the National Animal
Identification System, but also potential or
feasible solutions to those concerns. The
information and ideas gathered will assist
Secretary Vilsack in making decisions about
the future direction of animal traceability
in the United States. The deadline to submit
comments to the USDA is August 3, 2009.
Learn
more and take action

Political Plunder of the Week
Who
is Spending What on Lobbying?
The following totals are for the first
quarter of 2009:
1) $42 Million: Health Care, Health
Insurance, & Pharma
2) $31 Million: Oil
3) $20 Million: War
4) $17 Million: Telecoms
5) $15 Million: Financial
6) $10 Million: Automotive
7) $7 Million: Life Insurance
8) $6 Million: Biotech
See a full list of what specific
corporations are investing in sculpting
public policy in their favor:
Learn
More

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Next Click Could Make a
Better World
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and appreciated.
Donate

Headlines and Articles of the Week
1)
Genetically Engineered News of the Week:
Court Upholds Ban on Monsanto's GE Alfalfa
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled
that the planting of GE alfalfa can cause
potentially irreversible harm to organic and
conventional crops. Monsanto's petition to
rehear the case was denied in full.
Learn
more
2)
Web
Video of the Week:
Bill McKibben on U.S. Climate Politics
Watch
Now
3)
Sustainability News of the Week:
Some Resources for Getting Started with a
Backyard Chicken Coop
You've planted the organic garden, the
compost is cooking and the native plants
that cover your lawn look cool and save
water. What's next? Chickens, of course.
Here are some quick links to help you get
started...
Learn
more
4)
Web
Forum Posting of the Week:
Are Organics Worth the Extra Expenses?
Posted by William James in OCA's Web Forum:
"This has been discussed many times, and it
doesn't matter if there is a recession.
Moreover, a cost benefit analysis isn't the
right message to send. It's not about
economy but priorities and education. How
can you compromise between prices and
finding pesticides in children's blood, or
untested GMO produce, or sick and abused
livestock? These are things that shouldn't
be, there isn't any in between.
Join the
Discussion
5)
Activist News of the Week:
Using Depression Era Organizing Tactics as
Models for Activism Now
Grassroots organizing during the last severe
U.S. economic crisis was key in pushing some
of that era's most important progressive
reforms...
Learn
more

LOCAL FL NEWS OF THE WEEK
FL--Get
Involved Locally
·
Learn more about OCA related action alerts
and other news in FL
here.
·
Join FL discussion groups in our
forum.
·
Post events in FL on our community
calendar.

Special Ohio Alert:
Tell the Governor to Stop Harassing
rBGH-free Dairies

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